Tumgik
#most of naruto's expression here is a reaction to sai but
tgcg · 10 months
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part 2 of something specific
CG: I’M GOING TO NEED TO WATCH THROUGH IT AGAIN TO REALLY HONE DOWN WHAT I THINK OF IT, BUT FUCK IT, I MIGHT AS WELL SHARE MY THOUGHTS NOW SINCE WE’RE FRESH OFF OF WATCHING IT.
CG: SO, THEY’RE ACTUALLY A REALLY FASCINATING EXAMPLE OF RED ROMANCE. I’D GO SO FAR AS TO SAY VERY SUBVERSIVE OF ALTERNIAN UNDERSTANDINGS OF THE SORT, COMPARED TO WHAT YOU’D USUALLY SEE IN FICTIONAL MEDIA. IT’S LEVELS ABOVE THE TYPE OF DYNAMICS I WOULD TYPICALLY SEE IN MY NOVELS, DISREGARDING THE QUALITY OF VACILLATIONS AND YOUR QUOTE-ENQUOTE “POLYAMORY” PRESENT. BECAUSE SAKURA’S POSITION IN THIS IS PRACTICALLY POINTLESS, BUT I DIGRESS.
CG: ACTUALLY — THAT WAS KIND OF FUCKED UP, BY THE WAY. WHY IS SHE WRITTEN SO POORLY?
TG: remember when i told you about misogyny
CG: I WILL NEVER FUCKING GET THAT. OUR MOST POWERFUL FIGURES WERE GENERALLY GIRLS. HOW THAT TRANSLATED SO FUCKING TERRIBLY IS BEYOND ME!
CG: AND HOW THE SHIT DID THE UNIVERSE *I* HAD A DIRECT HAND IN CREATING END UP BEING SO MIND-BOGGLINGLY BACKWARDS ABOUT ROMANCE?
CG: DID NOT EVEN AN ERRANT TRICKLE OF MY INFLUENTIAL THINKPAN OOZE MAKE IT THROUGH THERE? AT ALL?
TG: not even a droplet my man we decided to be equally anal about other stupid shit i guess
CG: NO KIDDING!
CG: ANYWAYS.
TG: if yall managed to get through that door and reign supreme over the human race for lip smackin eternity you know mens and womens would be macking on each other in various gender arrangements with gleeful wild abandon 
TG: itd be a goddamn utopia
CG: FUCKING EXACTLY! BUT INSTEAD I’M HERE. DOING THIS. WITH A GOD, UNIVERSE PENDING. INSTEAD OF BEING A GOD REIGNING OVER A UNIVERSE MYSELF.
CG: *ANYWAYS*!
CG: THEY START OUT WITH A RIVALRY, SURE, BUT THERE’S ACTUALLY NOTHING BLACK ABOUT IT. THEIR FEELINGS FOR EACH OTHER ARE STRICTLY POSITIVE, IF HIDDEN BEHIND A MORE AGGRESSIVE FACADE. THE VIOLENCE OF THEIR RELATIONSHIP BOTH COMES FROM THE SOCIETY THEY WERE RAISED INTO, AND SOME OF THEIR MAJOR CHARACTER FLAWS AND INSECURITIES. NARUTO IS FIERCELY DEFENSIVE OF ANYONE WHO JOINS HIS CIRCLE BECAUSE HE’S DESPERATE FOR CONNECTIONS, AND REFUSES TO LOSE THEM AT ANY COST EVEN IF THEY LEAVE SUPPOSEDLY OF THEIR OWN ACCORD. SASUKE SEPARATES HIMSELF FROM THE PEOPLE HE LOVES OUT OF FEAR – AND DESIRE FOR REVENGE AGAINST HIS BROTHER CONVINCING HIM THIS IS NECESSARY.
CG: LIKE, EVEN WITHIN THE FIRST MAJOR ARC IN THE LAND OF WAVES YOU CAN SEE THAT THEY CARE ABOUT EACH OTHER SO DEEPLY THAT SASUKE WOULD DIRECTLY SACRIFICE HIMSELF AND HIS POTENTIAL FOR NARUTO’S. AND BELIEVING SASUKE TO BE DEAD IS THE FIRST CATALYST TO NARUTO’S POWERS BEING RELEASED. THAT IS *REALLY* EXTREME. ESPECIALLY BY TROLL STANDARDS, BUT I UNDERSTAND KILLING PEOPLE IS A MUCH FUCKING LARGER DEAL PSYCHOLOGICALLY FOR HUMANS. THAT KIND OF REACTION TO DEATH WOULD ONLY BE RESERVED FOR A CURRENT OR POTENTIAL QUADRANTMATE… AND IS OTHERWISE ONLY EXPRESSED BY TROLLS WITH DISEASES.
TG: oh yeah like the friendship disease right
CG: UGH.
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ravenaveira · 10 months
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Why are you "anti Karin" in general?, and so "pro" a manipulative, repulsive relationship like s/s?
Pfffft the fact that you would say that with a straight face in defense of KARIN of all people.
"Manipulative, repulsive relationship" you mean like this?
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Wanting Jugo and Suigetsu to kill eachother so she can have Sasuke to herself, then being turned on by Sasuke's killing intent.
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Hitting Suigetsu because he was about to reveal something she did to Sasuke in the past without his knowledge that she REALLY didnt want him to know. Even though we'll never know what it was, her reaction says enough that it was something Sasuke wouldnt like her for doing.
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Stealing Sasuke's sweaty dirty clothes without his knowledge. She had this even before the sensory unit became an issue btw.
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Being creepily turned on everytime shes bitten by him, any normal person would wince in pain at being bitten like this, not moaning in pleasure. Not kink shaming cuz I know masochism exists, just pointing out how weird af it is cuz Im pretty sure Kishimoto wasnt intending for her to be a masochist since she only finds pleasure in the biting, not pain in general.
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Pretty much dehumanizing Karin, treating her as no more than a tool to find Danzo. To be fair Sasuke was awful to everyone atp, but yall try to act like one was better than the other [Karin or Naruto in other cases] this entire arc was to show how far into darkness Sasuke had fallen, remember that for my next points.
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Sasuke literally telling her not to move so he could inflict a fatal would on Danzo through her and tells her shes a burden to him now for getting taken hostage. He does this not long after she had got drop kicked tryin to help him and then healing him while Danzo was down. As I stated above, Sasuke was awful to EVERYONE during this arc, but since yall like to use it against SS for why the relationship is toxic then I have to do the same for SK here, yall not special.
She begged Sasuke for help and he told her not to move and then betrayed her so he could fatally injure Danzo with the most sinister look on his face, that was beyond foul.
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He was literally about to kill Karin who was a non threat to him, compared to Naruto and Sakura who were actively attcking/threatening him, Karin was on the ground bleeding out and he still was gonna go finish her off with zero hesitation. Atleast in Naruto and Sakura's case it was self defense, but for Karin it was just blatant cruelty, he told her not to move so he could get the killing blow on Danzo, said shes a burden for even getting taken hostage, now hes about to kill her cuz she 'knows too much', how any and I mean ANY of you excuse this but cant do the same for SS is beyond me. Sasuke was defending himself from Naruto and Sakura, but he was just being downright cruel to Karin unnessecarily. But you wanna talk about manipulative and repulsive.
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Instantly forgiving him for his cruel treatment of her after a half hearted sorry and then creepily rubbin up against him. Its at this point I and many others lost all respect for Karin because not even Sakura was this pathetic when she first saw Sasuke after what he did to her in the previous arc.
Keep in mind shes inlove with him too, same as Karin, and did not act this pathetic. Even down to the apology Sakura wouldnt let him get off with just a 'sorry' but made him clearly say what he was sorry FOR and he apologized for everything he had done, thats way more sincere than just 'Im sorry Karin' while she's yelling at him to get her to shut up [which worked] compared to him apologizing voluntarily to Sakura who wasnt even asking for one but he did anyway because he genuinely felt remorse for what he did to her.
You dont even SEE what expression he has when he apologizes to Karin and the scene is used as comic relief, but Kishimoto shows Sasuke's sincere and remorseful expression as hes looking and apologizing to Sakura for what he's done and the scene is taken seriously, theres no jokes or weird creepy behavior, but a genuine heartfelt moment between the two.
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She planned to make moves on an injured Sasuke while Suigetsu and Jugo were asleep. It dont take rocket science to know shes gonna make sexual advances at him based on her behavior up till this point and Suigetsu even implying she 'did' something to Sasuke in the past.
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This is all self explanatory really, these are snippets from her databook which is canon content and consistent with her character. Her feelings are described as an obsession, dangerous, and that she keeps aiming to make him HERS. I dont think it gets any clearer than that why I wouldnt support someone like this.
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Just a friendly reminder for all those who like to bring up Sakura being 'useless' and Sasuke feeling the same way well guess what? he's said the same about Karin too and that she was easily replacable, ironically by Sakura lol but he said there were other shinobi he could've picked just as good and way stronger too so, the only real reason he chose Karin was her tracking ability, he literally would've taken anyone else if not for that, and now that that ability is no longer needed neither is she.
No really he never uses her services again even when she comes back later to help in the war but he still gets help from Suigetsu and Jugo, she really was USELESS to him after this point lol speaking of the war though that brings up my next point.
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In the middle of a war where the entire fate of the world is at stake, Karin says the most important thing right now is jumping Sasuke and licking him all over. Idgaf if you say this was just comic relief, this is consistent with her character so comic relief or not she REALLY thinks like this.
She stole his sweaty clothes, gets turned on when bitten by him, rubs up against him even while hes clearly uncomfortable, plans to make sexual advances at him while hes injured and the others are asleep, and your telling me this is just all comic relief and that she doesnt actually wanna do the things shes thinking of doing? fk outta here man.
Do I think Karin genuinely cared for Sasuke to some capacity? yes, do I think Sasuke cared for Karin to some capacity? yes, but that doesnt make their relationship any less disgusting or repulsive overall just because I believe there was some mutual care on both sides, that does not outweigh all the weirdo creepy behavior Karin has exhibited, nor does it outweigh Sasuke's total indifference and lack of remorse for anything he did to her even after coming to his senses and redeeming himself.
He never treated Karin as a friend, for a short time he viewed her as a comrade but afterwards he's never treated her as anything more than an acquaintance. Even though this is how he treated all of Taka really, Suigetsu and Jugo were atleast on the same wavelength Sasuke was, they wanted to help him of their own accord with no ulterior motives while Karin did aka 'making Sasuke hers'. Suigetsu and Jugo never asked for an apology nor expected one, they knew who Sasuke was and how he felt about em and accepted that, so as long as both sides are cool with the treatment then I cant condemn Sasuke for his actions if they themselves allow it and feel nothing about it, Suigetsu pretends he did but he still helped and followed him regardless even tho he no longer had anything to gain nor any reason to, even his reasoning that it was to 'split them up' Sasuke has always been indifferent to Karin from the start so there would've been nothing between them whether Suigetsu was there or not, it was all lies just to avoid saying he enjoyed Sasuke's company and actually had gotten attached to this little ragtag team.
Karin however did not accept it and was yelling at him about it until he gave her a half hearted sorry, then mentions multiple times when anyone confronts her about her feelings for Sasuke how 'he tried to kill her so how could possibly like him' which is a lie but the point is unlike Suigetsu and Jugo she actually DID feel some type of way about his betrayal and wanted to hold him accountable for it, so she WASNT ok with how he treated her and therefore I shouldnt be either.
But the main reason Im anti Karin is because of how creepy and perverted she is, I've felt no different about other perverted characters to this creepy an extent, the only reason yall shrug it off or say its just comedy is because its a girl towards a guy, but if Sasuke stole Karins sweaty shirt, did something to her in the past he punched Suigetsu to keep him from exposing, getting turned on and moaning everytime she bites him, wanting her to let two ppl die so it could just be the two of them, locking them in a room together and pressing up on her even while shes visibly and verbally uncomfortable, if he was plotting to make moves on injured Karin while the others are asleep, if he started rubbin up on her chest after he forgives her, if in the middle of the war hes thinking about wanting to jump and lick Karin all over.
I DARE you to try and tell me yall wouldnt want Sasuke's head on a stake for that, but since its a digusting creepy repulsive female towards a guy its all jokes and laughs. THATS why Im anti Karin in general, idc about her past, idc about how shes changed now, and idc about SPs made up filler about her past that contradicts what Kishimoto has written about her past because its not canon and has no basis in canon so why would I treat it like it is? even if it was it doesnt negate anything I've pointed out, nor does it excuse or justify her creepy behavior.
I support SS despite its flaws because there was mutual love and care on both sides, Sasuke was willing to die and lose out on getting his revenge, his lifes mission to save her, and Sakura was equally willing to sacrifice her life for his. He inspired her and made her want to be a better ninja, he made her understand her ignorance of what being an orphan is like which made her way more empathetic towards Naruto, Sasuke acknowledged and praised her strengths and encouraged her to get better, Sakura is the one who gave him both the push he needed to fight back against Orochimaru AND she's the one who made the curse mark rescind when Sasuke snapped, which btw he rampaged because of the state he saw Sakura in and wanted to avenge her, it was her [and Naruto] AGAIN that made Sasuke able to push back the curse mark during the chunin exams.
Sasuke had always acknowledged Sakura's feelings for him and responded to them while till this day he has never even acknowledged Karins weird obsession with him and always just brushed her off and told her to get back, but with Sakura he DID acknowledge her feelings, he never rejected her, but couldnt allow himself to accept those feelings because of the paths he chose to walk, the first one being avenging his clan and the second for him to create peace by ruling the world alone and severing all ties.
People like to use him saying 'she has no reason to love me and I have no reason to love her' as a rejection when it isnt when you look at the context of the scene.
Kakashi is standing up for Sakura telling him how much she only wanted to save him, SASUKE is the one who brings up romance but Kakashi shuts him down by saying you only need a reason to hate someone and that Sakura wasnt trying to make him hers but she just wanted to save him. Actually Ima just let Kakashi speak for himself.
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I dont know how much clearer it needed to be than showing Sakura's sincere love for him reminding him of the sincere love he has for his family, he says perhaps those are ties to a failed past right after Kakashi says she's suffering from loving him, he immediately thinks of his family who he suffers from loving as well, he's literally acknowledging Sakura's feelings for him are genuine like Kakashi says but unfortunately nothing can be done about it, the same way his family is gone and he'll always suffer from loving them, is the same way things ever going back to the way they were with team 7 is gone and Sakura will always suffer from loving him as well, because he's decided to walk the lonely path again and cut all ties with them, with Naruto being the last.
After everything is resolved though and Sasuke is finally able to let go of all that hatred and accept Naruto's [and team 7s as a whole] love for him, we see Sasuke's true self and true feelings, and whats the first thing he does when he has this clarity? apologize to the one person he's hurt the most besides Naruto.
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When he leaves to go on his redemption journey the only people he talks to before he leaves is team 7, Sakura asked to come with him but he told her he has nothing to do with her sins and to stay behind, which is true she didnt have anything to do with his sins so he really did have to take this trip alone for self reflection. But even though he turned her down from joining him, he promised to see her when he came back, which is a promise he obviously kept as he did come back and the two did travel together and somewhere in between got married and had their daughter Sarada at Karins hideout before coming back home to Konoha where Sasuke stayed for a short time before leaving alone again to go look into the other looming Otsutsuki threats.
Were there flaws with SS portrayal too? of course there was, every main ship got done dirty in one way or another cuz Kishimoto was just bad at writing their romances for some reason despite doing much better with other ships [MinaKushi, YahiKonan, DanTsuna] but thats not a flaw of the ships themselves as it is the writing for them. And no that doesnt excuse SK, because Kishimoto clearly intended for that to be weird, but he obviously meant for SS and NH to be viewed as sincere, he never took SK/Karin seriously and treated em as such, but he did SS/NH which is why you see their scenes are way more heartfelt with more effort put into it, was the execution always the best? hell no, but for what it was he still got the point across whether you disagree with how he handled certain things, myself included, or not.
SS is far from manipulative or repulsive, if your referring to anything from the novels I thought yall didnt consider the novels canon anyway? personally I rarely use the novels in arguments because theres so much debate in their validity, so personally I only acknowledge the novels that got official adaptions or snippets that have been referenced in canon material [like Sakura's childrens mental health clinic is implied in the anime, and Sasuke retsuden got an anime and manga adaption with Kishimoto's involved in the manga ver] these aspects I consider canon, anything else is debatable imo so I didnt use anything from them in any of my rebuttals, just official manga/databook content because thats whats the most explicitly canon by the creator himself. So if your talkin novel stuff I have nothing to do with that, I thought yall didnt consider it canon anyway, but if you do, then even in the novels shes not what you'd describe as manipulative and impulsive just because she isnt giving up on her feelings for Sasuke and will continue to pursue him? if Sasuke truly had no feelings for Sakura he would've made that explicitly clear, but he always left the door open for the possibility which is why Sakura never moved on while Karin did, cuz Sasuke made it clear his heart was with Sakura, not her.
So I'd love to know where you got manipulative and repulsive from because Sasuke's never been repulsed by Sakura, nor has Sakura ever tried to manipulate Sasuke or vice versa. If thats just your personal opinion thats fine, but you should atleast use the right labels to condemn SS with instead of ones that dont apply at all.
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h8ani · 1 year
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Naruto Reaction to you wanting to break up
A/N - hellooooo! I hope you enjoyed my first Naruto reaction I created! Please let me know what you think so far! :)
- includes Konoha 12 + Sai & Gaara
Naruto: He stared blankly at you, showing no emotion even after those words left your mouth.
“Are you serious? Because of a fight?” He stared at you. You blinked tears away as you stared back trying to stand your ground.
“I do.”
Naruto stares and just shakes his head. He’s frustrated, he’s angry, he’s irritated, but most of all he’s upset you even tried it. You two have been through hell and back and a random fight in the week is what’s going to break you? Absolutely not.
“What were we fighting about? Do you even remember because I don’t. That’s because it was stupid, the fight was so stupid and insignificant but that’s what’s going to break us up? No I won’t accept that.”
There’s no way in hell he’s going to let you go.
Sasuke: He fell back into the couch looking at you, his legs not being able to carry his weight as the words ‘I want to breakup’ came out of your mouth. He didn’t expect it to say the least, he thought you guys were fine, no he thought you guys were more than fine, he couldn’t believe this.
“No.” He stated simply. He looks at you, your arms are crossed and a confused expression falls upon your face.
“No? You can’t-”
“I said no. This isn’t something I’m willing to throw away. So no, hell no. We are going to work through this, we are going to get over this and then we are going to be fine. So that’s your answer.”
Sai: Seeing you crying like this is something he never wants to see again. Fighting is something he never liked doing with you and he tried to avoid it at all cost but this one just seemed unavoidable.
He looked at you while you were trying to make your peace with breaking up with him but he wasn’t listening to any of it, he couldn’t listen to it, he wouldn’t.
“I want to work things out with you…” he says in barely a whisper, he wasn’t even paying attention if you were still talking or not. “We’re good together so I don’t think that we should end things here.” He looks at you with worry etched on his face while you wipe the tears from your eyes just hoping that you would change your mind.
Shikamaru: “You want to break up?” He’s leaving back on the sofa looking at you as you stand across the living room adamant on breaking up with him. “You sure about that?”
“Yes.”
“How sure?”
“The words came out of my mouth didn’t they?”
“Yes but you never gave me a reason, why do you want to break up? You’re unhappy?” His gaze on you is unwavering and you’re struggling to keep your eyes on him.
“We fight too-”
“All couples fight, but we argue every now and then so that hardly counts as a fight.” You roll your eyes and Shikamaru continues on. “I don’t think you want to break up.” You scoff and he stands up and makes his way towards you. “You wanted to get a rise out of me because you don’t think I care because I fail to show you I care, am I right?” He’s toe to toe with you and watches as your face contorts into a frown. “But you know that’s not the case, that’s just the case you’re trying to convince me and yourself.”
“Fuck off Shikamaru.” You take a step back and he just follows with a step forward. You’re looking anywhere but at him at this point. He isn’t wrong and you hate how quickly he was able to read you. “I hate you.” You cross your arms and he just smirks knowing he won yet again.
Choji: Last nights fight is replaying in his mind over and over again. Both of your voices being raised at each other, the words that came out of both his and your mouth, and finally seeing you slam his door in his face when you left in a rush no longer wanting to deal with it. He doesn’t know what this means, he doesn’t know what any of this means. You left without a second glance and all that Choji can think of is if you two were still together or not.
Kiba: You told Kiba you needed to talk to him which didn’t make anything easier. You just need to say it and everything will be over. A simple sentence, you can do that. Just say you aren’t happy and don’t feel the same as you did in the beginning. It should be easier than this get here you are pacing back and forth in his bedroom and all Kiba could do is watch you and sigh. Of course he knew what was coming, Kiba knew you like the back of his hand and right now proves he knows you better than you even know yourself.
“You want to breakup, don’t you.” He says it simply, he took the words right out of your mouth and you slowly stopped pacing and looked down at your feet ashamed he even had to say it. He sighs again and nods understanding that there was no changing your mind.
Shino: You could feel your blood boil. He stared at you emotionless, nothing in him changed as you said you wanted to break up. This just confirms why you wanted to break up with him, he never fucking cared.
“Say something!” You yell at him, anger spilling out as you stared at him. His expression never changing, nothing in Shino changed even when you started to grab your things and started to walk out of his front door and eventually out of his life.
Neji: You don’t know who’s louder at this point, the poor neighbors next door having a full experience of your fight with Neji. Tears were being spilled along with every hurtful word that could be thought of. Sooner than you would’ve thought the words came tumbling out of your mouth in a shrill scream. “I’m done! I’m done Neji! It’s over!” His glare that was set on you softened until he looked at you in disbelief. He was silent for a moment before that hard look reappeared. “No.” He said.
“Yes Neji, I’m over it, I’m over us.”
“No-”
“No buts! I’m done!” You raise your voice again feeling another fight coming on. “We’re done.” You stand firm on your decision and even Neji can see there’s no going back.
“Okay.” He nods. “We’re done.”
Rock Lee: He’s staring across the table from you, listening to every word you’re saying, hating everything you’re telling him. You’re angry, he can see that. Hell, he’s seen it and hasn’t tried fixing anything or making anything right, but that’s his fault. You’ve shown signs that you’re unhappy but with every fight that you two had he never thought to fix that damage that’s clearly been done.
He listens to everything and finally speaks while looking you in the eyes.
“I think we can move past this but I can see that it might be too late for that.” He closes his eyes and sighs. “I don’t want to end things, I don’t want to lose you but if that’s what you want…then we’ll break up.”
Gaara: Your relationship with Gaara wasn’t bad, he was great, he was everything you’ve ever wanted and this is why it’s so much harder than you expected.
Tears started to fall which you quickly wiped away, there was no need to make it harder on him than needed to be. “I-I think that we…that we-” you sniff trying to catch your breath but more tears were falling and you were growing frustrated with yourself. “Dammit. Stop crying…” you mumble to yourself.
Gaara watches you as you have a battle within yourself. His heart breaks with every sob that comes out of your mouth, every tear that falls and with every word that stutters out. “It’s okay.” He says as he walks up to you, his hand tilting your chin up to look at him. Tears blurred your vision but that didn’t stop your heart from breaking. “I’m sorry.” You mutter out, breaking down in front of the boy who’s heart you had just ripped out.
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eternalwritess · 5 months
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Hi, can I get a Hazbin Match up please?
• My pronouns are she/her
• I am bisexual, possibly also demi
• I'm quite reserved and introverted, one to blend into the crowd and not one to stand out, but once you get to know me I can be very open and expressive. An introverted theater kid essentially. I'd also say l'm pretty kind, but can also be sarcastic. I can also be a bit mischievous as l like to do random stuff because I think it's funny. Despite all this I'm still a more lower energy person and am pretty calm, the mediator (and quite mature I'm told). The therapist friend who also needs a therapist if you will. But that more hyper part of me definitely comes out more intensely if something I like is involved. As in bouncing up and down at the seams explaining my interests hyper. I also seek for deep connections with people, so I hate small talk
• My interests are in drawing, writing, reading, engineering, and ESPECIALLY music (kpop, anime openings, musical soundtracks, video game music, instrumental covers, etc) as I have a very large imagination and am constantly thinking up new scenarios with different characters be them for myself or for a potential book or show idea. I also loves rocks and have a rock collection, and find interest in other small things that I'll dip my toes into (like abandoned Disney animatronics, mechanics of roller coasters, Ancient Rome history, etc) but I also love media such as anime (Naruto specifically), NATM, Splatoon, Hamilton, Greatest Showman, and more
• I am also an INFJ, a Virgo, and a Hufflepuff
• Uh... I have epilepsy (not photosensitive, also medicated), I get very socially anxious depending on the scenario but am getting better about it, don't like fake people, and I have trust issues. I am also in a choir because of my love for singing
𝕐𝕠𝕦 𝕙𝕒𝕧𝕖 𝕓𝕖𝕖𝕟 𝕞𝕒𝕥𝕔𝕙𝕖𝕕 𝕨𝕚𝕥𝕙…
𝓐𝓷𝓰𝓮𝓵 𝓓𝓾𝓼𝓽!
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Quite honestly I have no idea how you two met. Although I'd assume at the hotel
Since you're introverted and more quiet he'd definitely be the one to initiate conversation probably noticing how you're more closed off from the rest of the cast
"So what are you doin here sugar?"
He most likely just wanted to annoy the hell out of you at first and you noticed that and pushed him away... which only made him want to know you more
After that it was a chase for him. You also probably noticed how fake he was and began getting annoyed with him for it
Not to mention all of his energy really drained you at first most likely. It was only when he had a rough day at work when you decided to talk to him since it looked like he had it rough
"It's not your problem sweetie,"
There's no doubt that he was closed off at first and he didn't want to talk about what had happened but he did end up opening up to you
You being calmer than him definitely balanced him out but you do have enough energy so that he doesn't get bored of you or being around you
He likes talking to you because it calms him down and brings him back down to earth
He loves it what you're sarcastic and will commonly be sarcastic with you over random things
The moment he sees you get really hyper over something you enjoy it makes his heart flutter and he wants to continue it for as long as he can
"Lets do this!!"
You hate small talk? Well so does he! He doesn't see the point of it and will start whole ass arguments over random things
He loves seeing your reaction when he starts shit, he knows you'll try to resolve it and he finds it adorable although if it really gets to you he'll try and tone it down a bit
"Alright everybody I want a clean fight!!"
The moment you said you love music I knew that you'd two would be soulmates
You'd bond over music and he'd share all of his playlists with you. You'd also probably have a joint playlist together
He'd try to get you to dance all of the time and will try to push you out of your comfort zone
He might find the rock thing weird but explain it to him a bit and show him a cute looking rock and he'll be obsessed
"Its adorable!"
As for your epilepsy he tries to keep you away from Valentino's corner even more so (not like he wasn't trying before)
He doesn't want you to get hurt by Valentino any more than he does
He also probably keeps you away from clubs because of the lights and will opt to take you somewhere a little more chill instead
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ohnohetaliasues · 1 year
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Milky Way (APH OC)
At the request of @ilovemaryland345 I’ll be taking a look at a few OCs that they recommended to me. This is one of them. The other is the Confederate States, which I just hope is not as racist as it sounds.
Anyway, let’s get funky. 
Milky Way is a small loli-like girl in the universe. 
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Reservations aside about making an OC for the entire fucking galaxy, why on earth would she be child sized? She’s literally billions of years old. I think a being that is chronologically that old would at least be adult sized.
Her mother would be Galaxy, 
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Isn’t she the galaxy? She’s her own mother? Excuse me?
and her closest friend, Time. 
I don’t even have a proper reaction for that. All I can say is that an OC in Hetalia that is the very concept of time is utterly absurd. She’s her own mother and she is also best friends with Time. Right, got it.
Milky Way is the representation of the Milky Way. Another name for her is Dreamland.
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Dreamland. 
She-- HUH?
Like I genuinely don’t know what the fuck to say to that. She, who is also the fucking galaxy, is also dreamland? What? How does that work? HOW? 
Appearance
Milky Way has dark purple hair with magenta ends. Her eyes are a magenta-pinkish colour, with little hearts in her eyes. Dreamland (It's a nickname, she is often called perfection and perfection can only be achieved in dreams hence the name Dreamland.) 
Wow, okay so just. A blatant Mary Sue. Also, no. I’m setting aside the absurdity of this OC for a few seconds to think logically, if that’s possible here. 
No Hetalia characters have unnaturally colored hair. They look like the country they represent, as in, what the largest population of people from that nation look like. They can’t even dye their hair. I just-- My brain is hurting. This is not an OC that works in Hetalia.
has her hair in bunches, most like Nyo!Canada's. Her magenta fringe hides most of her forehead. On top, she has a heartlike curl on the side of her head.
Milky Way normally wears pastel goth clothing, mostly like this:[1] (Credit to artist, it's really pretty!)
There was a link there, and the art linked to it is very good, but I removed it, because I’m unsure if that is stolen art or not, and I don’t promote stolen art here on this blog.
Personality
Milky Way is happy and optimistic person, who can be seen as annoying. Not many people are able to see her, and therefore is a dandere. 
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Okay so that’s just not what a dandere is. A dandere is an antisocial, timid, and shy character who doesn’t express emotions very much. Think Hinata Hyuuga from Naruto or Shigeo Kageyama from Mob Psycho 100. Sure, Mob is cheerful enough, but he’s also not really an expressive person. The personality described above is an oxymoron, is all I’m saying.
She has no social experience outside of the magic trio. Since Italy (Galileo Galilei discovered the Milky Way, and he was from Italy.) had been the one to discover her, she has many traits from him such as being an optimistic person. Her salty side is never really shown, because she isn't fond if being savage like one of her founders. (Romano~).
Um, okay. That’s all I can say. Because I genuinely don’t know how to react to that. Galileo was indeed the first to see the Milky Way through a telescope, so I guess that could be a connection to Italy. However, as far as we know, billions of undiscovered worlds could be somewhere off in the galaxy, and I don’t know if us humans would’ve been the first to observe the galaxy. It just feels odd to me that she’d be so connected to Italy. I guess since he’s one of the main characters in Hetalia, but I dunno, something just bothers me about that.
Backstory/History
Milky Way used to be a depressed little ball of feelings. Her mother Galaxy never really had time for her, and so Milky Way was alone.
SHE IS THE GALAXY. MILKY WAY = GALAXY. IT IS CALLED THE MILKY WAY GALAXY. 
 (Her appearance at the time: short magenta-pink hair, with emotionless eyes. She was always so dull.)
Wait why the fuck would her appearance change?
One day, she saw the Earth. A small person was smiling up at her, with his telescope. That man was later known as Galileo Galilei. He ran to tell Italy, so was ecstatic. Romano, on the other hand, was not as excited.
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Why? Why wouldn’t he think that was cool? 
When they came to see, Milky Way felt happy. She felt noticed. It was a nice feeling for her, and the first time she'd ever felt it. The Italies welcomed her with open arms, though she felt a little wistful in the country of Italy. Upon talking to her, the Italies realised she was not of Italia origin and wondered. They took her to the next World Meeting, asking anyone and everyone if they knew her. No one knew her of course, but they were intruiged by her.
Okay so that just doesn’t make any sense. She was discovered by Galileo, and Italy and Romano just assumed she was a part of Italy or of Italian origin? Why? Did Galileo just not tell them anything and let them assume he just found a piece of Italy floating off in space? Are they stupid? Did they physically go into space to speak to her? How did they get a message to her? 
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This is fucking absurd, and I have so many questions.
Granted that not all of them trusted her or welcomed her with open arms like the Italies, she always loved the countries.
I thought Romano didn’t, but sure, okay.
Now she lives with her mother Galaxy, and comes to visit her good friends.
So the OC creator just is under the impression that the galaxy isn’t the same thing as the Milky Way. Did they mean to make this an OC for the Solar System? Because that would make so much more sense. It would still be silly, but less egregious. 
 (Italy & Romano, although Southern Italy never really grew found of her...)
But didn’t it just say they welcomed her with open arms? Did Romano just decide to lie about that?
She tries to make friends, but it never really works out.
With who? I mean, there could be some cool things done with this, if she was an OC for just the solar system. She could be acquainted with America, Russia, China, etc, because of the international space station. 
2P!talia/Cardverse/Nyotalia/2P!Nyotalia
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Dreamland's 2P is a blonde haired gothic girl. Her pale blonde hair was in a short pixie cut, with electric blue eyes. She normally wears black clothing. Here's an example... [2]
That link actually led to nothing, just a grey image of nothing with an error message. I removed the link regardless.
She is extra salty, and rarely shows her sweet side. Being a kuudere character, she's quite popular with other countries because she is quite the mysterious character.
This entire thing makes my head hurt.
Dreamland's Cardverse is non-existent for now. She dwells where the Wasteland of Cardverse is: [3]
That led to a broken Deviantart link. I think the upload was deleted. I’m also not familiar with Hetalia’s Cardverse, I haven’t interacted with the fandom as much as I used to in quite some time. 
Dreamland's Nyotalia has pale pink hair dip-dyed into blue. He wears something similar to this: [4]
His personality is cute, and very, very modest when it comes to praise.
Link deleted again, because I’m not sure if that’s stolen art or not. Even if it isn’t and the OC creator drew it, I don’t want to repost anyone’s art without permission.
Dreamland's 2P!Nyotalia looks like this: [5]
Another broken Deviantart link.
Relationships/Trivia
Milky Way has no comfirmed religion/ethnicity. (Although, I like to think of her as a Scientologist, believing in the Big Bang Theory etc.)
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That... That isn’t what Scientology is. I also believe in the Big Bang Theory, but that doesn’t make me a Scientologist. Scientology is an actual cult. It isn’t just a religion based on facts and logic because it has ‘science’ in the name. 
Her relationship with Galaxy is kind of tattered.
Guess she needs to work on self love.
Dreamland is a panromantic asexual.
Another few people she knows are Romania, Norway & England mainly because of their magic. America & Canada are also some acquaintances. Even though she has not spent that much time with France, she takes SOME of her personality from him.
Why? Just... Why? Like, what logical reason is there for that?
Milky Way is a dandere.
I’ve lost the will to fight.
She looks around 11 years old, but is actually 31.
What? Just... huh? Why? I reiterate my point from the beginning, the Milky Way is a galaxy that is billions of years old. I have no idea why she would look 11 years old, but the fact that it says she’s 31 is even more baffling. Where the fuck did that number come from?
Her birthdate is 2nd December, being a Sagittarius. (The Milky Way's constellation is Sagittarius.)
The-- Okay. Sure. But there are also so many more constellations aside from that one in the Milky Way. Because the Milky Way is a galaxy. Full of stars. 
Her full name is Daphne (Italian spelling is: Dafne) Dreamland. Her origin/ethnicity is unknown for the moment~ Dreamland knows all the countries; it's just that they don't know her.
~ The end, for now ~
I have no words. I just... I don’t. I don’t even know how I can be constructive here. I have so many questions. 
How would this even work in canon Hetalia? I am left with a blank. I genuinely have nothing to say. I’m left with so many unanswered questions.
-Kat
3 notes · View notes
panharmonium · 2 years
Photo
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yamato: i’m pleased to meet the both of you!
naruto: 
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489 notes · View notes
tired-biscuit · 2 years
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Happy Birthday
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Pairing: Kiba Inuzuka/fem!reader
Warnings: 18+ mdni // modern au, intoxication, unhealthy amount of tension, edging. reader is naruto uzumaki's younger sister.
Word count: 11.5k
Summary: Kiba invites you to his 22nd birthday party. Stuff happens.
a/n: nobody asked for this, but here i am; posting this one-shot in honour of the birthday boy.
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HAD this all been a mistake?
As you feel the bitter burn of yet another consumed shot seep its way down your throat, you can't say for sure.
Placing the tiny glass back upon the kitchen counter, your expression twists into one of pure disgust when the heat settles into the pit of your stomach.
You've forgotten just how bad vodka tastes on its own, lacking the sweet tang of Red Bull or juice. The reminder is semi-welcomed, you suppose.
The broad palm to land upon your shoulder blade in that moment is warm as it pats you encouragingly one, two; three times.
You suck in a sharp breath through gritted teeth, swallowing the runny saliva that's only there because of the damn vodka, before a bright red solo cup is shoved right into your hands.
Your eyes narrow as you look up at the tall, handsome brunet which you've had the unfortunate pleasure of knowing ever since you were little.
Unbeknownst to many, Kiba has been terrorizing your life for as long as you can remember. Adorning nearly every picture in your family photo album with that tan, freckled face of his, the ebullient Inuzuka had met your big brother on his first day of preschool, and stuck by his side from that moment onward.
Since Kiba is Naruto's best friend, it's no wonder how most of the memories you have of your childhood include him.
Only two years younger than the two boys, you grew up alongside both Naruto and Kiba; building sandcastles on the beach together whenever you went on vacation, playing hide and seek, as well as every other game you could possibly come up with off the top of your tiny heads and which made you constantly end up in trouble together.
Kiba - always the rather boisterous and rowdy kid, much like your big brother - had been more or less invariably nice to you throughout all those years.
Until he abruptly wasn't.
After all, as soon as the Inuzuka turned eight, he had started getting mean; towards you, specifically. Constantly tugging on your pigtails and taunting you for how you acted and spoke, Kiba had made you cry and tell on him to your mother on several occasions.
Crying big, fat tears, you never quite understood why she only chuckled at your childish complaints back then. Why Tsume, Kiba's own mother, had had the exact same reaction, too. Why Naruto agreed with everything he said like the traitorous older brother he was, and got fussy all of a sudden if you wanted to play with them like you always did.
You stopped trying to fit in amongst the two rowdy boys at some point, and instead focused on your own hobbies.
So, years passed. You grew up into a sweet girl, who eventually found friends of her own, and forgot all about stupid, idiotic Kiba who teased you until you cried, despite that he swung by nearly every other day.
That is, until he went to visit his dad one summer when you were thirteen. That year, Kiba came back tall and lean; with his limbs almost comically long, as well as accompanied with a deep voice that made you burst out with laughter whenever it cracked into a higher pitch mid-sentence.
You still quarelled in the same way you used to when you were little, but this time without your tearful complaints to your mother.
He told you all about how his summer went, how his dad was pretty okay whenever he wished to be, and how his older sister Hana had stepped on a sea urchin and had to be rushed to the hospital, where he laughed his ass off as she groaned with every pluck of the doctor's tweezers.
But then that summer came to an end, as all things do, and Kiba started high school along with Naruto, and you were forgotten once again because of other, new friends and experiences that interested him as a proper teenager, and that certainly had nothing to do with thirteen-year-old you. 
By the time you became a freshman yourself, he was already seventeen and a junior. Much to your beffudlement, Kiba had started acting weird around you at that age, mostly turning an ignorant eye towards your direction and barely speaking to you at all, which had most definitely been way out of his usually outgoing personality.
He stared at you only when you weren't looking. Asked Naruto about how you were doing, but never once voiced the question directly to you. The entire ordeal only made you grow further apart.
You never questioned him about it; well at least not truly, anyway. It wasn't like you actually cared about what someone as silly as Kiba thought of you, after all.
And then all of a sudden said boy was a senior finishing high school, getting ready to begin living yet another chapter of his life. He got a sports scholarship and left town for college without ever saying goodbye, much like your own brother. He left you behind, just like that. They both did.
It seemed that university life was a blast for an open, untamed person like Kiba, at least judging from the pictures he posted on his Instagram. From eighteen to twenty-one, you mostly saw him transfigure from a boy to a man over the screen of your phone - barely interacting with him at all, if it weren't for the rare exception whenever he liked the selfie you occasionally posted, was asking for Naruto, or if he dropped by the house to say hi to your parents during the summer.
So, to say that you were absolutely flabbergasted when you received a random text from him one night, inviting you to his 22nd birthday party would be an understatement.
Even Naruto seemed surprised when you asked if Kiba had possibly made a mistake. Had turned slightly suspicious, too, as you skipped down the stairs way more dolled up than usual on the night of the party, staring up at him with slightly anxious eyes.
"It's just Kiba," your brother tells you, eyeing the pretty skirt and top you've decided on tonight, "so, why are you all dressed up?"
"Who said it was for him?" you reply with an eye roll, despite that there's an inexplicable bounce to your step as you leave the house.
And that was that, as well as the reason how you find yourself staring at a freshly turned twenty-two-year-old Kiba, the golden amber within his irises recoiling whenever your gazes meet inside his dimly-lit kitchen.
You have no idea how he has managed to hunt you down amongst the mass of people to fill every room of his house, but the honey-like shade nearly glows with overt amusement when he smiles down at you after he's successfully persuaded you into sharing a third round of double shots with him.
Let's be honest, it's not like it took him a lot of effort. It's his birthday, after all. And the birthday boy gets what he wants!
Meanwhile, Kiba, who is feverishly determined and drunk just enough to finally shoot his shot with the girl that's been off limits to him for fucking aeons, is putting his best effort in making that statement true.
He knows what he's attempting to do is supposedly wrong as he keeps poking and prodding at you to see how you play - knows it darn well, but after literal years of loyalty and restraint, he's allowed to go behind his best friend's back just this once, right?
Sure, Naruto will unleash hell and fury upon him if he finds out, but...
I mean, come on! You're old enough to make your own decisions in life. He's tired of only liking your cute selfies and never sliding into your DMs, because Naruto gets upset everytime he sees him double-tap the damn posts. It's his birthday, for crying out loud!
And it's not just any birthday. This year, Kiba has finally allowed himself to wish for you; hence why you're here in the first place. 
So, it's the fact that it's just you and him inside the little kitchen that matters most to him, no matter that you're surrounded by other individuals who he can't bring himself to care about in that moment. Honestly, with so many people around, Kiba is slightly surprised that he's the only one you seem to endure the company of tonight.
After all, he had waited for an hour or so before leaving his friends to go look for you instead, giving you plenty of time to mingle. When he at long last found you behind the kitchen counter, mixing yourself a drink, completely alone and not talking to anybody, it was like yet another birthday present amongst many.
The realization that you're actually standing in front of him and he's seeing you properly after years of nothing is making his heart feel all kinds of weird. He's been crushing on you ever since he was a little kid, but that's long gone. 
He's a man now - a man that's still undeniably crushing on you, but still...
All he has left to do as an infatuated man, now; is to score. It's a parlous task, however Kiba is willing to take the risk. 
He's thought long and hard about this. Has taken safety precautions. The people he invited have no fucking clue who you are, or are far too intoxicated and high to remember whose baby sister exactly he's beginning to hit on. The sister, mind you, whose annoyingly protective older brother is nowhere to be seen, because Kiba had made sure to invite his friend Hinata from college, so that she'd keep the damn cockblocker busy while he kicks up the charm.
But you don't know anything about his wicked plan. You just see his smile, and assume he's being nice to you because a circuit inside that little, male brain of his must have glitched, or whatever.
He's telling you something, but you can barely hear him over the booming music and equally as loud chatter. The brown-haired Inuzuka seems to own an entire army of friends, however is that really a surprise, considering how damn affable he is?
His mouth moves in the most peculiar way when he grins, upper lip pink and plump as it pulls back on his teeth; as well as slightly glossy from the shot he's just finished. The two incisors he owns are way sharper than whatever you've seen on any other human. They glint in the dim light, causing your pulse to quicken.
"Hey," you hear him drawl seemingly from miles away, "you doin' okay there?"
You feel your nose scrunch up when he snaps his fingers in front of your face all of a sudden. Catching gazes with the fierce amber, you feel like the silliest of fools.
You've successfully zoned out, thinking about his stupid mouth, and Kiba is staring at you now; studying you like you're a goddamn enigma he seems surprisingly eager to solve.
His eyes are enticing just like his mouth. The realization that you've been caught ogling at his lovely smile makes heat radiate through your chest. You swear that you can feel your heart hurting from the sheer and utter embarrassment.
Jittery nerves propel your adrenaline levels, your grip around the cup which you're still holding in your hand, tightening in response.
The tips of your fingers feel somewhat numb from all the alcohol you've indulged yourself in. You're not entirely sure if that's a good thing or not.
"y/n," he says your name, waving a hand in front of your face again.
"Wha-... Sorry, what?" you manage lamely.
The second heatwave of humiliation to hit you in that moment isn't exactly helping in sobering you up, but that's not the plan anyway. It's just annoying that you can't seem to focus.
Kiba snickers at your obvious discomfort, just like he did when he was a kid. "Somebody can't handle their booze?"
The frown you portray is subtle and pouty. "I'm just tired."
"Mhmmm," he hums exaggeratedly, nodding, "of course you are."
You can't believe you used to have a crush on a taunting prick like him. The sigh you loose is exasperated as you point to the solo cup he's just handed you. "What's in this?"
"What?" He quirks one dark brow before leaning in slightly so that he can hear you better.
His cologne invades your nose in an instant. Kiba smells like rain and cedarwood; heavy, balsamic notes that remind you of a forest that's wrapped in a blanket of thick fog and moss, all of it coated in a layer of cool morning dew.
The pleasant scent titillates your senses to the point where it makes you want to cling onto the white t-shirt he's wearing, so that you'd be able to bury your face into the crook of his neck. 
Pause. It's Kiba we're talking about here. Idiot Kiba, who forgot to tie his shoes before he went on a roller coaster when he was nine, and sent them flying away in the middle of the ride.
Kiba, who chugged milk straight from the carton and laughed so hard it spurted out his nose when you told him how gross he was. Kiba, who kept picking up spiders and other nasty bugs, and then ran after you, threatening you he'll drop them into your hair as you squealed and cried.
The thought of sin that had crossed your mind nearly makes you cringe away from him at the other memories to otherwise flood your brain as if in argument. How embarrassing for you!
Blinking, you instantly hang blame upon the alcohol that's coursing your veins, and obviously clouding your better judgement. He's your brother's best friend, after all - one who you've known since diapers and that's been seen as nothing but a menace in your eyes ever since.
It'd be gross to think like that about Kiba of all people, wouldn't it?
... Wouldn't it?
Partially satisfied with your reasoning, you grumble and curl your fingers around the unbuttoned front of the flannel he's wearing over the white t-shirt, so that you can pull him closer.
He's compliant as he leans in, but what you fail to notice, however, is that his hand rests against the kitchen counter at the tug; trapping you in-between the cool marble and his body. Caging you right in.
The sleeves of his flannel are rolled up to his elbows. You can't help but glance at the defined knuckles and flexible digits. His forearm is tan and covered in dark hair, but you can still see a small fraction of the thin, white scar he's acquired when he fell off his skateboard when he was seven, and that's now hiding underneath the rather familiar forest green, vowen bracelet he's been wearing since forever.
Back then, it would have been either a sprained wrist, or a head-on collision with you when you had swerved in front of him on your little, bright pink rollerblades just as he had picked up speed on the damned board.
Luckily for you; Kiba had chosen the former.
Come to think of it, he always chose you over his own well-being. He fussed about it, of course, but he nonetheless picked your safety first.
You're not entirely sure why you even remember such a thing; even less why it makes your heart flutter. But you're not one to dwell on it.
Stepping onto the tips of your toes, your mouth is right next to his ear as you raise your voice and repeat the question, "I was asking what's in the cup?"
"It's just soda, pipsqueak," Kiba says, the rasp of his voice laced with laughter as he adds, "it'll help in getting rid of the taste of booze that you can't seem to endure."
Both of your brows shoot up in mild astonishment at the blatant taunt. "Excuse me?"
He smiles down at you once more. "What?"
Your eyes dip to his smile again. There you go, staring at his mouth for a second time in the mere span of five minutes. Making him notice. Stupid, stupid, stupid! 
Your voice shakes slightly as you utter, "Don't you think you're a bit too old to keep teasing me, Kiba?"
"Hmm?" His eyes glimmer with profound mischief when he says, "I always thought you'd be the kind of girl that'd enjoy a little bit of teasing."
Heat creeps up your neck at the hint. He's obviously drunk, but so are you, because now you're smirking as you reply, "It completely depends on the occasion."
"Yeah?" He seems completely invested, impatient fingers tapping against the marble of the counter as he towers over you. "What kind of occasion, exactly?"
You can't resist an eye roll. "Wouldn't you like to know?"
"Oh, I'd like to know, all right. Very much so."
The giggle you weave into the tease is innocently cute, "Sorry, but I don't kiss and tell." It's all fun and games, right? No harm done.
He's quick to turn it into his favour. "Mind making an exception for me?"
"For which one, exactly," you quip in an instant, "the kiss, or the tell part?"
"Why, you little-... Hah." His lips part, revealing the perfect, straight row of teeth again as he laughs quietly at your jab.
The beam itself is crooked and appealing, and it's in that exact moment that you realize how close he actually is as he stands next to you. How his gaze burns like a forge as it focuses solely on you, and how anyone walking past could take it the wrong way as you push back against the counter and he leans in even further, like it's his fucking instinct to follow after you.
Wait. Are you actually flirting with him right now?
You pray to every God you know that Naruto doesn't come searching for you. If he were to find you like this, your brother might just tear you to shreds for messing with his best friend of all people. Might rip Kiba apart for allowing it in the first place, too.
But in all seriousness; are you just messing around with him? Or do you actually want to initiate something with your brother's best friend, who, at long last, is giving you the attention you've wished for ever since you were thirteen? Or perhaps it is just the booze taking control of your actions?
The edge of the counter bites into the small of your back with the movement as you pull back. Kiba's digits tap against the marble again. He trails his eyes all over you - up and down. Like a proper bastard.
His arm is so close to your side that you can feel his body heat pour into you, even though you're not making any sort of physical contact ever since your hand had left his flannel. The feeling is overwhelming, to say the least. You can't believe you're actually growing flustered around an idiot like Kiba, for fuck's sake.
The daze you feel is the reason why the best you can do is stare at his chest now, which is so wide that you're wondering how big his goddamn ribcage must be. His heart definitely beats like a war drum; you're sure of it.
Before you can hesitate, the curiosity you feel makes you press your palm against the middle of his chest. Not a moment passes, and there it is - the strong, steady heartbeat you've expected to feel; grazing your finger pads, and making your own pulse skyrocket. 
"Anyways," you pat his firm chest, trying to seem as nonchalant as possible while placing the cup of soda onto the counter, "I can handle it just fine, Kib."
"Sweetheart," Kiba utters, the grin on his face growing even wider, "I'm not entirely sure you can."
Your gaze lifts as you look at him underneath your eyelashes. His face owns a reddish tint to it now; both cheeks blooming with heat which you're guessing is there because of the alcohol.
His eyes seem glossy, the stare heavy-lidded and complacent, but most importantly - unmoving from your own.
Your nerves are firing up all at once at the intense eye contact. Pressure climbs up your throat, making your chest tighten with blazing-hot tension. Your mind is running all over the place, turning you incapable of concentrating. 
The suspense makes you falter as you peel your eyes away from him. It turns you into a coward, because now you're completely changing the subject, "Nice bracelet."
Kiba on the other hand, seems to be holding his ground. His voice is smooth as velvet as he tucks a strand of your hair behind your ear and says, "As far as I remember, you've bought it for me at the beach years ago."
Hyper-awareness flashes throughout you at his touch, making you tongue-tangled with the jumble of words you let out, "Yeah, 'cause you wouldn't stop bitching about how I lost your stupid Spider-Man towel, and I had to make it up to you somehow."
"First of all, it wasn't stupid. And second," he chuckles as he curls the same strand of hair around his finger and tugs it lightly to provoke you further, "it was an Iron Man one. Please educate yourself before you come for me, cutie."
Your pulse is racing now. "Cutie?"
Kiba blinks. His knuckle brushes your cheekbone and it's like a tingling, nearly electrical jolt that surges through him at the accidental touch in that exact moment.
He pulls back, leaving the part of skin he touched burning in his wake. "I'm sorry. I didn't-... I didn't mean it like that. Fuck, hah."
His laughter is somewhat nervous now, and to be honest, you've never seen him act this hesitant before. The Kiba you know had always been nothing but smug in every single aspect, but at the same time, you barely know the current Kiba.
You haven't talked in years, after all - not properly, at least, which is why this entire interaction is so freaking odd in the first place. You wish you had some sort of power to know what on earth is going on inside that pretty head of his.
Based from experience gained from spending so many years in his company, you're guessing not much is happening inside that thick skull, but you'd kill to know the reason as to why he's invited you to his birthday party at all.
What has changed? Why was he searching the house for you, specifically, pretty much ignoring all the people he had invited, and why has he decided to spend the rest of the night in your presence, instead of anyone else's?
It seems that no matter how simple his mind may be, Kiba is - much to your dismay - the true enigma here.
Great.
"Ugh, I'm sorry," he repeats when you don't say anything in return, running a frustrated hand through his chestnut hair, "I think I'm just really wasted and saying shit I don't mean, 'cause of it."
In truth, he just wants to see if you'll bite into the bait he's setting up for you. If you'll play, and allow him to yank you right into his greedy hands.
You must be wasted, too, because now you're looking him right in the eye, saying, "It's all right, Kib. I liked it."
You just can't help yourself. Tonight is the first time in your life that you're seeing him this defenseless. That you're able to tug and pull on his strings, and play with him like he's a shiny, new toy that you can't wait to mess with. The opportunity is simply too good to miss out on.
If only you knew.
The atmosphere changes yet again at the words you've just spoken out loud, God have mercy on your soul. Something sticky and morally questionable settles right between you.
The tension is making your mouth dry. You're both circling now; unsure and waiting to see who is willing to take the first step towards the reason behind your uncertainty.
"You liked it," he mumbles at long last, unable to look at you properly, "the pet name?"
"Mhmm, I think it's cute." The smile you offer him is as cunning as one of a fox - pure vixen. Kiba doesn't understand why, but something about your face brightening up and the way the sheen of your lip gloss catches light tempts him; makes him tilt his head to the side and take you in unashamedly this time around.
He's outright leering at you now, studying you from head to toe, and taking in the pretty skirt and tight top, without trying to hide his interest like he's been doing for the past hour and a half.
You might own the smile of a fox, being an Uzumaki and all that, but when his amber eyes darken with shadows you can't quite read, you realize that he's the hound that's just about ready to start hunting you down.
His bottom lip is tucked underneath the same teeth that are now chewing the tender flesh from deeply pondering a thought which you'll never get the pleasure of knowing.
Kiba steps from one foot to another, loosing a huffed chuckle before he looks you in the eye again; seemingly satisfied with his conclusion.
Time to go all-in.
"You know," he says, voice wary, "I've got loads of other stuff from way back when we were kids, saved in a box upstairs, if you wanna check it out?"
He pauses for a second as his head whips to the side. He looks over his shoulder, and you can see him scan the room quickly; searching for something, or rather someone, before he turns back towards you and adds, "It's, uh... It's up in my room."
You quirk a brow at the suggestion. "You want to take me up to your room?"
Is he seriously asking what you think he is?
"Yeah," he says a bit more confidently now, scratching the back of his neck. His face is red as he mutters, "But only if you want to, of course."
"Hmm." You spend two or three seconds pretending that you're thinking it over just to see him fidget and squirm a bit more, before you at long last give him a slow nod of your head, "Sure, I guess."
Kiba seems relieved, until: "Though, I should probably go tell Naruto, so that he knows where I am."
Pushing from the counter, you dust off the imaginary lint from your cute skirt, however before you can even look up at him, his hand is back to pressing against the marble; blocking your path.
It seems that you aren't going anywhere.
Kiba's eyes are dark and glazed, the iridescent flecks of gold lazily swirling inside the liquid amber whenever the light catches the irises just right. He's looking down at you with a furrowed brow and an expression that's pretty bitter, unlike his honey eyes, but you only realize that he can't stop staring at your mouth when he says, "Maybe we shouldn't tell Naruto about where we're goin', sweetheart."
You aren't stupid. You know that the words have a deeper meaning. And now, you have yet another reason for your hunch to be proven right on why he doesn't want your brother to find out where you're going with him. Still, you push his limit, feeling him out, "And why is that?"
"He's probably busy." His voice is firm as he looks down at you when you flutter your eyelashes up at him. Perhaps it even owns a certain edge of frustration to it.
You sound like a bimbo when you reply, "Ah, I see."
You stare at each other as you feel the buzz of tension to sear your skin in mind-numbing waves. They're hitting against you both like you're cliffs that are constantly being kissed by the rowdy sea.
You can almost taste the anticipation of what's to come. Meanwhile, Kiba can nearly taste your saliva mixing with his own.
All he wants to do is kiss you. Kiss you, until you won't be able to feel your mouth anymore from how hot his tongue is to stroke yours and scorch you.
He's been imagining how it'd be like to kiss that pouty mouth ever since he was fourteen. And now - at twenty-two - he wants to know just as bad.
"Well?" he utters, impatience peeking through the mask he's put on ever since you've shown up at his front door.
"Chill, you idiot," you giggle finally, nodding again, "I won't tell Naruto if you don't want me to."
It'll be our little secret.
Relief washes over him yet again. He smirks as he moves at your compliance, offering you his hand like those cocky gentlemen in the films you're an absolute sucker for. "Well, shall we, then?"
The action is so cheesy and sweet, that you don't even hesitate to place your palm upon his own, not realizing the consequences of your decision in that moment. 
His grip is tight and possessive in all the right ways. You can't remember the last time you've held hands with him, but it certainly didn't feel like this.
"Lead the way, Kib."
And so, Kiba does.
---
"Christ, I haven't been up here in forever."
"And yet, you seem to have made yourself quite at home."
You turn to look at him from your spot on his bed you've just plopped down and made yourself comfortable on. His childhood bedroom is a bit different than what you saw the last time you were here, but what exactly has changed?
The bed is certainly bigger, as well as the wardrobe that stands in one corner opposite from where you're currently sitting. All of the furniture is made out of rich oak, exactly like most of the house; as well as the desk that's covered in random clutter, mostly consisting of notebooks, bright highlighters and sticky notes, which he must have brought home from college.
The movie posters to adorn the walls are still there, and somehow compliment the cosy aesthetic of his space. You spot the fluffy-looking dog bed that's set-up right next to his desk. It's empty.
"Is Akamaru with your mom?"
"Yeah, they won't be back until tomorrow evening," Kiba replies, closing the door, "now stop snooping through my stuff, will ya?"
"Uh, it's called looking around? Who said I was snooping?" The scoff you let out in answer is nothing short from derisive as you say, "And besides, it's not like there'd be anything new to find... Not much has changed; seeing that your room is still as messy as it was when you were ten."
"It ain't that messy," he retaliates, fingers wrapping around the key that's secured in the lock. He stands next to the door for a couple of seconds, making you stare at his back in puzzlement.
His voice is surprisingly quiet and soft when he speaks again, though thankfully you can still hear him over the muffled noise of music that's still being blasted downstairs, "By the way, uh... Do you mind if I lock the door?"
Oh?
The smirk which insists on curling the corners of your gloss-coated lips upwards is hard to hide. "Why would you lock it?"
He pauses again, body going still. You just know the gears within his head are turning at the speed of light. You can't help but wonder if it hurts him to think this much; this hard, when he says, "I don't want people getting the wrong idea."
Your reply is as swift as an arrow: "Don't you think locking the door would give them that exact idea in the first place, Kiba?"
For fuck's sake, you're too clever and witty for your own good; always have been. It's infuriating, but Kiba tames the tone of his voice into something sweeter by swallowing hard. "Let's hope not."
Before you can quip anything back at him, the lock clicks into place. Click! - your fate is sealed with his decision. God help you.
"Wow," you snort, shaking your head, "thanks for having the decency to at least ask me if I wanted the door locked, I suppose."
Kiba flashes you a playful, closed-eyed smile when he turns around and makes his way towards the wardrobe. You try to your best ability to not ogle at the way the flannel tightens around his broad shoulders and back when he raises his arms to pick up the box he's been telling you about.
Still, no matter how hard you try to look away, it seems to be literally impossible for you to quit glancing in his direction whenever the rippling muscle shifts underneath the cotton with every minuscule movement he makes.
The sports scholarship must have done him good, because he's fit and fucking fine as hell.
Though, not in the tall and lean way kind of fit, like he's been during most of his teenage years. No, as a proper adult, Kiba is appealingly vigorous and buff; owning strength you can't quite possibly imagine being unleashed upon your smaller frame.
He'd be able to crush you into a pulp if he ever wished to do so. To squeeze your throat until you'd be fighting against him, so that he'd allow air into your lungs. To hold you up without any sort of trouble as he'd fuck you against the goddamn wall.
You're not entirely sure if the knowledge of that last one thrills you, or instead frightens you right to the bone which he'd be able to break right in half anyway. Still, possibly scared or not, you might just start drooling at the sight of him.
You're looking at him like he's a piece of meat you'd like to chew on. How pathetic of you to be this shallow.
And how pathetic of him to be doing the exact same thing.
"Okay," he mumbles as he brings the box over and plops down onto the bed right next to you, "let's see what's in here."
Kiba flicks the lid off, the tiniest of smiles creeping up on his lips at the audible gasp you let out as soon as the items come into view.
The box is filled with seemingly completely random clutter, but after taking a closer look, you recognize the tiny sea-shells, the movie tickets, as well as all the postcards you've sent him. It's more than ten years of life - stuffed into a cardboard shoebox.
You spend the next half hour going through the box with him, reminiscing about memories that are both equally as sweet as they are nostalgic, sharing laughs and teasing each other as they bring you closer together; sewing up that gap of unfamiliarity between you with every passing second and exchanged relic.
Kiba's heart is fluttering with every drunken, tinkling giggle you're letting out, as well as the way your entire expression brightens because of him.
And he - the smitten, poor man that he is - just can't stop looking at you, because he's missed this. Talking to you, bringing those beaming smiles forth everytime he makes you laugh; just being in your warm presence, overall. Truth be told, he's missed all of it.
He's missed you.
"Can't believe you've kept all of this, Kib," you utter softly, reading the postcard you've sent him nearly nine years ago, "most of these literally make no sense. I'm just blabbering about my vacation, but in writing."
"I know. I suppose you could call me sentimental, eh?" He laughs quietly as he leans in and trails the tip of his finger over the scribbles you've written down when you were eleven. "But I always liked the lil' hearts you drew for me on every one."
"The hearts?"
"Yeah, look," he says as he pushes even closer to you, pointing to the corner of the postcard, "here's one. And... Another one."
His index finger brushes against your thumb when he points to the second doodle of a heart on the postcard you're still holding. He's sprawled on his side, supporting himself with one elbow and reclining so close to you, that you can smell his cologne all over again.
The scent clouds your mind for a second time that night. You're right back inside that rainy forest again; wishing to lie down onto the damp, moss-covered ground and just be fucking overtaken by the fog, until you'd feel the chill of its kiss on your neck.
The thought makes you drop the postcard somewhat absent-mindedly as you turn to look at him. He's much closer than you've realized, because as soon as you make eye contact; your faces are mere inches apart, the tips of your noses almost touching.
You can see all of his freckles this up-close, as well as the dimple in his cheek which shows up when one corner of his mouth tugs to the side. Something within you begins to glow when he looks at you so very warmly with those big, fierce amber eyes of his.
He makes you feel special with just one look alone. Unique. One of a kind.
"What is it, cutie?" His voice is barely above a whisper now.
"Nothing, I just," you mumble as heat sears your face at the pet name, "I think I must be very drunk right now, because I actually think you look super pretty up-close."
"Oh?" Kiba snickers at what you admit. "Why, thank you. Wish I could say the same for you, but you're kind of blurry for me right now."
"Ha ha, funny." You roll your eyes at him, shoving him away by pressing your palm against his chest. However, before you can even fully extend your arm to use more force, his fingers are wrapping around your wrist; tugging you closer in one swift movement.
He yanks you towards himself, until you're practically hovering above his face with your own. You're so close that you're sharing your breaths, staring into each other's eyes - both of your pupils dilating at the intimate closeness.
"I-I'm very drunk right now, Kiba," you repeat, cursing yourself internally for the stutter.
"As am I," he replies quietly, pushing your hand firmer against his chest. You can feel his rapid heartbeat right underneath the tips of your fingers again. The rhythmic sensation makes you gather up the cotton of his crisp, white t-shirt between your own digits as you clutch it tightly.
Your forehead presses against his own. You're almost breathless already, and he hasn't even kissed you. "This... This might not be a good idea."
"We haven't done anything," he utters in a hushed whisper, the hand that was just holding your wrist snaking up to caress your cheek. He trails the tip of his finger over your cheekbone, eyes glued to your mouth, "And we don't have to either, if that's not something you want."
The alcohol is pushing you to tell the truth. It's promising you that you'll feel better if you admit your feelings that have been there for ages. That the fear you feel is nothing compared to the relief that's to come.
"The problem is that I, uh... I do." You sigh, inching closer and closer, "I do want to."
Oh, god. Kiba's heart is just about ready to burst from joy at your answer. He feels nauseous from how overwhelmed all the feelings are making him. He just has to feel everything so strongly, doesn't he? It's amazing how he hasn't burned out yet, but he has to keep it together. Has to keep himself in check for you.
"Yeah?" His chuckle is dark in humour as he cups your cheek tighter, "You want me to kiss you?"
"Ye-... Yeah."
Kiba doesn't need anything else. His lips latch to your own as soon as you get the approval out, and the moment your mouths connect in panting, careful kisses that become hotter and hotter with passion with each one that follows after the other, it's everything you could have possibly wished for.
Kissing him is better than whatever you've imagined for all these years. He tugs on your bottom lip, spoils the upper one with affection, warms them both with his gentle sigh. You can't believe it took you this long to actually get to feel that plush mouth of his pressing against your own this softly, this tenderly.
Better late than never, you suppose.
He pulls back after a while, taking a deep, shaky breath. You're both chuckling quietly now, avoiding each other's eyes and not saying anything; too stunned to speak from the kiss you've just shared. His face is gaining the colour of a red tomato. He just likes you so much.
"Fuck, that was..." He's quiet for a moment, shaking his head with a grin that owns the power to bring you to your knees as he says, "Can I, uh... Can I kiss you again, maybe?"
"Yes," you barely let out, before his mouth is back upon your own.
His warm tongue strokes your bottom lip, silently asking for entrance. As soon as your lips part with a content sigh, he's pushing against you, tasting and gliding over every crevice within your sweet mouth, as well as the roof of it - tasting you for the very first time, and relishing you thoroughly because of it.
You can feel him forcing you into the mattress as the kisses flow between you and the tension you feel spreads through your entire body like a wildfire; until you're lying down on your side, and he's hovering above you exactly like you've done just a minute prior. 
He's more eager now; overtaking your mouth with his tongue and the quick, slightly painful prickles which burn whenever he sinks his teeth into your bottom lip. A small moan manages to slip past your mouth at the sensation when he tugs on your swollen lip that's long since lost all the gloss from how harsh your kissing is turning.
The sound of your mewl is so appealing that it makes him lazily part his eyelids, which are so heavy and hooded that he's barely keeping them open. Kiba watches you completely melt into the kiss he's been waiting to happen for literal ages. You look so sweet that he can barely control himself.
His chest feels like it's going to explode, and not from the lack of air, but from all the emotions he's feeling all at once again.
Your hands are running through his chestnut hair; entire body squirming and writhing when he trails his own palm down your side. He stops at the hem of your skirt, eager fingers twitching from anticipation as he asks, "Want me to touch you, too?"
Your voice is breathless as you whine, "Please."
"Look at you, asking so nicely." He snickers quietly, the smirk on his mouth tricksy, "Didn't know you had it in you."
And before you can even come up with a witty reply to his teasing, he's kissing you yet again, his warm hand grasping and squeezing the plush flesh of your thigh. His touch is greedy and possessive. It makes your core burn even hotter with wildish need.
His hand squeezes your thigh so harshly that it burns. You're gasping into his mouth in response to the ache, before he inches higher up to the inner part. The noises you're making as you're parting your legs to help him gain better access are adorable, and are also the reason why his dick keeps twitching inside his pants. He can feel the surge of warmth rushing to his groin. You're making him hard just by sound alone.
He keeps circling the spot where you need him most as he plays with you; testing your patience. He's so close but yet so far, making the tension within you build up to the point where you can feel your skin tightening over your bones because of it. 
"Kiba," you whisper, tugging on his hair to bring him closer, "st-stop messing around."
"Here?" His voice is nearly a gentle coo as he at long last rubs a digit over the damp spot of arousal on your pretty panties, completely disregarding your empty warning, "You want me to touch you here, cutie?"
"Mhmmm," you hum, dazed already from the sensation.
He taps the lace with a single rough fingertip, nearly making you purr from the way he's pressing against your clit over the fabric. "Take these off for me, then, pretty please?"
You don't have to be told twice. His request is so sweet that you're eager as ever as you reach underneath your skirt, hook your fingers around the waistband and tug the delicate lace down your legs.  
Kiba's hand finds you the second your panties hit the floor of his room. Your eyelids flutter at the contact, but you somehow force them to stay open, so that you can watch his smug smile as he trails a fingertip over your soaking pussy; gathering the arousal you've been trying to hide from him the entire night.
His voice is a rough whisper as he traces lazy circles over your throbbing clit, "So wet for me, huh? It seems like you haven't been touched in a while."
"It's been a lonely couple of months, yeah."
"That silly boyfriend of yours ain't around anymore, hmm?"
"We br-broke up."
"Good. I was growing tired of seeing his stupid face on your Insta all the time."
All you can do is nod as you stare up at him, your bottom lip tucked underneath your teeth. With one side of his face splashed in the soft glow of the light coming from the desk lamp that's positioned on the other end of the room, Kiba looks absolutely stunning.
His amber eyes shine golden when your leg hooks around his hip, so that you can give more space to that big hand of his as he pleasures you.
He keeps toying with you, rubbing your clit in soft circles that give you just enough friction to make your legs shake, and for your pussy to clench around nothing. The desire to be filled up by him is making you foam at the mouth. You're on the verge of going completely feral.
"Kiba, c'mooon," you whine, "I thought I've told you to stop mes- Fuck...! Oh, god."
"Hm? What was that?" His words are a lazy drawl as he now starts to pump two fingers inside you, stroking your hot, sensitive walls, "Did you say something, sweetheart?"
You're tugging on his hair so harshly that it makes him hiss as you try to fuck yourself on his fingers, "Holy shit, that feels so good."
"Needy," he mumbles quietly, his thumb still stroking your clit. He curls his fingers and forces himself even deeper inside you, until you can feel the brush of knuckles against your walls. Despite your hushed pleas to go faster, he keeps the languorous pace; sending your mind into absolute overdrive. 
Your hands are clumsy as they slide down his chest and dip to his belt buckle. You're growing frustrated from being such a klutz, until you at long last hear that satisfying click! as you unbuckle his belt on your third attempt. Quickly undoing the button and zipper of his jeans, you're eager to finally slip your hand into his black boxer briefs.
You stroke him over the fabric first. He pushes against you in an instant; chasing that extra friction as you try to cup and fondle as much as you can. You could have sworn that you feel him twitch as his breathing picks up its speed.
You're both looking down now, staring at your hands that are exploring each other's bodies.
The groan to leave the back of his throat makes you feel absolutely primal as you use one hand to tug the boxers down just enough for his cock to push free from the tight confines of his clothes, and the other to stroke him properly this time around.
The gasp to leave your lips is as astonished as your gawking. You've been wondering how he looked like underneath all those layers ever since you were fifteen and had gotten that first wave of hormones flooding your brain.
And as you're ogling at him so blatantly now, eyeing his throbbing cock and the pre-cum that's leaking out the tip, you realize that his size could best be described as nerve-wracking.
Your fingers are hesitant to wrap around him properly because of how tiny your hand looks compared to his dick, and yet you still do it anyway. Kiba's hand clamps around your own the moment you make contact, forcing you to tighten your grip and start pumping.
"Fuck," he whispers, eyes dark and murky at the touch, "that feels so good."
He's copied you word for word.
"Aha," you utter nervously, feeling him pick up his pace, "so, so good, Kib."
He feels big in your hand, the surge of blood making his dick so hard and throbbing that you're worried how on earth you'll make him fit if things actually escalate in that direction. If he doesn't calm down, he might just tear you apart with his cock.
The handjob you're giving him is as sloppy as the kisses you're sharing while he fingers you. It's so intimate and overwhelming; the way you're pushing against one another, writhing on his bed so much that you're both starting to sweat. 
"Wanna fuck you," he groans into your mouth at some point, his words nearly incoherent from the way you're gliding your tongue along his front teeth, "wanna fuck you so bad, cutie."
"Do it," you gasp when he applies more pressure to the sensitive bundle of nerves that makes you squirm against him. The need you feel comes first before the nervosity. You'll deal with your wrecked insides after he fucks you silly.
"Yeah?" he murmurs softly, kissing your jawline when your head tips back from the pleasure, "You'll let me fill up that cute pussy of yours?"
Heat crawls up your neck at his question and your answer, "Yeah."
He quickens his pace. "Pound it, too?"
"Yes...!"
Kiba lets out a short, huffed laugh at your enthusiasm before he presses a messy smooch right against your panting mouth. The sound echoes throughout the bedroom, making you giggle in reply. His face is so red. You doubt that it's from the alcohol now.
Thick fingers leave you slowly, rubbing the sweet arousal all over your inner-thighs and clit as he says, "Turn around for me."
You're worse than an obedient slut, or a feral bitch in heat from how happily you follow his orders. As soon as your back is turned towards him, your gaze falls upon the mirror of the wardrobe that's right opposite you.
The sight of your body as it twists and recoils on top of the bed sheets is a pitiful one, but it's quickly obscured by the fluttering of your eyelashes as soon as you feel him rub his cock over your dripping heat.
His mouth is right next to your ear when he whispers, "You on the pill?"
"Mhmm."
"Okay," he says, kissing your neck lovingly. You can feel the graze of his sharp canines slide across your pulse point when he adds, "gonna fuck you raw, then. Nice and slow, to really savour the feeling of that lil' cunt."
You're arching your back in response, pushing your ass towards his hips while your spine is pressing flush against his heaving chest.
Kiba slowly aligns himself with your sopping, tight hole. Now, your whimper is more of a cry than a moan as he begins to stretch you out with every inch he's leisurely pushing into your warmth. Even he's surprised that he's patient enough to be this gentle, but he just cares for you so much.
Your upper lip quivers as tears brim your eyes from the burn to sear through you. His forearm flexes as it tightens around your middle to keep you from outright running away from him. The shifting of muscles you see in the mirror as his grip turns tenacious is a welcome distraction.
"You're taking it so well, cutie," he encourages you delicately, using every chance to push himself in deeper, "you gonna keep taking my cock, right? Gonna keep being good for me?"
You can't form words, so you only nod as he keeps forcing himself further and further between your walls, sighing at the friction and the tight, wet warmth to surround him. You're on the cusp of crying by the time he at long last bottoms out within you, groaning at the sensation of being balls deep inside your soaking cunt.
"Fuck," he curses, breathing quick, "I've wanted to do that since I was seventeen."
"Kiba," you whine his name out, arching your back again, "it-it's too much...!"
It really is. He's taking over your entire capacity, and you feel like you're about to burst.
"Nu-uh," he smirks, not taking no for an answer as he kisses your temple, "you just need a lil' time to get used to it. Imma stretch you out real nice, sweetheart. We're gonna have so much fun."
Your fingers tighten their grip on the bed sheet, until you're literally clawing at it when he pulls his hips back and slams them right back into you with a lewd squelching noise and a smack!
"Oh, god!" Your eyes are sent rolling into the back of your head when he does it again. And again.
"No god here, 's just me," he laughs quietly, gaining a steady rhythm when it comes to destroying your insides. You're leaking milky arousal right down to the hilt of his dick as he keeps slamming home into you, making you cry out profanities every two seconds or so.
The noises you're both making mix with your heavy breathing and the sound of muffled music that's still thundering downstairs without stop. You're both so invested into each other that neither you nor him can recognize the song that's playing in that exact moment. All that matters are his grunts and your soft moans. As well as the friction. Holy fuck, the friction.
"You're a sucker for this, aren't you?" He pants into your ear, ramming himself into you with even more force, "You love the way my cock fills up your cute cunt, and how it hurts when I make you take it; all of it."
"I do," you sob out, face contorting from the intense pleasure, "I lo-love it so much...!"
"Fuck yeah, you do, cutie," he grits out, teeth clenched, "fuck yeah, you do."
You can't see his face in the mirror, but just the sight of his big, rough hands roaming your front; greedily lifting your top until your bra is exposed, and groping at your tits without any kind of respect is enough to make you want to scream his name until the entire house could hear.
Luckily for you, he chokes you before you can do it, though the desire is still there. He's making you feel that good.
So good, in fact, that the heat in the pit of your stomach is becoming unbearable. You're on the verge of erupting into pure bliss from the mind-shattering orgasm that's coming up; lingering just around the corner. There'll be nothing left of you if he keeps this up. He'll make you blaze, until you're nothing but ash.
"S-So close," you manage through shallow breaths because he's barely allowing you to breathe while you're rolling your hips against his own for that extra push, "please, please, fucking please."
"Already?" He laughs at your fucked out state as his expert digits hook around your thigh. Lifting your leg without warning, the pressure within your core swells and grows bigger and bigger. His fingers dig into the back of the plush flesh before he trails them upwards; aiming them for your clit again.
"Kiba," you gasp his name once more, feeling his grip around your throat tighten in response as he pulls you even closer to his chest, "fuck, please, I-... Need it...! Need to cum so bad."
"I thought you said you liked to be teased a little?" 
"Just do it, god fucking damn!"
"All right, all right!" He chuckles lowly, "So impatient, damn... Keep your leg up for me."
The moment his rough finger pads make contact with your demanding clit, your entire body spasms in his tight hold, fire licking at your skin with ferocious hunger. You can see it all in the mirror, the way the veins atop his tan skin protrude as he applies the pressure you need to become undone in the end.
"Ri-Right there. Fuck, yes...!" Your whispers are a trembling jumble of moans and whimpers. Kiba is chuckling quietly, his smile pressing against the back of your head as he keeps fucking you; keeps slamming you into goddamn oblivion. You're delicate like glass, but he sure as hell isn't going to handle you that way.
"Yeah?" He drawls tiredly, blushing at the lewd, wet sounds your lovemaking is producing. You're so wet that he's mesmerized in a way. Never before had a girl been this excited to have him. It's like a present. "Like this, baby?"
"Mhmm, like that."
"Gonna cum for me?"
"Wanna, yeah. So bad."
His laughter warms your very soul. "You're such a slu-"
"Kiba!" The sudden knock to come from the door makes you both stiffen, bodies turning rigid at the suspense of what's going to happen next. Your heart is pounding inside your ribcage, because the voice you've just heard sounds familiar. Especially when it says: "Yo, Kiba! You in there?"
Naruto.
The hushed exclamation of panic to leave you is quickly stifled by Kiba's palm that covers your mouth in a movement that's faster than lightning. He's panting now, leaning into your ear, going, "Shh, shh, shh. Keep quiet."
All you do to reply is make a muffled noise, fingers curling around his arm that's still keeping busy between your legs. He's never stopped fucking you; even whilst your brother is standing right on the other side of the door.
You're lucky Kiba had decided to lock it, because now you can hear the sound of the handle as Naruto tries it.
"Kiba," your sibling repeats, knocking again, "hellooo?"
The irritation to lace Kiba's voice is so profound that it sets your teeth on edge as he shouts, "What? I'm busy, man!"
"Busy? With what?"
"Fucking your sister."
Holy fucking hell.
Your eyes widen in shock, another muffled noise escaping your lips as you twist and turn to fight back against the tight grip he holds you in, but Kiba refuses to let you go. He fights right back, using his weight to press you flush against the mattress as he makes you roll onto your stomach.
His hands wrap around your wrists, shoving them both into the pillow to keep you from thrashing on top of his bed.
The moment he pushes his cock all the way into your warmth again, you go completely still. The new, deeper angle makes your breath stagger in the back of your throat. It takes all you have within you to not moan as loudly as you can as you try to crawl towards the headboard of the bed to pull yourself up.
He just can't stop fucking you, unable to release you from the cage his body has created around you. He's been waiting for too long; daydreamed and fantasized about this exact moment far too much to just allow Naruto to cockblock him yet again. He wants to see this entire thing to its end. Wants to see you cream on his dick, and to kiss you right after.
"You idiot," you cry out into the pillow, "why'd you tell him that?"
"Stop squirmin' around," he whispers, pressing a kiss to your shoulder, "you wouldn't want your big brother to hear us, now would you? And besides, it's not like that moron is ever gonna take it seriously."
"Ha, wow, you're so funny!" Naruto snorts in that exact moment, his voice the epitome of intoxication and proving Kiba right, "Speaking of y/n: do you know where she is? It's been a while since I've last seen her."
"I dunno, I think she left early to go hang out with her friend, or some shit," Kiba replies, eyeing your writhing body underneath him with a smirk as he keeps pushing, and pushing, and pushing until it hurts, "now quit nagging me, will ya? You're annoying as fuck, and I don't really care where your sister is."
He's a good liar, at least. And a mean one, too.
When you whip your head to the side to look up at him, he's shaking his own head no, leaning in quickly to kiss your cheek.
"Didn't mean any of that," he whispers into your ear, peppering soft kisses to the corner of your jaw, "don't be angry with me."
All you do is roll your eyes and lift your ass up higher into the air by arching your back. Kiba chuckles at the sinful portrayal of truce between you, biting back a groan when he burrows himself so deep inside you that he's kissing your cervix with every thrust.
You're so close that your toes are curling in on themselves. As he picks up his pace again, trying to make it as silent as he can, you're biting into the pillow, squeezing your eyes shut from the euphoria to start overtaking you.
Kiba can feel your walls clenching around him; can feel them spasming and pulsating around his cock as your pretty cunt tries to milk him dry - tries to force the cum right out of him. 
You look fucking beautiful like this; panting and drooling on his pillowcase as you attempt to stay quiet. It just makes him torture you even more. Especially when his fingers find your clit again.
You're clenching around him so hard that it nearly hurts as he strokes, pinches and spoils your sensitivity with his rough touch. He's completely dazzled from how well you're taking him. And as for you: all you can feel is his hand as it covers your mouth again just to be safe the moment before you're finally pushed over the edge.
And then, you're falling. Falling into true, utter bliss that only some good, ferocious pounding can bring.
He fucks you like an animal throughout your entire high, never once stopping in slamming home and torturing that sweet, sensitive spot deep within you - not even as your entire body shakes when you gush milky slick all over his cock and make it drip onto the bed sheet. It spurts and stains your inner-thighs; makes it even easier for him to abuse your cute pussy from how slick it is now.
"Ki-Kiba."
"Holy fuck, cutie," Kiba whispers, caressing your cheek lovingly as he keeps pounding; drilling into you, "you're so hot."
"Kiba!" Naruto shouts in that moment.
"What?!"
"Christ, man... Don't gotta be so grumpy all the time." He sighs, "Did she tell you which friend she was going with?"
Kiba looks down at you again, trying not to pay mind to just how fucking gorgeous you look with your skirt hiked up around your waist and sweat glimmering on your skin as you keep bouncing on top of the mattress everytime he pounds into you. His tongue flicks over the side of your neck as he murmurs, "Sweetheart?"
Your pupils are dilating inside your glazed irises when you look up at him. You're completely dazed from the high you've just experienced. Goddamn, he fucks like other men can only dream about fucking. He's worse than a beast. More insatiable than Greed itself. "Mm, Tenten... Tell him it's Tenten. She'll cover for me."
He grins at the lie before he calls out, "I think it was some chick called Tenten."
Naruto's reply is quick. "Ah, okay! That fits."
"Go away now, stupid!"
"Yeah, yeah! Going away now, you fuckin' grouch!"
You're both silent for a couple of seconds as you wait for Naruto to leave you alone before you finally allow yourself to giggle quietly.
Kiba joins in a moment later, snickering against your shoulder. He rests his forehead upon it and sighs. You can feel the layer of sweat sticking to his skin. He's completely drenched in salt, and so are you. Must be the clothes you were both far too impatient to take off.
"Fuckin' hell," he mutters quietly as you flip onto your back and wrap your legs around his waist with a sheepish grin, "he's always trying to cockblock me when it comes to you, I swear. Even without knowing it."
Your brow quirks in wicked amusement. "Oh? You've tried to hit on me before?"
Colour blooms on his tan face when he looks down at you and leans in to kiss you again. His arms are on both sides of your head as he looms above you. He's so big and bulky that he overtakes you completely. It makes you feel safe, instead of threatened.
There's just something peculiar seeing this completely new, unexplored side of him after knowing him for years. It's thrilling.
"I've wanted to text you and ask you out so many times," he mumbles, unsure if it's the alcohol talking or his heart, "I've been crushin' on you since I was a kid, but, uh... I was Naruto's friend first, ya know...? I didn't wanna make it weird between us."
"I get it, Kib." The tips of your noses are touching before he tilts his head to the side and kisses you again - this time deeply, slowly; sensually. The way he moves now is intimate and it means something deeper than it did before. You're both rocking alongside each other, trying to match each other's pleasantly laggard pace.
"Do you," he mumbles, staring down at you through hooded, heavy eyelids, "get it?"
"Yeah," you sigh, your own eyelids fluttering at the pleasant sensation of being so full, "I've been crushing on you for years, too."
"Ha, knew it."
"Don't laugh, now."
"Okay, okay."
The deep, raspy grunts to leave his mouth mix with your breathless gasps and quiet whimpers. Especially when he lifts your leg and places it on top of his shoulder, so that he can brand your fucking soul with his mark.
You're clawing at his damp t-shirt, trying to gain hold of him as much as you possibly can, so that you can keep him as close as he lets you. 
"You're so fuckin' pretty, y/n."
"You're pretty, too."
"Can't call me handsome?"
"No."
The bashful chuckles to leave both of your mouths fade into silence when you kiss again, tongues tangling into something more gentle and sincere. He's so close to you that all you can breathe in is him. He makes you glow from within yet again; like your heart is being submerged in liquid sunshine.
You've missed him so much. He's been the one for all this time, after all.
"Fuck, that's it."
"Mm, yeah... So good."
"Gonna-... Gonna cum soon."
The headboard of the bed starts to slam against the wall as Kiba picks up his pace, every thrust becoming quick and hard when he at long last allows himself to reach his finish. His brow furrows when your panting mouth latches to his own hungrily, swallowing the groan he lets out as the heat to build up within his lower stomach finally spills right into your goddamn womb in the form of thick, warm ropes of cum that paint your walls entirely white.
His entire body feels like it's on fire. The release is as heavenly as was the build-up.
You follow a fraction of a second later, writhing underneath him in your own high as you cling onto him, leaking a mixture of your own juices of pleasure and his seed. It's messy, and hot, and so fucking overwhelming that you both feel slightly dizzy as you try to breathe in as much air as possible.
You're both soaked in sweat, but he still holds you so tightly that it hurts while you're both losing yourselves in each other, and you don't mind at all that your bones are nearly breaking in half as he keeps whispering sweet praises into your ear; telling you how good it feels, how goddamn proud he is of you.
"Such a good girl," he murmurs as he kisses you again and again, "such a pretty, clever girl."
You're still absolutely dazed, cunt clenching around him in attempt to gather every last drop of his warm cum, head tipped back in complete ecstasy as he's kissing your jaw. 
You can't move. He's fucked you stupid, so it's no wonder that your only, rather brainless, response is:
"Happy birthday, Kiba."
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veryblazedreamland · 2 years
Text
okay first of all, I like to see such reactions from another ship because I can see their side. But I'm sorry I can't help but laugh every time I read a post like this.
@animegirls-love
You expressed your opinion and therefore here's mine. This is gonna be a long one but I still have so much to say.
the worse is that you are ignoring the fact that Sakura abused Naruto. Or have you forgotten the her very first appearance is her hitting Naruto and later insulting the fact he has no parents.
You said I ignored that Sakura "abused" Naruto? If you watched other anime you'll mostly see female leads doing something like your so-called abuse to the mc. It's not abuse, it's a typical tsundere dynamic as well as comic relief that's popular in japan. If it's really abuse, Naruto should've hated her by then and stopped pursuing her. “Oh that’s because he’s just a kid” And so is Sakura. The thing that you said that on her first appearance she hit him (Manga: Chapter 3)? You have to get your eyes checked. Also the issue about her saying that he has no parents. Why don’t you look at it again —In the manga, not the anime because the studio did her dirty and observe carefully. And if you keep on insisting that it was her who said that, may I say that she’s a 12 year old kid and was influenced by her parents like most kids in Konoha. Moreover, in the manga Sakura cares for Naruto that during their mission towards the wave country and some ninjas attacked them she saved him by pushing him down to avoid an incoming attack. Also during other fights in the wave in which Sakura showed her admiration towards him. Also in the written and the rest of the chunin exams, she’s ready to sacrifice herself in order to protect him and Sasuke with all her might.
Let us not forget Sakura tried to manipulate Naruto’s feeling for her to get her way even faking a confession despite knowing what her friend Hinata feels for Naruto and almost died protecting him.
Next the pain attack and the fake confession AGAIN. This issue was dealt with by other NaruSaku fans and other non-shippers who really understood Sakura’s intentions. But obviously, you are too blind to see it and just wanted to justify your hate for her which is nonsense. I just want to clarify Hinata and Pain’s fight was like 2 panels in the manga so it’s hilarious how the studio made it so long lol. And her disturbance with their fight that almost got her killed was a stupid decision in my opinion because she almost put the entire remaining people alive in danger. Her love is so intense that it put everyone in danger.  And what if Naruto unconsciously killed them and then revert back to his usual self, he would be in so much pain. Unleashing the kyuubi because Naruto got angry about Pain killing one of his dearest friends. YES. FRIEND was a very dangerous move. I’m sure Naruto will have the same reaction no matter who’s the person so long as they possessed that much importance to him. Furthermore, Sakura’s confession was not totally a lie and she really did love Naruto. She said that because she wanted to stop Naruto from chasing Sasuke because his life would be in danger. His life is much more important than Hinata’s confession because even though she almost died she still lived because of Sakura. Tell me that’s not love. Sakura wanted to chase Sasuke herself—she even thought about excluding Kiba, Lee, etc. because she also doesn’t want them to be in danger— and even came to the point of killing Sasuke because she cares for Naruto that much. But it didn’t happen because both of them are important to her.
Naruto did notice Hinata in both the manga and amine Naruto reactions to Hinata show he cares for her. The only reason more wasn’t shown is because Naruto was an action manga not romance, but there are clear signs of Naruto developing feelings for Hinata and Naruto saves, encourages her and senses her in danger during the war. So yeah Naruto did notice Hinata considering he was willing to rush off and help her during the final battle.
Yes, Naruto did notice Hinata because she really did care just like his other friends. The rest of your statements made me laugh so much. You saying that Naruto was an action manga and not romance, it’s true indeed. Which is why Sakura’s clear developing feelings for Naruto even though was not that clarified, it was pretty obvious she has feelings for him. And so did Naruto ever since he was a kid. “But in the Last —--” shut up. Every bit of that movie was and still is lame, BS, and boring that some people would fall asleep or leave the cinema. To be honest I really think the whole plot came from Fanfiction.net or Wattpad with Hinata-centric as a tag lol. Anyways, let me also clarify that Naruto rushing off to save your princess was a natural way to do for a friend. Hinata was not the only one he rescued, encouraged, and hurried to save, he did it to all the people who were important to him. Let me also add the fact that in Naruto's near-death experience, Sakura was the one who pumped his heart literally and breathed air into his lungs. Pointing out that she’s running out of chakra at that moment. She was so determined to protect him and his dream that she refused to let him die miserably.
Sure a ship where Sakura hits Naruto over every little thing even when he does no wrong and cares more about someone who left the village and tried to kill her and Naruto more the once.
This again.
They didn’t always support each other though at the start Sakura hated Naruto so much and didn’t care about him unless Sasuke was involved. 
Sakura cared. I’ve said it in the first long paragraph.
NaruSaku will always be forced cause Sakura has no feelings for Naruto and will beat him all the time. Naruto deserves someone who is kind and caring and actually understands him instead of someone who hated and made fun of him for being an orphan. Someone who lied to him caused someone guilt-tripped her and she thought Naruto cared about Sasuke only cause of her. She doesn’t understand Naruto at all if she did she wouldn’t have tried to make him give up on Sasuke, she doesn’t understand what Naruto went through growing up.
I am not sure if you had an awful childhood that a dynamic like that irked something inside you or whatever. It’s not abuse and the studio exaggerated this in the anime but in reality (manga) she did not hit him that many times and it’s for comic relief. If it was really a real beating, his bruises will remain but they didn’t, the next panels after she hit him were normal like nothing happened.  I will say this again, Sakura cares for Naruto that she’s willing to sacrifice herself for him. Move on from her kid version. Her character development is impeccable. Her understanding broadens the longer she spends time with Naruto. She didn’t totally lie. Talking about guilt-tripping. She realized that she was also at fault for putting him in danger because of the promise so in order to stop that she confessed her feelings. Next, You said she doesn’t understand him at all? And Hinata does? How? By watching from a distance? What does she know about his friendship with Sasuke and his journey growing up? You’re funny. Aside from Kakashi, Sakura’s the only one who shared Naruto’s despair about Sasuke because they spent their time together as a team since they were young. She witnessed their rivalry. Their hardships. In the shippuden, their relationship deepen and thus she began to understand him. If you even think about arguing using the Last movie or any filler from the anime. You lost because that movie is BS, even for non-shippers. NaruHina is forced even their confession was so bland.
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mokutone · 3 years
Note
points a water pistol at u talk abt kakashi dog nose science or else.
OH NOOOO this is a stick up...alright, alright! u've forced my hand...more kakashi nose science!!!!! my favorite but most complicated kakashi canine nose hc is like. okay so both humans and dogs have a vomeronasal organ (also called the jacobson organ sometimes) BUT humans have lost almost all of our ability to use this! dogs have not.
(stanley coren, whomst i have a love-hate relationship with his work, theorized that the reason we lost our ability to use this organ was Because our relationship to protodog-canines meant that we could outsource mechanisms of that (like tracking prey) to the dogs!) but this isn't a stanley coren talk this is a vomernasal organ kakashi nose chakras talk
the vomeronasal organ is used to interpret ectohormones and other scents typically undetectable to humans—which probably plays a large part in how dogs are able to so quickly identify feelings of anxiety or other similar chemical signatures in their handlers! this in mind, when i write or draw kakashi, it's usually with the idea that he's generally fairly aware of the way other people are feeling—not that this means he's any good at reacting to those feelings! no amount of knowing that somebody is anxious is going to give him understanding of how to help sdkjghsdkghs there's also an interesting space to explore in how to /write/ about somebody who has such an expansive understanding of smell—like to me my grandparents smell like cigarettes and peanut butter cookies—but i know that they don't "actually" smell like that, it's just that those smells cling to them, and, human as I am that's kind of the depth of what I can experience! but when dogs recognize the scent of an individual, it's not the scents that cling to them, perfume or deodorant, foods they eat, places they've been—they're aware of those things, but when a dog knows our scent, they're recognizing something more like an expression of our genetics (which is why dogs sometimes have trouble telling unfamiliar identical twins apart by scent!) if we were to expect Kakashi to have those kind of skills, writing say about how he experiences the smell of the people around him might be interesting and complicated—Naruto, despite having had no contact with his parents and no shared items from his parents, no shared cooking, nothing, would still probably smell a little like Kushina and Minato—or, assuming that the nine tailed fox has a chemical affect on Naruto as well (it probably would!) it might have a smell as well. Tsunade and Yamato both might share traces of Hashirama. (Also Yamato might just smell a little bit plant-y in general bc the use of mokuton is something which is genetic to him.
Artistically it presents an interesting challenge—how to describe a sense or feeling that we don't have the capability to experience? I love it because it feels like a challenge well met by poetic language and metaphor.
for example, writing isn't something i've been trained in, but here's how i try to handle it:
"Tenzō, who had been standing over him with a small bowl in one hand, the other braced against Kakashi’s shoulder to shake him awake, said nothing. He put the bowl down and withdrew his hand, but Kakashi still caught that bright whiff of cortisol, as familiar to him as ash to a smoker."
i describe cortisol (an important hormone in stress reactions) as smelling bright because that's typically a visual word, so it already puts this kind of scent in an abstract realm, and because i'm thinking of it like a flare—my first instinct was to call it acrid—a scent word for a scent description, but then i just...kept thinking abt like. grapefruit smell, and i am certain that since this is a scent which already exists under its own chemical makeup, whatever stress smells like to dogs, it's not that
ANYWAY i hope this makes sense and is interesting!
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xkaileo · 3 years
Note
Oh, well, since you're taking prompts for fluffy sasusaku stuff and I LOVE a fluffy Sasuke, how about this?
I imagine Sakura kept her feelings to herself after the war, thinking it was pointless to keep on confessing to him. So she asumes Sasuke only wants her as a teammate or a friend at most. After his redemption journey, thou, Sasuke attempts to make her understand he loves her, but gets frustrated bc she wouldn't understand (she wouldn't take any chances). Therefore is up to Sasuke to make his feeling known...
Think you can come up with something? 🙃✨
Alllll rightey! It took a couple of iterations for me to get it the way I wanted, but here we are!
Proof
"I'm home, Sakura."
"...Welcome home, Sasuke," Sakura greeted, wishing she didn't feel dead on her feet. And dead on her feet was putting it mildly; she had just finished a twenty-four-hour shift at the hospital and was getting ready for bed. A knock on her door this late at night was the last thing she'd expected; she'd only answered it on the off-chance it was important, possibly Tsunade or Shizune looking for her for something urgent.
This... well, it wasn't urgent, but it was worth answering the door for. It'd been almost two years, and in that time, they hadn't spoken a word to one another. She remembered how he was when he left; he touched her forehead, thanked her, and went on his journey. Sure, they'd exchanged letters, but things had been... Cordial. Friendship was putting it simply. It'd made Sakura begin to wonder what he'd meant that day. Nevertheless, she knew he'd been near when she was up against Kido. It'd touched her to think he came running in such a way when Kido had captured her.
She remembered what she'd said to Kido that day. The real Sasuke's slimmer, his eyes are cooler, his voice is just a little bit lower, and the bridge of his nose is straighter. Looking up at him... She'd been partially correct. Slimmer, definitely. Taller would have been more accurate. Sure, she'd gauged his height based on how much Naruto had grown, but it was still shocking to see it in person! His voice was definitely lower, and his nose... Straighter, for sure. But his gaze felt... warm. His right eye was that same deep obsidian colour, while his left, just barely peeking past his messy, unkempt bangs, still had that icy purple tinge from his Rinnegan.
He almost couldn't believe he was seeing her again after all of these years. He'd noticed she cut her hair again; it'd grown long by the time he'd left, but it was back in a short bob just to her chin. Her hair was straighter, more... feminine, in a way, and she had notable bangs again, worn in a side-swept fashion. She looked... exhausted. Was that a product of Kido's work? He'd heard of the man, and while he wouldn't admit he'd been on his way to give Kido a piece of his mind (along with a well-placed Chidori strike), he was sure of it.
"May I?" Sasuke glanced at the doorway, the threshold which he'd yet to cross. He hoped it wasn't too late at night; he didn't want to burden Sakura in the slightest.
"Oh! Right, of course, come on in." She wasn't going to leave him out in the cold! "I'm sorry, it's been a long day, so I'm a bit tired. You're, um... you're welcome to stay if you'd like." She gestured down the hall. "There's a spare room and a few things I bought just in case you stopped by." A few sets of clothes in colours he liked, as well as some personal hygiene products she thought he might enjoy.
He stepped across the threshold, closing the door behind him and locking it for safety. He then removed his cloak, hanging it by the door. Sakura's place... it felt like home. Maybe it was because of her, but something about it felt homey, even if it wasn't his home. It was difficult to describe. He could see now, upon closer inspection, that she was indeed exhausted. She must have worked a long shift at the hospital.
"Thanks." He was certainly grateful for her hospitality. He stepped forward, studying her for a moment before his hand reached up, fingers gently running through a few locks of her hair. "You should rest. You're exhausted." He wanted to say more, but words seemed to elude him.
"...Right. I should, um... yeah. Good night, Sasuke. I'll see you in the morning." Her heart was pounding, and she knew she needed to get out of there. Ducking in the direction of the hallway, she dipped into her room and closed the door, pressing her back against it in an attempt to catch her breath.
Those impostor's words were ringing through her head.
"I love you, Sakura." She couldn't help but hear them over and over again, wishing they'd been coming out of Sasuke's mouth. The moment he touched her hair, she'd been reminded of that. She'd been reminded of the way her heart had pounded hearing them, the way her chest fluttered at the sight of him. Her own words echoed in her head.
Just me going missing? He won't come back to the village.
Maybe she'd been wrong. Maybe that wasn't him. Maybe he hadn't come back to look after her when Kido kidnapped her. Kido wanted to use her as a pawn, a scheme Sasuke wouldn't have fallen for. Maybe she'd been right all along. He hadn't been coming for her. He wouldn't have. He wasn't so foolish and reckless as to engage in that kind of thing.
She wanted to ask him, but that would have to wait until tomorrow if she could find the courage. At this point, she was convinced he wanted nothing more than to be friends. She got dressed in her pyjamas, staring at the door and contemplating before opening the door a crack like she always kept it, then made her way to the bed. She curled up with her back to the door on the furthest side of the bed, clutching a pillow to her chest. She was tired and upset, but at least a pillow could muffle her tears.
So she thought, anyway.
Sasuke stood outside the room, a bit dumbfounded by Sakura's sudden reaction. He'd wanted to take things a step further but refrained from her evident exhaustion. Why push her when she was in that kind of state? Instead, he chose to ready himself for bed, a soft smile twitching at the corners of his lips as he saw there was even fresh clothing for him to sleep in. As usual, Sakura thought of everything and had it ready.
He was passing through the hallway when he heard the door to her room crack open, the motion causing him to pause. Something about her behaviour threw him off; he could always sense when she was upset. It reminded him of when they were kids, and she'd been acting strangely before the Chuunin Exams. He'd known something was up then, and he was getting the same feeling. He waited silently until she seemed to have settled down, listening carefully. He could hear... Oh, he knew that sound.
Moving with silent, catlike grace, he pushed the door open and moved to the bed, seeing Sakura laying with her back to him. He was slow and quiet as he lay down on the bed behind her, close enough that he could reach out to touch her. He was worried; if she was like this, it was probably something he said or did. He seemed almost always to be the reason for her tears. Sakura was nearly startled when he laid down on the bed, her muffled sobs stopping as she realized he must have overheard her. The soft hand on her shoulder caused her to jump, though she didn't move away from him.
"Sakura? What's wrong?" His voice was warm, but she could hear his worry.
"Oh, it's-- nothing," she lied, biting her lip. He sighed from behind her, sitting up long enough to gently pry the blanket from her grasp; she didn't resist, feeling too glum and defeated to fight him. He moved the pillow above both of their heads before reaching to encourage her to turn over, awkwardly propped up on the stump of his left arm as he did so. Once she faced him, he settled back down to meet her gaze, never taking his eyes off her. She was too upset to look him in the eye.
"It's not." He brushed her hair away from her face, his expression soft. "What is it?" He wasn't about to take no for an answer, not when she was like this.
"I... I'm sorry, It's just--"
"No," he interrupted, keeping his tone soft. "Don't apologize. Not when you're like this." Sakura wore her heart on her sleeve, and he knew that. If she had a reason to cry, it was probably a good one. She was shocked by his interruption; she found it natural to apologize when she was like this. She never wanted to be like this in front of him.
"I just..." She sighed, knowing she wasn't about to escape his persistence. "You didn't fall for Kido's trap, did you." It was less of a question and more of a statement.
"No." His answer was simple, but he continued to gently stroke her hair, knowing that wasn't all she wanted to ask. She would work her way to it eventually. He just had to be patient with her. "Did you think I would?" Perhaps he was a little offended at the idea that he might have fallen for something like that.
"I.... No, I didn't. And... Of course, you didn't," she mumbled. "And I was a fool to believe that." She couldn't understand him. Here he was, being warm and sweet to her, and yet he mustn't have cared as much as she thought. The mixed signals he was giving her were tiring. "I should have expected you wouldn't have come for me." It was confirmation enough for her.
"I didn't say that," he corrected.
"But you didn't--"
"I didn't fall for Kido's trap," he reiterated. "I never said I wasn't there." He'd come, but he'd come knowing that that roach had set a trap. He knew exactly what he was walking into. He'd been ready to take on whatever Kido had to throw at him; he'd been quite angry that Kido had used Sakura to lure him out. It'd made his blood boil.
"So... You were there?" She wanted to hear him say it.
"Mm." He nodded, shifting a little closer to her.
"...You came?"
"Yeah."
"But... why?" She wanted to know. Was it for her, or was it another reason?
"Shh. Tomorrow." He laid a finger over her lips to silence her. "Come." He shifted to pull the blankets over both of them, adjusting so he was more on his back and she could lean her head against his shoulder. So much for that spare bed; he wasn't going to be sleeping there tonight. At least the perks of not having a left arm--or more accurately, only having the upper half of one--meant it was easy for her to lay like this.
"But--"
"Tomorrow," he scolded, tucking her in closer against his side. "Tomorrow, Sakura. I promise. When you're rested and not overthinking everything." She needed to sleep; he could tell she wasn't thinking straight. He continued to stroke her hair, running his fingers absently through it in an attempt to calm her. Any time she tried to speak, he silenced her, coaxing her back to sleep.
-----------------------------------
He was up early the following day and gone, letting Sakura sleep in from her long night. He left the clothes she'd had for him folded neatly on her bed with a note. Sasuke had written only two words as his message.
Thank you.
Sakura stared down at the note with confusion. She remembered last night, but it was still a blur. She'd been in one of her moods, but he'd come in and comforted her... only to leave. She looked down at the clothes. He was... probably already gone. Parts of the conversation were a blur, but she was too tired and mopey to care.
As she moved about the kitchen to make breakfast, the door opened, and Sasuke stepped through. He had a bag of supplies and was looking at her curiously. She still had that same look from before. He wondered, was this the right time? Was now the time to say it? It had to be.
"Oh... I thought you'd left again."
"Supplies," he said, lifting the bag before setting it aside. "Soon, though." He figured a week, maybe two... he could afford to stay in the village a little longer. He had no pressing matters to attend to. Two weeks seemed like a good time; if he felt like staying longer, then he would. He had Sakura's hospitality to thank for that.
"How long?" She assumed a day or two. Sasuke still hadn't given her the impression he was staying for very long. Although... His actions last night left her with mixed messages.
"A week or two," he confirmed. He could still see that gloominess in her posture, making him soften and contemplate. He had no idea how to tell her what he wanted. Hell, he didn't even know what she would say to him. He hadn't forgotten his promise. It felt like a selfish thing to ask; he wanted her, that was no doubt, but on some level, he still wondered: did he deserve her? Or had she, after all this time, chosen to move on? He wouldn't have blamed her for that. He couldn't have expected her to wait for him, nor could he ask for such a thing.
"Hungry?" He knew he was, and he could see she'd done nothing other than making a pot of tea. It smelled good; he elected to pour himself a glass, lifting the pot so he could refill hers, too.
"No... not really." She had almost no appetite. There were leftover rice balls in the fridge, but she didn't have the energy to eat. She thought back to Tsunade's words: attract a man with your boobs. What boobs, honestly? She thought wryly to herself. Okay, so maybe she wasn't an ironing board or little miss titless like Ino liked to tease her, but it wasn't like anyone could tell with how she dressed. She definitely looked like an ironing board with the way her casual clothing hung loosely.
Sasuke was watching Sakura intently, seeing how her mood seemed to be dipping more and more. As she was too caught up in her thoughts to notice, he moved around the table, standing behind her as she rose and turned to leave her seat. She was so distracted she nearly bumped into him; when had he moved so close?! Her nose was almost in his chest, and looking up, she could see he was staring down at her.
"You should eat," he scolded lightly. He couldn't just let her starve herself; it wasn't healthy. Standing here, seeing her like this, he was beginning to realize... he hadn't the faintest idea how to talk to her. Not when it came to holding a normal conversation; that much he could handle. When it came to his... feelings, he didn't know how he should express them. Everything thus far had been out of impulse, out of instinct; it was uncomfortably unplanned for the Uchiha.
He raised a hand again, tucking some of her hair behind her ear. Sakura couldn't even meet his gaze; she was too afraid of what she might find there. The old look of callous detachment, like he usually had... or a warm, friendly smile? The latter would be better, but it wasn't what she wanted. Hell, she wasn't even sure she'd get what she wanted. Ever.
"I'm not hungry." How could she have an appetite in a mood like this? "Just— never mind. Forget it." She brushed past him, pacing toward the door. She glanced at her jacket, contemplating; a walk would clear her head. It was cold outside, and the forecast had called for snow.
"Sakura—" he grumbled at her, frustration rising and becoming noticeable in his tone. "What's up with you?" He was becoming frustrated because he could tell she was upset, and he hadn't the faintest clue why. Sakura was usually beyond happy to see him, yet he'd barely seen her smile at all since he got back.
He loved her smile. Why wasn't she smiling for him anymore? Had she moved on in his absence? Was his presence causing her agony, knowing she might have to break his heart? He could take it... not that it would be easy, not after she'd spent so long worming her way into his heart through years of pain and anguish.
"What's up with me—?" She turned around, feeling tears well in her eyes as she stood facing him, fists clenched at her sides. "What's up with me—what's wrong with me is that I'm an idiot! Of course, you wouldn't have fallen for Kido's trap... you were just mad he'd dare even try to sully your name, not anything to do with me! Kakashi even sent you messages, and you responded to none of them." She laughed pitifully at herself, shaking her head with a wry smile. "Of course, that wouldn't change your mind. It didn't matter. It never did."
"Sakura..." Ah, there it was. His curt nature, as always, left things unclear. "I was there..."
"Yeah. You were there." She threw her hands up in the air in exasperation. "I'm a fool. There won't—there isn't anything there, and there never will be. I'm just... I can't keep doing this. I keep thinking you'll give me a straight answer, but it should be obvious, shouldn't it? You can't because the answer's already there. It's already been said. I'm your friend. Your comrade. That's it. That's all it'll ever be, and I'm a stupid, lovesick fool for thinking otherwise." She sniffled and wiped at her eyes, pulling her sandals on. "And here I am, crying again because I just don't get what I want. Just—forget it." She opened the door and slammed it behind her, taking off into the snow without even caring that she'd forgotten her jacket. The cold was the least of her worries.
Sasuke stood there dumbfounded by her words. Sakura was... more sensitive than he was expecting. Well, he should have expected it, but it took him by surprise. Sakura was always so strong, so resilient; he hadn't seen it coming. Yet... standing here, he knew it was his fault. He hadn't been clear to her, had he? He could feel the frustration building, but he knew he had to find her. He reached for his cloak and pulled it on, pulling his hood up to stay warm. It was snowing like mad outside, and it certainly wasn't warm. Add to the fact that Sakura had left without her jacket, and he was beyond worried. Where could she have gone? He leaped up to the rooftops to scan the area, finding nothing. He couldn't sense her chakra nearby, either, and he was no sensor.
But he knew someone who was, and it was someone Sakura might go to if she were upset. Leaping across rooftops, he landed in front of the Yamanaka Flower Shop, bursting through the doorway with a purposeful stride. Ino was working on an arrangement; her blue eyes widened with surprise as he swept in so dramatically.
"Sasuke? When'd you get back?" He was the last person she was expecting to come through the door.
"Is she here?" He demanded, eyes glancing around.
"Who? Sakura? No." Ino frowned at him. "Why? Did you check the ho—"
"No, she won't be there. Can you find her?" Yes, he was impatient, but he couldn't care less at the moment. The longer he took to find her, the worse she'd start to feel, and he couldn't have that.
"Why, what— you know what, I'm not even going to ask." Ino set down her shears and closed her eyes, making a sign with one hand as she focused. She'd find Sakura. Whatever Sasuke's rush was, it had to be important. She knew there was no danger—that much she would have sensed already—but if it was essential to Sasuke and involved Sakura, she was obligated to help.
------------------------------------
Sakura ran as far and as fast as she possibly could, disregarding the rain that pelted against her face and soaked her hair. She paid no attention to where she was going, moving further and further away from her home. She barrelled her way through trees until she found herself on a very familiar path. She could never forget it; somehow, it had managed to stand the test of time through assault after assault on the village.
It was the path that led to the gates. The only way that led out of the Hidden Leaf Village. She let out a pitiful laugh when she realized it. Of course she would end up here of all places. She always seemed to end up here. It was a place of too many memories for her. She took a seat on the bench, staring at the ground as memories flashed across her consciousness.
She remembered waking up on the bench that day. She wasn't sure how long she'd been out, but it was long enough that he was gone. Despite her futile attempts to convince him to stay, or even convince him to bring her along, he'd left her behind. He'd turned her down. When he'd left again after being pardoned, he did the same thing.
Sasuke cared, that much she knew. There was no question about that. He'd proven that point enough times; she meant something to him. It just seemed that what she meant to him wasn't what she wanted. What she wanted was a selfish request, and she knew she couldn't expect it from him. It just made what she'd been through sting even more. The only time she'd ever hear those words out of "Sasuke's" mouth, the only time she'd hear "his" voice saying it would be from a fake.
Sakura sat there with her hands balled into fists in her lap, snow falling all around her. It was snowing hard, enough that she could feel it starting to settle on her head and shoulders as she sat there, still as a statue, struggling to hold back tears. If she cried, they'd freeze on her eyelashes, and that wouldn't be good. No, that could be dangerous, in all honesty. Regardless, she couldn't help it. They made trails down her cheeks and dark marks in her lap, her shoulders shaking.
As soon as Sasuke got word from Ino where she was, he was out of the shop in an instant, sprinting through the snow until he landed nearby with his usual catlike grace. There she was, sitting on the bench, half-covered in snow and shivering. Crying, too, he suspected. His heart broke to see that. Why was it always here? What was so special about this particular place that they seemed drawn to it? Slowly he approached, his sandals crunching in the snow as he came up beside her, sighing. With a single hand, he gently brushed the snow off her shoulders and the top of her head, pulling his cloak off and wrapping it around her.
She was surprised he was even there; how had he managed to find her? She hadn't even known where she was going. She kept her gaze turned down and away from him, refusing to look at him, but when he wrapped his cloak around her, she startled. It was warm, and she welcomed it.
"You're going to catch a cold," he scolded.
"It doesn't matter," she snapped back. "I don't care. Go away."
"No. And you're a terrible liar." Sakura always cared. That much he knew. She cared about everything around her. She did care about herself... even if she put it off a lot of the time, pushing herself further than necessary. He'd seen that a few times in the past.
"I don't care. Take your stupid cloak," she griped, pulling it off her shoulders and shoving it at his chest, "And leave me to be the stupid, lovesick idiot who's infatuated with a guy who never has and never will feel the same wa--" A hand over Sakura's mouth stopped her from continuing. It stayed there briefly before reaching to wipe a thumb under her eyes. Sasuke's hand reached down to his cloak, replacing it on her shoulders and ignoring the cool breeze that blew through his own.
"You're not stupid. You're not a lovesick idiot." He brushed more snow off her head and out of her hair as best he could, reaching back to pull the hood up over it so no more would collect on her damp hair. His hand then reached under her chin, pulling her sad, tear-stained gaze to meet his. She was hesitant at first, but she could feel her heart pounding in her chest.
Sasuke leaned down, gently pressing his lips against hers. They were cold, but his touch warmed her; he could see her cheeks tint that familiar red shade, and he was ready to catch her if she felt light-headed. Naruto had told him girls could get like that at times... Or, at least, Hinata did.
"Sakura. In two weeks, I'd like to travel again. I don't want to travel with my teammate or my friend." He pursed his lips momentarily. "I'd like.... to travel with my wife, if... if she'll have me."
Sakura's jaw dropped. The kiss had been one thing; it'd been his way of showing he cared without words, something that was common for him. But... his wife? Was he asking her... to marry him?
Sasuke felt anxious when she said nothing to his request. Was he unclear? Did she think he meant someone else? Was his usual awkwardness causing more problems as it had previously? Maybe he should say something more. Something that was more... direct.
"...Sakura Uchiha... It has a nice ring to it, doesn't it?" He regretted that choice the moment the words came out of his mouth. All he could think was that it was something stupid and corny Naruto would say, and it sounded utterly unnatural coming from him. A bead of sweat formed on his brow as he watched Sakura's reaction. Even she hadn't been expecting him to say that! It... well, she did like the sound of it. Sakura Uchiha... His wife. Sasuke's wife.
"...I'm sorry. That sounded..." Ugh. He couldn't even begin to describe it. Sakura snickered, then giggled a little more, reaching up to wipe at her eyes. Okay, so he sounded lame, and Sakura was laughing at his expense, but at least she was laughing. At least it brought a smile to her face. A slight blow to his ego was worth it if she smiled again.
"Of course, Sasuke, but... There's just one thing..." She wiped at her face again, delicately pulling some of the frozen tears off her eyelashes.
"Hm? What is it?" He kept a hand on her cheek, lightly running his thumb underneath her eye as he looked down at her with a soft, affectionate expression.
"Do... you really think we can plan a whole wedding in two weeks?"
Sasuke chuckled. "I don't know. I think that's something better left to you." He leaned forward, kissing her forehead. "Let's head home first and get you warmed up. We'll figure it out together."
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dianapana · 3 years
Text
SH Day 9 – Never Have I Ever
@sasuhinamonth
Rated T, Modern AU, OOC
Oof , for this one ideas just wouldn't come to me, so once again I looked through older stories I never finished and found this one which I thought fit to a certain degree. I didn’t really wanna go the normal route of the game itself, so I just interpreted the prompt as a new experience. I hope you enjoy, ~Love, Dia
It wasn’t uncommon for people to randomly sit down at his table, especially if those people were girls. They’d stumble onto the seat and act like it was all an accident, like they didn’t see him and thought the table was empty, or that they tripped and ‘landed’ on the seat. Other times they’d ask if they could sit because there were no free tables anymore, granted this last excuse happened to be true once or twice, but usually, it was just a lie and the two would sit in awkward silence for a few moments staring at each other with a number of empty seats all around.
However, the person sitting across from him was a girl he saw around the diner quite often, urgency written all over her face. Sasuke raised an eyebrow at her, but the situation didn’t faze him at all, thus he continued eating, putting 2 French fries in his mouth and slowly chewing, waiting for her to state her reason and purpose.
���I need you to pretend we’re here together” Sasuke narrowed his eyes at her. “My ex just walked in and I’m not in the mood to deal with him. If I’m here with someone, in this case you, he’ll either leave me alone or he’ll at least leave sooner.” His eyes moved to a guy that was just walking to the counter still obvious to his ex-girlfriend. “Please…” her eyes were begging him to help.
Sasuke sighed and pushed his milkshake her way. “It’d be strange if we were here together and I was the only one that had ordered something” Her pale eyes lit up like Christmas trees.
“Thank you so much. I’m Hinata by the way” She gave him a genuine smile. He nodded her way.
“Sasuke. I’d shake your hand but that would look strange since we’re supposed to be here together.”
For a second, silence fell over their table but Hinata started giggling at what he just said, her laugh could have also been intertwined with nervous laughter for it was a little too loud for Sasuke’s own liking, either way, he couldn’t help but smirk her. Naruto would freak if he saw Sasuke talking to a stranger, a girl no less, and not only that, but he was actually putting in the effort to help her and maintain a conversation. He had never willingly had a conversation with a stranger before.
Sadly Hinata’ sudden laughing fit turned the attention of a white-haired guy, also known in Sasuke’s head as the girl’s ex, to them. The said guy looked their way, moment in which Sasuke noticed the myriad of feelings showing onto his expression, he seemed to go from hopeful to confused to slightly irritated and then settle for putting on a fake smile and strolling their way.
“Hinata, long time no see, how are you?” The ex-boyfriend looked at her and gave Sasuke a not-so-subtle glare. He took in their table before raising an eyebrow and immediately asking another question, essentially cutting Hinata off before she could answer his first question. “Matcha milkshake? I thought you hated those”
“Oh, I used to yea, but I think they changed the receipt here. I tasted one sip from when Sasuke ordered one last time and it was pretty good, so today I wanted to see for myself” She said smoothly and took a big sip of her, well…his milkshake. “And I’ve been pretty good. How about yourself?” She smiled way too sweetly at him.
“Uh…can’t complain” He took another second to examine them again. “Well, I was actually thinking maybe we can get together and have dinner sometime next week?”
“Dude, you don’t ask out a girl when she’s already out with another guy, that’s just fucking messed up” Sasuke said, without actually meaning to his voice got deeper and he glared at the ‘ex-boyfriend’. He didn’t care that he and Hinata weren’t there together for real, it’s a universal rule you don’t ask out a girl if she’s there with a date, that’s just a douchey move.
Hinata was grinning at him from behind her hand, her eyes glittering with amusement. Sasuke had to admit something to himself, the strange girl was pretty, but she was even more beautiful while she smiled.
“Chill dude. I didn’t think this was a date” he said raising his hands as if trying to say he meant no harm. “I mean who the fuck brings a date at this shitty diner” He whispered under his breath, but both Hinata and Sasuke heard him and their moods turned pretty dark. Sasuke’s instinct was the punch the guy’s lights out, another new feeling he hadn’t experienced, at least not because of a girl. He is usually in control of his emotions and rarely loses his cool.
“Sasuke wanted to go have a sweet picnic in the park near my house, which was so thoughtful and sweet, but sadly the weather didn’t agree with him because it started raining. That’s when I remembered how I wanted to taste the milkshake, so I proposed we came here to wait for the rain to stop.” Sasuke had to admit, her lying skills were top-notch, her story had a natural flow to it, she composed a strong and believable narrative with pretty much no holes, her delivery too added to its credibility, fot she spoke with such ease. Hinata reached for his hand that was on the table and squeezed it while spreading her web of lies. Sasuke noticed the ex-boyf rolling his eyes, and a part of him felt utter satisfaction from the jerk’s annoyance.
“Whatever. I gotta bounce anyway. See you around” He turned and started walking out the diner without waiting for a reply. Sasuke snorted when he noticed that the ex didn’t even purchase anything. He was lost in his own world of trash-talking the guy but was got distracted by the petite girl in front of him that whispered not so quietly “I fucking hope not.”
“Well, that was fun.” He smirked at her. “Let me guess, bad break-up?” Hinata sighed and ran both hands over her face.
“The worst. It was a set up and we went on a few dates which were fine I guess, but I just didn’t really want a relationship at the time, or at least not with him. Either way, the break-up itself took like 3 hours cuz he just wouldn’t accept it.” She took another sip of his milkshake and gaged. “Oh god, I forgot how awful this tasted.” She said more to herself, it didn’t take her a full second to turn beet-red.
“Oh my God, I’m so sorry this is yours. I d-didn’t mean to drink from it, it just happened. Let me buy you a new one” She got onto her feet but Sasuke grabbed her wrist and forced her to sit back down.
“Don’t worry about it. You barely drank any”
Had he been in his right mind he’d tell the girl to buy him extra fries too for the trouble and then he’d tell her to scramble. But for some reason or another, he didn’t want her to leave just yet. He pulled the glass back to him and drank from it just to prove to her everything was fine.
“I don’t understand how you can drink that. It’s not even sweet” Her nose wrinkled in disgust, Sasuke didn’t throw the world ‘cute’ around easily but she looked adorable.
“I hate sweets. So, this is perfect” Her jaw dropped, she looked like he had just said he hated puppies and his mother. Hinata blinked a few times, closed her mouth and opened it to say something, closed it back again. She looked genuinely confused, like someone that hated sweets wasn’t meant to exist.
“I-I don’t understand. How can you hate sweets? T-They make the world a better place. Don’t tell me that after a shitty day you don’t go home to eat a gallon of ice cream with a dozen of cookies because I will not believe you”
Now it was his turn to gag just thinking about the amount of sugar in the ‘snack’ she described. His reaction repulsed her.
“Oh wow. I’m perplexed. I had no idea people like you existed”
The fact that she said it with straight face made him believe she honestly didn’t think that what he said could be true, which for some reason he found extremely funny.
“Huh, you learn something every day.” She said with a smile, it seemed she had gotten over her confusion and found the whole conversation quite as amusing as he did.
A waitress came over to take Sasuke’s now empty milkshake glass.
“Would you like anything else?”
“Could you please bring me a veggie burger and a blueberry lemonade? And some fries too” She ordered and it relieved him that she did, he hadn’t had a lunch companion besides Naruto in a while.
“I’d also like some fries and another matcha milkshake”
“I’ll be right back,” The older woman said and left right away. When he turned back to the girl before him, she was staring at him with a small smile on her lips so he raised an eyebrow at her.
“I was sure you’d tell me to leave, or tell the waiter you’d like the bill and left yourself.” She put both of her hands on the table and played with her bracelet. “I’ve seen you around the diner. You’re not the…most welcoming face here and I’ve also saw you get up and leave on multiple occasions when someone sat at your table”
Her cheeks were a shade or two darker and she didn’t look at him but rather looked at her fidgeting hands. She was embarrassed for admitting she noticed him way before this encounter, she was nervous that she had crossed a line. What she said was true, he knew he wasn’t the nicest person but he did genuinely enjoy her presence, also he’d been in a number of situations where he would have liked someone to pretend to be there with him so he’d escape an acquaintance or a fangirl. Plus, the very same day Naruto told him he should do an act of ‘kindness’ a day or his karma would turn bad. He didn’t believe in the nonsense his blonde friend talked about, but when she sat down she looked in so much distress even he didn’t have the heart to tell her to leave.
“You’re right, But, you looked frightened, I’m not heartless,” He said in a neutral voice and Hinata blushed even redder. His lips twitched upward. Where did her confidence and acting skills go?
“I-I-I didn’t mean you are heartless…just…umm, uh” she was at a loss of words.
“It’s fine. You didn’t offend me” Hinata looked up at him relived.
“I didn’t? Oh, that’s really good, because I didn’t mean anything rude by what I said” her shoulders relaxed and her blush faded, not completely she was still a bit flushed but not quite as red as before.
“Since you knew there was a chance, I’d leave why did you sit here?”
Her smile softened a little. “Have you ever seen a person and had the urge to talk to them? For them to be your friend? I don’t mean to sound creepy, but every time I saw you here, I always wanted to talk to you, I just never had the courage. I guess the situation gave me the opportunity to do so. And I’m quite glad because, I don’t know about you, but I’m having a pretty good time talking to you” her cheeks flared even redder with each confession, for some reason admitting her thoughts in front of him was embarrassing. “Oh, just so you know, I’ve never done this before. I just had a pretty bad day and didn’t want it to get worse by having to be in his company for long.”
Their talk continued for a while longer until finally, their food arrived. The older waitress placed their orders on the table.
“There you go. Enjoy your food”
“Thank you” Hinata nodded at the waitress with a smile.
“I have one more question.” Sasuke said as Hinata took a sip of her lemonade, but gestured with her hand for him to go on. “What happened? When he was here you were a very smooth talker, but when you thought you offended me you seemed to be drowning in your own words”
Her blush came back and Sasuke decided he quite liked how she looked with it. She played with the tips of her hair, rolling it onto her finger. “W-when I was little, I was extremely shy, I couldn’t even look at strangers, my parents entered me in acting classes in hopes that I’d get over it. It didn’t really go as planned. I’m a lot better now, obviously but I still get anxious easily. Even so the acting classes did help me, when I’m in a crisis I seem to calm down and I’m able to collect my thoughts” She looked a bit over his shoulder in deep thought. “It’s like a defence mechanism but it doesn’t always work. Case in point when I o-offended you, which I’m sorry about again”
“I see…also you didn’t offend me, I told you this before. You only stated your opinion, which was true by the way”
She smiled at him once more and they started eating, it wasn’t complete silence, they made small talk asked about normal things, hobbies, friends, school and all that. Once they were finished and Sasuke asked for the bill since it was getting pretty dark and the rain finally stopped, he noticed her playing with the bracelet again.
“Something wrong?”
“Huh?” she looked up at him confused.
“You were fidgeting your hands like you did before when you were nervous. Is something bothering you?”
Hinata opened her mouth. They had spent about 2 or 3 hours together and he was able to pick up some of her habits already. He did seem like the type of person that paid attention, he was quiet but observing. Without meaning to she associated him with one of those old people from the park that sit on a bench and watch everyone pass by, like they don’t belong to this world, they just witness it, they are watchers that see the smallest details.
He didn’t know what she was thinking about, but her smile was beautifully tragic, she seemed sad, or at least contemplative.
“I was just thinking how much I enjoyed our…lunch? Dinner? And was wondering how awkward it would be to…a-ask for your number m-maybe?”
He also liked when she stuttered a little. “I don’t see why not. I enjoyed myself as well”
If only Naruto saw him give his number to a girl, the blonde would never let this slide, which was also why he’d never tell his blonde best friend about the petite blue-haired girl that made his ordinary day a little bit extraordinary, she proved that sometimes doing things you’ve never done can have a good end result, in this case talking to a stranger and pretending to date led to a pleasant evening and hopefully a friend and maybe more.
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kishillaa · 3 years
Text
SSM21 Day 10: Distant
"You'll write for me. Promise me you will." She said between her sob as she started to feel unconsciousness overwhelming her.
-
Being in a secret relationship without give anything away to Kakashi and Naruto, or anyone else for that matter, was simply hard.
Now that she is so far away from him, making it even more difficult. Him being at Orochimaru's hideout, while his darling Sakura is all the way in Konoha. Without even mean to, he has created distance in between them. And at the moment like this, when it's dark and cold and pin-dropped silence, all he could think of is her heart shaped face, her emerald expressive green eyes, and of course her beautiful pink locks. He does like how she looks in her short hair, even though he did previously prefer the long one. She had said that it got in the way while they're in the wild as an excuse for Naruto and Sasuke personally agreed to that action, although he did know the real reason behind the chopped mane.
And then, there's part of him that miss her that he wouldn't dare to admit to anyone.
He missed her hugs; Sasuke definitely enjoy the warm and comforting embraces of Sakura.
"Sasuke-kun. Don't struggle too much, please. I just need to hug you right now." She had said, with her teary eyes. When Sasuke was sure Naruto and Tsunade had left the room, Sasuke snakes one of his arm around Sakura's waist and buried his face in the crook of her neck. It makes her cried even harder.
He missed how she desperately asked him for dates too, in spite of their usual secret night meeting.
Naruto was there with Kakashi and they had just finish one of their D-rank missions, "Sasuke-kun." She calls out, earning his attention to look over at her, "Let's get something to eat, j–just the two of us."
And then something like,
"Eh, Sasuke-kun, do you think you can help sharpen my weapons?" She bites her lips before letting it out as she continus, "There's this new restaurant open in town, we can try the new food while you're sharpening."
Really, it gets weird over time. While he usually makes rude remarks and bluntly reject her proposal, he genuinely impressed with her effort.
Thinking about that, Sasuke remembered her blushes. He missed that cream colored cheeks changed to the color of her hair–or brighter, when something excited or embarrassed her.
Sasuke touch her cheeks, "You're wrapped up." he had said, gesturing at her wounded shoulder he had cleaned and wrapped with bandage. She has gotten stabbed by Amegakure genins as she shield Idate from the attack. At their closs proximity, and his touch, Sakura went red as she blushed. She tucked few of her fallen strands of hair behind her ears before she place a soft peck of kiss on his cheek, "Thank you, Sasuke-kun."
He most definitely missed their innocent kiss too. Sakura usually the first to initiate that. Only until he's comfortable enough then he will be the one started it, which isn't bad because he likes kissing her, and if that's not enough, then Sakura's delight expression makes it worth even more.
Tucking Sakura's falling hair behind her ears–which he noticed she often do before kissing him–Sasuke leaned down cautiously and cover her waiting lips with his, softly kiss her before he pulls away. He stares at her deep green eyes as he examined how she takes it before Sakura yanked him closer by his neck and kiss him for real.
He especially missed her coconut smell shampooed hair she had started to use after the Chunin Exam.
"Your hair smells different." He commented when they sat on the dock at the Uchiha district, his hand acted as a comb as it makes it through her hair releasing the few knots here and there. The pink haired girl was leaning against him, her hands circling around his waist as they sat side by side, legs dangling at the edge of the dock.
It was always very silent in the Uchiha district, and no one dare to go into the district, somehow afraid of the ghost of Uchihas still lingering around. Sasuke likes it better that way, especially now that he needed all the silence in the world as he sits with Sakura, liking the secrecy of their relationship.
Sakura makes a face as she pulls her face away from his shoulder, "Pakkun used the same shampoo I previously used. So, I had to change to this one, coconut with vanilla scent." She bites her lips as she looks at him from under her lashes. "Do you like it?"
"The smell?"
Sakura nodded.
"It's fine." He replied nonchalantly as he looks straight ahead.
Smiling in content, Sakura change to embrace his arm instead, tighten it a little and rest her head on his shoulder again, "Are you okay?" She asked.
That stopped Sasuke from his train of thought. Cautiously, he lowered his gaze to look at Sakura. Her eyes closing as a small frown cover her face, albeit she looks like she's comfortable with her head on his definitely not comfortable shoulder, "Why should I not?"
"Something's coming." Her voice coming out soft, almost like she's going to cry. "I can feel it, Sasuke-kun. This bond we're having, it helps me understand you more. And right now, something isn't so right. I hope I don't loose you so soon."
He had put his face into her hair that night, lightly kissed her temple and sniff into her coconut and vanilla scented hair. A few days after that, he left the village, leaving everyone behind.
When Orochimaru first taught him summoning jutsu, and he finally mastered it, he has sent Sakura a letter through the snake summons. It's probably risky, but that is the extend he is willing to make just to get in touch with her.
Right now, he is staring at Sakura's third letter.
Sasuke-kun,
I went to clean up your apartment again yesterday, and stopped by at the dock to uproot the grass and and clear up the growing moss that had started to cover the dock.
To answer your questions, I've been well. And you heard that right, I'm doing apprenticeship with Tsunade-sama. Training with her was hard; she didn't just train me healthcare stuff, she helped me sharpen my combat skills too, but of course, I'm sure it isn't as brutal as your training.
Speaking about training, Sasuke-kun. How has you been doing? You know I can't tolerate with you overwork yourself, right? I'm not there to scold you about it, but I hope there's another me to take care of you over there. If there isn't someone else, please take care of yourself for me, Sasuke-kun.
I know you didn't ask this, but I'm sure you'd like to know as well. Naruto has return from his travel with Jiraiya-sama yesterday. Kakashi put us on the bell test again. This is where it got interesting though.
NARUTO FIGURED OUT HOW TO DEFEAT KAKASHI-SENSEI!
I'm pretty sure you're rolling your eyes right now and think how could Naruto–our Naruto—thought of something to fight Kakashi-sensei off and won. ~I'm actually laughing right now thinking of you saying it, gosh I missed you so much~
But he actually did it. It was stupid, really. Jiraiya-sama just published the latest book for Icha Icha series, so Naruto just recite the ending part of the book for spoiler–Mind you, he actually did read the book. Kakashi-sensei eventually let his guard down and we were able to snatch the bell from him.
Anyway, I know I said this in my previous two letters many months ago but I am so happy you wrote to me. Thank you, Sasuke-kun. And I missed you so damn much!
This has gotten too long, I hope I didn't trouble your summon. He seems like he loves those rats I caught for him, though he said the exact opposite. He and you are so alike. See you, Sasuke-kun.
Love you always,
Sakura.
He reread the letter again for the second time that day. Just like the first time he read it, his face soften at the first paragraph, feels grateful for what she had been doing. It was one of not so many things they did together when he was still in the village, and in their kind-of-dating relationship; clean up as much part of Uchiha compound as they could when they're free from mission and Kakashi's training. He felt somewhat blessed to have someone like Sakura by his side, who is terribly in love with him, to company his lonely days and do things he didn't ask her to.
He of course rolls his eyes at her over caring demeanour, and non logical uneasiness regarding his health. She has always put everyone else before herself, that's what he dislike the most about Sakura.
At the part where Sakura predicted Sasuke's reaction to Naruto's idea, he couldn't help but smirk. She knew him a little too well, despite the yesrs of his absence in her life.
Sasuke touched the cursive writing of her name. Huge part of him feels content that, even after years of separation, Sakura still loves him. And to that, he is genuinely grateful.
For this time, they had to be distant. But when everything else is done, he promised he will go back to her, to the girl that he knew will always wait for him, always love him.
After all, distance means so little when someone means so much.
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ayyyeisa · 3 years
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Pairing: Eren Jaeger x Mikasa Ackerman
Word Count: 9.7k
Content: Modern! AU, fluff, angst, best-friends-to-lovers trope
Content Warnings: PTSD, alludes to alcohol
Summary: Childhood best friends Eren and Mikasa go through a series of ups and downs throughout their life, struggling to realize what exactly their relationship is
Notes: Thank you to everyone who helped edit this piece! I really appreciated all the feedback you gave me <3
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Prologue
They’ve always been told that they’ve been friends since the moment they were born, and it was difficult to argue against it because it really did feel like it’s been a lifetime of friendship. There has never been a moment where one isn’t with the other. It had never been just Eren, and it had never been just Mikasa. No matter where they were and when it was, it was always (and always will be) Eren and Mikasa. The girl, Mikasa, even claimed to have known her friend Eren in her life before, and although he'd never admit it in front of anyone but Mikasa (in fear that his older brother would make fun of it), he did too. At 28, their friendship definitely had quite a few ups and downs, but if they learned one thing during their years of being best friends it was that they both wanted one thing more than anything in the world: to be with each other. That was it. It didn’t matter, when, where, with who, or for what reason. Just to be in the presence of one another was enough to make them happy.
27 Years Ago (4 months old)
Eren and Mikasa were born just barely two months apart, so it was no surprise that they wouldn’t even remember meeting as babies. As their parents were good friends, the couples jokingly tried to make their children be friends too, by making sure they saw each other frequently. Mikasa and Eren’s moms held their babies across from one another so they could see each other again. It was the first time they officially met, excluding the time the Ackerman family came to visit Carla when she gave birth to Eren. The moment baby Eren had set his big, forest green eyes onto Mikasa’s brown ones, he had tried to reach out to her, going as far as untangling himself from the red scarf (a gift given at his baby shower, though because of his size, could not be used as an actual scarf yet) that his mom used to swaddle him. Unfortunately, from his lack of motor skills, the little girl was awoken by Eren's hand. Mikasa shrieked, upset that she was pulled from her sleep. Zeke, Eren's senior by ten years, freaked, immediately apologizing to Mikasa's mom about Eren. "I'm so sorry Auntie! I'm sure Eren didn't mean it. Please don't be mad."
The woman just let out a light-hearted laugh. "It's alright Zeke. Look, Mikasa is fine now. Besides, her and Eren seem to be getting along pretty well," she said as she watched the two babies looking at each other, arms flailing like an octopus's legs in an attempt to reach each other. Mikasa had gotten a hold of an end of Eren’s swaddle scarf and was lightly tugging at it, while Eren continued to reach forward until his small hand lightly touched Mikasa’s forehead. They were giggling, almost as if they were keeping a secret.
23 Years Ago (5 years old)
It was their first day of first grade. They had been smart enough to go to school a year early. Yes, they. Mikasa refused to start school without Eren, and he refused to go without Mikasa. They were a team, never leaving each other’s side. The teachers were a bit surprised at first when they refused to sit with different people, but they soon got the message. Many actually found it quite cute. Eren had many girls crushing on him (yes, he was a very cute boy, and eventually grew up to be a handsome man). Although the girls didn’t completely understand their emotions at that age, they refused to believe that the cute boy prefered Mikasa over all of them. This of course was bad for Mikasa since it led her to having enemies from a young age. Even if she didn’t need total protection from them, she still had Eren to help. He was, however, useless when his own fangirls chased him around the playground. Though he always proudly claimed "As if I would even think of hitting a girl,” Mikasa was there to help him out when they chased him.
Not even a week in, Eren had met a boy named Armin-- a short and shy young blonde, who always seemed to be in the little library corner of the classroom. He was as smart as Misaka and Eren, if not smarter, therefore he also started a year early. The older boys were constantly making fun of Armin for his short stature, yet what caught Eren’s eyes the most was how no matter the power difference, Armin did not seem to back down. Even as the bullies picked and teased at him, he held his head high.
When Eren approached one day to ask why, Armin would simply state “I haven’t lost yet if I refuse to back down.” And it was that bravery, even in the most dire of situations, that had Eren grinning.
Hands on his hips, he announced, “my name is Eren, but you probably already knew that. And that girl over there,” Eren paused to point at Mikasa, who was watching from across the room to make sure Eren wasn’t getting himself into trouble, “is Mikasa. Let’s all be friends. Mikasa! C’mere! This is Armin and he’s super cool and smart.” After gesturing her over, he turns back to Armin with a grin on his face. “Mikasa is super cool too. She’s smart like you, and really strong. She’s my best friend, and I’ve known her my entire life. I just know we’ll all get along,” he said happily while readjusting his scarf.
And right he was, for that was the beginning of the trio’s epic friendship.
21 Years Ago (7 years old)
He took her hand, and led her to his horse. Just like how the leaves were swept away by the wind, so were they. If you watched, you’d see the horse getting smaller and smaller as they rode farther away. But maybe, if you listened, you would hear the princess’s and prince’s joyful laughter- a truly happy ever after ending for them.
“No, no, no, no!” That’s not what happened in my dream! If I remember correctly, we lived in a castle!” Eren exclaimed. He didn’t know where Mikasa got that dream before.
“Well, I’m just telling you what I saw in my dream. Maybe you’re the one with bad memory,” she snapped back, a frown on her face as she lightly tugged on the red scarf he always kept around his neck.
For the past couple months, they had been dreaming of being together in a number of lives. They often fought about them in front of Armin, constantly asking him which one of the two dreamt the right dream. Poor Armin. Luckily, the boy had a knack for reading any and every book he could find, and he decided to do something about it before the fight could escalate again.
“Maybe you two remembered different parts of your old life, and maybe even different lives. You never know, you could have been a prince or princess more than once,” he proposed.
Mikasa’s brows quirk in confusion. “You think so?” she asked.
Eren, on the other hand, fully trusted the other boy, knowing just how smart he was from all the reading he’s done. Grinning, he proudly stated,“Don’t doubt Armin, Mikasa. He’s super smart. I bet he’s right with just about everything.”
“Really?” the girl excitedly asked. “Wait, so Armin, do you know how babies are made?”
Omake:
Eren: “Of course he does! He read it in a book and told me. A stork plucks a baby from a pond and delivers it at night.”
19 Years Ago (9 years old)
“We were super cool ninjas with powers! Like Naruto!” Eren exclaimed, jumping, kicking, and punching the air as if he was fighting an imaginary person. His red scarf danced and swayed along with him as he energetically moved around. He briefly paused to glance at Mikasa, excited to see her reaction, when he saw her expression. It had his previously bright, green eyes dulling into a light grey color. Furrowing his eyebrows, he asked, “You okay Mikasa?”
She sat there, a worried look on her face. “Eren, will my mom be okay?” Even though she was young, she knew something went wrong when her mom had her. Her mom was always happy, yet sad when talking about Misaka's birth. She overheard one night from her parents that having Mikasa was very difficult for them, let alone having another child.
This question always broke his heart- no matter how many times he’s heard it. He stared at her for a moment before slowly walking to her, unwrapping his scarf off his neck. He stopped right in front of her-- her head right below his chin-- before taking his scarf in two hands and wrapping it around her neck instead. Finishing up the last loop, he messily placed the last few inches on top of her head before taking a seat next to her on the couch.
“I don’t know Mikasa. I don’t know. But you’re going to be okay, I promise.”
Eren had said “you’re” not “it’s,” and she couldn't be more thankful. The little boy could not promise that everything would be okay, but he could promise that she would. Why? Because she still had a home. Because he was there. And he always would be.
“I’m right here. And if you ever need more comfort, whenever and wherever we are, I’ll just wrap that scarf around you again,” he stated confidently. He hugged Mikasa, who in turn hugged him back before they laid down facing each other.
“You’ll really do it? You’ll wrap the scarf around me just like you did in the dream I told you I had last night? That one’s my favorite dream-- but I like all of our other dreams too. Promise me we’ll always talk about them. No matter how old we are, we’ll still tell them to each other, okay? Promise me,” Mikasa prompted as she rested her hand in between them.
It was no surprise when Eren gave her a small smile while stating “Promise,” before reaching out with his hand to interlock his fingers with Mikasa’s.
18 Years Ago (10 years old)
At ten years old, Eren was starting to believe what the other boys in his grade were saying about girls. At first, he tried to fight back and ignore their stupid antics, but he hated the fact that people thought Mikasa was stronger than him. He didn’t want her protection; he wanted to protect her.
“Why does she always speak for you, anyway?” one of them would ask.
“She’s a girl; shouldn’t you be stronger?” another would add.
“Don’t forget that girls have cooties.”
“She’s just plain scary too.”
Eren could feel his cheeks heat up at the comments, and if the boys were paying close attention, they would’ve seen his eyes turn a stormy grey. Whether it was from embarrassment of being below Mikasa, or anger of someone daring to badmouth her, he didn’t know.
“Don’t say that about Mikasa. Girls should be strong, and there’s nothing wrong with not being quiet and dainty,” he loudly proclaimed. But while his heart was burning to continue defending Mikasa, a part of him couldn’t help but hate the situation he was in. Why was Mikasa always the one to protect him, and why did it bother him so much?
Weeks had passed, and Mikasa noticed how Eren seemed to be avoiding her. Was it what everyone was saying about them? Or was it something else? The only other thing she could think of was when she gave him a nice punch (a well-deserved punch at that) for being an idiot and getting into trouble again. Because of him, they both had to stay in the classroom writing apology letters during recess-- it’s not like she was going to let him fight those bullies alone. But he couldn’t be THAT mad at her, could he? The jerk sort of deserved it. It broke her. But, Mikasa being Mikasa, she decided to confront him today.
“Eren, why are you ignoring me? Are you okay? Did something happen?” she asked.
“I’m not ignoring you, okay? Why can’t you just let me be and do my own thing. You’re not my mom, and I'm not your kid brother. I don’t need you around all the time, and I definitely don’t always need your help.” Eren spat, irritated.
Just as he was about to leave, Mikasa spoke again. “So you’re saying that I’m not important.”
Eren, caught off guard, froze. “No! I never--”
“You’re saying that those other boys, your other friends, are more important than me and that what they think matters more than me.” Mikasa clarified, tears starting to swell up in her eyes.
...1 second...
...2 seconds…
Gears were turning in Eren’s head, realizing what he’d almost done to their friendship-- what he’d almost done to Mikasa, his Mikasa, his best friend. He could feel his anger subside, and Mikasa saw his grey eyes slowly brighten to green. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it that way. Why don’t you come over today? We can play tag and hide and seek… Or I could even play with the dolls you made. You made one of me, right? Just the two of us. I promise this won’t happen again.”
“Good. I like Auntie Carla’s cooking. We’re walking home from school together, okay? Like old times,” she simply stated before walking away. She was not going to take any chances of Eren saying no. Of course, Mikasa expected his previous response. As much as Eren had been avoiding her, she truly trusted him to always come back. He always did. She could bet her life (and heart) on it.
17 Years Ago (11 years old)
Lunch was going well for the first day of 6th grade. It was an odd transition from eating with classmates in their grade level to being able to eat with just about anyone that attended their school. Eren, Mikasa, and Armin were finishing up their lunch when they heard a voice.
“Your long black hair is… really beautiful, by the way,” a boy with ash-brown hair shyly says to Mikasa. His blush was evident on his light skin and he could barely look at the girl. His name was Jean Kirstein, a new classmate of the trio’s; and he annoyed Eren to no end. Who did this guy think he was? It was their first year at South Paradis Junior High-- there were so many other elementary schools that fed into here that it was unlikely that they’d know all their classmates. And yet, this boy was already coming straight up to Mikasa and complimenting her hair. Mikasa was a rare beauty and Eren’s best friend; she deserved the best and only the very best. He wasn’t going to let some horse face of a boy take a chance with her.
Armin noticed Eren’s frown and how his eyes were a dark grey. He honestly considered teasing him: “Of course you’d be the petty, jealous type.” That’s all he had to say. It was fairly easy, and Armin was quite sure that voicing that thought would have Eren in a stuttering mess trying to deny it all. He’d probably be so busy denying it that he would’ve spent more time arguing with Armin than acting on his jealousy. Though against his better judgement, Armin kept his mouth shut, allowing Eren to speak up.
“Mikasa,” Eren said softly as he grabbed a piece of her hair, “aren’t you trying out for the martial arts team? You should cut your hair. You could get into an accident.” Eren didn’t even bother glancing at Jean; he opted for keeping his gaze on Mikasa as he waited for an answer.
“Yeah… you’re right. I should probably cut it,” she stated as she absentmindedly grabs the same strand Eren was holding, their fingers grazing one another in the process. Eren would never admit it, but his fingers burned right where his and Mikasa’s briefly touched. The physical contact didn’t last long, but he could still feel the warmth she emulated when he went to bed that night. He didn’t know why, though.
13 Years Ago (15 years old)
It wasn’t until sophomore year of high school that Eren realized just why he felt that way-- why he always had the urge to protect Mikasa to the point that her being stronger than him made him angry, why he was always hit with an overwhelming feeling of jealousy whenever Jean was anywhere near her, why his skin started burning at her slightest touch. It wasn’t until sophomore year of high school that Eren realized just why he started to look at his best friend a little differently, why she always lingered in his thoughts a bit longer and a bit more than everyone else.
He was, unfortunately, stupid enough to make homecoming plans without Mikasa. Last year, the two of them and Armin had all gone together, but Armin was finally going with Annie this year. It was of the utmost obviousness that those two had something going ever since she transferred to their school in 7th grade. Annie was a quiet girl who usually kept to herself, maybe occasionally speaking with Bertholdt and Reiner since they transferred from the same school. But otherwise, it seemed as if only Armin was able to break through her shell. It was honestly quite ironic how Eren and Mikasa often teased Armin for his incapability to express his feelings, when he could’ve easily pointed out theirs. The ache in his heart when Annie was away --the way he constantly missed her and wished she was around-- was no different from what Eren and Mikasa secretly told Armin when they were apart. How could Eren and Mikasa not know?
“Historia asked me to homecoming,” Eren had told Mikasa one night after they both respectively finished martial arts and baseball practice. He could see the small glare she gave him, as she stared at him for what felt like hours without saying a word.
“Okay, then just ask her out.” Mikasa didn’t even try to hide her annoyance.
“It’s not like that. I don’t-- There’s nothing-- We’re not like that. I think she’s just pretty bummed that Ymir moved and needs a friend. You know she doesn’t have that many ‘cause her dad’s been sheltering her. You can come with. I told her that I was planning on going with you,” Eren replied. It’s not like he wanted Mikasa to feel left out or unimportant. One of his friends needed his help, and he would never-- could never-- turn his back on a friend. They were the most important people in the world to him, almost on the same level as his parents, Armin, and Mikasa. Of course he would be there if one of them ever needed a hand.
And it was because Mikasa knew him so well that she tried to control herself. Mikasa wanted to argue-- wanted to tell Eren that there were plenty of other people Historia could’ve asked. She had Sasha, Connie, and Jean too. She could’ve even asked her. Why did it have to be specifically Eren? She was jealous, she acknowledged that, because all she ever wanted was to be near Eren. The thought of him belonging to some other girl hurt so badly. For him to have another home besides her, for her to not be able to call him her home-- she didn’t know if she wanted to even be alive if that were to happen. Eren was everything to her. But another part of her just wanted to let it be. If Eren was happy, and as his best friend, shouldn’t she be happy for him too? All she ever wanted was to be near him. Romantic relationship or not, she already had that. Eren cared about her and Armin more than anyone in the world; she has everything she’s asked for. Shouldn’t that be enough?
“No, it’s ok. You don’t need to explain. She needs a friend, and I think you should go. Jean and I were talking in class today. He actually offered for us to join their group because Sasha and Connie wanted to do a whole extravagant group meetup, with pictures and food and everything. I’ll just tag along with them,” her lips drew into a straight line in an attempt to smile. She knew Eren well enough to know that he knew --that she knew-- that he knew that it was most definitely not okay. But to her dismay, neither acknowledged the elephant in the room nor the growing tension between them.
Eren didn’t want to. He was too busy feeling the blood rushing through his ears at the mention of Jean asking Mikasa out. There was only one other time he remembered feeling this jealous-- it had been all that time ago, when they first met Jean back in 6th grade. The horse face had told Mikasa her long, black hair was beautiful, and while Eren agreed, it pissed him off to no end that someone other than him was looking at Mikasa. Of course, it was no surprise that many boys and girls were looking at her-- she was beautiful and strong and everything that a woman should be. But having random people look at her didn’t compare to the jealousy he felt when it came to Jean. Eren wanted Mikasa all to himself. But what right did he have to whine and complain when he was the one to bring up taking Historia to the dance? Jealousy was an ugly feeling, and he hated how accustomed he had gotten to feeling it. Stupid Jean, stupid world, stupid homecoming, stupid him. Oh how he hated himself more than ever for putting himself in that situation. All he ever wanted was to be with Mikasa, and here he was doing the opposite-- here he was starting a small rift between them. One stupid statement, and he already felt far, far away from home.
12 Years Ago (16 years old)
It was concerning, really, how months later, Eren and Mikasa still couldn’t address the divide between them. While the two often got into small arguments before, they were usually solved within a week, if not immediately. This was the first time that it ever lasted more than a few days, if this could even be considered an argument. They were talking, but something felt off-- both of them could feel it. Mikasa didn’t want to push boundaries. Eren was still her friend; he was safe and nearby, so could she really complain? As for Eren, he could feel the ache of Mikasa’s absence run deeper than his heart. It made him sick in a way he couldn’t completely describe— like he was homesick or something.
While he saw her everyday at school, she often paired up with Armin or Jean instead. While he ate lunch with her at the same table as their friend group, she usually spent her time listening to Sasha ramble on and on about meat and food and the so-called cute senior in her culinary class named Niccolo. Even when he was sitting right next to her in the driver’s seat as he dropped her home after practice, their conversations ran shallow. He missed their inside jokes and their talks about their dreams. For months, he’d been wanting to tell her his recurring dream of one of their past lives. How every night, his sleep would send him to the peaceful mountains of Switzerland, where he lived in a tiny cottage with her. They were alone-- isolated from society-- and they often needed to fish, hunt, and gather their own food, but they were together. They were together and they were happy, and God help him, that’s all he ever wanted.
He wondered that of the many other dreams she’s had of what they presumed to be their past lives, if she saw that same dream too. He hoped so. He hoped that when he was away, she felt that same ache too. He hoped that in the same way no one could ever replace her in his heart, no one would ever replace him in hers. Call him selfish, but he wanted Mikasa all to himself-- wanted to be the only person that would ever claim her heart. He didn’t want anyone-- not Jean, not even Armin-- to have Mikasa. So why was he letting her slip through his fingers?
It wasn’t until months later, near the end of summer, that the two finally resolved whatever issue was going on. With school out, Historia rarely saw anybody outside her friends, and even then, she was only really comfortable around Eren-- only he knew the pain of missing someone. Historia knew he was suffering. He never told her-- never really told anyone except Armin-- how he felt about Mikasa, but Historia could see the longing in his eyes whenever he gazed at Mikasa and the sadness they held whenever he talked about her. And it was for this reason that she refused to leave Eren alone. He needed a friend, and so did she. There was no way she’d abandon him-- no way she would abandon anyone in need.
Over summer, the two started volunteering at homeless shelters and orphanages. They’d occasionally invite the whole group over: Sasha, Connie, Jean, Mikasa, Armin… There were days that the seven of them would volunteer during the day and go out for dinner in the evening to catch up. But the amount of time that the group met up was nothing in comparison to the amount of time Historia and Eren spent together. It was evident in the way they talked at their group outings, and it didn’t help with the growing tension between Eren and Mikasa either.
Seeing them together, seeing them so happy-- seeing Eren so happy without her-- had Mikasa feeling things. Was she missing something-- a component or aspect that maybe was pushing Eren away from her? Or was she too overbearing? What did Historia have that she didn’t? There must be a reason why Eren seemed to be wanting to spend more time with the other girl as opposed to her. She missed seeing Eren’s smile and his happy, green eyes. She was both angry and hurt, and while she knew she had no right to speak, for she was Eren’s best friend, not his lover, she could only take so much before snapping.
She hadn’t meant to say it; at least, not out loud and most definitely not in front of Eren, but her jealousy got the better of her. Historia and Eren were once again telling the group about some project they went on the other week to help orphans in a different country. They were laughing and reminiscing about the troubles they went through during their time there when Mikasa spoke.
“We get it. You guys had a great time,” her voice dripping with disdain as she glared at Historia. It wasn’t until Mikasa noticed everyone staring at her that she realized the rudeness of what she had said. Hesitantly, she said “Sorry. I’ve, uhh, I’ve had a rough few… months. I’m just gonna go,” before hastily leaving the table.
“Wait!” Historia called after her.
“We haven’t even ordered anything yet, aren’t you hungry?” Jean added.
She ignored them both, though, and opted to continue walking out of the restaurant, even as the others tried to call out after her.
Armin used that distraction to nudge Eren’s side. “Eren,” he whispered sternly, grinding his teeth together. “It’s now or never. Don’t let it get worse. Are you really going to let her go?”
And it was because Armin knew both Mikasa AND Eren so well that he didn’t doubt that it was all he needed to say to get the guy moving. Not even a second later, Eren was scrambling off his chair and past his friends as he hurriedly followed Mikasa.
“Mikasa! Mikasa, wait. What was that? What’s wrong?” he asked. One of his hands was gripping her arm and holding her in place. He had tugged at it lightly so that Mikasa was slightly facing him, and his eyes desperately searched hers for an answer.
“Nothing,” she stated, trying (but failing) to keep her composure. It’s not like she could come out and say “Oh, I’m jealous of Historia. I hate how she spends a lot of time with you because I secretly love you, Eren.” She could barely admit that fact herself, let alone confess it to someone else.
Eren stared at her in wait, desperately wanting to know what they had and where they stood. Anyone watching could’ve easily seen it in his eyes. “Please,” he begged when she remained stubbornly quiet. “Please tell me what’s wrong. Don’t you miss the way things used to be? What’s happened between us?”
“Historia--”
“Historia and I are just friends! I already told you that, back during homecoming. Why did we drift apart just because of that? Why did it seem like you weren’t interested in talking to me anymore? Why did we stop hanging out everyday?” Eren urged Mikasa to answer. He was already fighting back tears, when one question that had been nagging at him the past few months made its way out his mouth. “Why did we stop talking about our dreams?! Didn’t we always promise to talk about them? Have you given up on a useless idiot like me?”
Seeing Eren cry stopped Mikasa in her tracks. She stopped trying to get her arm out of Eren’s grip and settled for looking at him straight in the eyes, near tears herself. “Eren,” she says with soft urgency. It was only then, when he felt her sad gaze on him and lack of resistance against his grip, did Eren completely let go of Mikasa. She grabbed both his shoulders, giving him the slightest shake. “Don’t say that about yourself. Please. You’re not a useless idiot. It’s just-- I… really missed you. I’m sorry. I know you told me that you and Historia were just friends, but I didn’t like how jealous I felt. I wanted you only by my side, because it’s always been Mikasa and Eren, and Eren and Mikasa, and seeing you with someone else-- I… I don’t know. I guess, I’m not used to having to be apart from you. More than anything in the world, all I want is to be near you. When you kept visiting Historia and spending the summer with her, it just felt like you didn’t need me around anymore, or that you maybe didn’t want me around,” Mikasa confessed, her blush evident.
If Eren heard her correctly, then maybe she was feeling the same ache that he’d been feeling. Maybe, just maybe, she did love him the way that he loved her-- not as a sibling nor a best friend, but something more. He raised both his hands to grab her face, never breaking eye contact.
She could see how his previously gray eyes had started shifting over to green. Mikasa lifted her hands to hold onto his wrists needing to stabilize herself, as she felt like she would faint at any moment with the way Eren was holding her. Since when did his touch start making her knees so weak? And since when did his gaze start making her self-conscious and nervous?
“Mikasa,” Eren whispered, closing his eyes. He didn’t think he’d have the courage to look at her when their faces were close-- so close that their foreheads were nearly touching and he could feel the warmth of her shaky breaths on his face. “I’ll always want you with me,” he whispered softly as he tried to lean in. He wanted to kiss her-- wanted to know what it’d feel like to have her lips on his-- but what if he was wrong about his assumptions? What if Mikasa didn’t feel the same ache in her heart as he did? What if he was just like family to her and nothing more? If he kissed her and he was wrong, it’d for sure ruin their friendship, and the rift between them that they were currently trying to heal would be damaged for good.
He was too busy worrying about all that to realize that Mikasa, too, wanted to kiss him. He didn’t even realize the slight tilt up of her head nor the way her fingers lightly squeezed his wrists before she stopped in realization that he wasn’t actually going to kiss her. Neither of them wanted to make the first move in fear of ruining what they had-- whatever it was. And so instead, Eren went limp and rested his forehead against hers, eyes still closed, and Mikasa did the same. They didn’t move until Mikasa’s stomach growled.
“I knew you were hungry. It’s 7 o’clock and you usually eat an early brunch,” Eren laughed.
“Eren, your eating habits are worse than mine. You’re probably hungrier than me. Let’s go back inside,” Mikasa snapped back with a smile.
Things felt normal again and both were the happiest they’ve been in months. Their friendship was okay. Romantic relationship or not, they were still Eren and Mikasa, and Mikasa and Eren-- they were still each other's best friend. They were together, and to them, that’s all that ever mattered in the world. They were home.
10 Years Ago (18 years old)
Many moments from the next few years were filled with awkward silence or slight tension, ones caused by the fight they had at 16. It was like the rift never fully healed, and that made it much easier to get into small fights. Maybe it was because much of the problem itself never went away. The arguments grew from insecurities and miscommunication; they were two teenagers stupidly in love, yet too scared to say anything. Regardless, it was Eren and Mikasa, and so the fights never lasted too long.
It was the last weeks of summer before the two had to go off to college, and unlike two summers ago, Eren made sure that they were making every last moment count. From getting ice cream to hiking at nearby state parks, Eren came up with plans to hangout every single day. He had to, especially because they’d be spending the next four years apart. Both were originally going to Purdue University, along with quite a few of their friends. Eren was going for aviation, Mikasa for elementary education, Armin for political science with a minor in oceanography, and Jean for business.
Unfortunately, times were cruel and news channels were filled with stories of a possible onslaught of World War III. It seemed surreal, but the growing tensions across many countries of the world had many people worrying if it was actually possible. Eren, in particular, found it interesting enough to change his mind about college. He still wanted to fly-- wanted to know the feeling of freedom-- but first and foremost, he felt a strong duty to protect his country because it’s where the people he loved lived. If the possibility of an oncoming World War III was true, Eren wanted to be prepared. He still hadn’t brought it up to Mikasa or Armin, his decision being so last minute.
He had spent countless nights contemplating on whether he should go or not. If he entered the military, he’d be signing his life away for four years. That’s four years of not being able to always see Mikasa, assuming he’d be able to hide it from her. He just had to keep his decision a secret long enough for Mikasa to not be able to follow him in. Eren knew that she wouldn’t hesitate to drop everything if it meant being able to be with and protect him, but if Eren cared about her the way he claims he does, shouldn’t he be protecting her too? They should be equals, not whatever this was. Just this once, he wanted to be the one protecting, even if it meant being apart from her.
And so, that’s how he came to the decision the night before Decision Day to enter the military as opposed to Purdue. It broke his heart and worried him to no end that for the next four years, he’d be far away from Mikasa-- far away from home. What if something happened while he was gone? Something bad, and he wasn’t there to help her through it? Sure, Jean and Armin would be there, and Mikasa would surely meet other people too. But would they be able to be there for her in the way she deserved? He knew Mikasa better than anyone else, even Armin, so could anyone really live up to his expectations of what he wanted for Mikasa? All these questions ran through his head as he drove Mikasa back home from the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, another one of the trips he planned.
Mikasa, not one to not notice Eren’s changes in behavior, glanced over at the driver’s seat, wondering why Eren suddenly got quiet. “Eren?”
At the sound of her voice, Eren was immediately pulled out of his thoughts. But one look at her, and he was filled with sorrow again. Soon, he’d have to leave her and it’d be another four years or so before they would be able to return to the old days, if going back to the old days was even possible. For all he knew, this could be the very last time they’d talk to each other like this again. These last few days could be the very last time that Eren and Mikasa, and Mikasa and Eren are a thing. He wanted to make the most out of it-- whatever time he had left. “Mikasa,” he stated before pulling over to the side of the road. He wanted to be sure he could clearly see her face, without any distractions. “Let's get out of here,” he continued, looking her in the eye.
She stared at him, observed his movements, the color of his eyes. They were a mix of green and gray, much lighter than his usual forest green eyes that signaled his happiness, but not exactly the stormy grey eyes he had when he was angry or sad either. It confused her, because in the rare times that she didn’t know what he was feeling, his eye color usually gave it away. But this time, it’s like he was both happy and sad. “What do you mean?”
Eren was practically quivering in fear that she’d be angry or reject what he was about to offer. But he kept reminding himself that these last few days would be the last time he’d see her in a long while. They’d be apart for the first time since they were born, and he wasn’t sure how either of them would be able to handle it. He looked away to gather his nerves before turning back around and taking a deep breath.
“Don’t be mad with what I’m about to say. Please.” Eren waited for her nod before continuing. “The night before decision day, I actually decided I was going to be joining the military-- the army. And before you even think of telling me you’ll join too, don’t. You needed to decide by decision day, so there’s no point in joining now if we’re going to be in different regiments. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you. I just wanted to do this to protect everyone, while not influencing any of your decisions to pursue your dreams…” he paused again, waiting for Mikasa’s reaction.
The girl wanted to scold him for making such a hasty and dangerous decision. She didn’t know where to begin. The military was a four-year commitment, which meant that they’d be apart for four years. Would she be able to handle that? They had never been apart for anywhere near that long. And what if the military changes him? Even if he didn’t get deployed, he’d still have to go through basic training and the like. She had heard stories of how the military, even just camp, changed people. What if some part of him never comes back from that? Would he still be her Eren-- the same Eren?
“Mikasa, stop thinking about it. Let’s just… enjoy what time we have left of summer break, okay? I told you this because I was hoping you’d say yes to what I’m about to ask you. For the last few days of summer, let’s go to Switzerland, in Crans-Montana-- in between the mountains where we went on that band trip junior year. Remember how Armin and I climbed the balcony on the third story of the building, just so we could spend the night talking about the most random things? We stayed up till sunrise and nearly got caught staying together in the same bedroom,” he chuckled. “Let’s go there again. Just the two of us. Mikasa, come with me. It wouldn’t be home with you.”
Mikasa, who was shocked and deep in thought, could only manage to give him a small smile before taking the opportunity to reach over the console and grab one of Eren’s hands. “One condition: you wrap this scarf around me one last time, okay?”
6 Years Ago (22 years old)
“Hey Mikasa, have you heard from Eren? I don’t think I’ve received any letters from him in a while,” Armin said.
Their usual group was having a meet-up at their favorite restaurant, a celebration for finishing finals; they’d be graduating in less than a month’s time. And yet, there was a sort of sad or empty feeling to the group, as Eren wouldn’t be home for another 6 months or so. He had to finish his military contract, and there was no way for him to visit at the moment due to his most recent deployment.
“No, I haven’t; the last letter was from a few weeks ago. I think he’s busy. Last I heard, he was deployed somewhere in the Middle East,” Mikasa replied softly.
“Have you told him already?” asked Jean. He gently placed his arms across her shoulders from his seat next to her.
Even from across the table, Armin could see the ring glistening on his finger. He had read somewhere that only about 7% of men actually wore engagement rings; he wasn’t surprised that Jean was of that percentage. It matched the diamond on Mikasa’s hands that were resting on the table. Armin didn’t know how to feel about the entire thing. Mikasa did genuinely look happy, and she deserved every bit of it. So did Jean, especially after all that he’d done for Mikasa when Eren wasn’t able to be there for her. It wasn’t really in his place to judge— what did he know about love? It had taken him years to spend time with Annie, and even then, it took many more awkward conversations and longing glances for them to establish the bond between them. So maybe it did make sense for Mikasa to accept Jean’s proposal. While everyone felt Eren’s absence, he was sure that he and Mikasa felt it the most.
Jean was always there to comfort Mikasa, even when Armin couldn’t. He never overstepped his boundaries, knowing that it was improper to make a move on someone whose heart belonged to someone else, but as the time between Eren’s letters lengthened, the more Jean found himself attending events with Mikasa, or being left alone to study for classes together since Armin wanted surprise Annie, until one day she started smiling at him almost the same way as she did to Eren. A part of him initially wondered if Mikasa really did love him, or if she just appreciated his presence. But those doubts didn’t last long because it just wasn’t like Mikasa to do something like that.
Mikasa was glad that he did believe her when she said she loved him, because she did. Jean was kind and funny; he was hardworking, empathetic, and an amazing leader. She saw how he treated his peers and subordinates with respect and often put himself in their place to make sure they received the best treatment. He also smiled at her in this certain way. She couldn’t describe it, but it made her heart flutter. She loved having him around because he was one of the only people that filled the void of Eren’s absence. She loved when he would pull out a chair for her on lunch and dinner dates, when he brought her breakfast at her dorm in the mornings, and when he helped her put on her jacket even when she didn’t need help. She loved him-- Jean; she really did. But she also knew a part of her would never really let go of Eren, not completely.
“No, I haven’t,” Mikasa stated hesitantly. “I thought he should find out in person, especially since it’d be awkward for me to ask him to be my maid of honor when he’s not even a girl,” earning snickers from Sasha and Connie, who were also seated with them.
“Wait, so you guys have been engaged for months now, and Eren still doesn’t know?” Annie asked, her voice blunt.
Armin lightly kicked Annie’s foot under the table. “Annie,” he softly warned. The two stared at each other as Jean attempted to break the awkward atmosphere.
“No, it’s all good. We wrote to him saying that we started dating, but I guess we’re waiting to tell him about the engagement. He’s on Mikasa’s side after all. He deserves to hear it from her, whenever she’s ready.”
. . . . .
It wasn’t until Annie and Armin were on their way home from lunch did Annie dare to speak again. “Correct me if I’m wrong,” she started. “But Jean’s just in denial that Mikasa is prolonging the engagement because a part of her will never stop loving Eren,” she tells Armin
“I don’t think he’s in denial… Just that, a part of him-- well, a part of all of us-- know that Eren will always have a place in Mikasa’s heart. It doesn’t mean she won’t move on with her life. Though, I will admit that I think Jean deserves someone who will love him completely.” Armin said. And though Annie remained silent, he knew her well enough to see the slight hesitation in her actions, as if she was contemplating on whether or not she should say something. “Eren’s always been adventurous, wanting to explore the world rather than stay here; he’s always been a small distance from Mikasa and me, no matter how close we try to be to him. I think--” he paused, trying to process his thoughts into words. “I think that he just needs time to understand what she means to him. They both do.”
1 Year Ago (27 years old)
The wait for Eren’s return came by slowly, and the way he took the news of Mikasa and Jean’s engagement was quite anti-climactic. Everyone in their friend group expected more, but he was just blank and glaze-eyed for what seemed like months after he returned home. Even years later, not much of his behavior changed. The military had not been what he expected. He went in excited to serve his country-- determined to protect his people and loved ones, no matter the sacrifices he had to make. But the horrors that awaited him were beyond anything he could imagine.
Everytime he closed his eyes, he could hear bombs, screaming, and gunshots, along with the sights of blood and blurred vision. He’d somewhat grown accustomed to it, at least on the outside. He no longer jolted at the slightest touch or immediately stood alert at loud noises. Unfortunately, he still felt far, far away. There were times when he didn’t feel like he was safe or at home, but in fear of worrying Mikasa and the others, he opted for staring blankly at his surroundings.
He could practically hear his mom nagging in his ear “How many times did I tell you to NOT join? Did I not tell you that the army isn’t worth it?”
Eren almost agreed. Almost. Because while a selfish part of him wished he stayed with Mikasa, he couldn’t exactly regret leaving. Yes, more than anything in the world, he wanted to be with her; It had been his dream when he was younger, and still was his dream now. But how could he compare his happiness to the lives of millions, or more importantly, his friends?
He hoped his unhappiness didn’t show too much-- hoped that his friends wouldn’t see how his jaw clenched in anger at the thought of not being able to be with Mikasa the way he was in his dreams.
But they did, at least, Armin and Mikasa did. They noticed because this new Eren, so emotionless and easily irritated, wasn’t him. It broke their hearts to see him so different. It broke Mikasa’s heart to see the caring and determined boy she grew up with-- the one that would do anything for his family and friends-- was just… gone. Her heart ached because she had waited so long, waited 4 years to see him again, only for it to seem like he never even came back. She wanted nothing more than to be able to hug him, ask him what the matter was, and tell him everything was going to be okay because she was there-- the same way he always did when she was out of it. She wanted to tell him she lov--. No, she couldn’t do that, because it wouldn’t be fair to Jean. It wouldn’t be fair to Jean who always cared about her well-being when Eren was gone, who never overstepped when he sensed something going on between her and Eren. It just wasn’t right for her to be saying any of that last part to Eren.
Not that it would change anything. It was like he was always angry. And whenever someone asked, he’d just rudely brush them off. Which is how Eren and Mikasa got into this position: as if the past few years have not already been filled with awkward glances and underlying tension, Eren and Mikasa were, once again, fighting.
Eren could only bite his cheek while shaking his head, “That’s just the thing, Mikasa. You don’t understand. You would never be able to, and you’ve just really been pissing me off lately. God, I hate you.”
“No, no you don’t. I know you, Eren,” she insisted softly.
He hated how it didn’t phase Mikasa, as if she was expecting him to say that or that his opinion didn’t matter to her. But while this was so, he hated even more her unwillingness to give up on him. Why wouldn’t she just let go. He doesn’t deserve any type of kidness-- not after abandoning her for some stupid dream in the military, not after letting some other man claim her, not after all the awful things he had to do while he was in the Middle East. He didn’t deserve any kindness from Mikasa-- he didn’t deserve her.
And yet, he was angry that Jean was with her, because even after everything Eren had done, he still wanted Mikasa to be his. He wasn’t mad at her-- God no, he could never be mad at her-- but he was mad at the entire situation and all his conflicting emotions.
His anger got the better of him, of course, and he continued speaking. “Don’t you think your life is so pitiful? I might be fucked up in the head, but at least I’m not stuck in a long engagement, working a regular 9-5 schedule like some robot who’s following orders. I actually have some interesting things going on in my life,” Eren sneered. He internally cringed at the harshness of his words when he saw Miaksa recoil. He hit her where it hurt, he was sure. Good. Maybe if she hated him, it’d be easier for him to move on with his life without her beside him.
It took Mikasa a second to recollect herself. She honestly wanted to cry, but with the way Eren had just treated her, she did not want to give him the satisfaction of it. “Okay,” she tried to calmly say. “You clearly don’t want me around, so I’m just going to go,” she stood up from the table they sat at before walking away. Maybe Eren was too far gone-- too far changed after his military service-- too bitter at how life turned out for him. She deserved better, right? It was okay to walk away after what just happened. Slowly taking off her red scarf --the scarf he had given her so many years ago when they were just 9 years old-- she didn’t dare to look back. It was too bad she didn’t-- if she did, she might’ve caught Eren shedding a tear before quickly wiping it away.
Present Day (28 years old)
“Mikasa, we need to talk,” Jean stated firmly. It had been months since Eren and Mikasa’s big fight, and while everyone in their friend group knew something happened, no one was actually sure what exactly went down. Years of being Eren and Mikasa’s friends taught them to stay out of it. They’d solve it eventually-- they loved each other too much to stay apart forever. Which is the thought that solidified Jean’s decision to do what he was about to do. “I think we should break our engagement,” Jean announced slowly and quietly, as if it pained him to say it-- it probably did.
Mikasa reached out to grab his hand, “Jean--” she started before pausing.
Jean outstretched his hand in a gesture to let him continue.
“I’ve thought about it a lot. There is no doubt in my mind that you do love me. I know that. But I also know that you’ll never love me in the same way you love Eren. Even after everything, you still have his scarf. Mikasa, love like what you guys have-- it doesn’t happen often. Don’t let him go,” Jean’s voice cracked at his own advice.
Mikasa couldn’t deny it-- she could only stare at him sadly while apologizing. What for? She didn’t know. Maybe for leading him on? Or not loving him as much as Jean deserved?
“Hey, it’s okay. I love you. I want you to be happy, and if that means letting you go, then I will learn to live with it,” Jean gave her a small smile.
It made Mikasa want to cry. She probably hurt him a lot, with him always knowing he wouldn’t live up to Eren, and yet here he was, being understanding, a gentleman. He was letting her go. “Thank you,” she whispered before she gently kissed his cheek.
And before Jean knew it, she was gone. Just like that. Everything seemed to run by in a blur that he hadn’t even realized how much time had gone. One second, he was watching Miaksa leave, and the next, he was sandwiched between Connie and Sasha at a bar. He had a drink in his hand that he didn’t even remember buying. Had he been drinking?
“Yo, you seem out of it, man,” Connie stated while hooking his arm around Jean. It earned him a nudge from Sasha, who muttered something about letting Jean wallow in his despair a little longer. He had just let Mikasa go after all-- someone who he’d loved for over a decade. “Uhh what I meant to say was, I hope you know that you deserve someone who will love you with all their heart, and all of their mind, body, and soul. Someday, you will find someone who makes you happy, then you’ll forget just how much this hurts,” Connie says, him and Sasha rubbing Jean’s back in comfort.
. . . . .
Mikasa was never one to back down from confrontation, so even she found it surprising when a week later, she still hadn’t talked to Eren. It’s not that she didn’t want to, but rather, didn’t know how. Luckily, Eren was impulsive as ever, and so everything seemed to fall back into place when he showed up at her doorstep one day.
“Hey,” he says with a short breath, as if he was trying to hide his exhaustion from running or whatever extraneous activity he was doing beforehand.
“Hi,” Mikasa replies, looking at his disheveled hair and the sweat-stained neckline of his shirt. Did he rush over here?
“I heard from Jean… about umm… about what happened,” he pauses, seeming to take a moment to gather his thoughts. “I’m sorry for all the trouble I caused you-- what I’ve been causing you. But I just wanted to tell you this before I lose my courage: I’ve uhh I’ve been having this dream for a while, practically forever. Of all our dreams, our past lives-- presumably, at least-- this one is my favorite. We were together in Switzerland, in this small cabin. There were trees everywhere and mountains in sight. Nothing ever really happened, except… normal everyday things. We hunted, fished, gathered wood… it was simple, but I was really, really really happy. I was happy because I was home with you. Those nights and my memories of that dream kept me going, even during my hardest times.” He notices how she was slowly registering what he said, so he gives it one last push. “What I’m trying to say is--”
“I know, sorry it took me a second,” Mikasa lightly laughs. “Why did you come back?” she dares to ask. It was a little awkward, like they haven’t been friends for the past 28 years.
Eren could only smile before grabbing her hands in between them, slightly hesitating. He grips them a little more tightly as if to stabilize himself. “Because we’re Eren and Mikasa, and Mikasa and Eren. Because you’re my best friend. Because I love you. Because you are my home, and I’ll always find my way home back to you.”
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pinkhairedlily · 3 years
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Chapter 8 - Student Council President Sakura
SCPS AO3 | PREVIOUS CHAPTER
“Oh, hello there Sakura.”
She almost lost her balance when she saw her next customers. Standing beside Kakashi with her arm entangled in his was a brunette, a spitting image of Dr. Aki Nohara, a giveaway that this was her sister. Sakura’s surroundings dimmed out of focus, and her hearing became muffled as if she was submerged underwater.
“Couldn’t mistake that green eyes for anyone,” Kakashi continued. “I’ll have a caramel butterscotch with extra whipped cream – make it super heavy – and Rin –“
“That’s supposed to be my order, you dummy,” the woman replied beside him. He chuckled in fascination and tightened his hold on her arm. “Besides, you don’t like sweets.”
“You’re still on a specialized diet so allow me to eat and drink whatever you want while you stick with – “ Kakashi glanced at Sakura, and she immediately mustered a tight-lipped smile. “One iced americano in your smallest size please. Thanks, Sakura.”
She took in a deep breath, suddenly aware that she wasn’t able to acknowledge her teacher and his companion, but so many things have been running through her head – like how did he know it was her? Why was he with Rin? Did he propose already? She hasn’t even confessed yet.
Somehow, in the dragging silence in her ears, she heard Sasuke cleared his throat. That was enough to break her from the spell, and she put on her bravest mask. “Hi Kakashi-sensei. Nice of you to drop by! I’ll have your order ready in a jiffy.”
Kakashi turned around and waved lazily at Sasuke. “One of my students is here too. Are you on a red eye advance study?”
“Can’t sleep so might as well have caffeine.”
“You’re too young to have this energy.”
Rin jokingly slapped Kakashi on the arm. “You talk as if you’re old already.”
“But aren’t I?” The pair slowly drifted away to find a table, but Sakura noticed the flash of recognition when Rin took a long good look at Sasuke, but her friend stared at them like he was throwing sharp draggers.
“He looks happy,” Sakura noted as she fixed their drinks.
“I want your favorite coffee,” Sasuke quipped out of nowhere.
“There’s a thing called palpitations. It’s caramel macchiato.”
“Might do me some good while I wait for you to finish your shift.”
Sakura sighed, feeling the tiredness come upon her all of a sudden so she relented. “Just take it to-go. I want to get out of here.”
She quickly asked permission from the manager, saying she felt sick and fatigued, and with her clocking overtime in the past few weeks, her request was immediately approved without deductions. The mixed winter and spring air hit her lungs as soon as she stepped outside. Sasuke waited for her across the street, a gesture that implied she could go to him or separate ways right now. As she vied for time to decide, she took one last look through the window.
It was a foreign sight. She has never seen Kakashi’s attention torn apart from his books. Even if he was talking, there would be an open page on his side, stealing glances on passages when the conversations got boring, yet there he was, fully attuned to whatever Rin was saying with no book around him…like she was his favorite book and he enjoyed reading every letter of her.
And Sakura realized she could never be the story he would even want to pick up.
She felt the tears coming so she started her pace on the same road. Across from her, Sasuke got the signal and went the other way.
--------------------------------
The last term of their second year came like a bazooka. Sakura threw herself on her pet project as a sort of coping mechanism. The announcement was done during the general assembly which did not generate the intended buzz or reaction. After all, it was a tricky topic to handle and many facets of which were still stigmatized when talked openly in public. Naruto, ever the people magnet, broke the agitated atmosphere in the auditorium with a slow clap and was soon joined by many others.
The council created a Google form which allowed students to anonymously register, and they get assigned a schedule on the day their contracted psychiatrist comes to visit. All they had to do was provide their designated client number. The council further complemented this with short programs that serve as mental health breaks for the student body. Sometimes, this would be as light as a block screening of a coming-of-age film or heavy like a conference with faculty and teachers and questions and concerns are remotely flashed.
Then came Valentines’ Day, and the council organized this some kind of literary showcase that presented the opportunity to mingle woes of personal sadness and griefs with confessions that would have been left unsaid. Naruto and Sasuke both helped in constructing the makeshift stage in the middle of the soccer field that would be used later that afternoon.
“Cookie points for my crush,” Naruto grinned as he hammered away. “Thanks for picking the poem I will be reciting tonight, grumpy. Didn’t know you were into literature.” He jokingly elbowed the raven-haired beside him, and he got a death glare in return.
“Do it properly. Look at that nail sticking out like your porcupine hair,” Sasuke grumbled. “And yes, I’m not as uncultured as you are.”
“But I still don’t understand it though.”
“Ugh, just use the internet to search its meaning, idiot.”
“Meanie!”
A fellow runner peeked into their work area and knocked on wood. “Hey Uchiha. Some girl is looking for you.” Her face expressed grimace, having done this for more than five times already within the span of an hour. If it wasn’t Sasuke, it was one of Naruto’s fan girls or boys.
Sasuke went to her and fumbled around for cash in his pocket. “Next time someone looks for us, tell them we went home for the day. Here’s money for your date later. If you have anyway.”
“Whatever grumpy.” The runner replied, still half-angry, half-frustrated, but she took the money all the same and told the girls that ‘They told me to tell you they went home for the day so shoo shoo.’
Naruto laughed at Sasuke’s successful attempt at bribery. “Look at that rich money. I wonder whether Sakura will give us chocolates.”
“Have you seen their office?” Sasuke flipped open the curtains that will be hang as backdrop. “Their desk is filled with chocolates from her admirers – platonically, romantically, whatever. Some people from other schools dropped by too. You got serious competition.”
Naruto chuckled nervously. “As if I do not know that already. Haven’t you told me before- she likes everyone and everyone likes her.”
Not really true at all now, Sasuke thought to himself. But ignorance is bliss, Naruto.
--------------------------------
The three sat on the grass beside the stage, having full view of the student body listening to the reciters. Throughout the program, Sakura went through each package given to her, visibly stressed with evident signs of sleepless nights under her eyes.
“Before I forget, happy Valentine’s day you two. My council-mates told me you didn’t get any chocolates,” Sakura gave each of them a pouch of small chocolate bars. Sasuke didn’t have to guess if it was store-bought or homemade based on the cuts on her fingers.
“Sakura, stop eating. I almost gagged at the seventh chocolate,” Naruto complained. He tried to get the basket of sweets from her, but she just moved it away from his reach.
“Everything tastes bitter,” she muttered under her breath. “I need sugar. My energy can’t keep up with the countless interviews. I understand that the school board liked the exposure, but the burden falls on me. At least have a teacher back me up?”
“Heard Kakashi-sensei volunteered to accompany you in interviews?” Sasuke was too late in shutting Naruto up, but the most that question got out of Sakura was an eyebrow raise.
“I need more sweets.” She proceeded to jam the rest of the Hershey’s kisses in her mouth.
“Okay, we have a submission from Uzumaki Naruto,” the announcer said. “Shout out to our rookie MVP!” A round of applause. “And who might be the recipient of this poem? We heard through the grapevine that he hid from his admirers all day. I know several people are waiting to confess to him!”
Sasuke instructed him earlier to send the poem anonymously and address it to Sakura, but the dumbass blonde mistakenly exchanged it. He rubbed his forehead in annoyance, but he can’t bring it up right now.
“Just read the poem!” Naruto shouted on the side, clearly embarrassed now. Sakura looked up at him, genuinely curious now, and her sticky chocolate-filled mouth was on the edge of firing him questions.
“Sasuke and I sent in poems! Just to support your program, nothing really too deep into it ehe.” Naruto glanced at Sasuke with slightly widened eyes. “Right, Sasuke?”
“Sonnet 18 by William Shakespeare,” the person started.
“Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day
Thou art more lovely and more temperate.
Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,
And summer’s lease hath all too short a date.
Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,
And often is his gold complexion dimmed;
And every fair from fair sometime declines,
By chance, or nature’s changing course, untrimmed;
But thy eternal summer shall not fade,
Nor lose possession of that fair thou ow’st,
Nor shall death brag thou wand'rest in his shade,
When in eternal lines to Time thou grow'st.
So long as men can breathe, or eyes can see,
So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.”
Sakura slapped Naruto on the arm. “Didn’t know you read Shakespeare! What a romantic!”
“Isn’t it a tragedy?” Sasuke remarked, a look of disgust in his face when Sakura mindlessly offered him a toblerone. “No sweets for me.”
Sakura guffawed at Sasuke’s remark, and her laughing was a rare sight recently. She was in too deep in her student council functions that they barely see her. And when they did, she’d be a little bit closer to fatigue.
“What’s funny? Who’s Shakespeare? Let me in on the joke!”
“Let’s call on Kakashi-sensei, our very own student council advisor and youngest teacher in the university. He’ll be reciting a poem by Pablo Neruda. A man of culture, we see,” the emcee announced.
Sakura stopped laughing as soon as she heard his name. If Sasuke could glean into her thoughts, she’s probably making up excuses to escape right now.
Kakashi stood in the middle of the stage, holding an open book. “Let me just ramble on here for a bit. Neruda is a Chilean poet and a politician, but just as much as he is a revolutionary, he is a romantic and a worshipper of ideals and ordinary things. He often compared his muses to earth and nature – basic providers of our existence. It’s interesting to see. Now, this poem is what I would have wanted to say to someone who is fundamentally part of my existence, but she won’t listen to me.” Kakashi smiled even more at the onset of outburst of giggles from the students. “So you’re gonna be the audience whether you want it or not.”
I crave your mouth, your voice, your hair.
Silent and starving, I prowl through the streets.
Bread does not nourish me, dawn disrupts me, all day
I hunt for the liquid measure of your steps.
I hunger for your sleek laugh,
your hands the color of a savage harvest,
hunger for the pale stones of your fingernails,
I want to eat your skin like a whole almond.
I want to eat the sunbeam flaring in your lovely body,
the sovereign nose of your arrogant face,
I want to eat the fleeting shade of your lashes,
and I pace around hungry, sniffing the twilight,
hunting for you, for your hot heart,
like a puma in the barrens of Quitratue.
A thundering applause followed Kakashi’s poem and random shouts of, “Drop her name sensei!” “Good luck to your love life!” “Happy for you, sensei!”
As the lights went out on the stage, Sakura fished another pouch from her vest pocket, and Sasuke knew at once that it was Kakashi’s. She popped a bar into her mouth, staring blankly ahead.
“God, it’s so bitter.” Her lips started to quiver, and she started to cry.
Naruto threw a worried glance at Sasuke, but his expression must have given something away because the blonde didn’t prod, and he looked as if all the puzzles fell into place.
Sasuke just didn’t expect to be confronted about it as soon as the program finished. He was carrying blocks of wood to the shed when Naruto dropped the question – a question he already knew the answer to.
“You like Sakura.”
Sasuke inhaled sharply and halted his steps. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” He stacked the wood against each other and turned to face the blonde. “Besides, shouldn’t you be worrying about exams?”
“What exams? We’re exempted from it,” Naruto bristled.
Sasuke smirked. “No, you’re not. You didn’t qualify for finals.”
“Oh shit.”
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“What do we get in return?” Sakura asked as she munched on her bento box. Shouts of the practicing dragonboat team filtered through their space.
“But last time you volunteered!” Naruto said.
“We’re friends so my services don’t come free anymore,” she chided back.
Naruto glared at Sasuke. “If she’s not gonna do it, you’re gonna do it.”
Sasuke nonchalantly shook his head as he skimmed through Naruto’s notes. “What she said.” They weren’t notes per se, but doodles of Sasuke and Sakura and interestingly, projections of different batting stances. “I’m also not gonna forgive you with the duck butt hair.”
“But you have a duck butt hair!” Naruto crossed his arms and huffed menacingly. “Ramen?”
“Same old, same old.” Sakura finished her lunch and started to sip her cranberry juice. “Give us something new.”
“Ramen and…..karaoke?”
Sakura brightened up at the prospect. “Deal.”
“At least add snacks to your place,” Sasuke interjected. “And not just ramen. Put some nuts or fruits in your fridge.”
Naruto grumbled but raised two thumbs up in defeat. “Deal.”
--------------------------------
Sasuke has thin patience when it came to teaching Naruto, Sakura observed. She didn’t know how these two managed to do the supplementary math lessons when she wasn’t a part of their group yet. She didn’t mind teaching, but Naruto’s short attention span was a devil of its own. He would be attentive to her for 15 minutes and then drowse off so Sasuke and her agreed on non-negotiables.
“No ramen break for you if you don’t finish this set of problems,” Sakura told him.
“You’re demon spawns,” Naruto cried out in defiance.
“If you don’t get a passing score on this sample test, no kani toppings for you.” Sasuke raised the stakes.
“Demon spawns,” Naruto repeated.
“You won’t call us demon spawns if you see your name on the list of passers.” Sakura started the stopwatch on her phone. “Now go.”
This took her mind off things, from Kakashi’s public confession to the blank career form hidden within the pages of her history textbook. It was a good distraction until the penultimate exams day. Naruto came in with a bandana on his forehead with FIGHTING written in the middle of it. Sasuke, as usual, breezed through it, already finished by the thirty-minute mark.
And she? Well, she liked exams. The time limit and the pressure allowed her the reprieve to shut the rest of the world out so she relished answering each number until the bell rang. It was a moment where she can focus fully on the paper in front of her, the sound of her pen scribbling, and her mind working full force to cull out the answers in her memory. Her utmost concentration on questions suspended her own questions on her feelings for a teacher, on her parents’ divorce, on her future.
When the school plastered the results on the bulletin board, she couldn’t help but release a satisfied chuckle. She turned to Sasuke who was surprisingly stoic about the results. “First place! The bonus point really helped.”
“Why should I bother with a teacher’s middle name for the bonus question?” Sasuke grumbled back. “Congrats. Stop rubbing it in my face already.”
Naruto was too busy pointing his name on the board and bragging about it to the student body, most especially the freshies. When he found them on the back of the crowd, he rushed to them and placed his arms around their shoulders “Drinks on me!!!!!”
--------------------------------
“He really shouted drinks on me in the middle of the school, sauntered in here like he’s loaded, and ordered two pitchers of iced tea.” Sakura kept bringing this up since they entered the karaoke room ten minutes ago.
Naruto was preoccupied with inputting song numbers on the machine to respond to Sakura’s banters. “Technically, they’re still drinks!”
Sasuke was on the phone with the kitchen, and from what she could hear, he was ordering almost everything on the menu. When he sat down on the adjacent couch, Sakura leaned forward to him. “Are you gonna finish all of that?”
He jutted his index finger to Naruto. “No, but he will.”
The first notes of Michael Jackson’s Thriller wafted through the room, and the blonde made a quick impression of the artist’s famed moonwalk.
“Why are you opening with that?” Sakura cried out in amusement. “It’s not even Halloween!” Sasuke watched Naruto try to dance with a straight face, but she thought he was itching to face palm the whole time.
Naruto kept beckoning Sakura to join him in the middle of the room, but she was busy laughing at him and taking videos. “I’ll send these to Haru as a pick-me-up. I think this is the best remedy.”
Next was Sakura’s pick – Heaven is a Place on Earth by Belinda Carlisle. She couldn’t contain her laughter in between verses when the two boys finally heard that she was tone deaf. Naruto joined her with the other mic, trying to drown out the off-key notes. By the bridge, Sasuke stood up with them, a glass of juice in his hand, and mouthed the words.
“You know this song!” Sakura said excitedly.
“I don’t live under a rock!” He yelled back amid the loud music.
“OOOH BABY DO YOU KNOW WHAT THAT’S WORTH OOH HEAVEN IS A PLACE ON EARTH. THEY SAY IN HEAVEN, LOVE COMES FIRST. OOH HEAVEN IS A PLACE ON EARTH!”
“Okay who’s next?” she asked when the next number flashed on the screen. Sasuke silently took the mic from her and faced the monitor with a hand in his pants’ pocket.
Naruto gripped the mic harder when the song started. “I’ll be your second voice, grumpy!”
She immediately went to the front and started recording. “One for the road.”
“No videos, Haruno,” Sasuke warned.
“Come on, it’s my remembrance,” she whined. He wasn’t able to clap back when the lines started to move.
“Turn around…” Naruto sang.
“Every now and then, I get a little bit lonely and you’re never coming ‘round,” Sasuke’s baritone voice filled the room like an empty coliseum.
“The fuck. You can sing?” Sakura gasped out loud. “How can you have that voice and not sing - like you know, every day?!”’
Sasuke gestured her to stop as he belted, stoic-faced, through the chorus with Naruto singing like a slaughtered pig in the background. Sakura stopped recording and joined them for the rest of the song.
Two hours and three pitchers of orange juice later, they finally settled on the couch and munched on Naruto’s leftovers of fries, buttered chicken, nachos, and calamari. On the karaoke monitor was David Bowie singing Heroes.
“Can’t believe we’re already seniors two months from now.” He stared at the ceiling, his eyes following the tag game of disco lights. “Elections of officers will be tomorrow which means Captain Haru will be formerly stepping down.”
Sasuke reached out and shook his hand. “Good luck next captain.”
Naruto immediately pulled out from his grasp. “What do you mean next captain?”
Sakura chuckled and patted his back as assurance. “Everyone knows it’ll be you. Have you seen how your teammates look at you when you’re discussing strategies?”
In the dimness of the room, she saw the flush on Naruto’s cheeks, and she found it amusing how he cannot take compliments.
Naruto scratched the back of his head. “Well, everything is possible, right? That said, I still haven’t filled out my college form, but I’m really set on getting an athletic scholarship and eventually be part of the national team! How about you grumpy? Changed your mind yet?”
“About what?” Sakura glanced at the silent raven-haired guy beside her. To be able to see this much of him was a nice privilege.
“I’m moving away after high school.” Sasuke fiddled with his half-empty glass, his eyes trained on the slushing juice. “I already sent applications to some universities in Europe.”
“We also have good medicine programs here. I don’t get why you have to move away so far. I’m so bad with converting time zones.”
Sasuke scrunched his nose in annoyance. “Are you dumb? The schools you listed are also out of this district.”
She seemed to be moving farther and farther from their exchange. Like an outsider peeking in, she understood the frailty of the moments in front of her, and by the time the next two months set in, the stopwatch would have started running its last lap. The bonds she has made so serendipitously were in danger of being cut off by dreams. She breathed in, engulfing the noise and scent of this room, panning every color and shape assembled like supercut in her head, praying that someday if she would lose herself, she’d come back here right at this frozen memory and relive the wonderful indecisiveness of adolescence and the chance to say I don’t know without repercussions.
“Sakura to earth?” Naruto’s voice.
“Idiot. It’s earth to Sakura.” Sasuke’s voice.
She blinked fast, returning to the moment that wasn’t finished playing out yet. She quickly brushed her hands on her eyes as if something got into her eyes, hoping they don’t see the small droplets of tears that have formed. “Oh uh, I have a list of prospects, but I’m not quite sure what to take.” The form was still blank actually.
“That’s a usual problem of anyone who’s too good at everything,” Sasuke replied.
“Are you complimenting me?” I wish I was.
“Should I take it back?” He proceeded to gulp down the remnants of his glass.
The monitor suddenly turned off, indicating their time has run out. “Hey guys, for our last term, let’s make the most out of it, all right?” Naruto asked. “I’m so happy we became friends.”
“No hugging please,” Sasuke said, but it was too late. Naruto’s arms were too strong to pull away from so the two allowed him a few seconds of skinship.
Naruto’s words struck a chord in Sakura; it was a resolve she tried to form and disfigure for several months now. Before they could stand up to fix their things, Sakura blurted it out loud before her courage took the best of her.
“For our last term.” She flexed her fingers and curled them up against her palm, placing weight on her lap as she ground her fists onto it. “For our last term, I’m gonna confess to Kakashi.”
AO3 LINK | NEXT CHAPTER | CHAPTER 9
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captnjacksparrow · 3 years
Note
Okay so I know I’m far off my rocker with what I’m about to say but I have to say it otherwise I’ll forget or keep thinking about it like crazy.
It’s probably just me but I can’t help but feel like SNS aren’t straight. I can’t help but feel like Naruto could possibly be bi with women preference or don’t realize it. I can’t help but feel like Sasuke might be gay or bi. I don’t want to state it as a fact because we don’t know their sexualities canon wise plus I want to respect the author’s creation however I can’t see those two as straight, especially Sasuke. I understand that Sasuke puts his goals before romance and that may be the case for this. I know he wants to defeat his brother and restore his clan, thats his top priority in life. People say he doesn’t know how to express his emotions, yet I see it fine with Naruto. He seems to trust Naruto more than anything and wants to be with Naruto. He turns down girls, mainly Sakura when it comes to affection or flirtatiousness. Now it could be just that those girls see him as a trophy and Sakura doesn’t understand him or respect him, however even after Boruto when he “marries” Sakura, it seems he’s depressed and regrets the relationship. He visits Naruto’s family more than his own and I find it depressing and interesting because it shows he chooses Naruto over his own “wife”. Even with Karin, he cares about her as a comrade or friend yet I don’t feel romantic attraction on his side. Yet I feel a bit of that with him and Naruto. There was a rumor that the author or creator of Naruto that between Sasuke, Naruto, and Sakura isn’t a love triangle but rather a circle like a fish biting its own tail. So Naruto —> Sakura —> Sasuke and Sasuke —> Naruto. Anyways, i know this show isn’t about their sexuality and I shouldn’t focus on that but I couldn’t help but notice something or rather feel it. Also, your post on SNS Sasukes pov, I remember you mentioning Sasuke being comfortable enough to show his vulnerability with Naruto and that had me thinking... is this Sasuke accepting his love for Naruto? Is this Sasuke allowing Naruto to open him and save him. It seems Naruto was the first and only person that made his way to his heart, even expanding it just a little.
That’s just me but I would love to hear what you have to say and correct me if I’m wrong. What do you think?
Nice ask @larrycherry04 😍😍
There was a rumor that the author or creator of Naruto that between Sasuke, Naruto, and Sakura isn’t a love triangle but rather a circle like a fish biting its own tail. So Naruto —> Sakura —> Sasuke and Sasuke —> Naruto.
Again larry, there is no official proof for this interview. And if it is so, I don’t really believe any of his interviews, tbh. 
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These are the two different official interviews from Shounen Jump at different point of time with Kishimoto and two contradicting answers. 
So, when it comes to drawing Manga, Kishi was very truthful. But when it comes to interviews, he started to contradict his own answers. Which makes him a liar, in my opinion and I don’t blame him.
So, In short, Read the manga or Watch the Anime and see how you feel about it and come to a conclusion rather that believing his interviews.
But to answer whether it’s a love circle??? Nope. 
Sakura, like I said before, she is a pairing fodder for Sasuke, most of the time and for Naruto, a little bit. 
If it is a love circle, like, if Naruto truly loved Sakura, he never should’ve let Sasuke off the hook, for all the tantrums/outbursts he has shown towards Sakura not once or twice but multiple times.
Imagine you are Naruto, you love Sakura so much and values her a lot above everyone.
What would you do in the following scene?
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I seriously can’t stop laughing here. Here, a boy, your supposed rival, is mildly insulting your most valued person’s tears. What will you do?
You will speak on her behalf, Of course. Just like Naruto did.
But the moment your rival says something to you, you forget everything about Sakura and starts to think about your rival. Wellllll ... So weird!!!!! Which begs the question ‘Do you really love her in the first place???’.
In this scene, the moment he heard those words from Sasuke, Sakura was out of the picture. Important point to note, Naruto still had a crush on Sakura until this point. 
Moment 1
Sakura: I am going to stab Sasuke-Kun
Sasuke : Am gonna kill you too
**Naruto heroically saves her**
Naruto: Sasuke, Sakura was a member of Team 7.
Sasuke: I don’t give a fuck
Naruto: Anyways, I heard the truth about Itachi and what you’ve been doing so far, is understandable, (including trying to kill Sakura)
Sakura: **surprised pikachu face**
Moment 2
Sakura: I love you, Sasuke-Kun
Sasuke: Annoying!! I am gonna put her in a murdering Genjutsu
Naruto: Sasuke, you shouldn’t have put her in such a strong Genjutsu
Sasuke: If I didn’t , she will come in our way
Naruto: Ummm, that’s true. Let’s go fight!!!
This is the pattern of Team 7 dynamics even until the very end. And I don’t see a love circle at all. 
To put it bluntly,
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These words from Naruto is an admonition to Sakura, that is, ‘Whatever happens between us, do not meddle!!’
Sakura is just a third wheel to elevate the relationship between Naruto and Sasuke. Naruto likes her but not more than Sasuke. Naruto will die for Sasuke but not for Sakura. Sasuke will put his life on the line for Naruto but not for Sakura. 
He turns down girls, mainly Sakura when it comes to affection or flirtatiousness. Now it could be just that those girls see him as a trophy and Sakura doesn’t understand him or respect him, however even after Boruto when he “marries” Sakura, it seems he’s depressed and regrets the relationship. He visits Naruto’s family more than his own and I find it depressing and interesting because it shows he chooses Naruto over his own “wife”. Even with Karin, he cares about her as a comrade or friend yet I don’t feel romantic attraction on his side.
Sasuke closed all his walls in his heart to let anyone in, after the massacre. And even before that incident, it was never shown that he had any friends or rather he was frustrated with those boys revering him because of the ‘Uchiha’ name he bears. Uchiha is the powerful clan of Konoha and so everyone has high level of expectations. So, there is that. 
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Sasuke was thoroughly frustrated at this comment because nobody is seeing him as a boy named ‘Sasuke’ in his Academy. Even his homeroom teacher saw him as 'Itachi's little brother'. He was clearly facing an identity problem during this time, even in his home. Because Fugaku, Sasuke’s father completely ignored Sasuke and was showing his full attention towards his brother Itachi. When it comes to girls, I don’t have to say anything. They treated him like a trophy. Meaning, Everybody was expecting something from him but nobody was trying to befriend him unconditionally or approach him for who he was. 
This was explained nicely by Itachi in Itachi Shinden novel.
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I wish this scene were in the Anime series. Such a warm one.
He was turning down all those girls, because like you said, they just see him as a cool boy who can do anything. And Sakura was one among them. 
If Sasuke looked like Rock Lee, would Sakura have flirted with him??? Absolutely not. 
And to play romance, there should be certain effort from Sasuke’s side, like going for dates or whatever shit, which he was never ready for. Most of all, there should be a reason when you start a relationship. Sakura never tried to reach him in a deeper level and tried to understand his sufferings and hence there were no reason. This is the case even after their marriage. Does she know about Uchiha Clan massacre's reason? Or Itachi? If she had known, she should've educated her daughter and stopped wearing that fucking clan crest on their back. And most of all, what could Sasuke talk with her if she doesn't know a single thing about him?? Their relationship was built on Editorial pressure, regrets and shallowness. Of course, If I were Sasuke, I would avoid my family by staying in my office more.
With Karin, their relationship was purely business 'I use you, you use me' kind. He was very clear about that when he formed 'Team Hebi'.
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He helped Suigetsu to get Zabuza's sword and in turn Sasuke wants him to help with his goal. Same with Karin & Jugo. But it seems Sasuke respected her a lot in terms of her strength. Karin was similar to Sakura when it comes to flirting but when it comes to work she means business and can offer Sasuke a lot in terms of Chakra replenishment or sensing enemies plan while battling. That's why he treated her better than Sakura but that's all there is to it. It never went anywhere because Karin knows nothing about him. And Sasuke was not interested in forming a bond with any of Team Taka members either.
In other words, to evolve from a friendship to romance, it takes a massive effort from both sides in terms of understanding. Like I said before, Sasuke built a strong wall around his heart and he never let anyone in it as he saw it as a weakness. Sakura barely made a scratch on that wall. Just for becoming a friend takes a big effort to break that wall. How much effort do you think it takes for romance?? Instead of becoming his friend first, Sakura jumped straight into romance, which makes Sasuke uncomfortable most of the times. Hence the depressed reaction you see in Boruto.
Even with Karin, he cares about her as a comrade or friend yet I don’t feel romantic attraction on his side. Yet I feel a bit of that with him and Naruto.
Hmmm, I don't see Sasuke having a romantic attraction with Naruto. Romantic attraction leans towards sexual desire. But, Sasuke has more of a childlike attraction which leans towards purity and innocence, like more of a desire to be near Naruto, will never be bored even if it was for eternity and would like to look after his safety without expecting anything back.
I've seen this quite a few times.
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Sasuke is not competing here, otherwise he would have walked ahead Naruto. He just wants to walk along side him.
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This is that dream sequence after their fight. Sasuke, just like before, approaches Naruto by himself and listens to him intently. I am pretty sure he could do this for a whole day and still would not leave him.
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LOL. Sasuke, at this moment, doesn’t gives two shit about the world. Meaning he is not missing anyone from there. The person he really wants to be with is right next to him. He even convinces Naruto that Kakashi and Sakura will do something and he doesn’t have to worry. However the moment Naruto leaves, he worries and looks around for him. 
This is what I called, an innocent attraction and the desire to be around the person you feel warm and comfortable. 
But every possibility of changing this into romance is already there. Because Naruto broke his wall long back and has a high place in his heart. A strong friendship with an innocent attraction is all there. If someday Kishi comes out and said 'Sasuke loved Naruto', I won't be surprised at all.
Sasuke being comfortable enough to show his vulnerability with Naruto and that had me thinking... is this Sasuke accepting his love for Naruto? Is this Sasuke allowing Naruto to open him and save him. It seems Naruto was the first and only person that made his way to his heart, even expanding it just a little.
I think Sasuke started to like Naruto unknowingly ever since he started to watch him secretly. Because it always makes him feel warm and fuzzy. 
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But, the scars left by Itachi made Sasuke feel that having people around will always makes him weak. Meaning, The more people you love and when you lose them, you will feel weak. Hence, he was very hesitant to reach Naruto. Slowly but surely, Naruto was already making his way into Sasuke’s heart. And once they were put in the same team, he just loved Naruto unconditionally. That’s why he almost gave his life for him.
But Once Sasuke decided to leave the village, he severed all the ties with Konoha, including Kakashi and Sakura. The level of bond Sasuke had with them can be cut off by saying ‘Thank you’. But with Naruto, it takes more than that. Because for Sasuke, Naruto’s existence itself is making him weak by bringing back all the feelings he once had for him. Like Orochimaru said, Naruto has certain power to influence Sasuke’s heart. So Sasuke decided to kill him but in the end he simply couldn’t. 
Everytime Sasuke strays off the path, Naruto will always appear and remind him that he is his friend
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Every time Naruto appears and talks to him, Sasuke’s heart was changing but he simply doesn’t want that and he hates that feeling. Which was why he wants to destroy Naruto and whatever he represents. What Naruto represents is a powerful bond between Sasuke and Naruto.
In the final fight, he simply couldn’t cut that bond even though he had a chance to kill. These bipolar battles are what he was fighting all along internally. And finally accepts that he lost and was happy for it. Those words, ‘I lost’ meant he lost the fight physically and mentally he had with Naruto and was ready to totally embrace the feelings he already had.  
It’s not Naruto who was expanding Sasuke’s heart a little, Sasuke already gave a wide berth for Naruto and one day decided to close it. In the end, he couldn’t. 
I can’t help but feel like Naruto could possibly be bi with women preference or don’t realize it. I can’t help but feel like Sasuke might be gay or bi. I don’t want to state it as a fact because we don’t know their sexualities canon wise plus I want to respect the author’s creation however I can’t see those two as straight, especially Sasuke.
As for their sexualities, I seriously could not conclude anything. But from the way Naruto behaves, he certainly looks like a closeted bisexual just like Kishimoto. And Kishi was not hold his guns in this aspect at all, he went all out in the Manga chapter 347. 
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I mean it was evident from the way he casted Multiple Reverse Harem no jutsu before Kaguya without any reaction but when Konohamaru did the same Jutsu with Sai and Sasuke, he looked visibly disgusted.
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Why to react extremely when Konohamaru is doing the same as you? Probably he doesnt like Sasuke in this jutsu I guess. LOL.
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When asked about that ‘accidental’ kiss again, he reacts visibly disgusted but at the same time with a Nosebleed. This screams ‘Closet bisexual’ to me.
As for Sasuke, I simply see him as close to Asexual and possibly demisexual for Naruto.
Why Asexual?
Because Kishi purposefully made Sasuke to be in certain awkward scenes and on top of it, he painted an over sexualized aura all over him, in part II of the manga. It was evident from his bare chested costumes and the way characters like Karin behaves around him. In the same chapter 347, Kishi went all out for Sasuke too.
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I don’t even know why Kishi made this scene. But it certainly shows Sasuke wasn’t bothered by a naked man at all unlike Naruto who acted disgusted.
I simply cannot see Sasuke will be romantically attracted to someone if they cannot form a strong bond with him. And to form that kind of bond is not an easy task. But even for a demisexual, there will be a preference. and his preference were not any of those girls especially Sakura. So, I can safely say, if he ever wants to be romantic, all the possibilities points towards Naruto. Because of certain obsession he has towards Naruto throughout the War arc.  
Believe me, Obsession comes from two ways. You will be obsessed on someone whom you hate to your bone because of what they did to you. Most possibly, a hard betrayal. Or, You will be obsessed on someone who you love above yourself. 
Itachi falls under the first category (that’s why when Sasuke was told Itachi was good all along, he couldn’t accept the fact that he hated him for wrong reasons and he snapped and went onto a killing spree because of that obsession. Even though he was sane after losing his parents) and Naruto falls in the later.
Like he was basically saying ‘Naruto is my person. Only I can kill him, he is not yours’ to Obito when he was trying to kill Naruto. And where did these obsession comes from provided Naruto never betrayed him in any which ways? Because of all the past he had with him and he was already in love but was trying to deny it.
Anyways at the end of the day, I don’t mind their sexualities at all. What matters is how they prioritizes each other at any given situations without an ounce of regrets. Because, like I always say, their bond transcends way beyond Marriage, Children and Sex. 
Hope my answer helps :-)
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mokutone · 3 years
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sorry if this is random but i was just curious about your thoughts on sai? i know you have a lot of thoughts on yamato fhdjdlfn and his and yamato’s relationship always seemed so interesting and really underdeveloped :[ theyre both really similar but yamato was able to get out of ROOT before sai was, and i was just wondering if you had any thoughts on that/him to share. sorry if this is weird or out of the blue djshfkfj love your art!!
that's not weird at all!!! actually the day u sent this question in i had finalized the thumbnails (and started on the pencils!) for a comic wherein Yamato comments on how Sai is handling his transition out of ROOT differently than Yamato himself did! I don't want to lay all my thoughts on that out here, because I think i'm much more clumsy with textposts than with comics, but I appreciate the question and I will share some thoughts!
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under a readmore tho bc. this got Long...comics force me to be concise but w/ a keyboard under my hands i just chatter
here's something I've been thinking abt! I think they had fundamentally different experiences in ROOT, and this is reflected in their attitudes towards Danzō, as well as the way they interact with the people outside of ROOT.
Sai seems to have no real loyalty to Danzō. He does what Danzō says because Danzō gives him his orders, when he practices his fake smile in front of Danzō, Danzō immediately tells him to cut that shit out. I don't think there's a lot of love lost there—when team Kakashi catches up to him in orochimaru's hideout, and they kind of confront him, and. also kind of. "give him the option" of abandoning his mission (and ROOT along with it) or. you know. facing shinobi consequences. he doesn't really seem to think much of it? honestly. i imagine he was probably a little more relieved than anything else. Add to that him remembering how he wanted to finish the drawing of his brother—
actually wait hang on thats another point I want to talk about. Sai was pitted against the person he was closest to in order to traumatize him into numbness! wack! I think that's kind of at the root (help.) of why I see him as a fundamentally angrier character than I see Yamato—and why I interpret some of his behavior not just as Not Knowing How People Work (although he does have trouble with this! it's a very different vibe. like. him trying to comfort Naruto and Naruto thinking Sai was coming onto him was an entirely different kind of situation) but as like. intentionally inflammatory sometimes...like. he's insulted the bodies of most of the people around him in one way or another, he knows it pisses them off, he does keep doing it. I think him Causing Problems On Purpose is sometimes just a way for him to try and experience catharsis for a fury he doesn't really know he's repressing. Like. idk. it's one thing to be forced to hurt yourself, that's deeply upsetting, disembodying, traumatizing, but it's another to be forced into a situation where you're to hurt somebody you love (regardless of the outcome) like. idk. its a kind of powerlessness that hits different at least ime, and frustration and resentment are extremely normal reactions to a situation like that. i think. a number of things could be appealing to him abt trying to get others to get angry at him—whether it's Him being the one to Cause another persons anger (which could confer a kind of. feeling of control) or him seeing himself reflected in their anger (like a "boy howdy i recognize this emotion. it's very clear. very understandable") or even seeing how they handle the anger. kishimoto definitely doesn't care nearly as much about Sai's anger. but i found the implication of it compelling as a kid, and I find it more compelling as an adult! anger can be an incredibly healing and protective force sometimes when dealing w/ trauma...and I wish kishimoto knew what he was writing about or that we got to see it explored more!!! ack!
yamato (as kinoe) had a wildly different experience when he was in ROOT.
we know he knew how to fight against sharingan, which. I think implies he was training in combat with Danzō, or that he worked closely with Danzō, or at the very least that Danzō used his sharingan on him. We also saw that (unlike Sai, who was rebuked for even fake-smiling) that Kinoe (at first) was not told to feel nothing, but instead instructed on how to feel by Danzō specifically. Like, mostly telling him to Feel Grateful etc, but I think him being told to experience specific feelings according to what Danzō thought was appropriate would lead to a different relationship with his emotions than Sai, who was told explicitly to repress them all at all times, and to not even attempt to preform them.
He also like. Thought. Highly. of Danzō, not just as a leader but as a person...it's kind of undeniable that Kinoe saw him as right, was willing to brand his own feelings and intuition wrong if it crossed Danzō's, openly sought Danzō's approval, when he fails his mission to secure Kakashi's eye, his reaction is. essentially immediately to return himself to Danzō to face whatever new dehumanization Danzō's got for him— even when Kakashi and Hiruzen drag him out of there he thanks Danzō for everything, and he seems genuine about it, despite. everything. He's more expressive than Sai for sure, He had like. a moment of anger, when he said that he wanted to be Tenzō, and Danzō denied him that basic self identification...but it's quickly squashed. Messy. Messy. I think. I think he has a little more trouble getting in touch w/ his anger than Sai bc of his emotional closeness to Danzō.
i think. because yamato knows that he was something more like Danzō's favorite, and that conveyed a vastly different experience than Sai's, he might feel a little complicated about being like "So...ROOT trauma, huh? Hell of a thing!" but. i also like to think that he's very quietly kind of trying to observe and support in a way which mostly allows Sai to figure himself out—I think when they are older they would probably talk about it more (also because then their tongue-seals will have finally disappeared. Thanks sasuke!), once Sai has close friends in the village and everything
Just a lot of like. "I have friendships down. I have teammates down, easily—but what am I to the old woman I buy my cabbages from. What degree of friendliness do I exhibit to her."
"I think...whatever you're comfortable with is fine. I know neither of us had particularly normal upbringings, but you don't have to execute every interaction perfectly for people to care about and respect you."
anyway god this is so long and soooo based in my own personal HCs. I hope there was something in here that was interesting to you!
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