#naruto angst

[venerawrites]

Hey, could you write some Gaara angst. He and his fiancé fought over something and the argument was that bad where he said things that he shouldn’t have. His fiancé has to leave for a mission the next day,a dangerous one at that. Things go wrong on her mission and she’s now in the hospital and it’s hard to say if she’ll live or not. Gaara is in complete emotional distress and guilt because he feels that it’s his fault that his fiancé might not live.

Have a lovely day!

author's note: I saw "she" in the request, so I am rolling with a fem! reader. It's not a secret I love writing angst, so I really enjoyed writing this one. I hope you like it as well! <3 Thank you for requesting!

warnings: none, other than reader can be a little bit annoying in the first half lol

This is not how the evening was supposed to go.

As the last day before your two-week mission, you imagined it as a romantic day, filled with lots of laughter, kisses, and good homemade food, which you had spent all day making.

A screaming match in your fiancé's office was definitely not part of the plan.

"Lower your voice", Gaara sighed, his fingers making their way to rub soothing circles on the side of his forehead. You had stormed into the Kazekage's building about an hour ago, and while your demeanour was progressively getting worse and more aggressive, somehow he had still managed to remain collected.

"Excuse me?", you let out a scoff, marching towards his desk and slamming your hands on top of it, "Don't command me like that! Who do you think you are?"

The words triggered something inside of him and he abruptly stood up, slamming his hands right next to yours and getting right in your face. His eyes, usually calm and inviting, were now cold and dark, showing that there was a storm brewing inside of him.

"I am your fiancé, but most importantly your Kazekage", he gritted his teeth, emphasizing his title, " I know you are upset and I said I am sorry! But your shenanigans stop now!"

Tilting your head, you remained silent and narrowed your eyes, determined not to give up on the little staring contest you had going on. Pressing your lips together, you moved your jaw in annoyance, your breathing heavy with the pent-up frustration.

"Well, guess what, Kazekage?", your words came out almost mocking, while a small sarcastic smirk appeared on your face, "If you tired of dealing with my "shenanigans", maybe you should run and complain to your little friend from the Leaf. I am sure he would be more than happy to hear we are on the verge of breaking up because of him."

"Are you hearing yourself?", Gaara finally raised his voice, moving away from the desk, while running his hand through his red locks, "Break up because of Naruto? You are being absolutely ridiculous, Y/N!"

"I am being ridiculous? This is our last day before my mission and you decide to spend it with Naruto!", you screamed, shaking your hands in the air and making a few steps towards him, "One would've thought that you two are engaged, instead!”

A dry chuckle made its way past his lips and he shook his head, trying to calm his mind. Gods knew he loved you more than life itself but in moments like these he questioned how fate decided to bring you together, considering you were polar opposites.

Gaara was a calm, collected, and reserved individual. He was extremely hard-working and devoted to his nation, so naturally every decision he made was always centered around the well-being of others. He always carefully considered all his options before acting, and rarely resolved to action, if the problem could be resolved peacefully with talks.

You ,on the other hand, were hot-headed, impulsive, and stubborn. Always acting before thinking, you often fail to consider anyone else's needs and wishes in moments like this, too blinded by your selfish desire and feeling of injustice. Unlike the red-headed shinobi, who you described as your "better half", you faced problems head-on, even if that meant you would regret it later.

There has always been some tension between you two, even since you met during your Chunin Exams, but no one believed you would get together, especially after Gaara went through his life-changing phase when he realised the importance of friends and family.

Yet, years later, here you were - a Leaf shinobi who transferred to Suna and was engaged to the Kazekage. Somehow your clashing personalities worked in harmony and you managed to bring the best out of each other.

Well, most of the time...

Today, after he decided to spend the whole day with Naruto, Sakura, and Kakashi, thus resulting in him having to work through the evening, was not one of these times.

While the Leaf ninjas were your old comrades, it was not a secret that you did not share a close bond with them, especially with the blonde.

Naruto has openly vocalized his opinion that Gaara is too good for you and he can find a better, calmer half, who would compliment him as a future spouse of the Kazekage. He always made it clear that while he did not exactly hate you, he did not approve of you.

In response, you did not hide your thoughts about their friendship and the fact that your partner was giving him too much credit. Of course, Naruto did have some role in his decision to change for the better, but ultimately it was Gaara who did all the work. Additionally, the blonde was loud, assertive, and loved to poke his nose in other people's business, including your relationship.

"Y/N, enough!", your fiancé's voice boomed, his aura suddenly darker, "Do not talk about my friends like this!"

"Do you keep the same energy when he talks about me?", your brow raised, "When he says how I don't deserve you and tries to fill your head with the craziest ideas about us!"

Gaara let out a puff of air, before turning around and marching towards you. Stopping just a foot away, he lifted his hands towards you, laying them on your shoulder.

"I. Had. Enough!", he hissed each word through his teeth, a sign he was really pissed off at you now, "No one talks about you and no one is trying to fill my head with anything! I don't need anyone to tell me that we are incompatible when I can clearly see that myself!"

The insults and swears that were ready to fall from your mouth got stuck in your throat and your eyes widened for a few seconds, before narrowing again.

"What are you getting at?", this time your voice was quieter, but still with a note of challenge behind it.

Suddenly there was a spark of uncertainty behind his blue eyes. Slowly removing his hands from your body, he walked towards the window with his back facing you.

"I think we need a break. It's just... It's not working anymore", he murmured, gaze focused on the peaceful streets of Suna. He found it easier to say what he was thinking right now if he avoided looking at you.

A minute passed.

Gaara expected you to scream at him, swear at him, or even grab something from his desk and throw it at his head. But when he heard the door of his office opening and slamming shut, he jumped in surprise. Turning around, he found the spot where you were standing just a minute ago, empty, while your diamond ring shined lonely at the edge of his desk.

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

It's strange how distorted a person's time perception becomes once they are eagerly waiting for something.

Two weeks, which usually flew by, given his busy schedule, now felt like an eternal nightmare for the young Kazekage. Eaten by the guilt of how your last conversation ended, he severely punished his mind and body by refusing to eat, drink, or socialize with anyone outside his work. He practically lived in his office and if it wasn't for Kankuro to send him to shower every morning, after working the whole night, he probably would had not set a foot outside.

This morning, however, he refused to do even that. You were supposed to come to report about your mission any moment now and he shifted nervously in his seat, mentally rehearsing the apology he wanted to say to you.

An hour passed.

Then two.

Gaara kept glancing towards the door, yet no one entered, except his secretary who kept dropping piles of paperwork on his desk. He tried to question if any ninjas have showed in the building today, but she kept shaking her head "no" with an apologetic smile on her lips.

Finally, just after noon, a small, barely audible knock reached his ear and he immediately straightened his posture and fixed his hair, before giving his response. His eyes gleamed with anticipation and he stood up, ready to greet you back home.

His, smile, however, quickly dropped once he saw that only one of your teammates, Bumi, entered his office. Covered in scratches across his face and hands, he looked like he had taken some rough beating not long ago. Gaara's blood froze.

If Bumi, the largest and the most skilled ninja in your squad, looked like this, what has happened to you?

"Lord Kazekage", the man greeted, before bowing his head. He made his way towards the desk and placed a tightly wrapped scroll on it, but his gaze remained cast downward.

"The report for our mission."

"Where is Y/N?", the red-headed ninja asked, not even glancing at the document given to him. He had a bad feeling about what was happening and Bumi's lack of eye contact and nervous twitching did not help to ease his worries.

Your teammate looked up, meeting Gaara's intense stare for just a second, before clearing his throat and focusing on his shoes again.

"She...", he stopped, nervously shifting his weight from one foot to another, "Um... she is not here at the moment."

"I can see that", the Kazekage pointed out, completely unamused, "Which is why I am asking - where is she?"

Bumi moved uncomfortably again, before letting out a sigh and taking a seat opposite his red-headed leader. His knee kept bouncing and he nervously shifted around his seat, before opening his mouth again:

"The Elders warned me not to tell you... yet."

Gaara's glare hardened and he crossed his fingers on top of his desk. Pressing his lips in a thin line, he took a deep breath, trying to calm the rising feeling of panic inside of him.

"You answer to me, not the Elders", he almost growled, his eyes not moving away from your teammate. His jaw tensed and that was enough of a sign for Bumi to spill out what was on his mind

"She is in the hospital", he blurted out and Gaara's breath hitched. His fingers started to tremble and he quickly placed them on his knees below his desk, a poor attempt to cover the shock that hit him when he heard the other male's words.

'Maybe it is just a check-up', he tried to reason in his head, 'maybe it is nothing too serious.'

Almost like he read his thoughts, Bumi decided to continue:

"It all happened so fast", he looked down, mentally reliving what happened just this morning, "We were on our way back when we were ambushed. Y/N... She has been acting weird the whole mission. She kept missing her shots and her reactions were slower than normal... I don't know what happened, but it was almost like she was not herself."

Cold sweat started forming on Gaara's temples and he felt his heart speeding inside his ribcage. He felt like he wanted to jump out of his seat and run to the hospital, but it was almost like his body was disconnected from his brain and it chose to stay frozen in place.

"So when this ninja swung his katana towards her stomach, it was too late for her to block it or move away...", Bumi gulped, his eyes now glossy, "The doctors said the cut was so deep, it damaged some of her insides too. And by the time we arrived, she also lost a ton of blood. They... They are not sure if she can make it."

Gaara always considered himself a man who knew what pain was. He has endured so much during his childhood, that he always thought nothing could hurt him anymore.

But the way his whole soul shattered the second he heard you may not make it, was a whole new type of pain. One that pointed its ugly finger to his face, screaming "It is all your fault!", while simultaneously creating feelings of rage and bloodthirst... feelings that stayed buried deep inside of him for years.

"Which village?", was all he said, his blue eyes now empty and staring at the blank wall at the opposite end of his office.

Bumi gulped, standing from his seat. The look on Gaara's face... He has not seen that look since their Chunin days. He was about to sneakily exit the office when the Kazekage's cold gaze fixated him on the spot.

"They had Leaf headbands...", he mumbled, before quickly adding, "But they could've gotten them from anywhere. I don't believe our allies-"

His words were interrupted by the Kazekage's hand which lifted in the air, cutting him mid-sentence. Getting up from his chair, he grabbed his hat, before walking past Bumi towards the door. Thousand different thoughts and ideas were racing through his brain about how he should deal with the situation, but they ultimately led to his need to see you straight away.

The last words he said to you kept echoing in his mind and he felt like throwing up. If he had shown up for your scheduled date night, if he had kept his tongue behind his teeth, if he had shown up at the gates the morning before you left... maybe you would be here, with him, instead of fighting for your life.

He knew he had to get to you, to be with you and somehow beg you to stay with him. But before that, he had one final request to make:

"Gather the Elders and the War Council", he instructed Bumi, while making his way past him, "Our alliance with the Leaf is over."

cc artwork: concept art for "Assassin's Creed: Mirage"

[overload-explode]

Naruto Founder's s/o who Attempted S*icide

T/W: Hinted non-explicit suicide attempt, references to depression

A/N: I'm not in a good space so here is some angst to vent! These men were born and raised during war and political instability, so their understanding of mental health is terrible. GN! reader

Hashirama:

You were the light of his life always laughing and smiling

Whenever he was stressed with Hokage duties he took refuge in you

He never sensed anything was wrong until you tried to kill yourself

He's the one that found you and healed you

The village was supposed to be a safe place for his loved ones yet you were not safe in the village he built

He blames himself. He feels like your happiness, and everyone in his village is his responsibility. He's your partner and your Hokage

Away from you, he starts drinking and gambling a lot to forget what happened and distract himself

Tobirama has to eventually find him and sober him up

His brother informs him that he needs to stop being self-destructive and blaming himself for what happened

Bags are now permanently under his eyes. He clings to you in sleep now, not out of love, but because he's terrified of losing you like he has lost so many

He's lost brothers, family and friends to war. To protect his loved ones was one of the reasons for creating the village But he can't protect you from yourself

He is an amazing healer so there are no physical scars on you. However, every time he sees you, he sees those injuries on you- he is forever scared mentally

He loves you and he drains himself trying to keep you happy

He doesn't show you he is struggling at all, he is scared his depression will cause you to spiral downward and attempt to take your life again

So he puts on a happy, joyous and carefree mask. Now he is performing at home as well as performing as Hokage and clan head

He secretly asks Tobirama to watch you when he is unable to. Tobirama starts to dislike you. You burden his brother, himself and the village. To him you are a liability, a weakness of his brother and a danger to the village. He would never hurt anyone his brother loves but he advises Hashirama to break up with you and tries to convince you to leave Hashirama, and preferably the village

Tobirama

He's angry and he's disappointed but mostly at himself because he feels so powerless

Despite being an amazing tactician, he didn't predict and prevent this. He feels so inadequate and starts doubting himself

Ever the logical man, he sees there's a problem and he wants to fix it. And nothing will get in the way, not even you

However, emotions do not follow logical thought, and you cannot apply cold logic to something as complicated as mental health

To you, he visibly becomes colder and more distant however he is trying to do the opposite. He expresses his love through acts of service but he is so emotionally incompetent it comes off as him being controlling, which he is but he wants to help you. He just has no idea how

He never opens up about his mental health. The trauma of being a child soldier, having an abusive father, trying to protect his brothers from abuse, losing his brothers, his alienation from being albino and autistic (my headcanon), PTSD, his strained relationship with his brother…

In his mind, as long as you can do your job as a shinobi, housewife, or merchant… and contribute to your village and/or clan, you are fine. Happiness and personal fulfilment come from knowing your place and fulfilling you are not contributing then that is a problem. If you're not doing your duty then that is a problem that needs to be fixed

He views people like cogs in a machine, if you are not doing your job then that is a problem. If you are doing your job, then there is no problem

He'll make sure you are physically well and then try to get you back to work because then that means everything is fixed

He will never talk about it, he wants to forget it, ignore it suppress it- like all his other emotions

But secretly, when he can, he'll create a shadow clone to follow you around to make sure you're safe

He will also put a seal on you that allows him to teleport to you if he senses that you're in danger. If you refuse he'll do it anyway without your permission because it's the smart thing to do and he cares about you. Your safety is more important to him than you liking him

At night when he comes back late and you are fast asleep, he'll hold you and silently cry a bit because he doesn't want to lose you.

You will never find out, he wants to be strong for both of you. In his mind no emotions = strong

In his mind, you have too many emotions, so he needs to show even fewer emotions to avoid triggering you. This is very unhealthy for everyone

After his brother advises him, he tries to be more outwardly affectionate. Even though he doesn't understand the need of pointing out the obvious, he compliments you more and kisses you on the forehead before going to work every day. Just know that he loves you

Madara

Hashirama is the one to tell Madara about your attempt. He was the medic-nin that saved you and, mainly, because everyone else is too scared of Madara to tell him

Madara is angry and scared. He is one of the most powerful shinobi to have ever existed. He has one of the most powerful Kekkei Genkai, yet he couldn't protect you. He can't protect you from yourself

The way he deals with his feelings of powerlessness is to label you unworthy

If you let your thoughts almost kill you- then you are truly weak. He grew up in a war zone where everyone was trying to kill him and he's perfectly fine! (He's not)

While you recover, he'll check up on you and make sure you're healing but he won't talk about what happened at all. Once you physically recover from your attempt, he'll break up with you

He's the clan head and his future spouse would become the clan matriarch (or the gender-neutral equivalent), taking on a lot of roles and responsibilities. Madara can't have someone he views as weak representing the Uchiha, it would make the Uchiha seem vulnerable and his job is ultimately to protect the clan. Madara also worries that the stress from the job will worsen you're mental health

After the break up he'll disappear for your life completely. If you try to visit him he will never be in. He won't be in his office if you're there- you won't even see him out in the street. It will be like you were never together

Secretly, he will start stalking you because he's worried but has no idea how to help you

He stops eating or sleeping regularly because he's too worried. Also, you were the one to remind him to eat and drink. His own physical and mental health declines

Hashirama becomes increasingly worried about his friend and tries to convince Madara to talk to you

Madara has already lost Izuna and the rest of his family, he can't lose you too. He knocks on your door with some food hoping you'll start the conversation

If you like my work, please consider supporting me: ☕

[gojoidyll]

another love, naruto x male reader

(angst)

"Congrats you two!"

Y/n smiled like he usually did. Bright and full of optimism. Many liked being around the jonin because of that.

"Thanks so much, y/n!"

Naruto gave his friend a hug, and Y/n dearly wanted to hold on for just a bit longer than he was supposed to, but ..

He knew better.

Naruto wasn't his to hold onto.

He hoped Hinata would treat him well.

He smiled and shook his head, letting Naruto go from the hug and wished him well one last time.

What am I thinking? That girl loved Naruto as long as I did. Of course she will treat him well.

Naruto, picking up on something odd about Y/n's words, couldn't stop himself from keeping the conversation going, "you sound like you're going somewhere," he said with a laugh.

Y/n rubbing the back of his head, could only give a sheepish smile, "well .. yeah. Sasuke needs some help investigating a certain area. He didn't want to bother you since it was your wedding day and all, so I sort of volunteered."

"Ahh, I see..."

"Oh! But don't worry! If anything comes up, then I'm sure Sasuke and I can handle it."

Naruto regained his smile, "you're right! Good luck, y/n! And be sure to take a good rest once you get back!"

"Will do, and don't even think of becoming Hokage until I get back here, alright?"

The two shared one last hug together before y/n gave an over-dramatic salute.

And before he left, he took one last look at Hinata. He'll admit that she was beautiful. If only I was born a girl. Maybe then I would have had a chance.

[uzumakiramen]

𑁍 they walk in on you changing [team guy] 𑁍

team kakashi ver.

gn! reader.

warnings; cursing (I believe I cursed once or twice in here so yeah beware!!

NOT PROOFREAD!!

a/n; what if I make one of these for all the squads🤨⁉️ Its very possible that I might at this point 😭

neji

neji technically didn’t walk in on you…

he saw you changing through the wall 🫣

it was all because of lee’s stupid idea to test the true scope of neji’s byakugan🙄 that kid doesn’t rest man

he wanted to use the village as the training grounds and see how far neji could see to find him

and against all of neji’s protests, guy sensei agreed becuz just like rock lee that man doesn’t rest either😑

anywayz neji has his byakugan activated and his head on a swivel searching for lee

and he just so happens to stroll into your part of the village🙃

and as he looks up at the rooftops of the buildings and stuff his eyes land on you stepping into your room in only a towel

neji tried to tear his eyes away cuz he felt weird for staring but for some reason he couldn’t

it wasn’t until he saw the towel drop that he finally tore his eyes away and ran in the completely opposite direction of your house.

he was red in the face for the rest of the day and his team just couldn’t figure out why😭😭

and they never would becuz he def taking this to the grave

rock lee

as we all know rock lee is very loud😭😭

I mean it’s not his fault!! with the power of youth surging thru his veins he can’t really control his volume!!

but as you can probably imagine when rock lee walked in on you half naked changing out of your ninja gear he just like…… started screaming😭😭

it was silent for about 0.5 seconds when he first walked in because like “wow😧 y/n no clothing🤯” yk

but then he just started screaming in shock

HE JUST DIDN’T KNOW WHAT TO DO

and then when you started screaming in shock he screamed even louder😭😭

this went on for like a whole minute before he screamed out an apology and ran out of there🏃🏃

and even tho u’ve told him that it’s fine and u aren’t mad at him he hasn’t made eye contact with u since

tenten

tenten is normal 😌

she doesn’t freak out or start screaming or something like her squad mates and sensei 🙄

she tries her best not to make huge deal out of it lol

it’s not often she walks in on you but when she does it doesn’t become some traumatic experience

like one time you were over at tenten’s house for a sleep over

and she had walked into the room at the same time you were putting on your pajamas 😃

she just wanted to know what movie you wanted watch but she was met with the sight of your bare chest and legs

and you can’t help but smile at the way her face turns pink and the way she quickly covers her eyes✨

tenten is just cute ok you really can’t help it💕

“oh😳. sorry!! I just wanted to know what movie you wanted to watch, I’ll just ask later!!”

she says as she backs out of the room, closing the door behind her hoping that she didn’t scare you or anything

but in the end it’s fine becuz you both just kinda just don’t care about it

it’s not like she hasn’t seen it all before anyways 😉

might guy

see cuz…

neither you or guy know how to react at first😭😭

you’re in shock becuz how the fuck did manz get in there⁉️⁉️

and he’s in shock cuz the most attractive person he knows is n a k e d in front of him‼️‼️

he was so shocked actually that he was absolutely silent 😳

and we all know how out of character that is for him

you end up breaking the silence first and ask him what he was doing there

and he can’t even answer because he’s just frozen in the door with his jaw on the floor and his eyes as wide as dinner plates

all you could do was close the door slowly and hope that he would just forget this ever happened🫠

he doesn’t tho

that moment kinda just rattles around in his brain like that one floating DVD image on the tv

and now he can’t even look at you without his face turning neon pink😭

© 2022 copyright. all rights reserved. @uzumakiramen.

[hyuganejiswife]

Kakashi as a Dad

Masterlist

| GNReader, REQUESTED, new format bc I havent written head cannons yet, so hopefully you like this, these are just my opinions

alright bear with me for a new format, I havent written headcannons before

Kakashi as a dad is really patient with his kids…

honestly, I see him with one kid, two at the most

this man is so soft when they’re born, those books you give him a hard time over are nowhere in sight and his full undivided attention is on the baby

(and you if you birthed it, if you had a surrogate, then he’s super kind and gentle with them, thanking them profusely for your new bundle of joy)

this man is weak when it comes to them, which often turns into you being the bad guy

forgets he’s a dad and sometimes plays the role of a best friend more than father

and don’t get me started on uncle Gai visiting

No. Just no.

HE TRIES TO TEACH THE BABY TAIJUTSU AND KAKASHI WOULD LET HIM

Kakashi would 10/10 kick his ass

Kakashi with a little girl… he does tea parties with her, that’s his little princess. Whatever she wants she gets

He also boosts her ego by play fighting and letting her win

Super protective as she gets older

Lowkey doesn’t want her to be a ninja because he wants to keep her as safe as possible

10/10 would be the exact same way with a son

No way in hell would he willingly let him or his sister join…

Is almost tempted to sabotage their exams

He will help them train. He knows that if they’re going to succeed that they need the best teacher and that would absolutely be him

As Hokage, he’s careful that he makes sure he divides his time evenly

He knows how easy it is to get wrapped up in work and not be there for his family, but he swore to you the minute he would never abandon you or your children

Certainly not for the Hokage title

If you asked him to resign, he would

But you would never

And his kids are just as understanding

And way too proud to let him

They’d just show up at the office and hangout while he works, practicing their jutsu and getting advice when they could

He’s also 100% supportive of whatever his children identify as or with.

He tries to be a wingman… for both.

He just embarrasses them.

If they identify with the opposite gender than what they were assigned at birth? He’s the first to correct or threaten anyone who calls them by their deadname.

Will take the kid to get their hair cut or dyed or whatever else.

Non-binary? Like me! immediately transitions to calling the kid they/them

Kakashi would simply love his family. End of story. Nothing could break that love or bond he has with them.

[uchiwife]

pairing : itachi uchiha x sakura haruno

[No Uchiha Massacre]

cw: hospital, arguing, mention of an injury, mention of poison. Some implied feelings(sort of) ANGST.

wc: 1,248

a/n : English is not my mother tongue, so please excuse me for any mistakes I might commit in it. ꒱࿐♡ ˚.*ೃ

Part2 , Part 3

“Where do you think you're going?!”

Sakura's voice snapped, glaring at another of what she called "difficult patients." The man didn't seem fazed by the medic-nin's irritation, instead, he was finishing putting on his second sandal. He had been here far too long for his taste. Four days, sure, but it was already four days too long.

“Home.”

She clenched her jaw. Hell no! He'd just had surgery a few days ago, there's no way he's leaving now.

“No.”

“What do you mean 'no'?”

“You can't leave, Itachi. I didn't give you permission to do so. You're coming out of a pretty heavy operation. You need to rest.”

Itachi narrowed his eyes, a wave of displeasure washing over him.

“I'm fine. And I have some business that can't wait.”

“If you mean missions, I've cancelled them.”

“You what?”

If he was displeased at first, now he was downright annoyed. He didn't understand the point of occupying a bed he no longer needed. He was feeling better, so as far as he's concerned, he could leave.

“You heard me.” She crossed her arms over her chest. “Don't give me that look.”

Itachi closed his eyes, pinched the bridge of his nose and took a deep breath.

“Sakura, you had no right to do that. It's not your decision to make. I appreciate your concern, but it is not necessary. It's up to me to say whether or not I can handle a mission.”

“Like hell I can't! I'm the one who had to fix the damage done to your body, so I assure you that I'm in a very good position to make that kind of decision. Besides, Shishou agrees with me.”

“You have already discussed this with Hokage-sama?”

She shrugged as Itachi took a step forward, heading for the door. Too bad for him, Sakura blocked his way.

“What do you think you're doing!?”

“I'll go talk to the Hokage. Now step aside.”

“She won't agree with you on this, Itachi. She trusts my judgment and if I tell her you need to be taken off the mission roster, you will be.”

“What right do you have—”

She cut him off ;

“In my capacity as a doctor. I outrank you in the chain of command when we are within these walls. Deal with it.”

Sakura probably had a secret death wish, how else could she explain addressing one of the most feared ninjas in the village like that? Fuck, feared even in several nations! But she couldn't let him leave the hospital. He had almost not made it. Of course, she had managed to save him, but, the amount of poison found in his chakra system was nothing to sneeze at. She could see that he was irritated. She knew him well by now and normally she wouldn't have been so insolent with him, but, as she had said, she was the boss in this hospital. En plus, his father would be sure to ostracize her if anything happened to his precious and talented older son.

“This is ridiculous.”

Stubborn as he is, Itachi wasn't going to let it happen. That's why he was determined to go and discuss it with the Hokage. He respected orders, Itachi submitted to Tsunade Senju's authority because it was his duty as a Loyal Shinobi of Konoha, but that wasn't going to stop him from using his persuasive skills on the woman. He had done it before, and he's still alive to talk about it, isn't he? He had dodged the cup of Sake she had once thrown at him, he could very well do the same with her stapler. His decision made, Itachi headed for the door once again.

“Ita—”

“For God's sake, stop it! You are really annoying me.”

The words had come out of his mouth without him realizing it. He was exasperated and the days spent in that hospital bed plus the rest were getting on his nerves.

Sakura gasped, forgetting even what she was going to say, caught off guard by his outburst. A long silence ensued.

Those words again...

Always these words.

It stung.

It hurt. A lot.

She felt the familiar sting of tears at the corners of her eyes. An ironic smile tugged at her lips. Apparently, it ran in the family. She remembered all those times when she was younger, Sasuke had said those same words to her. It had always hurt her a little, but this was worse. Because Itachi was not unaware of how Sakura had been treated by his little brother. He even intervened once. Of course, as Sasuke had grown up, he had eventually apologized, in his own weird way, sure, but he had apologized. She had forgiven him. Because that's what she does : She forgives. She had her heart on her sleeve.

It doesn't mean that she forgets, but she cares about Sasuke and that time was already long gone. She knew why Sasuke had been so hard on her, he had explained the reasons, the pressure he felt to live up to his father's expectations, the pressure he put on himself to be as good as his brother. He had simply vented his frustration where he could. It wasn't fair, but she was the one who took the brunt of it. And she understood, really. But Itachi, what was his excuse? She’d talked to him about it. They had talked about it in private. She had told him about that part of her life, as silly as it might seem to others to feel hurt by mere words, but he had understood. He had even apologized for his brother's attitude and assured her that she was far from annoying or weak.

She thought he, more than anyone else, understood the weight of those particular words. Apparently, they were just empty words. She should have known better. Never trust what a man says when he's lost in pleasure and between your legs. Serves her right.

Foolish little girl.

The silence stretched, but Sakura refused to show even a hint of weakness. She would not cry. She took a breath and grabbed the clipboard on the small table and scribbled down some instructions and a prescription and then signed the discharge form, which stated that he was being discharged against medical advice. She then handed him the paper with a blank look.

“As you wish then, Uchiha-san.”

Itachi's eyes widened slightly, surprised to hear his last name, by the change in her demeanor. And he knew. He just knew. He had fucked up.

"Sakur-" he tried to reach out to her, but she shied away, cutting him off with that cold, professional tone. So impersonal compared to earlier.

“Please, leave. I still have patients to attend to. I wish you a speedy recovery.”

He sighed. He knew better than to insist. This was not the right time. He took his discharge and walked to the door. He paused, his hand on the doorknob.

“I'll see you later.” He said softly and it almost sounded like a question.

The only thing Itachi could see was her back. There was no indication that she had heard him, and if she had, she didn't acknowledge him.

When the door finally shut and she no longer felt the ANBU captain's chakra nearby, she let a choked sob echo through the empty room.

Maybe it was true what they say: words hurt more than blows. And the Uchihas really knew how to hurt her.

[rashidax2]

Headcanons for being Jiraiya's sister

the results of staying up late and letting your random side decide what to post on your blog.

★ First off, I just wanna say he thinks you're scary 😭

★ You don't play any games if/when you catch him spying on women.

★ Whenever Tsunade's too tired to whoop his ass, you'll do it for her!!

★ Even if you get onto him about being a perv .. you're his sister so it makes sense you pick up some of those perverted attributes. you hide it very well though because you know very well that jiraiya would not let you live it down 😭

★ You two are pretty distant ngl. But whenever y'all randomly see each-other while walking by you point at him (like that spiderman meme 💀)

★ You met Naruto and sometimes Jiraiya gets a little jelly whenever you treat Naruto like a little brother (and u can't help it, he's too cute)

★ But nah you hit him on the head whenever he pouts like a baby and then give him a lil side–hug

★ YOU TWO CAN'T TAKE ANYTHING SERIOUSLY. jiraiya will say something that sounds oddly sexual and then you two will have the most intense staring contest then proceed to laugh like idiots 😭 especially in tsunade's office, she'll just wait until yall are done with one of those red marks on her head

★ Dinner is so fun. You feel guilty for stealing Naruto's frog wallet but you and jiraiya get drinks or something. You don't even discuss the Akatsuki's whereabouts most of the time, just random stuff.

★ When Naruto's asleep after training you two take a quick cloud–watching break and laugh whenever one looks like a butt or something lmao

★ He's not too protective of you since you can damn well take care of yourself but if someone insults you while you're away he'll slap them for sure.

★ He likes to annoy you.

★ "[name].." he pokes your cheek, examining your peaceful sleeping face to see if it would stir. His favorite passtime is waking you up from your slumber while you two are together. His eyes hold a childish glint in them as your eyebrows subconsciously furrow and your hands, that lay beside you, splay out a little more.

★ He does the same action once again, this time his finger pushing more into your flesh. He gasps a little and retracts his hand as your eyes snap wide open right after as if anticipating for him to poke you again. He's aware of how grouchy you are whenever you're woken up, so he takes a step back and raises his hands in front of himself as if telling you to wait. He definitely wasn't expecting for you to actually wake up. "Hello there, dear sister."

★ You show him no mercy as your eye twiches, and like a monkey reaching for a banana, you jump at him and knock him to the floor, giving the hardest punches you could muster. Your eyes are as red as a demon's and that's not because of your tiredness. "DON'T! WAKE! ME! UP!"

★ yeah my creativity goes wild whenever i imagine things.

★ But anyways, he loves embarrassing you. Like giving you piggy–back rides in public. You hate how Naruto finds it amusing. You growl (which sounds pathetic considering that you're on your brother's back) whenever he laughs.

★ Yeah, you embarrass Jiraiya too. You call him things like Ji–chan or Froggy–boy. Its funny whenever he crosses his arms like a kid and tells you to stop it.

★ He thinks you're cool. You've been through so much with him, from fighting enemies to beating his ass for spying on women, he couldn't ask for a better sister. (He'd never say this out loud.) And that's why he swears on his life that he'd always be there for you until the day he dies :(

★ 8/10 brother. Goofy and annoying but still cool.

[maddyguru]

I made an itachi playlist because I'm angsty 😭😭😭

[itachianon]

Remember when Itachi and Kisame met for the last time, and Kisame said, “You’re so cold I could never read you, yet, it looks from here as if you’re crying” and sparred with Itachi before he could fight against Sasuke? Yeah I’m crying too—

[venerawrites]

hi! could you write a naruto x reader fic where reader just moved to konoha and saw naruto being bullied and decides to help him? maybe they become friends after and naruto develops a crush on reader

thank you thats all!

author's note: my exams are getting near and I have not been super active lately, but writing this was a nice break for my brain and actually gave me a chance to recharge. I absolutely love Naruto and I am so happy I finally got my first request for him! I really hope you enjoy! x

warnings: none, but what was supposed to be fluff did turn into some light angst? (sorry, can't control myself); also gn! reader and characters aged to be over 18 towards the end;

"It should've been you, freak!"

The words were followed by a shove to the boy's chest, but it didn't hurt nearly as deep as the statement said. In a way, Naruto agreed with what the other kid was saying - maybe it shouldn't have been him buried deep underground, instead of the dozens of innocent lives that were taken by the demon sealed inside of him. Maybe death is indeed the better option compared to his life filled with loneliness and being hated by everyone in the village.

"Just leave me alone!", his voice came out weaker than he intended to and caused nothing but laughter by the five boys surround him.

"Or what, whisker boy?"

Naruto opened his mouth to reply, but quickly closed it again, once no good comeback came to his mind.

What was he going do?

He could try and fight them like last time, but with five versus one, he was bound to lose again. He could also run… but with 3 of the boys being a few years older and already training at the Academy, they would surely catch him. Alternatively, he could just sit and a hope for a miracle to happ-

“Get lost.”

The little pebble you held in your hand flew toward the head of one of the boys, forcing him to turn around with annoyance written all over his face. It took a few seconds for Naruto to locate where the voice came from, but once he spotted you, his breath hitched in his throat.

Just like an angel, sent straight from Heaven, you stood in the middle of the street, eyeing all of the boys with an unimpressed expression and with one of your hands playing with two more pebbles between your fingers. You must have been just a visitor since the blonde boy was sure he would have remembered you if he had seen you before. His eyes fell down towards the front of your vest, where a small scorpion was embodied in gold.

A clan symbol, that's for sure. But which?

"Who the heck are you?", the boy you hit yelled, his palm still rubbing the sore spot at the back of his head, "Go away before we make you go away."

A loud scoff escaped past your lips and before he could react, you threw a second stone at him, this time successfully hitting his left eye.

"Ow!", he screamed, and a few of his friends immediately rushed to his side, checking if he was okay. Moving their attention to you, their bodies tensed, instinctively taking a fighting stance. Naruto, on the other hand, stood behind them, still unsure of what was going on.

"I give you exactly ten seconds to run before I make you go away", you mimicked their earlier words, a note of challenge in your voice. Your threat was met with nothing but laughter and you narrowed your eyes at them, your fingers reaching to the little pouch attached to the side of your waist.

"Ha, like you can scare us aw- OW!", with no chance to finish, the boy, who you assumed was the leader of the gang, was hit again, this time in his other eye, making him stumble back. Calculating the distance between you and the other males, you expertly threw the rest of the stones in your hand in their direction, hitting each one without a miss.

Before he could realise what was happening, Naruto found himself facing you alone, his bullies now running quickly down the street. They kept shouting some curses and threats back at you, their words mixing together and making it impossible to actually understand what were they saying. You didn't look too bothered about it either, your eyes boring into the blonde boy.

"Heh, t-thanks for that...", Naruto nervously murmured with a crooked smile, his hand rubbing the back of his neck. He was not sure if you were going to attack him next, but judging by your more relaxed stance now, he hoped not. Your face remained stoic, your eyes tracing his face and dirty outfit, the corners of your mouth twitching in disgust.

"You need a shower", was all you said, before turning around and starting walking towards your house. It took a few seconds for the blonde boy to assimilate your words, his head shaking once he realised that you intended this to be the end of your conversation.

"Hey! Wait!", he yelled, his feet hurrying after you, "What's your name?"

You did not stop, but your steps did slow down. Casting him a side glance, you raised an eyebrow at him in question.

"Why do you need my name?"

"Well, you know...", the boy trailed off, but your facial expression remained unchanged. Clearing his throat, he shoved both his hands in his pockets, while still walking next to you. He stayed silent for a minute, wondering how to word his thoughts. Did he actually need a reason to ask for your name? Was there even a right answer to that?

"So we can be friends! I assume you are new here, but that's okay because you can't have a better guide around Konoha than me and-"

"I don't need new friends", you immediately shot him down, your focus moving from him to the road ahead. The feeling of his curious stare burned at the side of your face, yet you refused to elaborate further.

"Well, I...", his movements stopped and he remained frozen in his place. The way you turned his offer down so quickly hurt more than he expected from someone he didn't even know. There was something cold and unfriendly about you and he couldn't decide if it was directed toward him, or if it was just who you were.

Have you heard about him and the demon inside of him already? You didn't look scared of him, but it was also clear you wanted nothing to do with him. Maybe you thought he was weak because of the way he let those kids talk to him?

"It's Y/N", your voice took him out of his thoughts and he lifted his gaze up to you. After seeing the confusion in it, you clarified, "My name is Y/N."

A small smile formed on his face and he closed the distance between you once again, reaching his hand toward you.

"I am Naruto", he shivered at the feeling of your smaller hand placing itself into his, "Naruto Uzumaki."

You nodded your head, despite already knowing well enough who he was. It has been only a week since you moved from the Village Hidden in the Rain to Konoha, but your parents had already made you aware of the rumours going around the village of the so-called "fox demon boy". Looking at the whiskers on his face, it didn't take long for you to realise it was him.

"The gates in front of the academy. Eight o'clock tomorrow morning. Don't be late", you instructed calmly, pulling your hand away from his grasp.

"Huh?"

You rolled your eyes at his dumbfounded look.

"I could use a guide around the village", you shrugged your shoulders, before turning around once again, "But if you are even one minute late, I would leave."

Needless to say the next day was the first time Naruto actually showed up for something on time.

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

Two years have passed since the first time you met Naruto. Surprisingly for him and many of the other villagers, an unlikely friendship formed between you despite your contrasting personalities.

Naruto was like the sun - bright, positive, bringing light into everyone's life. Despite what others have put him through, he remained dreaming big, eager to prove himself as the strongest ninja in Konoha. While he still encountered unfriendly stares and was avoided by the majority of the kids, he radiated optimism and never shut his mouth about how one day everyone was going to admire him.

You, on the other hand, were... well, you.

Raised as the oldest daughter of the Doku clan, one of the few wealthy clans in Amegakure, your life drastically differed from the one of your blonde friend. Moving to Konoha after the political tension in your home village threatened the influence held by your father, your parents made sure to continue your comfortable life by purchasing a large compound in the outskirts of the Leaf Village.

Too busy to climb the social ladder, your parents have left you in charge of looking after your two younger sisters, thus never really giving you the chance to enjoy a carefree childhood. Sure, you were aided by the many maids who helped around the house, but having to constantly keep an eye on your siblings made you mature way quicker than expected. It was no surprise that even since your early childhood you developed a moody personality, your state of mind shifting only between annoyance and boredom.

Nothing really impressed you, nor could make you sad. Interactions with people were draining the little energy and patience you had left and you avoided them as much as possible, preferring to sit in your compound's garden by yourself, immersed in one of your many books about nature, plants and poison making.

Despite that, you were not heartless. So when you saw Naruto for the first time, being cornered by these five boys, you knew you had to intervene, despite having no intention to get to know him. But the moment you saw his expression after you made it clear that you were not interested in forming friendships, something inside you stirred with guilt and despite your better judgment, you decided to give it a shot.

You often wondered if that was a mistake, especially in moments like this, when Naruto was loudly complaining to you about the team he has been assigned in, pieces of the food he was chewing falling out of his mouth while talking.

"Can you believe it? Me and that teme in the same team together! This has to be a joke!", he moaned, stuffing his mouth with more ramen, half of which flew towards you, while he kept trying to talk and eat and the same time.

You looked in disgust at the small piece of noodle that rested on your sleeve, carefully picking it up and throwing it away.

"Can you stop talking with your mouth full?", you asked in annoyance, rolling your eyes. Naruto hummed under his breath but showed no signs of following your request. At this point he was so used to your grumpy comments, that often they went in into one ear and came back out of the other.

"And Sakura doesn't even pay attention to me, too busy to fawn over that duck-butt looking jerk!", he lifted the bowl in his hands to his mouth and obnoxiously slurped the remaining food at the bottom. You quietly chewed your chicken while you listened to his complaints.

The relationship between him and the Uchiha has been confusing, to say the least. Before being assigned to a team together, they rarely interacted, showing no real interest in each other. Since Team 7 was formed, however, they were constantly clashing with each other and turning even the slightest things into a competition.

"What do you think?", he asked you, face leaning towards yours, while his hands moved to grab the second bowl of ramen.

"About what?", you asked with a sigh, your chopstick twirling your food in a bored manner. Naruto rolled his eyes, stuffing a large piece of pork into his mouth.

"About Sasuke, duh!", he said like it was the most obvious thing in the world, "I don't really understand how girls are always after him!"

You shrugged your shoulders in response.

"I don't think about him", was all you said, returning your focus to your food. Naruto glanced at you, his mouth opening to ask you something else, but his cheeks suddenly flushed red, and he closed it again. You noticed his weird reaction, but did not comment on it, leaving him to be the one to break the silence once again.

"What about your team? Are they nice?", he cleared his throat, surprising you with the sudden change of topic. While Naruto was extremely kind, he usually preferred to talk about himself and what was going on in his life, rather than show interest in someone else.

"They are alright", you put the last bit of chicken into your mouth, before pushing your plate away. Having only two other students in the whole class who were not natives of Konoha, it was no surprise they decided to pair you together, thinking that this was something you could bond over.

Luckily for you, both of your teammates were just as uninterested in forming friendships as you. Hisa, the oldest one in your group and originally born in Suna, was an excellent swordsman and pretty good in taijutsu, making him the front fighter of your team and in some way the self-proclaimed leader of it. He rarely talked, unless he was sharing battle strategies, preferring to rely on actions rather than words.

Mako, the other boy in your team, was the most timid and shy one in the team, yet somehow the most sociable. Born in the Village Hidden in the Mist as part of the Yuki Clan, he moved here when he was just an infant. He was the only one in your team that possessed a Kekkei Genkai, and while not master at it in any way, he was an extremely valuable addition to your team and probably the best sparring partner out of you three.

You, on the other hand, were the long-shot weaponry fighter of the team. Specializing in poison making, just like the rest of your clan, your skills lay in ambushing and immobilizing enemies from far away with the help of your poison needles.

While you still could handle yourself pretty well in hand-to-hand combat, even against opponents like Hisa, you rarely had to do that, your expert aim almost never missing your targets. You were also the only one in the team who knew basic medical ninjutsu, a skill which your sensei often encouraged you to pursue further, but you refused.

"Kami, sometimes it's exhausting to be your friend, you know?", Naruto groaned, unsatisfied with the short answers you kept giving him. He expected you to give him an annoyed look or even slap him on the arm, but was caught by surprise once your melodic laugh reached his ears.

This was the first time he has EVER heard you laugh.

"Could say the same about you", you shook your head, stealing a piece of tomato from his bowl.

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

Everything changed once Sasuke left the village, including the friendship you had with Naruto. His unjustified (to you) determination to bring him back completely baffled you and forced you to completely lose your temper once he told you he was leaving the village in order to get stronger.

"You are delusional", you hissed, crossing your arms in front of your chest, "You are leaving your whole life behind for what? To bring a traitor, who wants nothing do to with you, back home?"

Naruto's eyes hardened and his hands shoved the last bit of clothes into his backpack, not caring if they were about to be wrinkly. He had invited you to his place to share his decision with you and while he knew you were not going to agree, he did not expect you to react that harshly.

It was not a secret that you did not harbour warm feelings toward any of Naruto's teammates. The Uchiha was a skilled and powerful ninja, but too blinded by his own emotions and ego, to be able to appreciate the reality of his life. He thought he was better than everyone else and seemingly this also included you since he never missed a chance to jab at you or Naruto when he saw you together. You, on the other hand, also did not hold back, giving him the cold shoulder and making him feel just as small and pathetic as he was making everyone else around him feel.

Naturally, Sakura did not like you since you were treating Sasuke that way, but that hardly bothered you since in your eyes she was both weak and annoying. And while there were dozens of girls, just as obsessed and in love like her, there was something about her that made the ugly feelings of rage and jealousy burn inside your chest. Maybe it was the fact that Naruto always talked about how pretty and confident she was, or maybe it was the fact that you were more than convinced she did not deserve even a minute of attention from your best friend... you did not know what it was exactly, but there was a reason for you not liking her.

"It's not just that...", he sighed, taking a sit next to you on the bed, "I just... I need to get stronger. Even Kakashi-sensei agrees going with Jiraya would help me improve my chakra control and makes me a better ninja. One, that deserves to be a Hokage."

"What does Kakashi-sensei even know?", you countered, "His whole life he has always been here."

Naruto looked at you with his eyes full of regret and disappointment. His arm tried to reach out to you, but you quickly pulled away, standing from the bed.

"You are never going to be strong, Naruto."

"What?", he furrowed his brows, your words taking him completely off guard. The way you said that through gritted teeth and your narrowed eyes made you look like you were facing your biggest enemy.

And Naruto did not like that.

"You are never going to be strong!", you repeated, this time your voice raising, "Because you keep wasting your energy and efforts on stuff that don't matter. You keep chasing people like Sasuke and Sakura, who don't give a damn about you! You keep overlooking the people that actually care about you! People like me!"

You ended your rant with panting body and teeth biting into your bottom lip, stopping you from saying anything else that you knew you were going to regret later. You hoped that like many other things you said, Naruto wouldn't actually register your words, but unluckily for you, this time he was carefully listening.

"You care about me?", he repeated, his eyes boring into yours. Unable to face the consequences of your words, you stared at him for a whole minute, before slowly nodding your head.

"I...", he loudly gulped, a light rosy colour covering his cheeks and ears, "Like... Like a friend? Or.. like something else?"

The silence that followed his question made you both fidget uncomfortably in your places. You kept biting your lip, the metallic taste of your blood soon filling your mouth.

What was going on? Where has the control you usually had over your thoughts and words gone? You didn't know how to answer his question, without utterly and completely destroying your friendship.

"I...", for the first time since he had known you, Naruto saw you speechless. You turned your head, the pressure of his gaze too intense for you to handle. Taking a breath, you managed to gather your thoughts together and carefully proceed:

"Like someone who I want to grow and hopefully spend my life with in the future...", you explained, your voice carrying an unusual softness and vulnerability, "I... don't make me actually say it, Naruto."

You didn't know what you expected. Maybe for him to stand up and embrace you in a hug, telling you that he shares your feelings. Or for him to storm off, his normal reaction when he feels stressed and cornered.

It was a surprise, however, when you heard his voice right behind you.

When did he even got up from his seat?

"Y/N...", your name rolled out as a broken whisper out of his lips and you already knew that nothing good was about to follow.

"Don't!", you tried to stop him before he could put the final nail into your already cracking heart.

“You have no idea-“

“Don’t do that!”

“..what your friendship means to me”, he finished his sentence, laying one of his palms flat on your shoulder, "But I... I just don't see you that way."

You flinched away from his touch, eyes still refusing to meet his. Your heard him take a breath and it sounded like he wants to say something else, but thought better of it. Both of you stayed silent - him, because he was too scared to hurt you even more, you, because you desperately tried to control the building tears that threatened to spill out on your cheeks.

"There is nothing I can say to change your mind about staying, is there?", you finally said, the question sounding more like a statement. Naruto did not reply, instead taking a step back and returning to packing his bag.

Without another word, you bolted towards the door, promising yourself that this was to be the last time you allowed your heart to be vulnerable.

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

Naruto found himself surprised once he came back to the village.

Sakura was now an extremely strong kunoichi, the best student of Lady Tsunade. His friend, Gaara, has become the Kazekage and many of his classmates have already been promoted to the rank of Jonin.

It seemed everybody was growing and starting to cave their own path. And while he managed to catch up with pretty much everyone and everything during his few weeks back, he was yet to see you.

The blond Uzumaki would lie if he said he hadn't thought about you during his time away. He had... a lot. Your last conversation kept replaying in his mind, your bored face appearing in his mind every time he closed his eyes, sometimes even blessing him with one of these rare smiles he knew were reserved just for him.

Your words that day shocked him. Never had he imagined he would be the subject of someone's affection, let alone yours. You were always so reserved and composed around him, that it took him years to crack your personality, and even then, he was not sure you were fully letting him in.

Naruto was a confident being, which included his feelings. He was always sure of what he felt and why he felt it. Yet, he couldn't explain why you haunted his thoughts way more than his other friends, including Sakura. The crush that he thought he had on his teammate was not shadowed by the big question mark of who were you to him.

On one hand, you were his closest friend. You were also grumpy and pouting the majority of the time, but for some reason, he found that cute and often took it as a challenge to make you smile. You were very blunt, which sometimes hurt his ego, but he appreciated your honesty. Also, unlike Sakura, you never physically hurt him, even though he had to admit just your glare was often enough to stop him from doing whatever he was about to do.

On the other hand... well, he couldn't really think about something bad about you or your personality. Other than the fact that you reminded him too much of Shikamaru, by being constantly bored and finding yourself lacking the enthusiasm to do stuff.

"You can take Y/N out of the Hidden Rain Village, but you can't take the Hidden Rain Village out of Y/N" - Naruto often joked about you, saying that he finds your moody personality reminding him of these comforting rains, that makes you want to stay in bed all day and do nothing. You were never sure if that was a compliment or not, but with your friend having a more unique way of thinking, you never really asked him to elaborate.

After a few more weeks of not seeing you, Naruto decided it was finally time to knock on your door. Were you avoiding him? He has been out every day asking his friends about you, but they couldn't provide any information, saying that they rarely see you anyway because of how many missions your team was taking.

The door to the Doku compound opened and suddenly Naruto was tackled by two giggling girls. He landed on his bum and with a wide smile, he hugged them back, supporting their weight while both of them just hung on his neck.

"Naruto!", they both screamed in unison, "You are back!"

Chaya and Kaya were your two younger sisters, who were also Naruto's biggest fangirls. From the first time they met him when they could barely walk, they were constantly clinging to him, admiring him and even getting jealous if he had to leave them to hang out with you. The blonde ninja also enjoyed spending time with them, feeling them as close as if they were his own siblings.

"Hey, easy!", he laughed, carefully untangling their hands from his neck and crouching in front of them. He ruffled both of his heads, chucking once they whined he was ruining their hairstyles.

"Are you going to stay for dinner?" "I have this new ninja doll - do you want to see it?" "Are you going to tell us some stories of your travels?"

The two children bombarded him with questions and he kept looking between Chaya and Kaya, unsure who was asking what. Almost like she knew he needed to be saved, your mother showed up at the door, pushing the two girls back and giving Naruto an apologetic smile.

"Naruto, glad to see you! It's been a while."

"Lady Doku", the boy greeted, bowing his head, "It is good to see you too!"

Your mother stepped aside, a silent invitation for Naruto to enter and he took it without a second thought. Looking around, he was glad to see that your home was the same as he remembered it. Despite being somewhat scared of your parents in the beginning due to their reservations based on the rumours going around Konoha, your whole family has welcomed him and made sure he had a full stomach on more than one occasion. They also have paid for his ninja uniform in the past, as well as provide him with a warm bed in the spare guesthouse during the coldest months, when his apartment was freezing.

"Are you going to stay for dinner?", Lady Doku asked, leading Naruto to the dining room, "Y/N and Hisa would be here soon. They are just giving their mission report to the Hokage."

Ah, so that's why he hadn't seen you around! You were on a mission!

"Can't wait to see her!", Naruto smiled brightly, taking a seat at the dinner table, "I have been wondering where she is! I was going around the whole village trying to find her, heh!"

He took the glass of water in front of him and gulped almost half of it at once. He was nervous and he was sure your mother could tell by the way he was rambling and his voice went higher than normal. Still, she said nothing of it, instead turning towards the door, once your father entered the room with a huff.

"Are they here yet?", he grumbled under his breath, looking at his wife with an annoyed expression, "They have been giving this report for an hour. Are they writing it now or something?"

Your mother cleared her throat and gave him a scolding look, her eyes briefly moving to Naruto to show him that they were not alone. The man stared at her with confusion for a few seconds, not understanding what she is trying to say.

"What, woman?", a movement at the end of the table caught his attention and he finally turned around, only to see your childhood friend sitting awkwardly, giving him a small wave. Your father suddenly smiled, his mood improving drastically, and he went round the table, patting the blond boy on the back.

"Ah, the Uzumaki boy!", he laughed, squeezing his shoulder, "We were wondering when you are going to show up. Dinners without you have been dull, you know?"

Naruto smiled at his words and bowed his head to him as a sign of respect. Your father started asking him questions about his time away with Jiraya and what he had learned during this time, and the boy enthusiastically started to explain all the new jutsu techniques he mastered and all the adventures he had with his sensei.

Soon Chaya and Kaya ran into the room, almost tripping in their hurry of who was about to sit next to Naruto. Chaya, however, being the taller one, managed to beat her sister, which resulted in loud bickering and dramatic cries from Kaya. Naruto looked at them with a smile but was quickly brought back to the conversation with your dad, once he asked him about his future plans as a ninja.

"Girls, stop!", your mother sighed and rubbed her temples, "Kaya, just sit next to Hisa today."

"I don't want to sit next to Y/N's boyfriend, I want to sit next to Narutooooo!", she moaned, crossing her arms in front of her chest with a huff.

Hearing the word "boyfriend", Naruto's head suddenly whipped in her direction, his throat tightening and making him choke on his own spit. He started coughing and his fist made its way to his chest, hitting it a few times in an attempt to help him swallow. Everyone's eyes went on him and your father's heavy hand went to his back, slapping him so hard he was thrown forward, almost banging his head on the table.

"Hit him one more time and he may fly through the wall", your monotone voice sounded next to the entry and Naruto immediately lifted his eyes, his mouth opening slightly once he saw you leaning on the door frame.

You were taller and leaner than the last time he saw you, your long hair now sitting in a high bun on top of your head. A golden bracelet in the form of a scorpion, the symbol of your clan, shined on your wrist, partly covered by your long sleeves.

What didn't change, however, was the unimpressed look that you currently gave him. The blonde tried to offer you a small smile, but you had no reaction, other than sighing and taking the seat opposite him. Closely behind you was Hisa, your teammate, and what Naruto learned to be your "boyfriend".

"Naruto is here!", yelled Kaya, taking her seat on the table, not even acknowledging Hisa.

"Really? Wouldn't have noticed", you said flatly, your eyes boring into his. Naruto shifted uncomfortably under your gaze, suddenly feeling like a nuisance by coming to your house. Sensing the tension, your father decided to shift the focus on you.

"So, how was your mission? I thought it was supposed to be only a week and you were gone for a few", he lifted his eyebrow, motioning the maid in the corner of the room to bring the meals to the table.

"The mission did indeed finish in a week", Hisa finally spoke, his face stoic, "But I wanted Y/N to meet my family back in Suna. They are excited about a potential future union between our clan and the Doku."

"I bet there are", your father mumbled under his nose, rolling his eyes while taking a bite of his salad.

Naruto, who has been sitting silent the whole time and drinking his second glass of water in an attempt to calm his nerves, now spat the liquid forward, showering both you and your partner in water.

"A union?", he asked, his voice loud and squawky, "What? Between you two?"

"Why is that hard to believe?", you asked, your eyes narrowing at him.

The truth is you were anything, but happy Naruto was here tonight. You've heard from Mako that he was searching for you and that he grew up a lot, no longer the silly boy anymore, but a man. And you had to agree - laying your eyes on him tonight, a sudden rush of your old feelings hit you like a wave. The love you thought you buried deep inside of you, suddenly resurfaced and it made you angry.

Angry, because it was not fair to you, or to Hisa, or even to your family, who seemed so excited and glad that the blonde ninja was back into your lives. You couldn't help but feel betrayed by them, especially since both your mother and father knew how broken you were once he left the village.

"Well, I don't know...", Naruto's combative personality woke up in the face of your challenging words, completely forgetting he was surrounded by other people, "Maybe it is hard to believe because both of you are completely incompatible!"

"Naruto, you need to calm down!", Hisa's voice was stern, carrying a note of threatening in it. The blonde boy, however, completely ignored that, instead furrowing his brows.

"I am calm!", he grumbled, fixing him with a glare.

The whole idea of you and Hisa was just... wrong. How did you two even fall for each other? Both of you were introverted, silent, and cold individuals, who, by what he could observe tonight, had zero chemistry between each other. Even the way you sat with almost a chair distance between you was weird in his eyes, especially since he knew you had no problem with physical contact, his own arm resting on your shoulder countless times before, even in front of your mom and dad.

"Don't be mad, because I was there to pick up the pieces you left behind!"

Silence.

Everyone looked at Hisa with surprise, even you. Never, for all the years you had known him, have you heard him be so aggressive and arrogant with his words. Naruto, also seemed shocked, but he quickly regained composure, a fire of rage burning behind his eyes.

"Shut up! You don't know anything!", he shouted, pointing his finger at your lover, "Hell would freeze before I believe she is with you because she likes you! Did you force her?"

His gaze shifted towards you, both of his brows lifting high.

"Did he threaten you? Blackmail you?"

"Don't be silly!", you scolded him under your breath, your cheeks now crimson red from embarrassment by the fact all of this was taking place in front your family members, who seemed invested in the little row by now, "Can we just eat our food in peace?"

"No!", it was Hisa who spoke first and you tried to elbow him, unhappy with his sudden confidence and eagerness to fight, but he paid you no mind, "Me and Y/N like each other. And Naruto needs to take his nose out of our relationship, before I make him to!"

You buried your head in your hands, casting a pleading look toward your dad, who actually seemed to be finding the whole thing amusing, judging by the small smirk on his face.

"Like each other?", Naruto scoffed, now glaring daggers at the other male, "A piece of cardboard has more personality than you, how could anyone like you?"

"Ha!", Chaya laughed with her mouth full, "That's true! Hisa IS boring!"

Kaya hummed in agreement, while both your parents tried to stifle a laugh. Your boyfriend, however, seemed anything but impressed by the comment and he looked at you, expecting you to defend him. You let out a sigh of annoyance, shrugging your shoulders.

How can you defend him from a fact that was true?

"Me and you. Outside. Now!", Hisa commanded, pushing his chair back and standing up. Naruto seemed to be about to do the same, when your father's voice boomed around the room.

"Sit down!", he said and Hisa reluctantly followed, his eyes still boring holes into Naruto's head, "Enough of your silly boy fight! Dinner time is family time, it is not an opportunity for you to show off in front of Y/N! Show some respect to this household!"

"Daaad!", you whined, wanting nothing more than the ground to open and swallow you. Both boys, seemingly hit by realisation of their behaviour after hearing your father's words, mumbled an apology before focusing on eating their food.

The whole dinner continued in silence, cut only by your mother who was desperately trying to lighten the mood by talking about some new market shops that opened in the village, but everyone else seemed to lack enthusiasm, choosing to remain quiet instead. Even your two siblings, who normally did not have their mouths shut, were now communicating only with glances with each other.

What was once a warm and welcoming home for Naruto, now felt weird for him to be in. So as soon as he finished his meal, he said his thanks and goodbyes, eager to get away from you and your boyfriend. Dozens of questions filled his brain and soon a headache started to form, making him rub his forehead in frustration.

What the hell has happened during these three years while he was away? He knew he hurt you that day when he said he did not return his feelings, but was it really that bad, that you felt nothing but resentment towards him now?

He was almost by the gate of your garden, when he heard your voice again.

"Why did you come?"

He turned around, finding with relief that you were by yourself. Your body language, however, was stiff and unwelcoming. You were ready for a confrontation.

"I wanted to see you", he admitted, not shying his gaze away from yours, "I... missed you."

A dry chuckle left past your lips and you shook your head. Making a few steps towards him, your sharp stare was focused on his blue eyes, searching for any signs of lies. You stood there quietly observing him, trying to gather your thoughts and clarify your own feelings.

Did you miss him? Of course, you did, every single day. Were you about to tell him? Absolutely no way.

"I am in love with you", he suddenly blurted out, catching you off guard. You took a sharp breath, unsure if he really said it or if you imagined it. Using your moment of shock as an opportunity to close the distance between you, he cautiously took one of your hands in his.

"I know I hurt you and I was dumb for not seeing what I had all along... But during these few years away, only one person haunted my thoughts. Only one person motivated me to do better, to grow into the man that they deserve, and to finally get the courage to admit in front of them and myself that I am utterly, hopelessly and crazy in love with them."

His hand rested under your chin, lifting your head towards him once you tried to look down, hiding your now blushing face from him.

"That person is you."

You let out the air that you did not even realize you were holding, his close proximity and the feeling of his touch on your hand making you feel almost like you were floating. You had the gather all of the courage you had left, in order to pull away rather than smash your lips into his.

"I can't."

Naruto looked at you with confusion, taking another step towards you, making you step back in return. He stood still for a few seconds, before pushing his hands in his pockets and looking down at his feet.

"You... You don't feel the same way?"

You stared at him for a minute, wondering if it would be easier to just lie and say "yes". Yet your heart begged you to tell him the truth, eager to be free of the weight of the feelings you have been carrying for years.

"The feelings I have for you would never go away. I have been loving you since we were children and I would love you till we are both old sacks of bones", you chuckled at your own words and suddenly the atmosphere between you felt lighter, almost like the old days. Naruto looked at you, a small smile tugging at the corner of his mouth.

"But I am with Hisa...", his smile quickly turned into a frown, "And things have changed. I changed... and I know you did too. No matter how bad I want to believe you, I think you need to really listen to your heart."

"But I have, I do lov-"

"Were you about to say that to me if I was not taken by somebody else?", your words were harsh and cold, but also true. Naruto closed his mouth, looking down. It is true his confession came out as a result of his jealousy tonight, but he was also confident in the fact that he did had feelings for you.

Or he thinks he does.

"I want you to be sure of what you feel", you said, now with a gentler tone, "Not telling me what your temporary emotions are leading you to believe you feel."

With slow steps you moved toward him, grabbing his face in your hands and pressing your lips against his cheek. He closed his eyes at the feeling, instinctively leaning towards the warmth radiating from your touch. He almost groaned when you let go, wishing it did last further.

He watched you walk back to your house, his own heart a mess. He knew he was feeling something for you, but perhaps it was not the right time now.

He still had to deal with the lingering crush he had on his teammate, which he couldn't even tell if it was there or not. He also still wanted to put all of his focus on bringing Sasuke back, something he knew you were not on the same page as him. And perhaps, he had to also accept the fact that he did miss the chance he had with you, and it was unfair for him to meddle in your new relationship.

There was no doubt that fate was about to bring you together someday, he had a feeling about it.

But now, it was just not the right time.

cc artwork: Raja Nanadepu

[uchihabbynic]

The Lie You Fed

Characters: Naruto Uzumaki x Fem! Reader

Super Brief Mentions: Hinata Hyuga, Boruto & Himawari Uzumaki, Sasuke Uchiha

Warnings: Angst, Implied Cheating, Slight Mention of Sexual Themes

Word Count: 3.1k

Author’s Note: Naruto Uzumaki is a giant fluff-ball and even though he’s perfect in my eyes -  real relationships are not always rainbows & sunshine. They’re messy, scary, confusing - sometimes heartbreaking and I wanted to attempt something different to portray that. Enjoy, friends ❤️

Mood 🎧 : All I Ask - Adele

With your signature cup of chamomile tea in hand - you’d been listening to the gentle pitter-patter of raindrops hitting your shared apartment window and successfully solidified the tranquil state you’d been desperately craving since the beginning of your work week. As you sat curled up on your couch - you spent time flipping through “The Knot” magazine, ogling at the breathtaking wedding venues and beautiful engagement rings you’d made sure to point out to your man.

When you weren’t going on romantic dates or having mind-blowing sex with your boyfriend Naruto Uzumaki - you’d recently been spending a good majority of your time fantasizing about being a wife and mother - creating the life you’d always dreamed of with the man you’d always wished for.

With your head in the clouds, you’d failed to hear your boyfriend come through the door.

“Hi love.” Naruto said, casually planting a kiss on your cheek as he placed the plastic takeout bag in his hand on the coffee table in front of you, making himself comfortable on a nearby recliner.

“Hi baby, welcome home!” You smiled wide, placing the wedding magazine next to you on the couch - catching Naruto’s attention.

Naruto peeked over at the pink and white book and chuckled. “Your nose is always buried in these magazines these days!”

“Shush!” You grabbed the book, playfully slapping him on the arm with it evoking a hearty laugh to spill from his lips.

You appreciated the silly, playful nature of your relationship with Naruto. Even now in your adulthood, you both made sure to keep your inner child alive. As Naruto darted out of his chair, you were right on his heels chasing him all over your apartment waving the magazine in his direction until he yelled, ‘Mercy’!

“I just want to be ready as soon as you pop the question!” you said, beaming wide - now getting comfortable on your bed, tossing the magazine to the side. 

Naruto, now having stripped down to nothing but his boxers - getting prepared for his evening shower, slid on the bed next to you and wrapped his arms around you, pulling you close to his chest.

“I’m just giving you a hard time babe. I can’t wait to make you my wife one day.” Naruto said, pearly whites beaming, stealing another quick kiss.

Naruto had entered the steamy bathroom jumping into the shower, leaving his phone behind on the bed with you when suddenly a text came through from a name you hadn’t seen in a long time. 

Hinata Hyuga. 

You trusted your man more than anything in the world and knew that a text from his ex-wife most likely had something to do with Naruto’s two kids, Boruto and Himawari.

“Naruto! Hinata texted you!” you shouted from the bedroom.

“One sec!” The blonde’s deep, raspy voice echoed from inside the shower.

10 minutes had passed and Naruto exited the bathroom, white towel hanging deliciously low on his waist - looking completely confused. It was pretty rare that the two exes communicated outside of dropping off and picking up the kids and it was Hinata’s week with Boruto and Hima so he was just as taken aback as you were. Naruto skimmed the text and immediately left the room to call Hinata. Meanwhile, you were holding your breath hoping it was nothing serious involving the kids. Even though you and Naruto weren’t married yet, you loved his children like they were your own. 

Moments later, Naruto entered the room once more with a concerned look on his face, scratching his freshly washed blonde hair.

“Hinata said that we need to go to Boruto’s school on Friday. Parent teacher conference.” Naruto casually said, throwing on orange sweatpants and a fresh tee over his head.

“Is everything okay?” you questioned, hoping the situation at Boruto’s school was no big deal.

Naruto joined you on the bed, unusually quiet. When he finally spoke up - there was little to no expression on his face. You could instantly tell something was wrong.

“Apparently, Boruto has been getting into a lot of trouble at school. Acting out. Cracking jokes to make the other kids laugh. Not turning in his work.”

“Wow, I mean - I knew Boruto was a bit of a prankster like you were as a child, but I didn’t realize it was so bad. Do you think it’s because of me…?” You looked off into the distance, holding your breath, awaiting Naruto’s answer.

“That’s silly, Y/N…I’m sure it's because he’s just at that age, ya know?” Naruto replied, now downplaying the situation.

You could see right through him. Naruto was obviously concerned like any father would be but always wanted to appear cool, calm and collected when it came to his kids.

You apprehensively spoke up, being careful to not add fuel to the fire. “Well…ever since the divorce and our relationship becoming as serious as it is…I’m sure it’s been a hard adjustment for him - for any little kid, really.”

Naruto stayed quiet for a moment taking in what you were saying. It was clear that he didn’t want to acknowledge the fact that his failed marriage and new relationship was making such a negative impact on his son. Naruto could handle just about ANYTHING but this parenting thing - even having done it for 12 years - was still not something he had mastered quite yet and in the back of his mind, was worried it was something he’d never get right.

“Being a parent is the hardest thing I've ever done…no amount of Ninja training could top this.” The Uzumaki said, sounding stressed as he rubbed his tired face.

You gently rubbed Naruto’s back, soothing him. You knew he always wanted to do right by his kids and if he ever felt like he was falling short - he took it incredibly hard. Regardless, the rebellious teen years were slowly but surely creeping around the corner and you wanted to make sure he knew that you were there to support him every step of the way.

“Naruto. You are an amazing father and you’re going to handle this with the utmost grace and poise, the way I know you can. Try not to stress it too much, baby.” you said as you leaned your head on Naruto’s shoulder, deeply inhaling, taking in his zesty freshly showered scent.

Naruto’s signature smile had crept its way back to his face as he beamed from ear to ear listening to the way you encouraged him.

“I just hope this parent-teacher conference doesn’t last too long…I have a bunch of all day meetings I have to attend.” The blonde said, groaning as the painful reality of adulthood kept hitting him.

You perked up remembering that Friday was your 3 year anniversary, in hopes that Naruto didn’t forget. He was an amazing man who treated you like an absolute Queen but you weren't so blinded by love that you didn’t realize that Naruto wasn't the most organized person in the world.

“Aaaannnd, you'll be home in time for dinner, yes?” you looked at Naruto, giving him the cutest puppy dog pout you could manage.

Naruto immediately looked flustered as he had indeed forgotten that your 3 year anniversary dinner was set for this Friday but it just so happened to interfere with the parent-teacher conference.

“Y/N…I will do my very BEST to not be late. I have to meet Hinata at the school at 5:30pm for the conference and well...you know how Iruka loves to catch up and talk.” Naruto nervously laughed, hoping you’d be understanding and not hold his lateness against him.

You huffed. “Fine. But i'm making your favorite… and well, just make sure you’re home and ready for dessert.” you stuck your tongue out and crawled on Naruto’s lap, hoping the sexual innuendo didn’t go completely over his head.

Naruto slipped his large hand under your shirt, giving your boob a firm squeeze. “Don’t worry, love. I’m always ready.” The blonde smirked and you could feel Naruto’s hard length flex underneath your ass as you were pressing into his lap in all the best ways.

>>>

The candlelight flickered and the aroma of miso pork filled your nostrils as you sat at the beautifully decorated table you had prepared - awaiting your boyfriend’s arrival. You were filled with both nerves and excitement for the evening as you slipped into your favorite black cocktail dress that accentuates your curves - your bust was practically spilling out of the built-in bra but you didn’t mind as you knew Naruto would go nuts over the view. 

7:30pm had rolled around and the knot in your stomach began to tighten. You began to sweat and become anxious as it wasn’t common for Naruto to be extremely late - especially not on such a joyful occasion. Your anxiety brain kicked into overdrive. You began thinking the absolute worst of the worst. 

You were certain that the parent-teacher conference had been over for an hour now and Naruto wasn’t answering his phone.

“What if he got hurt on his way home?” you thought.

The intrusive thoughts were starting to consume you as this was totally unlike him. It was your 3-year anniversary and you’d been looking forward to this night for a long time. In fact, you were secretly hoping that a proposal would happen tonight, yet - here you were sitting at the dinner table alone, fighting back tears. 

Suddenly, the keys jingling in the front door startled you out of your thoughts. You smoothed your dress and went to meet your boyfriend - stopping him at the front door, arms crossed.

“You’re late.” you said, sounding obviously perturbed.

“I know… I-I’m really sorry.” Naruto replied quietly, as he looked down at his feet.

Immediately, you could sense something wasn't right. This wasn’t the demeanor of the same man you loved and his discomfort was written all over his face. He awkwardly held out a bouquet of pink roses and lilies.

“Happy Anniversary.” Naruto had said just above a whisper.

There was no light in his eyes and no excitement to be found in his voice. Something was wrong. Very wrong. 

You snatched the bouquet out of his hands and stepped aside - not saying a single word but letting him inside the apartment. Naruto’s face lit up - showing off his adorable signature cheeky grin at the sight of the carefully prepared dinner table you spent hours working on. However, that grin had quickly left.

You, still not amused, follow behind Naruto. “Where the hell have you been?” you said, arms still crossed.

“Y/N…We need to talk.” The blonde said, fidgeting with his fingers.

Your stomach was doing somersaults as the words rolled off your boyfriend’s lips. That phrase never meant good news. Your hopeful mood towards your anniversary night had quickly turned sour as the irritability on your face became painfully evident.

“Naruto…what’s this about?” You asked, standing frozen trying your best to mentally prepare for whatever bomb your boyfriend was getting ready to drop - your E/C eyes piercing Naruto’s baby blues.

“Something happened after the parent-teacher conference…with Hinata.” Naruto was holding his breath, awaiting your reaction.

You inhaled sharply, bracing yourself for what was to happen next. “Something like what, exactly…?” you said, carefully eyeing the blonde suddenly feeling the urge to throw up.

“We kissed. Well…she kissed me!” Naruto desperately tried to explain his side and get the story right. However, you were already shutting down. You began taking slow steps away from Naruto.

The betrayal. The heartbreak you already felt, bubbling up inside. You felt like you’d just taken the biggest punch to the gut. Your vision temporarily went blurred as the dizziness you felt began to take over. This was not what you expected in a million years. Naruto was your Prince Charming. He was the man you’d spent the last year of your life talking about marriage and having children of your own together with. You couldn't believe what you were hearing and on your anniversary at that.

“How…could you?” you said quietly, still slowly backing away.

Naruto began walking towards you, desperately trying to reach out and pull you close. You threw your hand out in front of you defensively.

“Dont.” A single tear began to run down your cheek. “Don’t touch me.”

“Y/N…I wanted to tell you in person. We just started talking about Boruto and Hima and reminiscing about the days they were born and our past and well…she thinks it’d be best for the kids if we tried working things out. Honestly, it’s left me…confused.” Naruto said quietly, being sure to avoid eye contact with you. He hated seeing you cry and hated even more being the cause of your tears.

Your mouth had dropped in complete disbelief. How could the man who says he’d love you for the rest of your life even consider working things out with the woman he’d divorced only a few years prior?! You thought, Naruto’s words replaying over and over in your head.

“Confused? What are you? 15?! One kiss and now you’re questioning our whole relationship!?” your tone of voice, shaky and beginning to crack as the tears started flowing.

“We’re planning for marriage and a baby of our own and you go and drop this bomb on me!? Does that mean nothing to you?” you asked, voice now barely above a whisper.

Naruto rubbed the back of his blonde locks nervously. “Yes! It means everything. You mean everything to me…I just want to make sure I'm doing what’s best for my kids… especially before trying to bring another one into the world.”

You scoffed, completely taken aback by the excuses he fed you. “Hm. I don't recall you being this cautious about having another baby when you started cumming in me raw for the last 6 months.” you smirked. Hurt and anger laced your tone of voice.

“Look Y/N…Please believe me when I say, I do love you - so much - but I don’t think it’s fair to drag you through this while I sort my feelings out so, I think that taking a few days apart may be best...” Naruto momentarily stayed quiet, allowing you space to process everything before proceeding. 

“I- I just had to let you know, face to face - as soon as I could. Otherwise…I’d feel even more guilty.” Naruto tried his hardest to convince you, ignoring your comment altogether.

As Naruto continued on, your heart sank further and further to your ass. The lump in your throat wouldn’t go away. You felt like you were in one horrific nightmare that you couldn't wake up from. Your boyfriend had betrayed you in a way you never thought would be possible and you didn’t know where to go from here. The sadness subsided and was replaced with pure rage as your heart was ripped to a million pieces.

“Save the nice guy act. You aren’t doing me any damn favors. You’re being totally selfish and trying to relieve your glory days. This isn’t about those kids because there’s no reason you can't co parent with Hinata the way you have been for the last 3 years.” Your voice - still shaky from what you were hearing.

“Dammit, Y/N! She was my wife! She was my first love. My first everything…she gave me two beautiful children and I admit… maybe I did get caught up in the moment. Can you blame me?!” Naruto raised his voice, now losing his cool and all sensibilities.

“Fuck you. I hate you.” You spit out those words with the nastiest venom in your tone. You charged towards Naruto pushing firmly on his chest trying to guide him towards your front door. You’d heard enough.

“What about ME?! What about what I want?! You don’t think I want two beautiful children of my own? You’re disgusting, selfish and a LIAR and you need to go, NOW!” you yelled, still pushing at Naruto’s muscular chest in the direction you wanted him to go.

Despite the events of the past few hours, Naruto did have a heart and you filled it so perfectly. However, he felt like he owed it to himself and his children to figure out where to go next. Unfortunately, you were collateral damage in this series of events.

Naruto was incredibly strong and barely budged as you tried pushing him away. He just let you push and push at his chest, taking all your rage and hatred out on him. He instantly regretted what he’d just said to you and by this point, he knew he had hurt you worse than ever before and was okay letting you throw all your anger at him even when your bitter words stung him right back. He didn’t dare make the moment about himself any more than he already had. 

“You hate me?...” Y/N, you don’t mean that.” Naruto said looking down at your tear stained face. Tears now forming in his own cerulean orbs. He went to cup your cheek still wanting to soothe the pain he had just caused, however, the touch of his rough hand on your face caused you to flinch. It suddenly felt foreign on your skin.

“Don’t touch me! I deserve someone who is sure about me and only me! Someone who picks me EVERY TIME. Someone who doesn’t feed me a bunch of lies and bullshit - creating false hope in my heart for the future!”

Naruto winced - now fully comprehending the rage and hurt that had bubbled up inside of you, however - you weren’t done. This man hurt you in a way that you could barely comprehend and you needed him to know.

“You walk around with this cheery nice guy act and then you go and pull a stunt like this? You and Hinata are fucking snakes who clearly deserve each other.”

You were fuming at this point and obviously saying things you didn’t mean but your heart was aching and the man who always picked up the pieces - was the one ripping them to shreds.

Stunned. Naruto’s heart sank - immediately knowing that this very well could be the end and that he was no longer welcome as he slowly backed out of the apartment - only to have the door slammed in his face. You were fully aware that he didn't have any clothes or an overnight bag with him but at that moment, you didn’t care. Seeing his face was too much to bear. Knowing that he’d just shared such intimacy with someone other than yourself evoked a heartless response from you.

Your whole body collapsed under you as you slid down against the door frame. All you could do was bury your head in your knees allowing the most guttural cries to leave your throat. You needed to let it all out. You were feeling broken and unsure of what to do next. The man you were certain you’d spend your life with was now questioning everything and you didn’t want to wait around until he figured out what he wanted. That was bullshit. You deserved more. You deserve certainty. Naruto wanted to fuck around with your emotions and you weren’t going to stand for it.

And that is how you ended up on his doorstep. 

Contrary to popular belief, Sasuke Uchiha comforted you in ways many others could not. 

[uzumakiramen]

✯ the akatsuki with an artist s/o ✯

gender neutral! reader.

NOT PROOFREAD!!

a/n; this is a bit all over the place but it spent months rattling around in my drafts and I finally finished it!! enjoy<33!!

pain

he always knew you were an artist becuz pain knows everything about everyone in his presence

and he honestly could care less

it’s not something he really focuses on and never brings it up

he’s very 😐 about the whole situation

deidara

upon finding out deidara was quite salty ngl

becuz in his head there can only be one artist in the relationship and that's him😤

he lowkey didn’t want you steal his thunder as the “artist” of the akatsuki cuz he’s a big bby sumtimes😭😭

every time he sees you working on a new piece he huffs out of his nose and crosses his arms with a childish pout on his face

but he can’t help but admire your art

he loves how expressive it is and how true it is to you

and he tries his best to compliment you in his own slightly backhanded way💀💀

“you know what? it’s no destructive explosion of passion or anything 🙄 but it’s pretty nice y/n”

“awww thank you dei dei🥰!!”

sasori

ah yes the other artist of the akatsuki

as we all know sasori minds his damn business so he didn’t even know you were an artist at first

he ended up finding out when he looked up from working on his newest puppet to see you completely covered in red and blue ink on the other side of the room

he’d only ever seen you so concentrated on something when you’re in battle and he found it very intriguing

sasori honestly doesn’t mind having an artist s/o

sometimes he even comes to you for input on his puppets because how much he trusts your artistic skill and taste🥹

and also because he’s in love with you too but he doesn’t want you to know that just yet🤩

“y/n what do you think I should do with this one?”

“oooo umm🤔🤔 you should paint purple lines that swirl all the way down the arms and add poison covered senbons to the fingers!!”

and he looks at you with most blank and lovestruck😍 expression because wow that’s actually an amazing idea why didn’t he think of that

“i like the way you think.”

kisame

kisame thinks it’s adorable that you’re an artist✨

in this dark ninja world it’s nice to see someone create such beautiful scenes yk?

watching your face scrunch up every time you spot a small mistake in a sketch

or seeing your eyes light up when two colors you put on the paper look wayy better than you expect makes him so happy

you just looked too cute🥰 how could he not be happy

he’s always very interested in what you’re working on too so he likes to just sit next to you and watch you work

he never speaks in these situations tho

he doesn’t want to interrupt the process and ruin anything

so kisame just smiles while you register the fact his eyes are boring a hole into your side

you don’t mind it tho✨

itachi

so he’s in love with you right

itachi is severely in love with you

and falls more in love with you finding out that you’re an artist

watching you create beautiful pieces of art just makes him 😍🤩❤️🥺🥺✨🥰🥰🥰😫😫

you look so at peace and comfortable

and so so happy!!

he can’t even express in words how much he loves it

something about seeing you so happy and calm and focused when you create makes his heart burst and his head spin

he’s a lovesick idiot ik

one day you gave him a sketch that you drew of him in your last mission and this man folded like an omelette😭😭

“hey ‘tachi I made this for you🥰”

“i- wow y/n. it’s amazing🥹🥹”

he loves loves loves receiving little sketches from you

he takes them everywhere he goes

they’re his most prized possession🥰 besides you that is

hidan

now hidan.

hidan’s different

becuz like he loves you so much so he loves that you have an activity that you love

but he also doesn’t really care enough to make a whole thing about it yk

however there is one thing that hidan simply can’t get enough of when it comes to you being an artist

and that is when you paint on him

especially on his back

feeling the coolness of the paint combined with the warmth radiating off of you and your hands was very umm …. enjoyable for him if you know what I mean👀

and as much as he would love to act on that feeling he knew you would be mad if he ruined your masterpiece

“come on y/nie, it’ll just be one kiss, I promise😔🙏” no it won’t be mister

“no hidan! it’s not dry yet!!”

“ugghhh fine🙄!”

and as grumpy as he is about this, hidan doesn’t mind being your canvas

kakazu

similarly to pain, kakazu doesn’t really care that you’re an artist

it isn’t something that he pays attention to because as he so frequently says to you

“silly drawings can’t pay the bills y/n.🙄”

but little does he know that when ever you go into town, people pay you to draw a caricature of them on the spot🙃

so whenever you come back from an outing with several wads of cash 💵 he’s extremely confused and surprised

“where’d you get all that from?”

“oh don’t worry about it. you’d think it was silly anyways🙃.”

tobi

he doesn’t shut about it omg😭😭

everywhere you go tobi will make it his mission to brag about how talented you are to other people

he will tell anyone and everyone about your paintings 🖼

and your genius when it comes to color selection🎨

or how steady your hands are when you use ink🖋

to the point where it’s a little embarrassing 🙈

but no matter how annoying he can get with it you know it’s out of a place of love

he just admires you and your talent so much man

he’s just in love with you dawg idk what to tell you🤷🏾‍♀️

konan

she loves it!!

she loves it so much omg‼️

similar to itachi, konan just loves watching you create art

you just look so mesmerizing when you’re focused and happy, she can’t help but look at you with heart eyes

her favorite thing is painting with you

it starts out normal with you two sitting in comfortable silence focused on your own pieces

but somehow at the end you end up throwing paint at each other completely abandoning the canvases in front of you

and as messy as it gets, seeing you covered in a swirl of different colors with a smile on your face just makes her feel all warm and fuzzy on the inside🥰

© 2022 copyright. all rights reserved. @uzumakiramen.

[hyuganejiswife]

Drunk | Kakashi Hatake X GNReader

Masterlist

| REQUESTED, kabedon, alcohol, kakashi can handle his liquor, you cannot, sexual innuendos, suggestive, slightly nsfw🤔, groping, shower, nudity, handjob, I didnt mean for it to go into anything… it just happened… reader will be afab

Please read: do not request a part two

Word Count: 1614

Requests are open🫠 Try not to send smut. I wasnt really expecting to write it

You giggle drunkenly, nearly falling off the barstool between Kurenai and Gai. Asuma was sat on the other side of Kurenai, while Kakashi was watching you from Gai’s right side. He raises an eyebrow, not realizing just how much of a lightweight you are. This was the first time you’d agreed to go drinking with the other jonin and he was pleased to hear you’d be joining, thinking that he’d finally have a chance to flirt and see where the two of you stood with one another, yet you were sandwiched between your best friend and his own best friend before he’d even gotten there.

And perhaps Kurenai had done that on purpose. She didn’t want you to end up with a broken heart if you’d gone home with Kakashi and found out he wanted nothing more than a night of fun, yet it was amusing to watch the man struggle to get your attention throughout the evening.

Now though, Kurenai was too far gone to be concerned with keeping you and the white haired jonin separated. She was too busy trying not to fall off her own stool before Asuma makes the executive decision that the two of you needed to be taken home before you passed out at the bar or got yourselves hurt.

Kakashi immediately volunteers to help you home before Kurenai can realize what’s going on, sending Gai on his way before slipping an arm around your shoulders to guide you out of the bar and down the street. You stumble the whole way there and luckily for you, Kakashi’s strong arms are there to catch you each time.

As the two of you come up outside your building, you trip and catch yourself against the wall with a bright laugh. “Kakashi sensei!” The man in front of you goes wide eyed as you whine. You pout up at him, hooking your fingers in his belt loops much to his surprise.

“I am not your sensei,” he sighs, taking a hold of your wrists. “And you’re very drunk right now.”

You look down at his hands and frown, shaking your head, “I’m very, very sober right now..” You stomp your foot, hiccuping. “I gotta pee. Help me inside, please!” You giggle once again, stumbling past him as you unlock the building’s front door before heading to the stairs to get up to your apartment.

“Shit,” he curses quietly. He couldn’t leave you alone to go up the stairs by yourself, but he wasn’t sure it was a good idea to follow after that little stunt just now. He clears his throat, catching you about halfway up the stairs. “I gotcha…” He whispers, scooping you up easily and carrying you up another two flights of stairs.

He only sets you down when you’re at the door, having dealt with you playing in his hair on the way. If it wasn’t for the mask he was wearing, you would surely be able to tell that he was blushing.

You turn to look up at him on your fourth attempt to unlock the door, frowning and handing him the set of keys to do it for you. Taking the keys may have been one of his bigger mistakes. With his back to you, he can’t see you beginning to undo your pants, leaving them loose and reaching around him to start to unbutton his pants.

He quickly pushes the door open, peeling your hands from his waistband and urging himself to calm down. He’d have to take a cold shower at this rate. “Alright. Inside. You’re drunk. I’m not doing this… Hey, don’t just start taking your clothes off! The door is open!” He rushes to shut it, watching you strip out of your pants.

“Why won’t you touch me?”

“Because as much as I would love to, you’re fucking plastered, Y/N.” He sighs, watching you pout. As your hand reaches for him, trying to pull him closer and he lets you. He tenses up when your free hand finds the front of his pants, palming him. He groans softly and rolls his hips into your touch.

In an instant though, your hands are pinned above your head and his other hand gripping your jaw tightly. “Y/N. I’ll make a deal with you.”

“Please,” you whisper, whimpering softly and lifting a leg to brush against the front of his pants.

He hisses, tightening the grip he has in both your wrists and chin, “If you remember this in the morning and you don’t regret this, I will fuck you until you can’t see straight. If you don’t, or you don’t remember this, then no worries.”

You nod your head eagerly, dropping your leg so that you’re no longer brushing against him or teasing him. He lets you go, holding his hands up and waiting to see what you’ll do. When you bend down to grab your dirty laundry, he sighs in relief, leading you back to your bedroom.

While you step into the bathroom, he busies himself with pulling your covers back, getting your bed ready for you. When you call for help, he steps into the bathroom to see that you’re tangled in your shirt. He laughs softly and helps you out of it before turning the shower on for you. “Here,” he whispers, helping you step in. You nearly slip and he cringes, worried. “Maybe you should do this in the morning instead.”

“No. Just get in and help me… Don’t look at me like that! I made a deal. I’ll keep my hands to myself!” You pout and lean against the shower wall, letting the water run off your body.

He still hadn’t had a chance to recuperate from your touch in the entryway, and he knew he was still half hard and this shower would do him no favors. “Fuck, okay.”

He turns his back to you, hoping to keep his thoughts clean while he can. This was pushing things. This was a dangerous game to play and he wasn’t sure what to expect and honestly neither were you. When he turns back to face you, you can’t help but stare at his semi-erect cock. Your mouth waters at the sight and he scolds you, warning that you’re making it very hard to stick to the deal.

You turn your back towards him as he steps into the water behind you, his hand lightly grazing over your hip in case you need to be caught. “Sorry… Fuck… I didn’t realize you’d be so big. I mean I felt you in my hand… But I couldn’t see.”

He drops his head and runs a hand over his face, unsure of what to say. His cock twitches at your words, slowly beginning to stand at attention when he’s been working so hard to fight it off. “I really need you to stop talking about it.”

“Would it be so bad to let me just help you cum? Or maybe get a taste? Nothing else but,” you turn and look down, licking your lips, “it’ll be better than you suffering right now. But I won’t if you really don’t want me to.”

He takes a step back, dropping his hands to cover himself, “Y/N…”

“Yes or no.”

The silence that falls between the two of you is deafening but it doesn’t last long. “Yes.”

You’ve dropped your knees before he can say anything else, pushing his hands away and replacing them with your own. He groans softly, rocking his hips and letting his head fall back. He curses quietly, allowing you to have your way. He drops his hand to tangle his fingers in your hair, tugging your hair back before you can take him in your mouth. Your hand slows in confusion and he simply shakes his head, “Not tonight. Just this… I won’t last long anyway…”

His eyes flutter shut and you nod in understanding, sitting back on your heels as you move your hand a little faster. His cock is already beginning to twitch as he gets closer to release, his mouth falling open as he looks down to meet your eyes. He groans rather loudly as he meets his high, hips stilling as he cums in thick spurts across your chest. Your hand doesn’t still, helping him ride out the high and to milk him for every drop.

He pants softly, quickly helping you to your feet and cupping your face. “Are you okay?” He whispers, wanting to make sure he hadn’t upset you.

“I’m okay. I promise.”

He chuckles softly, kissing your temple, “I promise I can last longer than that… I’ve just dreamt of the day where I’ve made you mine.”

Your cheeks flush and you slip your arms around his waist, pressing your chest to his. “Tomorrow when the alcohol wears off, I want you to make me yours.”

He nods his head eagerly, leaning down to kiss you eagerly. He couldn’t hold back anymore. If you regretted it in the morning he’d apologize, but for now, he’d take what he could get. “Let’s get you cleaned up.” He backs you into the water, moving back and grimacing at the cum on both your chest and his now.

After your shower, you’re pretty much spent. He helps you dry off and dress in some clean clothes before he’s pulling his own clothes back on. “I’ll stay on the couch tonight to make sure you’re okay,” he whispers as he tucks you in, leaning down to kiss you then your forehead. “Come get me if you need anything.” He grabs a spare pillow from your bed, leaving you alone in the dark room.

[majesty-madness]

Hi! Can I request a Naruto Shippuden x Fem!reader where the reader met them all and was this cheerful little girl who loved flowers but as they got older she left or to them she just more likely disappeared but when she came back she was this whole different person now.

Now she's a pretty quiet and calm girl with a powerful aura around her, and if you find a black rose then that means that she was in that place, so what I mean is since she sued to like flowers but not a black rose is kinda her sign now, so the black rose represents her.

Lets say for example she fights with someone and disappears, then there's a black rose on the ground, which means that she was there in that place.

Also she's known as the ~Black Rose~ Since she always leaves a black rose as a sign

Note: She was childhood friends with, Sasuke, Naruto and Sakura also knew her along with Ino but then when she came back they told the others about her (or you can do it in your way, I'll leave the rest to you)

Feel free to ignore this for whatever reason if you want <3

"Black Rose" - Naruto Shippuden x reader (sfw)

Word Count: 8000+

Warnings: angst, battles, violence, blood, injuries, hospital, mentions of serious injuries, flashbacks, worried friends, light arguing, crying, good ending, references to the Hidden Waterfall Village (don’t know if anyone knows about that episode)

a/n: I want to say that this is the first request I have ever done, and I usually don’t take requests; I just write whatever I want to. However, I thought that this could be a chance to experience something new and depending on how this goes, I might do more requests in the future. But I need some time to figure out if this is a good thing to start or if I should keep doing what I’ve been doing. So for anyone it may concern, I’m trying to figure this whole “request” thing because it’s new to me. Thank you for understanding! Hope you enjoy!

Also not proofread.

Main Masterlist

“Do you know which flower this one is, Sakura?” The little girl asked her pink and blonde haired friends.

The pink haired girl shook her head but the blonde nodded.

“That is a Gladiolus!”

“That’s right, Ino! They come in red, pink, white, yellow and orange. But the most important thing is that they have medical properties, so the medic ninja use them all the time for healing.”

Sakura expressed her astonishment. “Wow, that’s so cool! You and Y/N sure know a lot about flowers.”

“Well what do you expect? My family does run a flower shop.” Ino grinned at Sakura with a little giggle following.

Then Y/N chirped in, “And I’ve been studying at the library. If you want Sakura, I’d be happy to teach you about flowers.”

Sakura gasped. “Would you really? Oh that sounds like so much fun!”

Y/N laughed happily, clapping her hands together at the same time. “Yeah! We’re gonna have lots of fun!”

With no effort, her eyes sprang open; staring tiredly at the wooden ceiling above.

She laid there a few more seconds before she forced her head to turn over to the right. On just the other wall, there was a small window with the light of the sun shining through; it was time to get up.

______

At the same time, many people of the village were getting up and ready, especially the Leaf ninja, prepared to be sent on missions.

Ino, after slipping into her uniform, walked out into the street to head straight to the Hokage’s office.

Despite the early hour, the village was already bustling with life. Many people were out shopping, organizing food stalls, and the like.

By this point in her life, Ino was really all that surprised anymore by the efficiency of the Leaf village. Everyone was always quick to start the day, even the regular citizens. It made being a ninja all the more worth it in her opinion; she could protect the prosperity of her home while doing what she’d always wanted to do.

As Ino was making her way down the dirt road, a familiar voice called out to her.

“Hey, Ino!”

Her violet eyes darted off the right, several feet in front of her there stood Sakura.

Ino smiled and waved at her. “Hey Sakura!”

The pink haired ninja suddenly came running over to her side, and then they both continued to walk together down the road. “Good morning.”

“Good morning. What are you doing up so early? I thought you had the day off today.” Ino asked curiously.

“I did, but Lady Tsunade suddenly summoned me. She said she had an important mission for me.” Sakura answered politely.

Ino made a noise, like a hum at the news. “Does it have anything to do with the hidden Waterfall village?”

“Yeah actually, it does.”

Ino looked over at her friend as they walked side by side. “It could be a serious mission then. Do you think she’ll combine our teams?”

“I’m not sure, it’s entirely possible.” Sakura said, moving her gaze back to the dirt path in front of her. “Guess we won’t know until we get there.”

“Yeah, guess so.” Ino agreed, not saying anything else for a couple of minutes. They continued down the path in silence for several more minutes when something just popped into Ino’s head.

“You know, it’s been three years.”

Sakura, knowing exactly what she was talking about, nodded (more to herself). “Since Y/N disappeared.”

Ino hummed again. “I can’t believe how much time has passed. So much has happened.”

“I know. The hardest part is not knowing if she’s okay or not, or if she’s even alive. It reminds me too much of when…” Sakura began to say, but paused as she felt her throat tighten up. “When Sasuke left.” Ino stopped in her tracks, resting her hand on Sakura’s shoulder and forcing her to stop as well. Her green eyes whipped up to meet Ino’s, seeing a look of sympathy on her face.

If anyone understood that feeling of hopelessness (besides Naruto), it would be Ino.

“Don’t worry too much about it, okay? Y/N is nothing like Sasuke; she’ll come back one day. I have faith.” The blonde ninja ressaured.

This made Sakura smile, and her body language indicated that she felt a bit better. “Thank you, Ino.”

Ino patted her shoulder a few times. “No problem. Now let’s hurry to Lady Tsunade’s office, or kill us for being late.”

Sakura laughed in response before heading towards the Hokage building, near the back of the village.

It took only a little while, but eventually Ino and Sakura made their way to the Hokage mansion, and stepped inside Tsunade’s office. Once they did, they saw Shikamaru, Choji, Naruto, and Sai already inside.

“Oh I’m sorry, M’Lady. Are we late?” Sakura apologized, a tad bit nervous that they’d get chewed out.

“No, in fact, I was just about to explain the mission.” Tsunade assured, then leading into the details. “As you may already be aware you all are going to be heading to the Hidden Waterfall village.”

Naruto perked up. “The Hidden Waterfall village?”

Tsunade nodded. “That’s right. I know that three years ago you escorted Lord Shibuki to his homeland safely, and now I’m asking you to return.”

“Please tell me that this doesn’t have anything to do with escorting his son to become the next leader, who’s just as cowardly as he was.” Naruto sighed, clearly annoyed.

“No, there have been reports of the Akatsuki sighted patrolling the village.”

Shikamaru chirped in. “So that’s why you’re assembling such a big team.”

“That’s correct. I don’t want to be taken by surprise, so that’s why I’m assigning all six of you to go and see if there is any truth to these reports. And with that, I’m also assigning you as squad leader, Shikamaru.” Tsunade explained, hands propped up on the desk, fingers intertwined. “You have half an hour to get ready and head to the Hidden Waterfall village, understood?”

“Understood!” Everyone in the room agreed at once and quickly headed out of the office.

Meanwhile, Y/N stalked a rogue shinobi from up in the massive forest, surrounding the Land of Fire.

He had no idea she was there, no inkling at all which made her one of the most efficient ninja in the Hidden Leaf Village.

And the fact that he was distracted with a meeting in the middle of the woods kept him occupied. He was speaking with five other people, exchanging stolen information about the Leaf with them. Though the other individuals were handing him back scrolls of what she assumed was information on other villages as well.

At least after she took down these ninja, she could find out what information was being sold off.

After about ten minutes, the five other shinobi shook hands with the rogue ninja and quickly scattered.

She watched the rogue one sit down onto the ground, taking out a water canister and unscrewing the top.

Being confident that he wasn’t going, Y/N made a hand sign and produced five clones. All of them (including the real Y/N)looked at each other and nodded.

The clones disappeared while Y/N remained inside the thick foliage of the tree leaves.

Her eyes centered on the rogue ninja, relaxing against the tree she was currently hiding in and then abruptly jumped down, colliding elegantly with the solid ground.

The man jumped back clearly startled by her appearance. “What the hell?!”

From her crouching position, Y/N’s sharp eyes, black masked face whip up to make direct, face to face contact with him. She hears the man gasp and try to reach into his bag for a weapon.

Before his hand can even make contact with the pouch, Y/N throws long, precision needles into the man’s arm; pinning him to the dirt.

The man lets out a shout of pain and his arm is pinned at a 90o angle, and stuck behind his back. “What do you want?!” Y/N approaches the man, completely unphased by his screams. Her domineering stance and quiet nature makes the man visibly sweat, and he finds it hard to make any kind of rational thought.

This woman, this woman right here was unlike anything he’d ever seen.

Completely silent in her approach, beautiful figure, graceful in the way she moved with deadly precision, dark eyes locked on him, and an aura that reeked power; unadulterated power.

Never in his life had he ever met a woman that was able to combine beauty with danger; it was a combination he believed didn’t exist and yet here it was.

Should he be scared or impressed? He wasn’t sure.

He tried to reach for another weapon with his other hand, but another, foreign hand had wrapped around his wrist and pinned it there.

When he turned his head to look, he saw that it was a clone of Y/N, a flurry of black rose petals appearing as quickly as the clone had. It piqued his curiosity.

“Don’t try that again.” Y/N finally said, voice low and smooth.

“I asked you what you wanted.” The man grunted out, trying now not to move around too much.

Y/N walked forward, slipped her hand into the side pocket of his uniform and pulled out a seal scroll with the information he traded for earlier. “I want this.”

He watched Y/N neatly put away the scroll into her back pouch before speaking. “You looking for information on other villages too?”

“Actually, I’m looking for those documents you stole from the Leaf, but if I happen to gain a bit of an advantage over another village then so be it,” She softly explains, tone never fluctuating.

Without warning, the man burst out laughing. “Oh, I’m sorry! I’m afraid that those pretty little documents are already on their way out of the Land of Fire.”

Finally, Y/N’s voice changed when she hummed in amusement. “I wouldn’t be too sure about that.”

As soon as she finished, four clones then appeared at Y/N’s side. She raised her hand up just a bit and snapped her fingers; like that each of them, including the clone pinning the man’s arm, revealed the stolen documents he had just sold off to other rogue ninja.

More black petals floated down from the air as each one of her clones suddenly appeared before them.

His eyes widened in complete shock, air getting stuck in his throat almost preventing him from taking a proper breath.

They kept the documents out only for a couple of seconds then slid them back into their packs.

“Looks like this is the end of the line for you.”

“Wait!” The man screamed out, making Y/N pause for a moment to see what he wanted. When a couple of seconds passed, the man spoke again.

“There were rumors, started a couple of years ago. They were about a rogue assassin, killing other ninja left and right.” The man explained, the cold sweat rolling down his temples.

Y/N said nothing, it made him swallow nervously. “No one could find their bodies; all that was left were pools of blood and a single black rose.”

Then Y/N squinted at him, eyes narrow and fierce. “They called this assassin: Black Rose. I thought it was just rumors but…”

“You’ve changed your mind?” Y/N asked condescendingly.

“Well I’ve never seen anyone leave black petals lying around when they use clones or teleport said clones.”

There was a pregnant pause as both parties stared at each other, one’s heart racing and the other’s heart steady as drum.

Y/N clicked her tongue. “You should’ve believed the rumors, maybe you could’ve lived longer. Your complacency is what led you here.”

She saw the man tense up. “I believe them now so maybe we could make a deal.”

He tried to sound tough or unaffected by the aura surrounding this woman, but inside the terror was speeding over her nerves, up his spine, nearing choking him.

“I don’t make deals with rogues. I’m afraid that this is the end for you.”

“No!” The man screamed out, the panic now controlling him.

No please, I’ll do whatever you want. I’ve got resources, information; just tell me what you want.” The man pleaded.

Y/N took a step back, raising both hands to form a single hand sign. “I want you to disappear.” Then in a barrage of hand signs, too fast to keep, Y/N weaved her fingers together before landing on the final sign. “Ninja art: Black Flower Decay.”

A whirlwind of black flower petals swirled around them as if the wind was guiding their movements, eching their way closer and closer.

The man watched the petals coming his way and one single petal landed on his cheek; it was hot, burned even. But it was one petal, and for a split second he thought maybe he could take it, however that thought quickly left his mind when more petals started to collect on his skin.

Now the burning sensation grows in intensity until eventually the pain became overwhelming. The man again screamed out but this time it was more gutural; more real.

In a final blow, the wind directs the flower petals on every square inch of the man’s body. Then the petals began to completely break down the man’s body til nothing was left.

The man’s body was gone, the clones disappeared, the petals vanished, and the only thing left was a single black rose placed on the ground.

In seconds, Y/N was already miles away from the location of the rogue she’d just eliminated. Not to mention the other shinobi that she also killed when they took off with information that could’ve easily led to the destruction of the Leaf.

And no matter what she was not going to let that happen, not when she loved ones waiting for her.

Three years had passed since she was assigned on this mission, and not a single day went by that she didn’t think about her friends back home.

She wondered if any of them had made Chunin or Jounin, or if Lee had made a complete recovery from his surgery, or even wondered if Hinata had confessed her feelings for Naruto.

These were the types of things that wandered through her head, the things that kept her sane. Though after all this time, she wondered if they thought about her.

Maybe the first couple of months, sure since it was only a couple of months after Sasuke abandoned them all that she was sent away, but they were ninja; they had to focus on training, completing missions, trying not to die.

Truth be told, they most likely didn’t have the time to even wonder about her well being. Who would after three years? For someone who didn’t even say goodbye?

Oh well…

She was assigned a mission and had to complete it no matter what. That’s why Lady Tsunade entrusted this mission to her and only her.

Y/N was ripped out of her thoughts by a sudden and powerful burst of lightning right for her.

In a split second, she managed to dodge the attack in mid air and jumped to the nearest tree branch. From behind the sound of the lighting making contact with another tree causing the wood to splitter and blow apart.

The attack kicked up a bunch of dust to which nothing was visible for a couple of minutes.

Y/N waved her hand through the air to try to clear the area, watching as the dust only moved away from her general vicinity but nowhere else.

Her eyes darted around trying to fight the source of the attack, but before she could come to a conclusion she heard a voice from a somewhat short distance.

“I’m surprised you were able to dodge that so easily.”

That voice, that voice sounded familiar.

No, it couldn’t be.

As quickly as it appeared, a gust of wind swept away the debris, wiping the area completely clean of any signs of attack.

Her eyes widened, staring directly at the figure that stood on the solid ground twenty feet away. It was-

“Sasuke?”

“Most people would have been killed by an attack like that.” The Uchiha stated coldly.

Shaking the surprise, Y/N pulled herself back into espionage mode. “What are you doing here, Sasuke? Finally have a guilty conscience and decide to get over your superiority complex?”

Sasuke didn’t react. He didn’t smirk, or laugh sarcastically, he simply stood there with a cool expression. “You’ve caused Orochimaru some trouble; eliminating his line of resources and so he’s asked me to deal with you.”

“He’s still alive then. I’m surprised, I figured by now you would have killed him and taken control over his lackeys.” Y/N continued to retort back while on the inside she was getting nervous.

He hadn’t demonstrated his full power, however she’s always known he was strong. He was a Uchiha afterall.

“That will come eventually. Unfortunately, there is still something I need from him so until then I will do what I have to do.”

Y/N didn’t have anything else to say instead she stood there quietly, her right hand subtly reaching behind her into her tool bag.

Just as she had the kunai out of the pouch, she watched Sasuke vanish and his overwhelming presence was suddenly behind her.

She whipped her head around, eyes meeting a pair of crimson ones.

________

“This is so stupid!” Naruto complained very loudly for all to hear.

“Oh shut up, Naruto! You haven't stopped complaining since we left the Hidden Waterfall Village.” Sakura yelled back at him.

All Naruto did was huff as the entire team dashed across the treetops.

“It’s just if there are going to be rumors about the Akatsuki hanging around, they could at least do me the favor of actually being there.” Naruto added with a pout.

“Are you serious?” Choji chirped in from the back of the formation.

Then Shikamaru cut in. “Think about it; if the Akatsuki were actually there, we would’ve had our hands full even with the six of us.”

“Besides, you should know by now that rumors are not always true. So stop pouting.” Ino interjected as well, her own annoyance palpable in her tone.

Naruto grumbled in response, whatever words he was spouting to himself not audible to anyone else.

He remained mumbling for a while, even sprinting ahead of everyone without thinking about it.

“Stupid Akatsuki, stupid mission, stupid Shikamaru, stupid…” His vision caught an unusual color in the corner of his eye.

It wasn’t far so he immediately went to go take a closer look, oblivious to his team members flying right by only to stop once they noticed he was going in a different direction.

“Where do you think he’s going?” Sai asked, not expecting anyone to know that answer.

“Naruto! What are you doing?” Sakura from up on a tree branch as she saw Naruto jump down to the dirt floor.

He did not turn around to reply, but kept walking through the grass and bushes of the forest. “There’s something weird over here.”

Sai, Sakura, Ino, Shikamru, and Choji all exchanged looks of confusion before Sakura followed after him first and hopped down off the tree.

Naruto had a few feet on them as he stepped into a small clearing, seeing blood painting the ground.

He gawked at the sight for a second then focused on the next unusual thing, more unusual than blood in the middle of the woods.

In the middle of the pools of blood sat a single black rose.

Throwing caution to the wind, Naruto reached forward to grab ahold of the rose. His fingers had barely skimmed the surface of the dark petals when Sakura’s voice called out to him.

“What are you doing?! It could set off a trap.”

Naruto was too wrapped up in his own thoughts that his brain didn’t register anything his teammate was saying as he turned around to face them with the rose in the palm of his hand.

“Guys, what’s a rose doing out in the middle of nowhere like this and around all this blood?”

Once the gang’s eyes rested on the rose in Naruto’s hand most of them remained confused, but Shikamaru’s expression changed to one of knowing anxiety.

“Black Rose.” Was all Shikamaru uttered and everyone looked over at him now.

“What?” Choji questioned first.

“There’s been a lot of disappearances within the Land of Fire lately, all kinds of ninja gone in the blink of an eye with only their blood and a single black rose left behind.” Shikamaru explained, taking a moment to observe the battle field they were standinding before continuing.

“While there’s not a lot of tangible proof, the ninja that’s been doing this has been credited with over a hundred assassinations over the last three years factoring in they are even assassinations; but given the amount of blood I would say so.”

Ino couldn’t help but perk up at the mention of three years. She subconsciously mouthed them to herself, and her mind immediately jumped to the realization that her best friend had been gone that exact amount of time.

Is it possible-

There was a thud and a rustling within a tree off to the team’s right, about six feet away.

It took only a moment for each member to get into a defensive formation as they eyed the direction in which the rustling came from.

The tree leaves moved around a bit some more and then a figure fell out from the tree landing at the team’s feet causing all of them to jump back.

Even Sakura and Ino had gasped when this mysterious fell out of thin air.

From what they could see, it was a female; about their age, probably about average height with what looked to be a long scarf hanging around her neck and covering part of her face.

It was easy to tell that she was very unconscious even with her face covered. And she was injured.

“She’s bleeding!” Naruto pointed out as soon as he realized that fact.

He rushed over to her side while assessing her wounds, then reached to pull her mask off. His back blocked the others' view of the female and they waited for any kind of signal from Naruto.

“Uh guys?” He said, voice laced with shock and a slight tremble of anxiousness.

“What is it, Naruto?” Shikamaru calmly asked.

Without another word, Naruto took a couple of steps to the side revealing the woman to them.

There was lull in all sound, even the breeze that rushed against their ears suddenly went quiet. Everything that had once made sound now only sounded like the white noise coming from a tv, growing louder by each passing second.

It was almost too much.

“Y/N?” Ino’s voice broke them out of their trance right before she took a hesitant step forward.

Her mind seemed to catch up as she lunged forward, her best friend’s name leaving her mouth one more time. “Y/N!”

She bent down next to Naruto, violet eyes darting across Y/N’s body to see if they were more serious injuries. In her search, she saw a large laceration across Y/N’s back. The blood from the wound had soaked into the fabric of her uniform causing a clot to form there.

“She has a severe wound on her back, it’s big; probably eight inches in length.” Ino started to describe, weaving a quick hand sign then holding her hand over Y/N’s back, her hands glowing green as she began to heal the opening.

Sakura rushed over, appearing on the other side of Y/N. “Has it begun to clot?”

“A bit.” Ino answered curtly. “It looks like the tissue itself wasn’t. The blood soaked into the shirt, it’s acting as a sort of gauze.”

The others stepped closer to nervously observe Ino and Sakura’s movements.

Sakura then reached into her back pouch to pull out a black-brownish jar with a rigid lid. “Sai! Come over here.”

Sai reacted swiftly, making it to Sakura’s side in no time as she opened the jar in her hands.

“Now Sai, I want you to very slowly and very carefully peel back the fabric of her shirt; as you do I’m going to apply this paste to keep the wound from bleeding. It’ll act as a temporary bandage. You got it?”

“Got it!”

And just as Sakura had said Sai followed her instructions to the letter and as she mentioned as well, every inch of skin that was revealed under the uniform shirt, she applied a nearly transparent gel onto the surface of the wound to keep it from free flowing.

The moment that was finished, Sakura put the jar away and directed her gaze to Ino. “We have to go, it’s another couple of hours to the village at least. If she’s gonna make it, we have to go now.”

Ino nodded, stopping her healing and taking a hold of one of Y/N’s arms; the one closest to her. “Let’s get her up.” Sai then assisted with the other arm, and they both wrapped each arm around their shoulders.

“If we really push it, we can make it back to the village in less time.” Shikamaru suggested, his expression now back to normal with a subtle hint of concern.

“Well let's hurry then.” Choji added.

Naruto quickly stood up from his position, bringing a fist slamming into his other palm with a look of determination on his face. “Yeah the only chance Y/N’s got is if we stop talking and get on with it.”

All six ninja exchanged brief glances at each other then took off in the direction of the village with Y/N coming in and out of consciousness.

It felt like a lifetime but eventually they made it and as Shikamaru had said, they really pushed it and got there in only thirty minutes.

It was definitely a rough half hour, although it was a small price to pay for getting their friend the treatment that she desperately needed.

They all barged into the hospital, shouting several things all at once that it was hard for the front desk nurse to understand what they were saying. The point got across after Lady Tsunade showed up.

She’d heard that Y/N had returned to the village or rather had been dragged back because she had a serious injury to the back.

Sakura requested that she assist Tsunade in the surgery, but she denied it saying that Shizune would assist which left Sakura feeling helpless.

Tsunade understood that she wanted to help her teammate and friend, someone who had disappeared much like her love Sasuke, but even from a glance she could easily discern that Y/N’s injuries were serious.

Even though Sakura was a skilled medic ninja, she lacked the experience of delicate surgeries and Y/N’s condition required delicacy.

Sakura, Naruto, Sai, Shikamaru, Ino, and Choi waited with what could barely be considered patience, out in the waiting room.

Everyone sat down in an uncomfortable chair except for Naruto; he opted to pace.

Of course it set everyone on edge, but he has always been a fidgety person so add a bit of stress to that and he couldn’t sit still.

Though, Sakura did yell at him for not sitting like a normal person (her words). Normally Naruto wouldn’t have argued with the matter because she would’ve beaten him to a pulp for not heeding her word, but not this time.

He exclaimed that there was no way he could sit down since one of his friends was in surgery. Sakura remained quiet after that.

The silence permeated the very air they were breathing as they kept waiting for some sort of news on Y/N’s condition.

Until finally, Tsunade came out to meet them.

“She’s going to be just fine.” That was the first thing she said to them with a confident smile.

All the young shinobi had sighed in relief, the stress dripping off their shoulders to disappear forever.

“However,” Tsunade prefaced, “She’s in a medically induced coma so she won’t wake up for a while. The best thing she needs right now is sleep; this is also to keep her from moving around with that back injury so it’ll heal.”

Once more the young ninja exchanged looks of relief, happy to know that their friend was going to make it.

________

Nearly a week passed before Y/N woke up from her coma.

Her eyes felt the glare from the sunlight seeping in from the outside, and a warm sensation encasing her wrist.

When her gaze shifted to the presence of the warmth, she saw Lady Tsunade standing at her bedside while checking her pulse.

Honestly, at first, she didn’t recognize Tsunade for a few seconds until she spoke up.

“Well hello there, sleepy head. Finally decided to wake up.”

Y/N blinked a few times. “Lady Tsunade?”

The Hokage gently set Y/N’s hand back down to her side before crossing her arms and smiling down at the young woman. “Welcome back to the land of the living.”

“How-” She looked around the hospital room confused. “How did I get here?”

“I had sent several of your friends out on a mission to investigate rumors of the Akatsuki near the Hidden Waterfall village and on they’re way back, they found you lying in the middle of the forest.” Tsunade wasted no time explaining, her smile falling to a more casual expression.

Y/N’s eyes darted away to the hospital ceiling again, mouth gaped open subconsciously as her mind flashed back to that last thing she remembered.

“I vaguely remember somebody picking me up from the ground, but it’s all kind of hazy after that.” Y/N admitted.

Tsunade took a deep breath before speaking. “That’s not shocking, you were critically injured. It’s a miracle you were still alive when they brought you in.”

Both paused to gather their thoughts, the room becoming silent.

“What happened to you out there?” Tsunade asked with a startling seriousness.

She took some time to think through it, going back to every second stuck in her struggle against an old classmate. A classmate she actually used to know fairly well, and now he was nothing more than a stranger that she crossed unfortunate paths with.

“It was Sasuke.”

Tsunade didn’t even look surprised or shocked, it seemed as though she was already aware of who had almost killed her. After a minute or two, Tsunade nodded (more to herself).

“I see.”

“You don’t look surprised.” Y/N mentioned quickly.

The older blonde woman shook her head. “When I was performing your surgery, it was easy to make out the lightning pattern on your back. And not only that, upon taking a closer look I could see that the lightning had managed to barely sear the bone of your spine.”

She watched Y/N’s eyes widened at the revelation. Tsunade continued, “The attack was so precise that it scarred the bone, there’s one person I can think of that could use lightning like that.”

Y/N listened in horror, while trying to keep her mind from exploding with all the information coming in at once. “I am going to be okay?”

“Yes, luckily the scarring on your spine was superficial and there was no permanent damage that will affect your ability to walk or anything of the sort. The real problem was trying to close off the laceration, but that’s been taken care of too.”

“Oh thank goodness…” Y/N breathed a sigh of relief, holding her hand up to her chest.

Tsunade stepped forward, arms resting back at her sides. “However, you will need to rest as much as you can and you’ll need to start physical therapy.”

Y/N grumbled something under her breath; she would’ve rolled her eyes but her head hurt too much.

“Don’t get an attitude with me. It’s important to get your body back up to speed, that surgery took a lot out of you.” Tsunade scolded, her own brows pinching together in a frown.

“Yeah, yeah I know.” The younger ninja waved her off, choosing to now stare at the wall ahead of her as she sat up against her pillows.

She tried to suppress a deep rooted groan, unfortunately it proved useless, as the shock of pain in her back caught her off guard.

Her mouth let out a gasp before her teeth came clamping down on each other to soften any other noises that would try to escape. 

“Try to move around slowly. Even if you were asleep for a week, you need to give yourself some time to heal.”

Y/N’s nearly popped out of her skull when those words processed in her brain. “A week? I’ve been here a whole week?”

Lady Tsunade opened her mouth to say something only to be interrupted when the hospital room door came slamming open.

“I can’t take it anymore!”

A familiar bright blonde haired male came bursting into the room with no regard for what anyone else was saying (Tsunade). He ran over to Y/N’s bedside, a now bright grin on his face.

“Hey Y/N, how ya doing?” He asked casually. It soon earned him a hard whack to the back of the head, a pink haired girl moving in.

“Naruto, you idiot! I told you to WAIT!” Sakura shouted quite angrily. Then she yanked Naruto back by the collar of his orange and black jacket.

Slowly, but surely several other people began to filter into the room, each other with their own unique uniform design.

And she knew every single one of them! Her face didn’t show it but she was glad to see them, it had been too long since the last time she saw them and now here they were.

Every one of them was taller than she remembered; particularly Shikamaru. Back then, she used to think that Shikamaru was kind of small but not so much now; he was fuller, broader.

He had grown up quite a bit.

Sakura had still been yelling at Naruto when Y/N shook herself out of her head, and focused on what was happening right now.

“Come on, Sakura…Cut me some slack okay? It’s been forever since I saw her last.”

“Ugh…” Sakura sighed as she placed a couple of fingers to her temple to dampen the oncoming headache. She switched gears in a few seconds as she faced Y/N, a small replacing the scowl.

“It’s been too long though, what have you been up to?” She nicely asked.

Y/N paused for a second as she thought of what to say; suddenly her throat felt unusable and her mind blanked. All the time she spent thinking of her friends, she never thought about what she’d say once she saw them again.

“O-oh…you know, finishing up a mission” She plainly answered, trying to sound like she used to.

What did she used to sound like?

There echoed a collective noise of surprise coming from her friends, their faces matching that.

“A mission? You mean the past three years, you’ve been on a mission?” Ino cut in, stepping forward to now be standing close by Y/N’s left side.

Y/N’s eyes danced over the faces of the people she once knew, to realize that they were different. It made her throat feel snapped shut.

She swallowed, noticing the soreness of it. “Yeah…”

“Why didn’t you tell us?” Choji asked, his voice taking on obvious sadness.

Y/N went to answer but Tsunade cut her off. “It was a stealth mission of the highest order. It needed to be kept secret. No one was allowed to even be aware of why or when she was leaving the village.”

“So that’s why you left without saying goodbye.” Ino voiced as she held her hand against her chest as if she were trying to keep herself focused on the now instead of thinking on what happened back then. She wouldn't admit it out loud, but when she learned that Y/N was gone and no one knew why, she feared that she had succumbed to the same darkness that corrupted Sasuke.

Y/N was her best friend, they told each other everything especially the dumbest of stuff. They always said “Hi” or Good morning, always trading a goodbye before departing on a mission. In some weird way, they felt secure in that. To them it felt like a guarantee that even though they said goodbye it would never be the last.

So when Y/N suddenly wasn’t there anymore, it left Ino afraid that she had been unable to stop her from following a path with no way to return.

Y/N hung her head in shame, now having a difficult time looking them in the eyes. All she saw was the lingering disappointment swimming in their eyes.

“You’re different than before.” Naruto added in the middle of the silence.

She knew all too well.

“Back then, whenever you were around us you were always smiling, always laughing with us. And even when we’d end up in the hospital after a mission, you were always there to cheer us up.” Naruto continued, his usual boisterous personality on the back burner as he spoke softly and sincerely.

“But now, you’ve got this blank look on your face like you don’t know what smiling is.”

He wasn’t wrong. Not at all.

Three years spent on a mission tucking away her feelings, forgetting how much she missed being home and being with friends, and forgetting what made her who she is would make anyone feel as if they didn’t belong in the very place they called home.

It wasn’t a revelation she was prepared for.

The moment she tied that headband to her head she thought the it would be in the middle of the battlefield that she’d feel the most on edge, never did she think that moment would fall on her when she was surrounded by those she loved.

“Don’t be so insensitive, Naruto.” Sakura scolded him again, though this time she spoke less angrily and more concerned for Y/N’s reaction.

“Look, what I’m saying is that you’re not the same as before. What happened out there?”

Finally, Y/N looked up. “A lot of things happened out there. And-”

“Okay, that’s enough for one day.” Shikamaru advised after several minutes of not speaking.

“But Shikamaru-” Naruto began but Shikamaru spoke over him.

“Remember she’s suffered a critical injury; she still needs time to heal and us bringing up details of a delicate mission isn’t helping.”

At that, Naruto’s blue eyes drifted to the tiled floor in a silent agreement.

“Shikamaru is right, the best thing you all can do for her is to let her rest. Her bandages need replaced anyway, so clear out.” Tsunade ordered gently while crossing her arms over her chest.

Silently, each member made their way out of the room, glancing back to Y/N a few times (collectively) before they were out the door. Y/N and Tsunade waited until they could no longer hear their footsteps to say anything else.

“He’s right.” Y/N uttered, staring down at her palms.

“That’s his other gift…” Tsunade said thoughtfully, walking around Y/N’s bed to face the window. “He senses changes in people, no matter how subtle. It’s easy to forget when he acts like a moron.”

Y/N felt her mouth quirk up into a sentimental smile. “It's because of that ability that makes him such a force to be reckoned with.”

“I agree.” Tsunade stood by the window for a few more moments then looked over her shoulder at Y/N. “Alright, how about we get those bandages changed?”

________

Time passed, at what felt like, a blink. 

Another week passed before Y/N was cleared to go home, but it felt like time rushed by her. Even when her friends would visit her, the hours they’d spend trying to fill Y/N on what she missed, seemed like mere minutes; gone without a chance to turn around. 

Maybe that was better. 

Since that first visit, Y/N hadn’t been able to shake the feeling of guilt hanging over her. Every time any one of her old friends came to see her, she saw the sadness in their eyes. 

She attempted to act like how she used to, happily-go-lucky, but it was all forced and definitely difficult to keep that up so she quickly decided to let it naturally come back to her. 

Whenever that would happen. 

It was hard; knowing that her friends expected her to revert back to the old days, and be who she was. And she wanted to be that for them, she truly did, it’s just being on a mission that negated any sort of humanly interaction or connection made it seem like it was all a dream to begin with. 

And when she couldn’t deliver, the disappointment always returned. 

Now she was a walking blank canvas; splashed with a coat of white to hide any unique colors and patterns.

It almost scared her how much she didn’t react or feel.

Would she ever be the same? 

The thought lingered at the forefront of her mind while Y/N sat criss cross on her own bed. 

Her back was slouching a bit which caused her to grunt in pain when she straightened herself out again. 

Lady Tsunade ordered her to sit as straight as she possibly could to help the healing process, but she was a creature of habit so she’d start out with correct posture then slip back into a slouch then would quickly correct herself again. 

It was causing a lot of unnecessary pain. 

Y/N huffed as she forced her shoulders to lie straight and back up, being as perpendicular as she could. While she did so, she kept her eyes on the blue sky filled with an abundance of white, fluffy clouds. 

Cloud watching was a hobby of her’s, particularly when there wasn’t a lot going on during her mission. 

Any time she felt nervous or anxious or bored, she’d tilt her head back and watch them float. 

There was something very relaxing about that process. 

But she didn’t enjoy it for long when a knock came at her door. Y/N perked up, head whipping to the other side of her room. 

“Who is it?” She asked aloud. 

“It’s me, Ino.” The muffled voice said on the other side of the door. 

Bracing herself, Y/N carefully lifted her aching body up from the bed to make her way to the front door. 

She opened the door to find an anxious Ino, twiddling her thumbs. “Hi.”

“Hey, can you come with me somewhere?” Ino abruptly asked. 

Y/N raised a brow at her. “I guess, but where are we going?”

Her answer visibly made Ino relax. She let out a breath she didn’t realize she was holding. “It’s a surprise.” 

Then she turned on her heel, making her way down the apartment building hallway and in no time, Y/N followed close behind her. 

For some reason, Ino chose not to make conversation on the way to wherever it was they were going. 

Instead she quietly led the way, leaving the village houses behind with each passing step and ventured through some trees. 

Something about the path they were taking looked familiar, so much so that it caused a warmth to center in Y/N’s gut spreading over her nerves like a warm blanket.

When it came to forests, three years isn’t enough time for it to change, and it looked exactly as it did back then. 

Ino eventually stepped through the set of trees, and made it into a sunbathed clearing, completely lavished with a mass of flowers. 

Y/N eyes grew wide at the sight; she couldn’t remember the last time she had been here even before she left. 

Once she graduated from the academy there was never time to come back here, to relax and enjoy the simple colors of the flowers and their comforting smells wafting through the air.

It still looked like the small piece of heaven she loved so dearly. 

“I can tell you remember this place.” Ino finally said, turning around to fully face Y/N; a soft smile on her face. “I know how much you used to love it here.”

“Why are we here?” Y/N asked, her own gaze observing every flower grazing her legs. 

Ino stepped up to Y/N, laying a comforting hand on her shoulder. “Because we loved this place when we were kids, so let’s enjoy it.”

Then Ino lightly nudged Y/N to follow her again and this time they didn’t walk that much further when they met a slight slope slanting downwards from where they were. 

Ino took a spot on the small slope, then again nudged for Y/N to sit down with her. She did. 

As soon as Y/N seated herself onto a patch of grass, Ino reached out and pulled out a white flower with a yellow center. “Do you remember what kind of flower this is?”

Y/N let out a quick airy laugh, caught slightly off guard by the question. “Uh..a jasmine.”

Ino nodded with a smile. Still holding the jasmine, she plucked out another one. This flower was drenched in a bright pink, petals resembling lace. “This one?”

“A carnation.” 

She picked another one; it had a long green stem with a bushel of tiny purple petals at the top. “This one?”

Y/N nodded. “Lavender.” 

Reaching for one more, Ino pulled up a flower with a somewhat stringy inside, center white and the petals gradually from that bright white to a light pink. 

“How about this one?” 

To Y/N’s shock, she didn’t recognize it. It definitely looked familiar, but there were several other flowers popping in her head that matched the look of it. 

Staring at the flower, Y/N cautiously shook her head as if she were afraid she would disappoint Ino. 

Ino held the flower up to her nose to smell the fragrance, closing her eyes a second to relish it before opening them again. “It’s a gladiolus.” 

Y/N sadly decided not to respond to that. 

“It was your favorite one back then. When we were still in the academy, you told Sakura and I  that they could be all sorts of colors like pink..” she gestured to the pink one in her hand. “Or yellow or white. And you also said that they had healing properties used by our medic ninja. It was easy to tell how excited you were to tell us about it; how much you knew about flowers.” 

“What’s going on, Ino? Why are we out here?” Y/N finally confronted the strange behavior of her friend. 

Ino rested her hands in her lap, the flowers she’d plucked nearly falling from her limp hands. “I thought that if I could remind you of what you used to do, what we used to do together when we were kids, maybe it’d bring back the part of you that’s been hiding.” 

“And you were the only one who wasn’t disappointed in me to try, huh?” Y/N laughed humorlessly. 

Quickly, Ino faced her friend. “None of us were disappointed in you. We were all worried because you weren’t yourself anymore, and we could see how upset that made you.”

“Then why are you the only one who’s said anything? Why are you the only one out here?” Y/N began to feel the hopelessness grow in her chest like an infection. 

Somewhere in the past week, she had rationalized that she had lost her friends because she couldn’t be there the same way as she could three years ago. 

“I’m the only one out here because I asked everyone if I could be the first to help you remember. After this, Sakura and Naruto got their own thing planned for you.” 

“What do you mean?” Y/N questioned, utterly confused by that statement. 

“Well…” Ino began then recounted what happened only a few hours ago. 

It was the middle of the afternoon when Sakura, Ino, and Naruto strolled down the street. Originally, Sakura and Ino were walking together but then Naruto saw them and caught up to them to talk as well. 

There was some simple chatter going on between them when Naruto began to complain. “Don’t you guys think it’s weird that Y/N isn’t acting like herself anymore?”

Sakura and Ino stopped in their tracks, standing beside each other as Naruto took a few steps ahead before stopping himself, arms coming down to his sides after being held up in a casual posture. 

“It’s not weird.” Ino answered somberly. 

Sakura frowned. “It isn’t unusual for people to change when they’ve been alone on a mission for that long, especially if it was high priority.” 

Naruto gritted his teeth. “I know, but it’s still weird to me. She used to be so happy back then, it was never boring when she was around, she had so much energy and now it’s like that person is gone. Like someone is impersonating her.”

“She’s not gone.” Ino was quick to add. “I can still see the cheerful girl we used to know, I think she’s just got lost along the way.” 

Sakura nodded. “I think you’re right.”

There was a brief inter pause when Ino gasped, startling both Sakura and Naruto. “I have an idea!” 

The other two ninja waited patiently for Ino to tell them what her idea was. 

“We’ve been trying to fill her in on all that she’s missed the past three years right? Well if we instead we show her things of our past together, from when we were kids?”

Sakura’s eyes lit up. “Like when we played in the river together?”

“Or when we read comic books and played games together?!” Naurot chided, his voice grew louder than it was seconds ago. 

Ino snapped her fingers and grinned. “Exactly! If we re-experience places we went, things we liked to do then maybe we could remind her of who she is.”

“It’s worth a shot at least.” Sakura smiled, looking between Ino and Naruto. 

Naruto threw his fist up in the air. “Are you kidding me? That idea is awesome!” 

“Alright, then from now on, each of us will try to remind Y/N of our precious memories together. Ready?” Ino closed her hand, and stuck a fist out to her friends. 

Sakura and Naruto both bumped Ino’s fist, earning an excited cheer from all three at the same time. 

“You see? That’s all we want, is for you to remember not who you used to be but who you are.” Ino explained, leaning over to a bundle of gladiolus flowers and extending them toward Y/N.

Her violet gaze could see the beginnings of tears gathering in Y/N’s eyes. “Like these gladiolus, maybe we could begin to heal you. If that’s okay?”

They fell, the tears that had been clouding her vision rolled down her cheeks, leaving a warm sensation in their wake. 

For the first time in a long time, Y/N let out a relieved sob, taking the bundle of flowers from Ino’s grasp. Her head dipped down to stare at the colorful bouquet, watching her tears fall onto the petals and pool there. 

The shame and guilt that hung off her injured back, finally disappeared, giving her the chance to breathe again, to actually breathe. Each inhale of air felt cold going down her throat but left her refreshed. 

It was overwhelming.

Ino gave her space, letting her friend cry, to push out everything that she’d kept buried under a lock and key. 

It wasn’t until Y/N had pulled her head back up and extended her arms out, that she hugged Y/N tightly to her and she reciprocated. Ino could feel her own tears begin to build. 

Y/N cried a little while longer, then allowed herself to speak through the sobs. “Thank you; for not giving up on me.” 

Ino pulled back, hands then resting softly on Y/N’s shoulders again. “That’s what friends are for.” 

That caused Y/N to let out a tearful laugh and Ino mimicked that. 

It was good to be home.

a/n: this was a long one, and I probably wrote more than I really needed to but honestly I do that more than people think. Regardless, if you're reading this thank you for making it all the way through this; it was a lot.