#older kakairu so good

[resolutepath]

SHIPPING INFO. Answer the following for your muse(s) so people know how shipping works on your blog.

What’s your OTP for your Muse(s)?

waves at my blog, look at what I'm writing. That's the OTPs for you.

What are you willing to RP when it comes to shipping?

Nothing that goes against my rules, definitely no teacher/student, no ships around pregnancies etc. or abuse. I do exploring complicated dynamics, ones that need work, that might be unrequited on one side or both, that one is there and one needs to work to get there, or one that doesn't work out, so generally the easiest thing to do is pitch it to me. I'll tell you if I'm not interested.

How large does the age gap have to be to make it uncomfortable?

Animanga muses from b.nha / k.ny / j.jk only get shipped within their age bracket ( current academic year / 1 year older/younger) unless they are adults. Anything young adult needs to be within a couple of years, once we start getting older needs to be based on maturity and emotional disposition. Nothing different from what others have said.

Are you selective when shipping?

To an extent, as in I like to be open to options but there is the caveat that sometimes there are dynamics that just really end up being the only way I will see the character. For example, Kiribaku is the prime example, because Cam and I have been plotting for years at this point and I really love what we've built. Other ships can become exclusive if they are pairings that get treated awfully by fandom, and usually its with Lauri because we've been writing a long time at this point and we are generally on the same page. Otherwise I would describe myself as limited ship as in I will be open to shipping with two to three versions of a character, but I generally won't go over three because I don't like going into the territory where it feels like I'm hoarding.

How far do steamy moments have to go before they’re considered NSFW?

As soon as things start going beyond suggestive, when erotic content begins to happen. It's not really something you're going to find around here tbh, I have inspiration for nsfw content once in a blue moon.

Who are other muses you ship your muse with?

I'm gesturing at my blog and telling you to look there. As a multimuse this question would get ridiculously long otherwise.

Does one have to ask to ship with you?

One does not have to but one might want to if they want my oblivious ass to notice. ( no seriously my obliviousness knows no bounds, just ask lauri he has several hilarious stories )

Just generally anyway I tend to prefer to have a conversation even if its just one in comments or in dms to be like this is my view / this is your view so that we can get ourselves on the same page. After that I'm good to explore and see what happens.

Are you multiship?

I am, because I like exploring different dynamics, so I prefer not to limited someone to singleship. Occasionally a muse might crop up that I can only see one ship for, but it is a rare thing and usually depends on the muns I am writing with and my own thoughts on a particular character.

Are you ship obsessed or ship more-or-less?

Ship oh wow I didn't see that coming and now I'm thinking about our characters all the time. As in I do not necessarily go into things seeking ships, but if I gel with a mun and enjoy the way we develop characters together, then at some point inevitably one of my muses might catch feelings and then I will let the other mun know and we'll see what happens.

What is your favorite ship in your current fandom?

I'm just vaguely gesturing to the ships I write with friends. I get invested in what I write. I am not, however, immune to KakaIru and never have been.

Finally, how does one ship with you?

Talk to me. It really is as simple as that. I'm not saying that it's going to inevitably end in a ship, but talking about the muses, where we see it going, even if it is just a couple of one off lines that we then build on through writing and then commenting back and forth, I just need some sort of signal that this is where you are going.

tagged by: @apocryphis tagging: @venstm , @chipen , @dynmghts , @starshinc , @delusionaid & you if you want to do it

[mtnikolle]

Clearing my first roadblock for @kakairu-rocks 2024 Maze Challenge: Single Parents AU

A seal appeared after Kakashi tried to skip roadblocks and teleported him back to the start. Bad Kakashi!

Making New Connections

Summary: Kakashi volunteered to chaperone for Naruto's field trip. That... may have been a mistake. But Naruto was pretty cute like this. And he got to meet Iruka, who understands the trials and tribulations of single parenthood. So, really, it was good.

🐵🐍🐻🐸🦫🦜🦊🦆

Kakashi almost couldn't believe that he'd volunteered to supervise Naruto's field trip to the local zoo. What did he know about either animals or 7 year olds? Then he looked down at Naruto, sitting, calmly for once (or so he assumed, based on what his teacher, Ms. Mitarashi was always telling him), and knew he'd do just about anything for the little brat (affectionate).

“As I call your names, go line up with your parent-chaperone.”

Kakashi could see most of the kids were paying attention, but at least three girls were “whispering” together at something under one of their desks, one boy was playing with cars on his desk, and another two? three? boys were passing a paper back and forth.

“Mr. Hatake?”

Kakashi waved at the kids.

“Naruto, Kiba, Amir, Zion, and John are with you.”

Ah, one of the boys no longer paying attention was Naruto. At least he knew who that one was. Another of the boys poked him on his way up the aisle toward Kakashi. When Naruto looked up to… say something, Kakashi made eye contact and raised his eyebrows. Naruto got with the program and grabbed his backpack to join them. Ms. Mitarashi was already calling the next group of students as Kakashi led his group out of the classroom.

🐵🐍🐻🐸🦫🦜🦊🦆

The bus ride to the Konoha Zoo was… something. Loud was probably the best descriptor. Despite the kids having been told to sit with their groups, Kakashi noticed that his was scattered all over. He could only assume the same was true of the other groups. He sat in one of the seats, debating standing to yell at the kids, when another body landed beside him.

“Don't bother.”

“Excuse me?”

“I recognize the look on your face from my own mirror— or would, if I brought a mirror on these trips.” The man held out his hand. “Iruka Umino.”

Kakashi took it. “Kakashi Hatake. What do you mean?”

“They won't listen. Best to save your voice for later.” The man, Iruka, explained.

“Oh.” That made a lot of sense, though Kakashi internally shuddered to think of the implications.

Ms. Mitarashi climbed onto the bus after the last of the students and took a final headcount. With a jolt, the bus started toward the zoo. Kakashi didn't know buses were so loud. The public buses he sometimes took certainly aren't.

Once the ride was somewhat smoother and the sound didn't feel as bone-rattling, Kakashi asked, “You chaperone a lot of these trips?”

Iruka nodded, then looked over his shoulder at a quiet boy who looked nothing like him. “Ever since I took in Sasuke and his older brother, Itachi.” Iruka was quiet for a while. Kakashi supposed he's a quiet guy, despite being the first of them to speak. Kakashi was about to turn his attention to the window when life came back to Iruka's face and he asked, “Which is your gremlin?”

Kakashi gave a mental snort. ‘Gremlin,’ indeed. “Naruto. Do you know him?”

“Ah, yes, the active blonde?”

“‘Active’ is a kind description. Gremlin is closer to right.”

Iruka laughed. “He does seem pretty adventurous when I come visit the class.”

They chatted the rest of the way to the zoo. Kakashi was sure he would find Iruka's insights and advice useful.

🐵🐍🐻🐸🦫🦜🦊🦆

They'd barely made it through the entrance before Naruto bolted for the Reptile House.

“Naruto!” Naruto slowed, but didn't stop. “Wait for the group!” He didn't— kinda— he was waiting by the entrance. Probably because there was a small, fenced pond just outside with a couple of… frogs? sunning and swimming.

Naruto grabbed his sleeve. “Dad! Look at them! They're so tiny!”

The other boys gathered around to look, too. The frogs were smaller than even Naruto's small hand. Kakashi wondered how Naruto had even seen them, quick as he'd been running.

“They sure are. Do you know what kind they are?”

Naruto shrugged, like it didn't even matter. To him, it probably didn't. Kakashi still looked around for some kind of placard. Nothing out here, so maybe inside. Not that it mattered—all five boys were enthralled now with watching the two tiny frogs hop in and around their little pond. Naruto, completely focused like this, was completely adorable, and reminded Kakashi a lot of both Minato and Kushina when they had focused in on their individual fixations.

With the boys occupied, Kakashi took a moment to look around. The boys had blasted straight passed the confectionary stand—just as well, Kakashi didn't think any of them needed extra fuel. Beyond the Reptile House (which Kakashi thought likely housed more than reptiles, given the frogs outside) was a path with a sign that read ‘Northern Mammals.’ He figured that was likely both Alaskan and northern Canadian. Then he wondered if there might be penguins… Or polar bears! How would any if those cold weather creatures do living down here…?

Unfortunately, Kakashi's mind went for a wander. Fortunately, it came back in time to see the last of the boys slipping into the Reptile House. Kakashi lunged to follow after them. It was going to be a long day.

🐵🐍🐻🐸🦫🦜🦊🦆

It was a long morning. The boys ran from one exhibit to the next. Kakashi's only consolation was that they were content to remain in a group, even if they each had their turn being impatient with someone else's preoccupation. As Naruto had been enthralled by many of the reptiles and amphibians, Kiba was with many of the canine species, Amir with the great cats, Zion with the butterflies and other insects, and John with the monkeys.

By the time lunch rolled around, Kakashi couldn't wait to regroup with the rest of the class. Then the children could entertain themselves and enjoy more communal supervision.

Once they were within sight of the park where the class would have lunch, Kakashi let the kids sprint the rest of the way. He made his own beeline for the adult table where a number of parents were already sitting. Actually, it looked like all the other parents had arrived before his group. (Was he doomed to always be the last to arrive? He could swear his life hadn't been like that before Naruto…) He was in luck, too, the four moms had taken over one end of the picnic table for themselves, which left him a spot opposite Iruka.

Iruka looked up from his sandwich and waved as Kakashi sat down.

“Hey, how'd your group do this morning?”

Kakashi drooped dramatically. “It started with my kid taking off for the reptiles, and I'm not sure it stopped.”

Iruka laughed at him and winked. “Just wait until they refuel!”

Kakashi shuddered and pulled out his own lunch. He'd made onigiri for himself and Naruto last night—stuffed with supper's leftovers. He looked at what the other parents were eating and was surprised by the variety. Curried chickpeas over rice, pizza, pita wraps. It all looked so good.

“And your group? Were they as enthusiastic?” He took a bite of his onigiri after asking.

Iruka smiled. “My groups tend to be pretty calm. Ms. Mitarashi likes to put kids of similar energy levels together. It usually works out so each kid is in a group with a friend. Sasuke is pretty quiet, so he ends up with other kids who are pretty calm.”

Kakashi banged his head on the table. “That means I'm doomed whenever I can come again!”

His dramatics attracted the attention of the moms, and the one sitting next to him patted his shoulder consolingly. “I feel you.” She pointed at one of the boys trying to eat while hanging upside down from the monkey bars. “That one's mine, so my group is always high energy, too.”

All the adults at the table spent time trading stories about their kids and groups. The other parents also shared stories about other field trips that year or the year previous. Some were nightmare inducing, some were hilarious. Overall, Kakashi decided he wanted to make time to chaperone more of these trips.

🐵🐍🐻🐸🦫🦜🦊🦆

The bus ride back to the school seemed unnaturally quiet. No one was yelling, no one was trying to move from one seat to another, no one was standing. Not even Naruto. The kids must have been as wrung out as Kakashi felt—and his energy reserves were significantly lower than theirs. He hoped this quiet would carry over to the house.

“Bet your wife will be happy that Naruto ran himself out today.”

Kakashi turned toward Iruka with a wry grin. “No wife.” And before Iruka could express any condolences, he continued, “Naruto's adopted.”

“Ah, similar to my situation with Sasuke and Itachi, then.”

Kakashi nodded. He'd picked up on that implication to Iruka's earlier statement.

“There's a single parents group that meets once a month.” Kakashi perked up at the information. “We informally call it Coffee and Commiseration.” Iruka's smile twitched into an almost smirk when he said it. Kakashi could completely understand how the name came to be. “It's mostly just a chance to spend time with other adults who understand. We rotate houses, so the kids play together and the rest of us can visit. Are you interested?”

“Hell, yes!” Talking with his other friends was good, but they were either married with their own kids, or had none at all.

Iruka flashed him a wide smile. “The meeting is at my house this month. This Saturday, actually.” He held out his phone to Kakashi. “If you give me your contact information, I can text you the details.”

The bus pulled up to the school, so Kakashi quickly typed in the information and passed the phone back. He looked forward to getting to know Iruka better.

[edai-crplpnk]

Torune or Kakashi (character list)

For this character ask game

I'll start with Kakashi cause he will probable be easier 😆

favorite thing about them: ... Gai? More seriously, I like their plotline of self destruction and martyrdom and being forced to overcome that, but I don't think I like it so much each individually as I like them together.

least favorite thing about them: Don't touch children's butt even in a fight, Kakashi.

favorite line: chose between "I need to protect him." in Shippuden 288 or "He's nice, isn't he?" in Konoha Shinden (he's a simp)

brOTP: Idk if that really answers the question, but I like his relationship with Team 7 when they are more grown up and he is less their teacher and superior, and more like an older friend to them. I'm soft about teens becoming adults, and I like their dynamic!

OTP: KakaGai ofc, we all know the truth

nOTP: outside of the obvious Kakashi/any Team 7? not much tbh. But there's also not really any ship I'm enthusiastic for outside of KakaGai

random headcanon: I'm not sure the man can read. He left school at 5. I think 10yo Kakashi thought if he held a book in public at all times no one would realise he's barely litterate, and by the time he realised what the content of the book was, he already had a reputation made and so he's been "the guy who reads porn in public" for the past two decades because there was no coming back. His writting is that of a 6yo kid and someone has to write all the official paper for him once he's Hokage.

unpopular opinion: He works paired with Iruka but only if you acknowledge his inherent patheticness. KakaIru sucks as long as it's "cool and strong and mysterious military man and his soft and nice teacher boyfriend". But I can get behind "overworked and tired middle school teacher has no patience left for whiny boyfriend who has forgotten how to interract decently with other human beings".

song i associate with them: I'm not very good at songs but I'm thinking maybe Veux-tu danser ? by Gris. For the lyrics much more than the song itself. "You cannot touch me because I carry the worst of infections. I spread it to the ones I love at the whim of impulsions. I never wanted to propagate this heineous bacteria. Plese forgive, I should have staid stuck in your lives. Why do I have to bear this terrible curse? And most importantly, why did you have to love me back?"

favorite picture of them: I have to give a shout out to Kishimoto's iconic double pages

The details in the eyelid and lashes? The concept of him only crying from Obito's eyes and never his own? Excellent.

Now Torune!

favorite thing about them: His sacrifice for Shino is obviously touching, but it's also pretty fucked up and sad too. It makes mewonder about his father and their relationship. Presumably Shikuro died when he was little, if he was raised alongside Shino by Shibi? I wonder how much Torune got to know him, if he's grown up at least for a while with someone who had the same type of hive as him, what their place was inside the clan and how he's been raised to come to think of himself that way.

least favorite thing about them: Too little screentime 😔 and also tbh not the greatest fashion sense of all Aburame, but he gets a pass for being naked half of the time

favorite line: He doesn't have much lines in the manga, and while he may have some nice ones in the anime episode with the flashback of his childhood with Shino, I don't have access to it and I don't know it very well.

brOTP: Shino seems like an obvious choice! We need a "Danzou doesn't exist and all is well" AU

OTP: It's gotta be Fuu. I can happily see them as friends to but if he had to be with someone it'd be him.

nOTP: I think the truth is, I never really have any big nOTP

random headcanon: I assume Torune isn't his birth name. Loosing your name when entering the Root is shown as a big thing for Sai and Yamato. I like to make myself sad thinking about Shino only knowing his birth name, and not recognising it when people who have seen him, for example at the Gokage Summit, mention him by his Root name. Maybe Shino calling him his birthname when they meet during the war and Torune hearing it for the first time in over a decade.

unpopular opinion: I don't think there's enough fandom opinion about him for any to be unpopular haha

song i associate with them: I'm not sure it makes any sense but I thought of Isara by Eluveitie

favorite picture of them: Him carrying Fuu in piggy back just makes me soft. More generally they seem to have a love of trust and affection for each other. I like it.

[kakairu-rocks]

We are excited to introduce our next shining star for the Creator Spotlight... @animae-n-sht​!

This is an activity where we reach out to one of the talented people in our community each month to find out all about them and their kakairu creations, and then show them off to the world!

We hope you enjoy learning about Tanuki & their creations as much as we did. Please give them some love ❤️  

Pronouns: They/Them

Type of Creator: Artist & occasional writer

Where to find them:

Twitter

Tumblr

AO3

Read the exciting interview below the cut, or on the forum!

If you would like a chance to be in the spotlight too, the only thing you have to do is be a member of the kakairu rocks forum or follow us, and be a kakairu creator; and we will contact you, ourselves!

1. How long have you been creating KakaIru fanworks?

I have been creating KakaIru fanworks since December of 2021.

2. What are you working on right now?

I am currently working on a piece for pride month, I haven’t figured out all of the details yet.

3. What is your favorite trope to create for?

My favorite trope to create for would probably have to be Rivals to Lovers/misunderstanding. I always find myself doodling Iruka and Kakashi being a bit fractious towards each other. I made up an entire B-plot for my magical girl AU just for this trope. It’s kind of a slow burn, Kakashi and Iruka horribly misunderstanding each other and then can’t stand each other as a result. It slowly clears up and they fall in love with each other in the end.

4. Which of your creations is your favorite, and why?

My favorite creation is this one I made about Mermaid Iruka and human Kakashi.

This is older art for a February prompt in the KakaIru discord server, I was thinking about that scene in The Little Mermaid where Ariel saves Prince Eric from drowning. I remember being really proud of it when I finished it.

5. Do you have any WIPs you’re excited about?

There is this one fic that I have been working on for a while, it needs some reworking and an ending but I am really confident about it.

6. Do you have any original characters? If so, tell us about them!

Haha I have way too many, a handful of them I have made just to ship them with my favorite characters. My most recent one is Yoshi Amamiya, she is 27 and a Jounin sensei who specializes in transformation jutsu (more specifically animal transformation) with water nature Chakra. Her birthday is July 19th, she has short red hair (heavily inspired by young Chariot Du Nord from Little Witch Academia), yellow irises, she is tall, 5’9 or 175.26 cm, yet slender with a more rectangular body type. She has a prosthetic arm and leg on the left side due to an ambush involving excessive paper bombs.

Yoshi is a sensei to a team of 2 girls, Suzu and Mai, and 1 boy, Akio. She is very close to her team but she has the tendency to mother them instead of being a teacher to them. Her favorite meal is Tamago Kake Gohan (a bowl of rice with raw egg). Her favorite thing to do when she isn’t on missions or busy training with her team is going for walks in the forest and finding a nice soft area of grass to rest in. She also knits occasionally.

7. What was your hardest piece to create, and why?

The hardest piece I have created was my Secret Santa gift, everything had to be just right, or at least close to it. The lights, the snow, the height differences, I wanted this to look good for the person receiving my gift and it took a long time to finish because of that. They loved it though and that’s what matters.

8. Do you have any favorite scenes from something you’ve created?

Yes, there is this one scene in my fic “Squeeze You” where Kakashi is messing with Iruka and mocking the Hallmark movies she is currently watching. It’s so sweet and I love it.

9. Where does your inspiration come from?

My inspiration for my more moodier pieces comes from my personal experiences, songs that really speak to me on a more emotionally raw level, and anime with a deep meaning and emotional maturity. Houseki No Kuni and Violet Evergarden are a few examples.

The others I create are inspired by scenery, pieces of fiction, and upbeat anime. Ghibli films are a big inspiration, I hope to one day be able to portray whimsical or comforting scenes, wonderful scenery, and also tell an enjoyable story like the creators in this company does.

10. Which of your creations is the most meaningful to you, and why?

This was my first collaboration with someone for the KakaIru Reverse Bang, I pulled the mood in the piece from times where I felt lonely and inadequate even when I had someone I hold dear near me. Projection through my art is part of my process so I was in a solemn mood the entire time I was making this piece. The event was fun and my partner, Badger, was so nice and did wonderful on the fic that they wrote for it.

[kakashihasibs]

the character everyone gets wrong

sweaty soggy noodle man kakashi is who this is all going to be about so. I don't think everyone gets him wrong. a lot of people do but it's usually bc they're too horny to care lol

2. a compelling argument for why your fave would never top or bottom

have you seen him? have you felt his vibes? he is lazy by nature and recoils away from most physical contact that isn't necessary to do his job (and even he doesn't seem to enjoy it). there are like 7 total people he even lets see his face (while knowing it is his face) and most of them are dead by the time he is 13. hang out? sure. do nice domestic couple things? sounds lovely. get naked and fuck? so an enemy can kill him or a loved one while he's distracted? no. he probably has tried scheduling his shits and showers with gai so he's never actually vulnerable. he's also so ace.

Aubu kakashi: "Tenzō I need you to stand outside the bathroom while I shit." baby tenzō: on it boss (thinks this is completely normal bc he is also in anbu)

3. screenshot or description of the worst take you've seen on tumblr

uhhh that kakashi would not only have sex but would want you to call him daddy. that nearly 50 year kakashi who has never worn sunscreen in his life shouldn't actually look old/older. that a young looking kakashi is a health looking kakashi.

4. what was the last straw that made you finally block that annoying person?

lol that insinuation that looking young is healthy

5. worst discord server and why

i have never been in a discord server longer than a few days. idk.

6. which ship fans are the most annoying?

facebook dude bro fans whoops i misread this. i thought it just said fans. but shipping fans? idk kakairu is a notp for me but the fans aren't overly annoying? maybe the painfully ooc readerx shippers. I haven't seen many in a while tho so

7. what character did you begin to hate not because of canon but because how how the fandom acts about them?

Iruka lol but only when shipped with kakashi. annoying loud-mouth chunin. whatever dude.

8. common fandom opinion that everyone is wrong about

kakashi fucks and gai doesn't

9. worst part of canon

it's naruto man. everything after the land of waves arc lol

10. worst part of fanon

the bumbling husband and nagging wife characterizations from the kakairu fanon.

11. number of fandom-related words you've filtered

bruh lots idk lol

12. the unpopular character that you actually like and why more people should like them

tenzō T-T

13. worst blorboficiation

i'm pro blorbo. i am rotating these fictional men in my mind at all times.

14. that one thing you see in fics all the time

i don't know.

15. that one thing you see in fanart all the time

fangs v-v and scars.

16. you can't understand why so many people like this thing (characterization, trope, headcanon, etc)

people who love kakashi but don't give a shit about gai. those two are like a packaged deal in my mind. can't have one without the other. they are eternal rivals after all.

17. there should be more of this type of fic/art

sometimes i just really need a deep dive into kakashi's head. i love the character study type stuff.

18. it's absolutely criminal that the fandom has been sleeping on...

younger gai and tenzō bumping into each other bc they're both watching kakashi stand at the memorial stone bc they're both worried.

19. you're mad/ashamed/horrified you actually kind of like...

there is nothing i am mad/ashamed/horrified about but if you're wondering yes i do enjoy the fanarts of kakashi in bondage. lol

20. part of canon you found tedious or boring

the flashbacks are out of control. my memory isn't great but it's not that fucking bad holy shit girl

21. part of canon you think is overhyped

idk i feel like the parts of fandom i interact with are pretty realistic about how good something in Naruto is

22. your favorite part of canon that everyone else ignores

Yaknow how Obito's dream that naruto sees is Obito is back in konoha and becoming hokage but Rin is still dead? like what does obito wish had changed? I think it's if Minato had recognized him. I think Obito was actually praying and hoping for Minato to realize who he was fighting. Obito had a seal on his heart. Minato could have saved him if Minato pulled his head out of his ass for more that 5 mins at a time.

23. ship you've unwillingly come around to

none. my kakashi stubbornness knows no bounds

24. topic that brings up the most rancid discourse

idk kakashi discourse is easy for me to ignore.

25. common fandom complaint that you're sick of hearing

none. i love hatefulness drama and kakashi.

[justsomeoneunordinary]

Kakashi for this one? 👀

https ://at .tumblr .com /justsomeoneunordinary/send-me-a-character-and-ill-answer-these/vjolyf8nlo70

1: sexuality headcanon

that man is SO aroace, hands down. that doesn't even need an explanation, just look at him!

unless he's being railed by gai, in which case he isn't quite so ace anymore uwu

2: otp

kakagai kakagai kakagai kakagai kaKAGAI KAKAGAI-

3: brotp

in my heart, he and tenzou are brothers. he totally behaves like an older brother around him, esp when he's being a little shit lol, i just love their relationship so much

4: notp

never liked kakairu and never will. also used to be open for obikaka but i cannot see it anymore tbh. makes me sick nowadays. (but the naruto fandom def has a problem with tagging their ships properly bc i keep seeing so many notps all the time argh) honestly, i don't rlly ship kks with anyone except with gai. i find him very unshippable idk....

5: first headcanon that pops into my head

he's a biter. not the fanon hatake = wolves hc kinda biting bc i hate that hc (kishi didn't give us much but he gave us enough to conclude that hatake = farmers, not wolves or nomads ffs do ppl not at least google the names before they come up with hc's or what), but the as a child he used to bite anyone kinda thing, so his father gave him a mask and kks just never stopped wearing it. he still bites as soon as it comes off

6: favorite line from this character

i am terrible at rmbr'ing lines but when he meets team 7 and his reaction is "my first impression of you is... i hate you all" is the fucking funniest shit to me. first, he lets those 12yo kiddos wait for hours and then has the gall to tell them he hates them lmfao king shit i love him (also, what a lying liar. they're his kiddos and he loves them)

7: one way in which I relate to this character

slouch king <3 i too, can't walk or sit with my back straight. also, reading porn in public. relatable

8: thing that gives me second hand embarrassment about this character

lmao in shippuuden where he had to read a section out loud of his porn book and the line was literally just "i love you" but he practically died trying to say it, face red, sweat running down, stuttering and all that jazz acbsjfhsjfhdjfbajfb IT'S LITERALLY JUST I LOVE YOU, IT'S NOT EVEN SMTH SMUTTY FFS KKS YOU'RE A GROWN MAN!!! also the sheer amount of times he collapses bc of chakra exhaustion like pls king that's not normal, no one else pushes their chakra to the limit you fucking drama queen. i'll never forget that one time sakura sees him at ichiraku's and goes "oh, not in the hospital for once? that's new" lmfaooooo get recc'd. ALSO kks of the sharingan has copied over a thousand jutsu AND YET WE ONLY EVER SEE HIM USE CHIDORI!! BRUH WHERE ARE THOSE 1000 JUTSU, WHERE???!!! how abt you stop using that sharingan of yours that drains you so much of chakra just to copy jutsu that you then don't even intend to use, hmmmmm??? lmao he's a genuis but he's so dumb

9: cinnamon roll or problematic fave?

neither? all village ninja's are basically the military of a fascist state, and all deserted ninjas are killers without actual permission to kill, so given the universe everyone is problematic. you could say bc he's one of the good guys he's the former but he's also such a loyal bootlicker (i love him but god kks the way he doesn't question the system at all even after everything that happened to him is so... acbjshdjsfh) so you could say he's problematic in that sense??? you can't rlly put any nart character into either of this category tbh

[cyhyr]

There's Happiness Here, Chapter Three

Fandom: Naruto

Rating: Not Rated

Relationships: Hatake Kakashi/OFM, Hatake Kakashi & Umino Iruka, Hatake Kakashi/Umino Iruka, Minor or Background Relationship(s)

WC: ~8935

Warnings: Choose Not to Warn (Because I don’t know yet what I will need to warn for)

Additional Tags: One Night Stands, Accidental Pregnancy, Identity Issues, Miscommunication, Panic Attacks, Unrequited Crush, Co-Parenting, Hatake Kakashi is Not Okay, but he’s doing his best, Cheating, Minor Character Death, Endgame KakaIru, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Hatake Kakashi-centric, One-Sided Relationship

A/N: I'm Alive! It only took mentally checking out of my job and deciding that work is the ideal place to write to get me to finish this chapter lol I didn't achieve everything I wanted to cover in this chapter, but it was already getting so long so I decided to stop and save it for the next one. Hopefully Chapter Four won't take (checks when I last updated) seven months to finish.

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~

Kakashi paces around the nursery, bouncing his son gently in his arms and patting his back. Ren grizzles tiredly, but Kakashi shushes him and tries some more to get the little boy to settle. He glances at the clock; just about one o’clock in the morning. Kakashi’s no stranger to sleep deprivation, but there’s something different about this kind of situation, of knowing that there’s every chance that Ren could sleep for only ten or twenty minutes before waking up again. 

That’s what the books say, at least. It hasn’t happened yet. Actually, Ren has been very good about sleeping between two and three hours at a time, which is what the doctor said was right on target for a three-week-old infant. 

Ren finally closes his eyes and gives one last sleepy whimper, and then Kakashi feels his body go lax in his arms. He doesn’t stop pacing for another five minutes or so, before going over to the crib and gently laying the baby down. He stays leaning against the crib rail for a few moments longer, watching his son sleep in the deep hours of the night.

Getting to experience this little miracle is worth the sleeplessness. He only wishes Minato, Rin, Obito, or even his father could be here with him.

~

“Kakashi-kun?”

“Yes?”

“Ren needs his diapers washed. I’ll fold and put them away, but could you…?”

Kakashi nods. “Does he have any clean ones left? Is it an emergency?”

Shizukana hums. “I think he’s down to four clean ones.”

He goes and gets started right away. If Ren does one thing well at nearly two months old, it’s soil his diapers. They go through clean ones so quickly, Kakashi has almost considered purchasing more for the changing table. Shizukana tells him not to, though, that he won’t need as many changes as he gets older and so the extra diapers will be a waste.

Regardless, he is pre-washing shit off of the dirty diapers in the bathroom when he hears Ren wake up crying in the nursery. He nearly drops what he’s doing and goes to his son when he hears Shizukana coming up the stairs, saying, “I’ve got him!”

He relaxes and goes back to the pile of diapers.

~

Shizukana told him to go and take some time out of the house, and so Kakashi is sitting on a tree branch in the park waiting for the three hours that she asked for to pass so he can go home and play with Ren again. He’s finally getting to the point where he can interact with toys and books, albeit slowly, and Kakashi finds himself delighted by each new discovery his son makes.

He’s been staring at the same page in his book for almost half an hour when Iruka happens to wander by and slump down onto the bench just below his branch. What a happy coincidence—

Except, Iruka doesn’t look particularly happy at all.

“Yo, Sensei,” Kakashi says, hopping down to stand in front of Iruka. Somehow, he manages to startle Iruka, making him jump just the tiniest bit before sighing.

“Kakashi-san, I didn’t see you,” he says. “I’m sorry. Are you having some baby-free time?”

Kakashi chuckles and shrugs. “At the demands of my co-parent, yes. She said I was hovering, that she wanted some time with just her and Ren.”

Iruka cracks a smile. “Somehow, I can see you being the hovering type.”

“I will take that as a compliment,” Kakashi grins. He watches as Iruka’s smile slowly fades and he becomes more thoughtful, staring at the ground between them. “Is something troubling you, Iruka?”

“Oh! No, nothing you need to concern yourself with!” Iruka waves his hands frantically. “I’m just thinking, and it’s a bit heavy, but really, I’ll figure it out.”

Kakashi hums. “If your thoughts are heavy, it’s best to let someone else help with them. If you feel like talking, I’ll listen.” He sits beside Iruka and stretches his arm out along the back of the bench, and if that happens to put his hand within reach of Iruka’s nape, well… that certainly wasn’t his intention. He sits there and waits until Iruka decides whether or not to say anything.

And eventually, he lets it all out.

Gods, has it really been that long? Is Naruto already eight years old, that Iruka would have him in his Academy class? Minato and Kushina have really been gone for eight years.

And Iruka doesn’t want to teach the jinchūriki. He’s having a hard time separating the boy from the Fox. He’s trying, he’s trying so hard, to look at his student and see anything other than the creature that killed his parents, among so many others… 

“I don’t think I can do it,” Iruka sighs. “Maybe I’m not cut out to be a teacher after all. Mizuki was right—”

“I think, of everyone in this Village, if anyone can reach Naruto, it’s you.” Kakashi sighs, wishing things were different, that Yondaime hadn’t died, that Kushina hadn’t lost control of the Kyūbi, that Sandaime hadn’t put a taboo on speaking about the circumstances of Naruto’s birth. “Actually, if anyone’s to reach Naruto, I really, truly hope that it’s you.”

“What—Why?!”

“Because you’re kind. And, gods, does he need that kindness, after the hate the Village has raised him with.”

Iruka turns to face him, slack-jawed and incredulous, and Kakashi gives him a soft smile in return.

“You would be good for each other, I think.” Kakashi feels a wave of melancholy as he continues, “if he’s anything like his parents, I think you could truly help him in so many ways. And don’t think I don’t notice that you need someone to dote upon.”

Iruka scoffs, but it turns into a laugh. “‘Dote’? Really? I have Mizuki, y’know—”

Kakashi shrugs. “And yet, my point stands.”

They sit together quietly for a little while, until Iruka sighs and stands up. “Thanks, Kakashi. I… I still don’t feel particularly ready to teach him, or to be around him, but I will do my best to try.”

“By even trying, you’re already doing better than the majority of the Village,” Kakashi murmurs. “I need to get home. My three hours away are almost up.”

~

Ren’s favorite place to fall asleep is on Shizukana’s chest, specifically when she’s rocking him in the nursery with the curtains closed. After the first feed of the day, some tummy time—as Shizukana calls it—and a chance to stop and slowly move through a board book so that Ren can truly take in and look at the pictures, she and Ren tend to rock and rock and rock. One of Kakashi’s favorite places is the doorway of the nursery, just to watch her and Ren rocking. He leans on the doorframe and smiles as she sings to him, some kind of lullaby that he doesn’t recognize. 

Then again, Sakumo wasn’t the type to sing to Kakashi, nor was Kakashi the type to sit still and let himself be lulled in such a way. 

She smiles back at him from across the room and pauses in her song. She wouldn’t do that if Ren weren’t already asleep. Kakashi watches her shuffle him in her arms so that her hand is free to sign, “Need rest. Can you take a watch?”

Kakashi nods and signs back, “Want me to take him?”

Shizukana shakes her head, and stands up, moving to lay Ren down in the crib.  He continues to watch them both while she strokes his face a little bit to get him to settle back down, and then moves aside so that she can leave the room and close the door behind her. Kakashi stops it from fully closing, so that he can better hear when Ren wakes up.

She whispers, “He’s been up since three-thirty this morning.”

Kakashi winces. Infants shouldn’t be awake for more than six hours, let alone closer to ten. “I’m sorry,” he matches her volume. “I’ll wake you for dinner?”

“Yes, please. Thank you, Kakashi-kun,” she says, and leans up on her toes to kiss his cheek. 

He lets her, doesn’t flinch away. It doesn’t bother him like it would have a few months ago.

~

The summer ends and Kakashi has to return to active duty. He spends his last night off-duty holding and rocking Ren as much as possible; Shizukana smiles at them from the door whenever she passes by, and doesn’t once stop him from doting on his son or ask him to let her hold him instead. Kakashi passes him off only a couple times throughout the day, either to eat or use the restroom, but other than that he spends the whole day with Ren, memorizing his weight and his giggle. He reads story after story, plays with each and every rattle and twisting toy they have. 

It’s not enough.

Four months is not enough time to have with his son. 

The summons come early the next morning, before dawn, and Kakashi is pleased that the operative taps lightly on the window of the nursery, where he is standing over his son’s crib watching him sleep. He waves the operative inside, and they carefully lift the window and creep in to stand beside him. Weasel slowly takes off his mask and smiles down at Ren.

Kakashi whispers, “Do you like children, Itachi-kun?”

Itachi nods. “I remember when my brother was this small, taichou. I hope, someday, I can also have a son as sweet as yours.”

He preens inwardly, and then steps back from the crib. “You have orders?”

“Yes,” Itachi puts his mask back on, and Weasel continues. “A Meet and Greet with Ishigakure. We’re to meet atop the Hokage Tower at 0600 for further instruction.”

Kakashi hums his understanding. “Let me gear up and let Shizukana know I’ll be gone. Do we have a time estimate?”

“No, taichou.”

Ah, well. Kakashi waves Weasel away, back out the window, and goes to put on his ANBU armor. He peeks in on Shizukana, sleeping peacefully in her own room, and decides to instead leave her a note on her nightstand. 

And before he leaves, he leans over the side of the crib and pulls down his mask, giving Ren a quick kiss on his little forehead. “Be good for your mother, please,” he whispers, and then he steps out through the window and runs to the Tower to meet his team.

~

For the first time since entering ANBU, Kakashi proceeds through the mission with a healthy measure of caution. Of course he looks out for his subordinate, but this time he also doesn’t take any unnecessary risks himself. 

Anytime he thinks about doing something remotely reckless, he remembers his son waiting for him at home, and it quells the urge immediately.

The mission is completed, and he and Weasel head home.

He enters back into mission rotation, retains a team he hand-selects who all work well together. When he’s in the Village, he trains with his team on twelve-hour shifts, and the rest of the time he spends at home watching Ren grow.

When he’s in the field, Hound takes charge of the team and commands them with a firm hand. After three months back in rotation, not one single person from Team Hound has suffered a major injury. Minor scrapes and bruises are healed easily with standard-issue balms and chakra-infused bandages, and only once did Owl get hurt badly enough to warrant a night’s rest on the trail home, but she was fine by morning with Otter’s medical expertise.

Kakashi reminds his team, every time they go out into the field, to remain vigilant; that just because they’ve had a good streak, doesn’t mean their luck won’t spontaneously run out. They all understand how serious he is about this, and the only one who will even slightly joke about being reckless is Otter.

Cat is very quick to nudge Otter with his elbow to have them be quiet, to save their jokes for the trail.

~

The first flurries of winter have dusted the ground outside when Kakashi comes home from another mission. He slides in through his own bedroom window, removes his armor and locks away his weaponry, and then grabs a towel to go and shower off the grime of travel. Normally he would do this at the ANBU barracks, but today he’s just sweaty, as his mission had been simple reconnaissance and he hadn’t battled anyone at all. 

He barely makes it to the bathroom, though, before hearing Shizukana call out to him from the nursery. “Kakashi-kun? Are you home?”

He sighs. “Yes, I’m going to shower and then I’ll check in with Ren.”

She squeals, and the door flings open. She lights up when she sees him, and his stomach drops to notice it; but she goes on and says, “Come here first, please! It’s important, I promise, and you don’t wanna miss it!”

Kakashi follows her back into the nursery, feeling like she might be overreacting—

Ren is sitting on the floor beside the crib, kicking at a small pile of toys around him and blowing bubbles. He looks up when Shizukana and Kakashi enter the room and smiles like the sun is out, then turns around and grabs onto the crib, pulls himself up onto his feet, and then tries to take an independent step towards them both.

Shizukana cries and coos, “Oh! His first steps! I just wanted to show you that he was beginning to cruise!”

Kakashi watches his son take one step, then two, and then fall forward flat on his face. Neither he nor Shizukana are close enough to catch him, nor do they react in time to stop it from happening. Ren lifts his little head and wails, and Shizukana immediately goes to pick him up and comfort him, rubbing his nose and face and making shushing noises to try and calm him down. Kakashi, instead, remains still.

His son just walked. At… eight months? It feels too early. His son was born only eight months ago. Surely he’s still too little to be walking, yet!

“Kakashi-kun!”

“Yes?”

Shizukana sighs. “He took a hard fall. I have to take him to the hospital to get checked over. Could you hold him for a minute while I get changed?”

Kakashi takes his son, and then says, “No need.” He steps over to the window, opens it, and makes Otter’s call whistle. He steps back a bit, just in time for Otter to flicker into place at their windowsill. Shizukana gasps, startled, but Kakashi gives her little attention and motions for Otter to come inside.

“Aww,” Otter says, slipping through the window. “Is this little Ren? He’s got a pair of lungs on him, huh?”

“He took a tumble and landed on his face. Could you give him a once-over, please?”

Otter nods. “Sure, sure. Babies aren’t my thing, usually, but anything for this little one.” Otter hovers a glowing green palm over Ren’s face and throat, using their other hand to lift up their mask so that Ren can see their face. They grin down at the baby, and ask Kakashi, “How’d he fall?”

“He was trying to walk and tripped.”

“Oh? Walking doesn’t usually start until eleven months. I thought the Hatake baby was about eight or nine…?”

“Eight. And yes, that’s what I thought as well.”

“Well, he is certainly Hatake,” Otter chuckles. Ren’s cries die down until he is only barely sniffling, and then Otter says, “There you go, Ren-kun! All better! You did so well!”

“Any breaks?”

“Nah, just a little bump on his nose,” Otter says, poking Ren on the very tip of his nose and making the little boy giggle through his drying tears. “It likely just startled him more than anything. Although, seriously, with babies you can never be too careful. If he had fallen backwards, definitely call any medic on duty, not just me, okay? That can get real serious real quick. But this time, his little tiny hands likely slowed his fall just enough that he didn’t get injured,” Otter finishes, reaching for and lightly grabbing Ren’s hands and waving them in time as they spoke. Ren giggles some more.

Otter steps back with a smile. “I gotta get back on my patrol. See ya, taichou.”

Kakashi nods. “Thank you, Otter.”

They replace the mask over their face and slide back out into the Village.

Shizukana, at the door, seems to finally unclench. “What the fuck was that?!”

Kakashi blinks at her and asks, “What was what?”

“That—you—you can’t just—!” She groans and stomps across the room and takes Ren from his arms, fussing over him and curling herself around him. “Does that ANBU even know how to treat children? Does she—”

“They,” Kakashi instantly corrects her.

“—have any experience with children?! How can we trust her diagnosis and—”

“Their.”

Shizukana scowls. “Stop interrupting me!”

“Stop misgendering them,” Kakashi says firmly. “Otter—Awaki Rakko is their name—is a medic on my team. They’re one of the most accomplished medics of our generation, and yes, they do have experience with children, as they have three much younger siblings. You have knowingly trusted them with my life for months now, I should think that we can trust them with Ren’s face in a moment such as this.”

Shizukana’s scowl deepens. “You can’t make those kinds of decisions unilaterally without discussing them with me first,” she says lowly. “This is my son, and I—”

“He is our son,” Kakashi corrects her again, “and I have just as much say in his healthcare as you do. I trust Otter inexplicably, and I should hope that you could extend that trust to me if not to them.” 

Ren sucks on his thumb, leaning on Shizukana’s shoulder. Kakashi waits for the tension to ease, secure in his stance that he did the right thing for Ren.

She eventually sighs. “She—Sorry, they just startled me, I think. And… I’m sorry, Kakashi-kun, but I grew up very sheltered. Rakko-chan is a friend of yours?”

He frowns. “In a sense, yes. Rakko is a trusted ally. Any of the ANBU are, but particularly those on my own squad have a loyalty to me, personally. I’ve worked with Rakko for a couple of years now, and I would trust them not only with my own life—which I have, on multiple occasions—but with yours and Ren’s lives as well.”

“Then… okay. I’ll… I’ll try to do better by th-them. For you, Kakashi-kun.”

Kakashi nods. As long as she can try, for Ren’s sake, he’ll accept it. He ruffles Ren’s hair as he passes them to go and finally take his shower.

~

Kakashi stops counting the months as part of the year, but as pieces of Ren’s life that have passed. Ren is nine months old, and that means it’s almost March. He’s so small, and yet he manages to get into everything that isn’t locked away or put up high. Kakashi consults with Shikaku on what to do to stop Ren from getting at something that could hurt him, but the older man just chuckles.

“Kakashi, if a baby wants to get something, only their height and physicality will stop them. You can’t reason with a baby. Save that sort of thing for when he’s two or three and can understand the concept of no.”

He spends a weekend with Shizukana Ren-proofing their house, particularly the living room, nursery, and kitchen, where Ren spends the majority of his time. He’s fairly certain it’s not perfect, but he gets down on his hands and knees and crawls around at Ren’s height to see what else they could do to prevent their son from getting into trouble once he decides to try walking again.

Shizukana is happy with their work, and makes a nice dinner for them to share. They trade off turns feeding Ren, back and forth until more rice is in his stomach than is in his hair. Kakashi offers to clean up from dinner if Shizukana would like to give Ren a bath and get him ready for bed. 

“Thank you, Kakashi-kun,” she smiles. “Would you like to join us for a story in a little while?”

He hesitates. Listening to a children’s story sounds awful, to be honest, but if it gives him more time with Ren… “That sounds fine. I’ll be upstairs in fifteen minutes.” “Perfect!” She gathers the sticky, rice-covered baby, and leans up to kiss Kakashi on the cheek. He lets her, again, but doesn’t let her linger like she clearly wants to. 

He makes quick work of the kitchen and dishes, sweeps and mops the floor underneath Ren’s chair, all the while listening to Ren’s sweet laughter echoing from the bathroom just above him. Gods, he loves this boy with everything he is, but he just… he can’t find that same affection for Shizukana. 

He’s not stupid. He knows that she’s infatuated with him, that their living together fulfills a fantasy in her mind. At some point he needs to sit down with her and reiterate that they are co-parents and roommates, nothing more. And this talk needs to happen sooner rather than later, before she forces his hand in such a way that ends up with her hurt. He likes having her here; the company is, strangely, nice, and it’s much easier to protect both his son and his son’s mother when they live in the same house as Kakashi. 

He turns the water off and puts the last dish on the rack to dry, and is heading upstairs just as Shizukana is calling down to him that they’re ready for storytime. 

Kakashi turns into the nursery and grins as Ren crawls over to him and uses his trousers to pull himself up to standing. He uses one hand to hold on and with the other makes a grabbing motion upwards and a giggle-grunt-cry. Kakashi leans down and picks Ren up, sighing as his son snuggles into his neck and coos at him. He sits down on the floor in front of Shizukana’s rocking chair, and places Ren on his lap so they can both listen to the story.

Ren is very good at sitting still for stories, especially when he lets Ren hold onto one of his fingers and chew on another. He’s starting to cut teeth, which is good for his development but must be hell on Shizukana’s attempts to continue to breastfeed him. How long does a baby need breastmilk, anyway? He’s already eating solids and drinking watered down juice with meals.

Shizukana makes odd sounds that have Ren giggling, moves the book around from side to side and up and down to have him follow it, all the while reading the book upside-down and backwards so that Ren can see the pictures the whole time. Kakashi does his best to follow her lead and also interact with him in the same way, leaning him to each side and bouncing him in his lap in time to the rhythm of the words. Ren seems to enjoy his efforts, and Shizukana grins at him from above the book.

“The end! Okay Little Man, time for bed!”

Ren flops around and giggles as he tries to “hide” under Kakashi’s arm. He and Shizukana play peek-a-boo around Kakashi’s limb for a minute or so until she scoops him up out of Kakashi’s lap and nuzzles him. Kakashi stands up and waits for her to place Ren in his crib, and then he leans over and runs his fingers through his son’s hair. 

“Good night, Ren,” he says softly.

Ren babbles back at him. There are no discernable words yet, but it can’t be long, now… right?

~

Kakashi blinks at his assignment for the day, and looks up at Hawk for clarification. “What is this about?”

Hawk shrugs. “The jinchūriki has a new adult he’s latched onto, and Umino doesn’t seem to mind. Hell, from what I’ve seen, he’s encouraging it.”

“And we don’t trust Umino to keep himself safe?”

“Umino’s a chūnin,” he scoffs. “And not even an active duty one at that. Heard he was too soft for missions.”

Kakashi frowns. Iruka has his faults, but Sandaime has since entrusted a class of students to him, and the Village’s children are its prized possession. Sure, the Academy is staffed with chūnin, but they’re all very skilled chūnin; a few in particular he’s run missions with as ANBU alternates. The chūnin of the Academy are those who could test for tokujō or jōnin, but refuse to do so; either because they enjoy teaching or because Sandaime knows that if they were to rank up the Village would place them in the field, away from where they are most useful.

He leaves his gear and mask in his locker and heads out in his jōnin uniform. There’s every chance that Iruka already knows that he has a revolving guard, but if Kakashi has to spend the next twelve hours around him, he’d rather Iruka be fully aware of it. He makes his way across the Village quickly, landing silently on Iruka’s balcony at precisely 0630 for the hand-off. Kakashi nods and waves to Cobra up in the trees overlooking the building, and then walks around to the front door and knocks.

Through the door, he hears some grumbling and stumbling, and a very faint, “Naruto, stop leaving your stuff in the hall!” He can’t help the grin that comes with the understanding behind that statement, and is still smiling faintly when Iruka opens the door.

“Oh, Kakashi-san,” he says, startled. “It’s a bit early for a visit.”

Kakashi’s smile falters. “Is your heat not working?”

“Huh?” Iruka fiddles with the sleeves on his shirt. “Oh, no, it’s fine. I haven’t changed yet, actually, and I just like to sleep warmly. Is there something I can help you with?”

Kakashi shrugs. “I’m actually your guard for today.”

Iruka sighs. “Ah.” He steps aside to let Kakashi in, and more quietly continues, “the other ANBU are really good at what they do, truly, I just—”

“You’ve been vigilant,” Kakashi says. “It’s perfectly fine. We don’t tend to hide inside the Village, so that the citizens know what we look like and can tell the difference between an enemy and friendly ANBU.” Iruka’s apartment is cozy, lived-in and slightly chaotic in a way that suggests a child lives here. 

“Right. Um, do you need anything from me today, or just…?”

“You can go about your normal routine,” Kakashi says. “I just felt odd tailing a friend for twelve hours without at least telling you that I’ll be doing so. If you’d rather I leave you alone, I can absolutely do that instead—”

“Oh, it’s fine! Whatever works best for you!” Iruka grins. “Ah, make yourself comfortable, I need to finish getting ready. And getting Naruto ready,” he adds as an afterthought, walking down the hallway to the bedrooms. He gives the second bedroom door a knock as he passes it, and then disappears into the main bedroom.

Kakashi takes the chance to look around a bit more. There’s a bookshelf of old scrolls and texts along one wall, and beside it another bookshelf of casual reading books and fiction novels, some of which he recognizes. He takes one of the scrolls off of the shelf and tries to unroll it, but it’s sealed tight and keyed to a specific chakra flow. Curious, he thinks, as he sets it back in its place.

The casual books are of a wider variety, ranging from simplistic children’s stories at the bottom of the shelf, to a small collection of non-fiction cooking and gardening books around waist-height, and at the very top Kakashi finds two pristine adult novels—Icha Icha Innocence, and the other of a similar genre, but from a different author. Kakashi flicks through Icha Icha Innocence, but the spine is stiff and the pages are still thick and stick together a bit. Iruka has never read it, which is fine because he really should read the other two in the series first. 

“Iruka-sensei says those books aren’t for company.”

He turns and blinks hard. Gods, but Naruto looks so much like Minato, and yet he has that sweetness to his face that Kushina always had. The boy stands at the cusp of the hallway and the living room, scowling with his hands on his hips; in this way, he almost looks like Iruka, trying to be stern. Kakashi has to remind himself not to laugh. 

The book goes back up on the shelf. “Certainly not for children,” Kakashi agrees. 

“Who’re you?” Naruto asks.

“A friend of your sensei’s.”

“Why are you here so early?”

“Visiting with a friend and making plans for the day.”

He narrows his eyes. “Why do you smell like dog?”

Kakashi chuckles. “You can smell me from across the room? I’m impressed.”

Naruto opens his mouth to ask something else, but from down the hall Iruka calls, “Naruto, stop bothering Kakashi and go make yourself breakfast.” He grumbles a bit, but trudges off to the kitchen anyway. Iruka emerges from his bedroom, and Kakashi catches a glimpse of another figure rummaging around in the room before the door closes behind him.

Ah, yes; the boyfriend. Tanaka Mizuki. There are some… interesting theories, within the daily guard reports, regarding Iruka’s long-term boyfriend. Kakashi’s in no position to speculate, today, though. 

Iruka grins as he passes, still tying up his hair as he walks to the kitchen. “Would you like breakfast as well, Kakashi-san?”

“No, thank you. I have to remain alert in case of emergency,” he explains quietly, so as not to disturb Naruto. Although, with the gusto and decibel that Naruto eats, it’s unlikely he would hear anything unless it’s shouted directly into his ears. He stands guard by the window while Iruka grabs himself something to eat, and stiffens when he hears footsteps coming down the hallway from the bedroom—

And then he remembers to relax, that he’s to respond to threats from outside the home, threats that could ultimately harm Naruto. Unless Mizuki makes a move against the jinchūriki, or Iruka makes a formal report, he’s well within his rights to do whatever he’d like behind closed doors. 

Mizuki stops in the doorway of the kitchen and gives Kakashi a nasty look—curled lip, narrowed eyes, twitched hands and stiffened shoulders. He makes his way over to Iruka and wraps his arms around his waist from behind. Kakashi picks up the whisper Mizuki hisses into Iruka’s ear with a little bit of chakra flow to enhance his own hearing; “What the fuck is Hatake doing here?”

Iruka answers back softly, “Naruto needs a guard. Please don’t do anything rash.”

“I’ll do what I like,” Mizuki murmurs, and nips Iruka’s ear. Kakashi groans inwardly and turns aside, turning his gaze back to Naruto. 

Iruka weaves his way out of Mizuki’s arms and asks Naruto, “Are you ready to go?”

Naruto nods and runs off down the hall, and comes back quickly with a small backpack on his shoulders. “Ready!”

Mizuki spins Iruka around and kisses him, and Kakashi herds Naruto out of the room and shoos him to the genkan to put his sandals on. He stays just outside the kitchen so he can still respond to any emergencies, but his stomach turns to hear Mizuki and Iruka making out less than three meters away. It’s awful, but it’s part of the job. Maybe something will attack and Kakashi can get Iruka and Naruto out and leave Mizuki to it.

They eventually leave, and Kakashi walks beside Iruka as Naruto runs ahead through the streets happily. He says nothing else to Iruka the whole way to the Academy, but cannot help his smile whenever Iruka calls out, “Naruto, too far,” or, “Naruto, back here please.” It’s how he imagines Minato would have spoken to the boy, and he’s glad that Iruka managed to open his heart in this way.

~

Kakashi can’t help but notice how well Ren cruises around his nursery, walking on steady, firm feet and strong legs. And yet, his son refuses to try to walk on his own again. 

He’ll cry and reach for his parents, begging to be carried everywhere. Shizukana coddles him, of course; Kakashi is certain she doesn’t notice that Ren is perfectly able to walk, he just seems to not want to. Not that Kakashi himself is complaining, either.

Anything to give him an excuse to cuddle his son is a good thing. He might find himself concerned with Ren’s development if this persists, but the way that Ren gives him sloppy kisses on his cheek and neck after he picks him up can’t be a bad thing for now.

~

Kakashi is asleep in the nursery, his arm hanging over the side of Ren’s crib and his hand laying atop his son’s tiny back. He’s been drooling on his arm for some time, his mask pooled around his throat with his face turned away from the window. It’s certainly not a comfortable position to sleep in, but better than not sleeping at all due to a screaming, crying baby. 

He snaps to instant alertness at the warming of his ANBU tattoo on his arm. A quick glance out the window shows shadows leaping across the rooftops in the barest light of early morning; hell, most people would still consider this nighttime. All of them are heading towards the same place—the Uchiha Compound. 

Kakashi’s not allowed there. The Uchiha were gracious enough to let him keep Obito’s eye, but refused further contact or training in its usage. 

The tattoo begins to burn, and the Village’s chakra alarms trigger. Konoha is locked down. 

Kakashi scoops up Ren as carefully as he can, swaddling him as he walks down the hall to Shizukana’s room. She’s awake now and mostly alert, woken by the chakra alarms. “Kakashi—”

He places Ren into her arms. “Downstairs, now.”

“What’s going on?”

“I have to go, and you need to stay,” Kakashi says as he makes hand-seals and summons his pack. The dogs appear alert and ready for orders, immediately reading Kakashi’s emotional state and how agitated his chakra is. He sends Urushi and Guruko upstairs to gather his gear, Akino and Shiba to go ahead and report in for him, and Uhei and Bull outside to patrol the fenceline. 

“Pakkun, Bisuke, you two will stay with Shizukana and keep her and Ren safe,” Kakashi says, lifting up a trapdoor in the kitchen. Bisuke hops down first and sniffs around, and Kakashi looks at her expectantly.

She shakes her head. “When did you have that installed?”

“Not important right now,” he says. “Please, something attacked a clan tonight. I have to go. Go down there, stay hidden and stay safe, until I come back or I send someone to collect you.”

“I could just go to my parent’s!”

“Shizukana,” Kakashi snaps. “This is not a time to argue. Ren is a clan child. A clan was attacked. I will explain anything you wish to ask of me, later. But please, for now, I need you to simply do as I say and protect our child.”

She hangs her head and noses at Ren’s hair. The baby is still sleeping. “How.. will I know it is you? Or someone you’ve sent?”

Kakashi thinks, and then whispers in her ear, barely speaking at all, “The password is Whirlpool.”

Shizukana nods, kisses his cheek, and then carefully hops down into the hole, using chakra to cushion her landing so that Ren wouldn’t wake. Pakkun nods to him, and then follows her down. Kakashi waits until they have a lamp turned on, and then closes the trapdoor and covers it with the mats. Turning around, Urushi and Guruko stand at attention in the doorway to the kitchen with all of his ANBU gear, and he’s quick to change and equip himself properly, rote and habit pushing him through where his hands want to stop and shake.

He doesn’t want to leave Ren. 

Ren is as well-protected as he can be.

And yet, he doesn’t want to leave Ren.

But he has a duty to the Village.

“Ready, Boss?” Guruko asks.

Kakashi hesitates once more. “Urushi, stay behind and guard the house with Bull and Uhei. Guruko, with me.” 

Then, he bolts off into the dawn to learn what happened to the Uchiha.

~

The Village remains quiet and on lockdown for almost a month following the Massacre, with only select teams being allowed to leave and come back. Kakashi’s squad is on Bunk, as Itachi was part of his squad, and so his whole squad is under investigation while each member is individually vetted and cleared for duty. Kakashi volunteers to undergo Yamanaka interference first, as the squad Captain, and ends up bedridden for the following day and a half to recover from the interrogation. 

Inoichi is good at what he does, but he’s certainly not gentle.

It’s while he’s resting and recovering, and stuck at home for the month, that Shizukana decides to put Ren on more and more solids and to supplement with formula and milk instead of breastfeeding. Kakashi asks her once, and she blushes and says, “Well, I know that breastfeeding is supposed to help you… y’know, lose the baby weight, but I need to be able to start getting back into fighting shape! And I can’t do that with, um,” she grabs her chest and shrugs, giggling lightly.

Kakashi then blushes lightly, nods, and leaves her to it. Ren is close to a year old now, and it’s almost time that he’s weaned anyway. 

~

The Hokage calls for him one day, and he sighs and contemplates getting geared up in ANBU armor before going if only so he doesn’t have to come home before leaving again. In the end, though, he simply leaves in his regular jōnin uniform, because he wants the excuse to return home and see Ren again before going out. 

Sandaime is on the roof of the Tower when he gets there, smoking his pipe and looking out over the Village. “Come, beside me, Kakashi.”

Kakashi comes to stand almost beside him, although he does maintain a respectful distance and a step behind. But Sandaime waves him forward, “Closer, closer. This talk is nothing bad, I assure you.”

He clamps down on his chakra, ready to spike in his anxiety, and steps forward to stand beside Sandaime.

“I’ve been Hokage for a long time now, Kakashi. And I’ve seen many things, heard many different pleas from friends and family members of my ninja. Yet, what I was asked today is something different from much of what I’ve experienced.”

Kakashi stands still, waiting for the old man to go on, because he knows he will, eventually. Indeed, he needed to only stop for a puff of his pipe before he continues, “My son, Asuma, and two of his friends, Gai and Kurenai, came before me today, on your behalf. They have pleaded with me to remove you from ANBU.”

Silently, Kakashi berates his friends for getting involved. What could they say to Sandaime to convince him that Kakashi himself couldn’t—?

“They say that, if Itachi couldn’t make it in ANBU for a year without breaking, what’s to stop you from breaking soon, too? Gai reminded me that you’ve been a part of ANBU for almost ten years now. Is that correct?”

“Yes, Sandaime.”

“A decade of experience within the Ops, that cannot just be thrown away,” he says. Another pause to smoke. “I have reconvened with the other Elders on my council. They also agree that removing you from your post would be a detriment to our Village.”

“I understand.”

“And yet, there is an Uchiha boy who lives. The jinchūriki will need guidance and control. And you are our only active shinobi who still has the sharingan.”

“I… no longer understand,” Kakashi says slowly.

“Naruto and Sasuke are eight years old now. In four years, they will likely be genin.” Sandaime turns to look at him. “In four years, the council has agreed that you will take the two of them, plus whichever third student will fit best on their team, and become their jōnin sensei. Until then, you will continue to serve in ANBU. The last year before you leave the Ops, you will take teaching classes to learn to be an effective teacher.”

Kakashi’s mouth goes dry. A… teacher? Him?

Four Years?!

“This is your new mission. Do you accept it, as part of your duty to Konohagakure?”

Ren will be five years old. How much will he miss by then? But then… Ren will only be five years old. He’ll have so much more time—as a jōnin sensei, he can stay in the Village for much longer, training his team. Teaching them. He will be home with Ren to watch him grow up. It… it’s what he’d initially wanted.

But not for Four Years.

“I accept. Thank you, Sandaime.”

~

Step-Push, Step-Push, the wind glides past his ears and stings, bright and cold, against his open eye. He can hear Cat, Owl, and Otter in formation behind him, following his steps to minimize footprints. They may not be able to trick the best chakra sensors out there, but they can at least keep mundane methods of tracking from working so well. 

They’re so far north, there’s still snow on the branches in early May. 

And gods, it’s May. Kakashi has mere weeks to finish this mission and return home or else he’ll miss his son’s first birthday. He wasn’t stupid enough to promise Shizukana that he’d be back for it, but he wants to see his son spit all over his cake, make a mess of himself trying to eat it, run around with a silly hat on or maybe a sweet onesie that declares him the birthday boy.

He stops. His squad stops in the trees behind him. Cat comes to his right side.

“Our mark is in that village,” Kakashi murmurs. “Orders are to take him alive. Scroll-seal as needed, he’ll live through transit.”

Cat nods and signs back to Owl and Otter, and then leads Owl off to one side of the village while Kakashi and Otter go the other way. They both maintain their distance from the building where their mark supposedly frequents, where Owl and Cat went to, and keep watch from there.

Of course, no watch with Otter is complete without a horribly invasive question. They nudge him lightly and ask, “Did she get the shot like she said she would?”

Kakashi feels his face flush under his mask. “She takes a pill every morning. I checked the package, and it is signed and legitimate.”

Otter tsks. “Shots are better, especially if she plans on going back on active duty.”

“I’m not sure if she does,” Kakashi muses. Owl swoops into the top-most window, and Cat follows. “At least not until he’s older.”

“That’s fair, I guess. Personally, I like the shot. But I also don’t want kids,” they say much quieter, barely a whisper. “Not that I’ll have to worry about it, but… shit happens.”

Kakashi tilts his head aside a little at Otter, hoping for a further explanation, but they’re not forthcoming on any more details. And he won’t push. They’ll tell him if they feel ready. They both go back to studying the village’s rooftops, waiting for Owl’s and Cat’s silhouettes to grace the skyline. It’s an anxious few minutes, made worse by Otter nearly vibrating in place beside him, but he recognizes Cat’s spiky hair pop up, followed by Owl’s flowing ponytail, and they both begin to flicker over to the rendezvous point. Kakashi taps Otter’s elbow to signal that they’re leaving, too, and they all clear out of this cold village.

Cat confirms that they got the mark. Otter fusses over whether either of them need healing, which both Cat and Owl deny.

“Owl took a kunai to the shoulder, but her armor blocked most of the blow,” Cat explains. “We’re fine, and should get going. It took us nearly a week to get up here, and if we’re lucky, a week to get back.”

Owl nods. “This way, Hound won’t miss his little boy’s birthday!”

Kakashi winces. “Not here, and not too loud outside the Village.” He continues, signing, Secret.

Owl signs back an apology, and the squad takes to the trees once more. Kakashi lets Cat take the lead for now, and instead follows up at the rear until they leave the snow and cold.

~

Kakashi enters the house through his bedroom window, as is his routine. He will do whatever it takes to avoid having Ren ever seeing him in his ANBU gear, for the rest of his time in the Ops. That sort of fear is not something he ever wants to see on his own son’s face, and certainly not directed at himself. After he’s showered and changed and feels human again, he slinks out into the house and down the stairs where he can hear Shizukana and her parents chatting in the living room. 

He’s still not exactly on great terms with Kame Kousuke and his wife, Nao. But they visit at least once a week, he knows, and Ren adores them. He has to develop some sort of relationship with them eventually. They are, afterall, his child’s only grandparents.

“Oh! Kakashi-kun! You’re home early,” Shizukana gasps with a smile, standing up and leaving the kotatsu to come to the doorway and greet him. “I thought your mission was—”

“S-rank, Shizu-san,” Kakashi reminds her. “The details of which are still not to be discussed around those without the proper clearance. Yes, even a timeline.” He bows respectfully to both Kousuke and Nao, and greets them individually. They only give him a frown and a nod of acknowledgement back, but it’s more than he was honestly expecting. 

“Sorry, Kakashi-kun,” Shizukana says. “But really, it’s just my parents. They would never—”

He holds up his hand. “You have no idea the kinds of things people will say when under torture, and I pray to each of the gods that Ren’s grandparents never have to find out their own limits. There is nothing else to discuss, S-rank details are confidential for a reason and I’m sure O-jiisan can appreciate that.”

He glances over to the two parents, and sees, for the first time, the barest hint of a smile in Kousuke’s eyes, even if it doesn’t show on his mouth. Shizukana, however, crosses her arms and huffs. Kakashi sighs and pulls her in for a hug to placate her. 

“Where’s Ren?”

“Oh,” she smiles, leaning into his side and pulling him around the kotatsu. “Come here, right there, that’s it.”

Around the other side, playing with blocks at Nao’s side, Ren was just hidden by his grandmother’s profile. Shizukana gets their son’s attention. She turns him around and points to Kakashi, and Ren’s face lights up in a bright grin.

And then he stands.

And he walks. Confidently, strong legs and arms up for balance, feet tap-tap-tapping on the mats as he giggles across the length of the room. Kakashi feels like this moment goes on forever before he crouches down in time to pick up his son and swing him into the air, spinning and cooing.

“What a big, strong boy! Look at you go, how long has he been walking like that?” Kakashi exclaims.

Shizukana giggles. “He’s been practicing for about a month, but I think he wanted to wait until he was sure of himself before he really tried again. He walked over to greet my parents this morning when they came over, and so I was really hoping that he’d do it again for you.”

“A month?” Kakashi asks, his happiness scattering a bit. He’s only been on this mission for two weeks. And before that, his Squad was still on lockdown. How did he miss this?

Nao nods. “You have a strong son there, Hatake. Yearlings don’t tend to walk so confidently, not in my experience.”

“He has another trick up his tiny sleeve that he’s been working on,” Shizukana says excitedly. She holds out her arms and Kakashi passes Ren over to her. They sit back down at the kotatsu, and Shizukana holds up a piece of fruit for Ren to take. “Ren, what is it?”

“Foo!!”

Kousuke chuckles, “He’ll need to work on his diction, but he certainly has the spirit.”

Kakashi looks on in wonder. “Talking, too? What other words does he know?”

Shizukana grins so wide and takes Ren’s hand. “Ren, who’s that?” she asks, pointing across the table.

Ren looks up from his fruit, smiles at Nao, and says, “Baa!”

All four adults coo and sigh. Shizukana points to Kousuke next and asks, “Who’s that?”

“Jii!”

Kousuke chuckles. “That’s Jii-chan to you, mister.”

Shizukana then turns Ren around and Ren’s smile grows ever bigger. He’s caught onto the game and leans forward to plant a sloppy kiss on her cheek, and says, “Mama!”

“That’s right, sweetie! So smart, Ren!”

Kakashi can’t help but feel left out, but he doesn’t want to push it. If Ren doesn’t have a word for him yet, it’s his own fault for not being here. But Ren turns to Kakashi, crawls across Shizukana’s lap and into his own, and bounces on his thighs while giggling for a moment and then puts his tiny palm on Kakashi’s cheek.

“Kaka!”

His heart drops. He’s away so much that his son knows him only by his name. 

The joyous mood in the room sours, to the point where Kakashi himself can feel it. He keeps playing with Ren while Kousuke and Nao make their excuses to leave and Shizukana sees them to the door. He can hear them whispering harshly to each other, and if he would bother to enhance his hearing with a bit of chakra he could probably make out what’s being said. But they wouldn’t be whispering if they wanted Kakashi to hear them, and so he’ll give them their privacy.

Shizukana eventually comes back into the living room and sits down beside him, and he lets her take Ren and put him back with his toys for a while.

“I’m sorry,” she says. “I didn’t realize that he had picked up on my calling you Kakashi all the time.”

He sighs. “I’m sorry I’m not home more often to correct the situation.”

Her face crumples and she crosses her arms like she’s about to say something that’s going to make Kakashi feel worse about this situation, and he doesn’t need that right now, not after coming off a mission.

“I need you to try and curb this quickly, before Ren calls me that in public. Please.”

“If you could just get a village-bound—”

“Shizukana,” Kakashi stops her, “I told you already. I have four years, and then I will be mostly homebound. Until then, the Hokage will not let me leave ANBU. Stop asking me to abandon my duty to our Village.” He sighs and continues, “Regardless, we both know that it will mean more coming from you than from me. You’re his mother, and he’ll take his cues from you. Please, I need your help with this.”

Still pouting, she turns her face away from him. He can see her shoulders draw up to her ears, one of her tells that she’s upset. He tried to soften the snap with a compliment on her role as Ren’s mother, because she is a fantastic parent to their son, but she has to drop this issue about him getting a different assignment. Four years.

He tries a different approach. “Please,” he asks quietly. “Imagine if he’d called you Shizu instead of Mama.”

She stiffens and turns halfway back to look at him through her bangs. “That does sound awful,” she whispers.

He nods. “If it had happened, I would have called you mama, for him, every day for the rest of our lives if that’s what it took for him to change his language. Please, can you give me the same grace?”

She leans up against his shoulder, and Kakashi wraps his arms around her. Another one of her tells—this one, however, is a sort of apology. “There’s no guarantee,” she says. “Oftentimes, when a baby decides a word means something, getting them to change it is like moving a mountain.”

Kakashi sighs against her temple and says, “That you’ll try and give it your best attempt is all I ask.”

Ren sees his parents snuggling together beside the kotatsu and toddles over to them, falling into Shizukana’s lap and snuggling, too. Kakashi gathers them both in his arms and sighs, because if having Ren means having Shizukana, then he can admit it’s not a terrible package. He certainly wouldn’t have been able to do this parenting thing on his own. Ren would have been taken as a ward of the Village, and Kakashi would have been lucky to see him once a month.

This arrangement comes with its own challenges, of course. Shizukana is infatuated with him and he still doesn’t get to see Ren as often as he’d like. And then, of course, there’s the hopeless crush he’s nursing on a certain sensei… 

But here, with Ren giggling in Shizukana’s arms, getting raspberries blown on his cheeks, and Shizukana’s own warm weight against his side… he could be happy here anyway.

< Previous | Next >

Tips appreciated 💛

[shartingan]

iruka for the ask game thing!!!

(for this ask game) i wasnt expecting to get asked iruka but i’m so happy bcos i love him sm T_T

favorite thing about them

HE! IS! NARUTO’S! OLDER BROTHER!!! ;__; he literally sets the tone for the series with his act of self sacrifice and kindness and drawing a line between naruto and the 9 tails like UGH. there is no talk no jutsu no bonds no nothing without iruka and his empathy for this kid he couldve hated..UGHHHHHHHH

least favorite thing about them

HE NEEDS MORE SCREEN-TIME *eats drywall* also why did they age him like that in boruto..

favorite line

“I think you’re one of my most precious students and you’re like a little brother to me. The enemy leader is coming personally after you... how could I even fathom letting you out there to face him?” HE GETS IT!!

brOTP

naruto and iruka ofc.. but also i think iruka should be close with all his former students. and also the jonin.. he would balance their eccentricities and they would let him be himself without having to like, temper what he says/how he is for kids . if u work/spend a lot of time around kids u get it.

OTP

i dont really ship him with anyone but yamairu could be cute? they should unionize

nOTP

kakairu... i dont get it.... i think that 1. irukas too good for kakashi 2. if iruka ever told naruto that he and kakashi were dating naruto would try and reverse parent trap them because "it's kakashi sensei" and when that didnt work and then he'd involve sakura and sasuke and eventually it would escalate to them trying to kill kakashi

random headcanon

he became a chunin just 4 the job opportunities and never really wanted to become a fully fledged shinobi. but also, he’s halfway decent at seals (he teaches naruto later) and likes to use them in non combative ways. i like to imagine hes really good at using his shinobi skills in non combat/lethal ways

unpopular opinion

iruka is a disaster and i KNOW naruto thinks of him as a father figure in part 1 during vote and represents him as his father at his wedding but like, he is not suited to be a dad but Very suited to be an older brother. iruka was engineered to help naruto with his math hw and make him a cake for his birthday and give him noogies and embarrass naruto in front of his friends when he invites them over

song i associate with them

this was hard to come up with but the right thing is hard to do by lightning bug is 100% an iruka song imo..

favorite picture of them

literally what . ever.      i’m so normal

[t-m-o]

Mirai Nikki (KakaIru)

Yeah, I wanted to write a Future Diary AU back in the day.

This was back when Kakashi in the KakaIru fandom was turning into kind of a stalker where he would watch Iruka from the shadows and spy on him out of love.

I wasn’t super into the idea of Iruka liking that kind of behavior but I really wanted to dig into the idea of a literal stalker!Kakashi like in Mirai Nikki. Iruka would have met the original Kakashi and fallen in love with him only to be thrown into a situation with the unhinged version of Kakashi and having to deal with this version he hadn’t fallen in love with.

Heh, look at all those dividers I used to use.

“I love you,” the young man gritted out through tearing eyes and pulled the limp body closer, whispering out his lover’s name just in time for the sky to open up above him. Eyes widening, he clung to the body with what little strength he had left in vain as he felt himself being pulled up, his grip on the lithe form bellow slipping as he was ripped away, giving one last desperate cry before he was wiped of the face of the earth.

“NOOO!!!”

Iruka’s head shot off the desk and he snapped his eyes open, heart pounding and gasping for breath as he slowly realized his surroundings. Tense shoulders falling, he took a deep breath with closed eyes before looking out his window at the calming moon that shone brightly with her full face in the midnight sky. 

It had just been a dream and Iruka sighed with relief, rubbing his eyes and yawning as he pulled himself over to his bed. With a quick promise that he’d finish that essay in the morning, his head hit the pillow and he fell right back asleep.

X-X

Iruka glanced out the window and sighed, his eyes traveling over the school grounds, adjacent buildings and skyscrapers beyond. He’d been at school for ages now and he wanted to go home already even though his parents probably weren’t there. It was Friday and they usually took the evening to go out to supper together.

Flipping his book closed as the bell rang, he stood and headed out of the room, the other students filling out alongside him.

He felt cold despite the warm temperature outside and shivered. He’d been feeling bleak over the past few days and his mood was dropping lower by the second. There was no reason to it but he was tired, the daily routine beginning to bug him and nag at his mind. It felt like he was in some endless cycle that just dragged on and he couldn’t help but feel lost.

Just like always, Kotetsu called to him, motioning him over to their spot by the main gate and Izumo continued on with explaining another one of the world’s exciting events to the two of them in hushed tones.

“I’m telling you, this has never happened before,” Iruka frowned at the chosen topic.

“So, what if the stars are a little off?” he asked and made the other brunet look at him with skepticism. “Can’t scientists be wrong?”

“Iruka, this hasn’t happened in over fifty years,” Izumo’s lips twisted down not unlike Iruka’s, “What’s wrong with you? You’re usually a lot more positive.”

“I don’t know,” the idea wasn’t incorrect. The brunet usually was more chipper and open. With no more than a sad shrug, he let his gaze drift and zoned out of the conversation until Kotetsu grinned at him.

“Oh, I get it. You’re moping because you haven’t seen Mr. Right yet, am I right?” Iruka flushed as soon as those words reached his ears, heart pounding in his chest.

“It’s not like that!” he snapped as the other young man refused to back down, poking Iruka in the side.

“Oh, come on, Ru. We all know that you have feelings for him,” Iruka batted away the hand and looked away.

“You know we’re just friends…” Izumo snorted.

“Yeah, Ko and I were ‘just friends’ too but look at us now,” Kotetsu leered at his boyfriend and gave him a perverted smile.

“Guh,” Iruka stood and picked up his tray with a jerk, leaving the lovebirds to dump his tray and head for his locker.

This was how the lunches with his friends had been going for the past few days. They’d talk and then tease him into leaving, Iruka going back to loom in the classroom. Maybe it was just him, maybe he needed to see a doctor or something. 

Quirking his head to the side, he sighed and tried to lighten up. It had probably just been a long week. Despite the summer break coming up in a few weeks, the days just seemed to drag on forever and that was probably one of the reasons why he was in such a grumpy mood. 

Iruka yelped in shock when he was slammed into a locker, falling to the ground with a sound flop. Groaning and rubbing his sore shoulder, he was getting ready to call his attacker out when he looked up and saw who it was, deflating instantly and saying in confusion, “Ka-kashi?”

“Iruka?” the young man looked down at the brunet he’d plowed down, Iruka staring up in shock at him and feeling his mouth go dry. Blinking, the older man’s visible eye widened in shock before he said, “I… I’m so sorry, I didn’t see you…”

Grabbing in outstretched hand, Iruka pulled himself up and shook his head in refusal, “no, it’s alright… I wasn’t really paying attention either.”

Cheeks flushed and Iruka looked away from the other who gave him a sorry smile, “Still, I don’t think it was very polite of me. Maybe I could get you a coffee sometime to make up for it?”

The casual offer made the brunet grin and say, “that might be acceptable.”

“Great… say, lunch tomorrow?”

“Perfect,” the gravity of what he’d just agreed to came crashing down once Kakashi had nodded and left with a wave, the brunet’s heart beating and tumbling around in his chest. The breath he’d been holding was left out with a pant and his lips fell into a grin that reflected how his inside felt as if they were lighting up.

With that ecstatic smile still stretching his face, he snickered happily to himself and hopped away, taking the steps towards his class two at a time, the shadow around the corner smiling to itself before slipping away.

X-X

As expected, his parent’s weren’t home but Iruka didn’t really care anymore. He bounded up the stairs and threw himself onto his bed, rolling around on it with that beaming smile still attached. Shoving a pillow in his face, he screeched into it momentarily before pulling it away with a deep breath, the smile slipping, “Get a hold of yourself, Umino. It’s just lunch.”

“Lunch?” a voice near the back of his mind asked, making the brunet grin again and nod as he closed his eyes.

“Yup,” the voice made a confused sound and Iruka let his mind go, dropping down into the world of his thoughts as he opened them again. Before him stood suddenly a man clothed in green who was peering down at him with confused eyes, bushy eyebrows scrunched together. He gave his imaginary friend a big smile and said happily, “I’m going to have lunch with the Hatake Kakashi tomorrow.”

“Hatake Kakashi?” Gai frowned and straightened up.

“Yeah,” Iruka’s lips were falling, “What? You’re not happy for me?”

“No, no, I am,” Gai gave his trademark thumbs up as he said, “I hope you have a wonderful time on your lunch date with your long-awaited crush, Kakashi!”

Iruka flushed and stammered, “I-It’s not a date!”

    “Sure, sure, I’ve gotta go; Hiruzen’s planning something big.” Smiling to himself, Gai waved at the brunet as he started to fade back into Iruka’s consciousness. Cheeks still burning, Iruka rubbed at his face and fell back onto the pillows with a poof. 

Was it a date? The brunet couldn’t tell but it wasn’t completely improbable that the figment from his imagination was right. 

Gai always had a good sense of what was to come, even when Iruka had first thought him up when he was eight and without friends. He still didn’t have as many friends as he’d like and it got lonely when Kotetsu and Izumo were wrapped up with each other but the great comfort in his situation always was the ever-happy and exuberant Gai.

There was also another figure that he’d made up when he was a boy, one who was like the role model his parents had never been for him. His name was Hiruzen and they’d talk whenever something was on his mind or bothering him. Lately, though, the old man hadn’t come to mind even once which had probably been the reason why Iruka had been so depressed in the first place.

A buzz in his pocket made him bolt up and yank his phone from his pocket, the screen flashing up to show him that he had a new text. Curious, he opened up the new message and felt his heart skip a few beats.

It was from him, from Kakashi.

702 St. Catherine street, 12:00, be there or be square ;P 

It briefly occurred to him that he hadn’t given Kakashi his number but he shrugged it off. Izumo or Kotetsu had probably given it.

The way Kakashi had quirked his lips up at him bubbled up and Iruka tightened his grip on his pillow as his thoughts fell back into those of the older man and his devil-may-care attitude.

X-X

“Hiruzen?” The old man glanced down at his assistant from his perch and motioned for the man to come closer, his aide gliding up passed the shelves upon shelves of books to the Third’s hovering platform. “Sir, it seems as though Kakashi and Iruka are planning to meet each other downtown tomorrow.”

“Apparently so,” the old man snapped his book shut and picked up another, the statement completely going overlooked to his assistant’s annoyance.

“Is that alright?” 

“It doesn’t matter. We’ll just have to see how things unfold.”

X-X

There was no smile on his face, his lips turned down and his brows furrowed together, and the brunet’s heart was racing.

He wasn’t sure he could do this. The feeling in his stomach made him feel dizzy and he tried to take calming breaths, his grip on the strap of his bag tightening. As happy as he had been before, the brunet was now panicking and shaking with nervousness.

What if Kakashi didn’t show? 

Ideas of him and his gang of friends laughing as Iruka entered the school on Monday floated up and he felt his core drop into his stomach in distress. He just wanted to go home before he threw up but he didn’t want to turn around, the promise of the silver-haired man being there too great to pass up no matter how hopeless it seemed.

He rounded the corner and felt the world drop into slow-motion as he spied the small shop, his breaths coming out in pants as he hurried to the shop, slowing once he stepped inside. His gaze swiftly scanned the shop and his heart stopped.

As he stood there, in front of the door, other people excused themselves around the frozen brunet who caught back his breath.

“Yo!” Kakashi smiled once he saw the brunet and stood from his chair at the small table he’d picked by the window. Iruka was grinning brightly at him and he couldn’t help but smile back, his one eye closing happily.

Closing the distance between them, Iruka flushed and said, “Sorry, if you waited long.”

“I just got here myself,” the older man smiled and stood, “I’ll go grab us something. You want anything specific?”

“No, that’s alright,” politely declining, the younger man watched Kakashi go and left his inside jump around a bit. He was just about to sit when something hit him.

It was like a wave, an icy one that fell over him all at once and made his skin prickle agonizingly as he felt his breath being clogged in his throat. The sensation made him shiver and he almost double over when his eyes caught on something outside, a shock of orange hair that drew his attention and he froze with his eyes on them.

A man slipped inside and met Iruka’s gaze, their attention solely on each other as Iruka’s conscious let the world around them fall away and his shoulders slumped. Deep, brown eyes pulled him in and took hold, their grasp on his tightening as the man whispered out, “come with me.”

Iruka suddenly was moving through the little tables of people and out the door, finding himself in the nearest alley but unable to move even though there was nothing to restrain him.

The man with entrancing eyes came closer, a breaths distance away, sending chills up his spine and his pulse to skip beats as they grew closer and closer by the second. His vision fell into black and white as the other man came within reach.

With one last hitch, Iruka was about to pass out when the world sprang back into color with the blood that suddenly spurted out of the man’s neck, the brunet’s mind becoming his once again.

Gasping and fighting for breath, the young man fell and scrambled back as far as he could from the bleeding man, snapping his head up to find a dark silhouette in the alley’s mouth with a handful of throwing knives. The person stepped forward, drawing another knife that glinted in the afternoon light, and Iruka scrambled up to his feet in fright.

About to turn and run, the brunet’s movements were halted when he saw whom was the man with the sun at his back, Kakashi’s hair glimmering in the sun as he stared at the scene with his dark eye. 

“Ka….Kakashi,” Iruka stammered and slid back against the wall at his back, trying to get away as Kakashi stalked toward him.

“Don’t worry, Iruka. He’s dead now.” Scoffing, the brunet nodded and laughed hysterically at the other man.

“Oh, yeah, that’s for sure,” he snapped and shook his head, whole body trembling when the image of blood from the dead man’s body close to him gushed into his mind. “You friggin’ killed that guy, Kakashi!”

“He was going to kill you. What else was I supposed to do?” those words made Iruka’s eyes widen. What was he talking about? What was going on?

Shaking his head jarringly, Iruka staggered further back only to have Kakashi swiftly step up in front of him.

[ftcoye]

How do you feel about KakaIru?

i dont... hate it but i dont like it, either. when i look for fanfics i filter it out.

part of it is that kakagai is honestly just RIGHT THERE and the vast popularity of kakairu in comparison is irksome. if it was a much smaller pairing i think i’d be whatever abt kakairu, but its so huge and i dont understand it??? i also really like yamato/iruka as a Good Iruka Ship. i did once see anko/iruka as a ship in a fanfic once which is fucking hilarious to me tho.

theres also the fact that so many kakairu fics are like... weird??? i will be completely fair and say that most naruto fanfics are like fucking weird and this is why i struggle so hard finding ships but the amount of like weird anbu kakairu fanfics is so mind-boggling to me especially because ANBU is like... Very Bad. also just strange.

FINALLY, there’s the fact that if u go by anime canon they met when iruka was still a kiddo, still a minor and became sorta. acquaintances?, and given kakashi is four years older thats... no good for me. NOW THIS IS OBVIOUSLY NOT MANGA CANON but that is smth i DO personally ascribe to in my Hot Naruto Takes so i dont like it. and i see ppl who DO utilize that in fics and it’s like ew. no thnx.

TLDR; im genuinely not a fan. stan kkg and yamairu.

[flailinginlove]

Hey where can u get Doujinshi fan art in Japan again??

There are many different ways to get doujinshi in Japan; from the circles (at events, stores, or online), and secondhand (at stores or online). I'm going to run through all of them, so this is going to get long, but hopefully it will help someone. Most links are to Japanese sites.Personally, I always try to buy directly from the circles whenever possible, that way they are the ones profiting. So, my first recommendation is going to doujin events. Of course the big one is Comiket, but that only happens twice a year. Summer Comiket is usually around the second weekend in August and Winter Comiket is right at the end of December. Both are three days long so you need to be careful to go on the day that is relevant to your interests (for me, that's the second day). Comiket is crazy and insane and if you are ever in Japan during one of them, it's an interesting experience (plus it's free to enter!), so you should check it out. But there are a lot more events than just that. Akaboo puts on Comic City and other events all over Japan, usually a couple a month. They are generally only one day events, but there are still a bunch of circles there. At these events, there will sometimes be 'Only Events' that focus on one fandom. If you go to those, you will get a higher concentration of circles you might be interested in. For example, Haru Comic City in Tokyo on 3/18 has hundreds of circles for Jump-related series, but only 16 of them are Naruto circles. But Super Comic City in Tokyo on 5/4 has a Naruto Only Event and it looks like there will be close to 300 Naruto circles. Sometimes Akaboo events are free but often you have to buy a pamphlet to pay for admission (usually around 800 yen). So I recommend trying to find the event that matches your interests the most.The other big company that runs events is Studio You. They have events nearly every weekend, but they are all Only Events. Some of their events are fandom specific, and some are pairing only events. If your fandom is even semi-popular, they probably have an event for it. For example, they do general Naruto Only events (mostly outside of Tokyo), and also Tokyo KakaIru, NaruSasu, and SasuNaru Only events. Generally there are at least half a dozen different Only events at the same time and place. I believe you always have to buy a pamphlet to get in (again, about 800 yen). If you can't make any of the events, but still want to buy from circles in a way that will get money to them, I suggest k-books. The 2nd floor of the K-books in Ikebukuro sells newly released doujin from circles. If you can't make it to the store, they also have a website. Some circles may have other ways of selling to people directly as well, it just depends on the circle. Booth is one I've seen used a few times. I think there are some up on Toranoana as well, though I've never used it. If you have a circle that you like, their twitter or pixiv account might link to where they are selling their stuff.But if you are looking for older books, you have to go through resale shops. Depending on the popularity of the circle you're looking for, the price can vary greatly. I've picked up some books for as low as 100 yen, while others will go for a couple times their original price. I think the biggest reseller is Mandarake, which has multiple stores in Tokyo and throughout Japan. I've been to the Nakano, Ikebukuro, and Shibuya shops and they all had a decent selection. You can find some at certain K-books shops (link above) as well.There are a bunch of other shops that sell doujin, though I have not been to most them, so I can't tell you which ones are good or not. If you search 同人誌 on google maps, especially in Ikebukuro and Akihabara, you will see multiple shops pop up. Toranoana, Animate, and Lashinbang to name a few. Most cities of decent size will have at least one shop that resells doujin, if not multiple.If you can't get to a Mandarake in person, they do have an online store as well as online auctions. Other online places you can try include Yahoo Auctions, Meikido (which has one of the most frustrating search systems ever), Surugaya (which is kind of slow with their shipping), probably pretty much any secondhand goods selling site/app, and even Amazon.co.jp has some.And that's the end of my very basic, very long run down of ways to buy doujin in Japan. Doujin are cheap when you buy them directly and the majority of circles lose money or make very little through their activities (article is in English and is an interesting read if you like numbers), so I'll end by saying please try to support the circles directly if you possibly can! Thanks for reading and happy shopping! ♥

[bouncyirwin]

Recent Great Naruto Fics I’ve Read List

Seeing as the actual series now suck... here’s a list of the fics/one shots I’ve recently read (past year) that you might enjoy, have fun xx

Warning: List contains all kinds of pairings. Some stories have no pairings at all (those are labelled as General). 

Directions: story name - author - summary - status - pairing/gen - rating

Pulling My Weight by Invisible Shadow - During the mission to Wave, Sakura realises that she has to become a better ninja for her teammates' sake and be someone they can depend on. She vows to take her training seriously, and receives help from the most unlikely of sources; Genma Shiranui. The two form an unlikely bond and stick together through thick and thin, while Sakura improves and meets other people along the way. Ongoing | General so far | T | This story is fucking amazing

A Wrinkle in Time by rightforlife - The Fourth Shinobi War ended in disaster. They won, but at a price too great to bear. Given a second chance, what exactly can Konoha's three most powerful men do? Time travel, old enemies, and old friends that all leads to a new future. Ongoing | General | T

The Colder Water by Quillslinger - The devil is in the details. Shisui. Itachi. A sorta love story. Novella. Complete (52,784) | ShiIta | T 

Uneasy Coexistence by DeGlace - One grinning shark–man. One pink–haired medic. Ankles. Teeth. Kisame x Sakura. Yes, you read that right. Complete (70,111) | KisaSaku | M

Blind Stars of Fortune by 100demons - Thirty year old Kakashi was supposed to have been killed by Pein during the Invasion. Instead, he wakes up in the body of his twenty year old self. (It gets a lot more complicated.) Time travel. Complete (78,591) | General | T

To Promise Forever by Hellsig Otoupeim - The war's over, Kaguya has been defeated and the five great Shinobi Nations have gone back to their homelands to nurse the wounds left behind. In an attempt to preserve peace, the five Kage have agreed to implement in a new measure; war veterans between villages are encouraged to take part in the Five Nation Letter Exchange Program. Or how a girl from Kiri ends up in Konoha. Sly AU. Complete (14,442) | ShikakuOC | M

Heart Under a Blade by fineillsignup - Sitting on a bench after being told by Sasuke-kun that she's annoying, Sakura thinks that it's the worst day of her life. Lying in the hospital wanting to hurl from heat suppressants later that day and grappling with the revelation that she's an omega, Sakura knows that it's the worst day of her life. (ABO, extremely slow build). Ongoing | KakaSaku | M

Phantom Pains by mapplepie - There is something going on with Kakashi, but Minato can't figure out what. All he has are distressing deductions, each one progressively worse than the last. It's no wonder Minato can't help but fear and fear and fear. (To be fair though, it really wasn't his fault he never considered the possibility of time-travel). Complete (22,153) | General | T

A Twist in Time by Wolf08 - With Konoha on the verge of destruction, Sakura is sent on a last-resort mission to save her world by travelling to the past. Join her in coping with her old body's shortcomings, testing the natural laws of time, falling in love all over again, exploring the depths of her mind and rediscovering who she is. Time-travel.  Ongoing | SasuSaku | T | I don’t even like SS anymore (I almost hate them) but this is my favourite fic ever.

Deadly Decisions by Alrissa - Haruno Sakura that actually caught a glimpse of the real world and woke up to smell the blood. Basically a 'what if' preview of what could have happened if Sakura didn't revert after the Chuunin exams. No princess to be rescued here. Complete (17,819) | General | M

Contagious by rabid behemoth - Konoha's citizens are being controlled by a virus, and it falls on Sakura's shoulders to save them. A double agent among the most hostile, unrepentant criminals in the world, she finds herself navigating between competing loyalties in a sea of moral uncertainty. But that's impossible for a faithful Leaf nin like Sakura. Loyalties aren't contagious...right? Complete (119,552) | ItaSaku | T

The Lives Worth Saving by cywsaphyre - Naruto, at 26, has lived through 10 years of war. At the end, with nothing left to call home, he sends himself back to the beginning, to the day of his younger self's graduation, in an attempt to change it all. Time travel AU. Discontinued | General | T | best time travel fic I’ve ever read

Kill Your Heroes by Evil Is A Relative Term - Because, sometimes, we are what our adversaries make of us. Because Gatō only needed Zabuza to neutralize Kakashi. He isn't afraid of one little pink-haired genin. But even mice will bite when cornered. A story of where fear drives the most vulnerable member of Team Seven, from Wave and beyond. Ongoing | General | T

I Found You Missing by Wolfy Tales - 'They're asking us because these soldiers have absolutely no one left to write home to,' Sakura thought with a frown. So she signs up for the Shinobi Letter Exchange, not realizing how large the consequences would be. Complete (18,586) | KakaSaku | T

Teach Your Children Well by AvocadoLove - After Madara final attack on the village, Rokudaime Kakashi uncovers a time-travel scroll. Now he's Team Seven's sensei again. And this time, he's going to do things differently. A time travel fic. Complete (37,849) | KakaIru | K+

The Arrangement by Yuugiri - "We're already getting along bad enough. Why don't we just get married?" Complete (111,453) | GaaIno | T

Sabotage by therealesther - When her fifth date got food poisoning, and her sixth date cancelled in over the phone in a tone bordering on hysteria, Sakura decided things were getting out of hand. Complete (1,637) | KakaSaku | K+

To Love and to Love Again by animequeen100 - Love blooms even in the strangest of places, and darkest of hours. Sasuke has a daughter who needs a mother. Sakura has a son, who needs a father. When the shadows that follow her threaten to take her away from him, his dark secrets resurface to keep her in his arms. They were fated to love and destined to love again. Complete (401,061) | SasuSaku | M

The Good Wife by ReiraKurenai - Sixteen-year-old Ino is stuck in the body of her older self. Now she must embark on the journey of an adult, a wife and a mother while deep down she's still just a child herself. What does the future have in store for her? NarutoxIno and various pairings. Ongoing | NaruIno | T

Ripples by Yellow Mask - AU from 309 onwards. Following a botched mission, Sakura is made a slave by Sound, a position that could very well alter the future…especially concerning a certain familiar missing-nin. Complete (143,883) | SasuSaku | T

Set in Ink by TappityTap - "From then on, it became their own private ritual: She'd arrive at his place, they'd talk, she'd undress, he'd draw her, she'd look at his work and compliment it, he'd touch her until she quivered and cried out his name in a sweet burst of release. This ritual was always the same but somehow different and exciting every time. " Pure SaiIno smut. Some canon pairings mentioned. Complete (7,422) | SaiIno | M

The Cursed Geisha by wingedmercury - He's beautiful, in the same way that predatory animals are beautiful—dark, mysterious. Dangerous. Only this time, instead of being the predator, Sasuke will learn what it means to be prey. AU. Complete (43,612) | SasuHina | M

Will of Fire by Cynchick - Forced to flee their village and the new regime, the loyal shinobi of Konoha must find a way to preserve their way of life and take back their home. As they fight for their future, Team Seven struggles to overcome the past. Complete (223,234) | KakaSaku | M

The Secret Life of Teachers by tabine - Romance is a bit difficult to do when you spend a majority of your time within fifty feet of the object of your affections and somehow still don't quite understand that you're falling in love with them, if only because being a full-time high school teacher while taking graduate school courses takes precedence over everything else. A Nejiten high school teachers AU. Ongoing | NejiTen | T

The Line by livezinshadowz - When a young Ino tries to use the Shintenshin for the first time on Naruto, something goes wrong and the two find themselves temporarily stuck in the other's body. A series of moments depicting the evolution of their relationship, from acquaintances to friends to something more, all by crossing that metaphorical line created when a boy and a girl forge a bond. Complete (46,692) | NaruIno | T

In Another Life by CelestialCircumference - Kakashi never believed in soul mates until that fateful day. Written for HatakeFran for the KakaSaku Secret Santa 2016 on tumblr. Complete (18,350) | KakaSaku | T

House of Crows by SilverShine -  War is coming to Konoha and Sakura is far from home, uncertain of her future. But one thing is for sure, Sakura will protect her unborn child at all costs, whether it be from Konoha's enemies... or from its own father. Complete (400,508) | KakaSaku | M

Better Off Dead by wingedmercury - When Hinata leaves Konoha, heartbroken but resolute, the last person she expects to see over the rim of her tea cup is him. "You look like you've just seen a ghost," he smirks, and Hinata thinks that some people are just better off dead. Complete (68,768) | SasuHina | T

The Song Of Kakashi by ZatannaZatara06 - If you want forever, you are going to have to suffer for it. For the KakaSaku Week 2016 Day 2 Theme: Fairy tales / Legends Myth: The story of Achilles and Patroclus. Complete (2,472) | KakaSaku | T

Kunoichi's Burden: Village First by lilac haze - She was dying. She should have died. She was supposed to die but the Gods had other plans. Sakura is thrown back in the past, where a dangerously attractive blonde and a loud mouthed redhead have taken it upon themselves to make her life even more difficult. If Naruto's parents didn't get together, kami, she would be in a lot of trouble. MinatoXSakura. Time travel-fic. Complete (378,854) | MinaSaku | T

On a Leash by thekatthatbarks - Kakashi's new puppy ends up being his best wingman. Complete (1,082) | KakaSaku | T

House Calls by Spoiled Sweet - Always the Team Mom, Sakura opens up her home as a clinic for the hospital-phobic ninja of Konoha. At the same time, her relationship with Kakashi begins to evolve in a way she never expected. Complete (262,803) | KakaSaku | M

Things You Just Don’t Talk About by Enodia - "Do you enjoy sex?" Shikamaru asked bluntly. I just can't believe I'm talking about this, and with Shikamaru, of all people, Sakura thought." Sakura is in for a surprise. Or, rather, a series of surprises. Complete (118,175) | ShikaSaku | M

Players by Kukaburraxxii - Ino joins the league of players. Discontinued | GenIno | M

Heatwave by Yahboobeh - When she found her breath again it was ragged. Only one thought tore through her mind: Consume me. The Suna sun wasn't the only reason their faces burned. Ongoing | NejiTen | M

The Art of War by leafygirl - Entry for the LJ Kakasaku AU contest. Sakura gets stuck following her teacher after a bet with her friends. But his mysterious life is nothing she ever expected. Complete (20,591) | KakaSaku | T

The Shinobi Princess by Winged Lady Colette - At the end of the Fourth Great Ninja War, Sakura takes an unexpected trip into the time of Konoha's Founding. Ongoing | HashiSaku | M

Dawning by deleria - After years of silence the Akatsuki are active again. Her allies uncertain, the Godaime sends two teams - one for a potential offensive strike and another for covert surveillance. Who would have guessed that Shikamaru and Sakura could fake it as newlyweds so well? ShikaSaku with early (one-sided) hints of SasuSaku. Complete (101,994) | ShikaSaku | M

Genius Sensei by AlexDnD - What if Kakashi had recovered from his deep depression? What if he turned out to be a true genius as a sensei? Watch as team 7 develops into a truly capable shinobi team! Complete | NaruSaku-ish | T | A fun read

We Are Never (ever getting back together) by natanije - In which Sakura waited, got tired of waiting, and decided to never wait ever again. (Or, in which Sakura never chased after Sasuke when she got pregnant). Complete (2,592) | General | T

A Poor Imitation by leafygirl - Sakura is injured on a mission, forgetting everything she knew of life in Konoha. Complete (88,913) | KakaSaku | M

The Girl From Whirlpool by SilverShine - When Naruto's father met his mother, his only impression was that a village out there must have been missing its idiot. Complete (248,299) | MinaKushi | T

The Way of the Wind by just enough - ANBU Captain Uchiha Itachi had things well planned out, until a medic-nin with ridiculous hair went and made herself interesting. Sakura insisted she was just doing her job, but Itachi didn't quite see it that way. Non-massacre. Complete (158,542) | ItaSaku | M

Cause for Conversation by firefly - Hinata has always been intimidated by Sasuke, but when she serves as a substitute for Sakura on a mission, she comes to learn that the stoic Uchiha is not so bad after all. Complete (4,858) | SasuHina | K+

The Price by Nenagh24 - This would have almost been hilarious, the renowned copy ANBU almost petrified of a small unarmed girl, had it not been happening to him. The price of this tiny bride was going to break him. Hello, fiery flames of eternal doom. Complete (19,067) | KakaSaku | T

Better Having Met You by KakashiSauce - Tenzou is wide-eyed, bright faced and unprepared for the ANBU life ahead of him. MOSTLY because of the unorthodox team he's placed into. However, it was done in his best interest, and Hiruzen is smart enough to know what is best for most young shinobi. Kakashi disagrees, but he is one of those young shinobi who doesn't know whats best for him. Ongoing | KakaYama | M

Icha Icha Gambit by TheSilverScarecrow - It was a risk; one that could potentially ruin their team, however, who was Hatake Kakashi to argue with the Hokage? But when a never to be finished Icha Icha draft falls into his possesion things start getting wildly out of hand as Sakura does whatever it takes to protect their village from a devastating weapon. Ongoing | KakaSaku | M

Nutrire by Wolfy Tales - As Ino traverses the world with Yamato after the war to neutralize potential threats, she finds out that they share more in common than just an interest in plants. Complete (32,251) | YamaIno | T

Let's Get Married by luvtoshi - It was supposed to be a simple solution to their immediate problems. But maybe they took more than they can chew? Complete (59,760) | NaruSaku | M

Hot Medicine by Saphri - Kakasaku one-shot. AU. Fighting fires was a tough job by all accounts. But when the job requires getting treated by beautiful pink haired paramedics it was worth the hardship. Complete (26,05) | KakaSaku | M

A Noble in Secret by WhiteMint - Side story to the Imperial Princess. C originally hated the people of Konoha, often referring to them as "Konoha dogs". But as he got to know the small pink haired girl who followed him around like a puppy, he no longer considered the term as maliciously as before. After all, he found his own little Konoha dog, and he planned on keeping her. Ancient Chinese AU. Complete (4,420) | CSaku | K+

Cherry Blossom Flames by Winged Lady Colette - A seven year old amnesiac awoke in a stream, being rescued by two brothers.  Ongoing | MadaSaku | M

Adaline by Nikki1212 - I would choose you in a hundred lifetimes, in a hundred worlds, in any version of reality, I would find you and I would choose you. AU. Ongoing | KakaSaku | T

Tempest by cywsaphyre - Back in time and armed with years of future knowledge, Sakura is ready to take the world by storm. Except... she's four again, not twelve. Ah well, nobody said she couldn't start a little early. Gen, time travel, AU, Sakuracentric. Discontinued | General | T

All This Time by thekatthatbarks - "I may not have fell like you did. I didn't fall gradually and slow over the span of twenty years. It was fast and sudden. It had me stumbling looking around trying to figure out where I was. I didn't even know it had happened." Complete (2,472) | ShikaSaku | K+

Team 8 by S’TarKan - What if Naruto had been selected for a different team? What if he'd had a different mentor? Who would guess the consequences would be so large? Ongoing | NaruHina | T | I don’t even like NaruHina anymore but this story is amazing (plot-oriented)

Better Man by Kakashisgf - Sakura and Sasuke have been married for over a decade, but things are far from perfect, and Sakura's beginning to realize that maybe she deserves better. Complete (179,759) | KakaSaku | M

Dirty Laundry by Slinkymilinky - Sakura had never been a fan of airing her dirty laundry in public…but Kakashi was often the exception to the rule. Lemony Oneshot. Complete (6,593) | KakaSaku | M

Time and Again by KyLewin - Time Travel fic. In a war torn future, in the burning ruins of Konohagakure, Naruto fights Orochimaru and loses as the world collapses around him. From that ending comes a new beginning and a new chance to set things right, if only he can figure out how.. Complete (456,787) | General | T

The Samurai and the Oni Girl by Silberias - AU KakaSaku set in Edo-period Japan. Sakura is the descendant of a red-haired foreigner as well as a merchant's daughter. Kakashi is a local samurai who has fallen on hard times, a man whose pride has been broken down to this point. Love comes after. Complete (131,644) | KakaSaku | T

Chippendales by Voyna - [AU] Sometimes, a girl needs a lap-dance to put life into perspective. Complete (15,645) | SasuHina | M

Once More, With Feeling by JinnySkeans - Art enables us to find ourselves and lose ourselves at the same time. Complete (127,462) | SasuSaku | M

In Case of Blue Scroll by Leola Majora - In Case of Blue Scroll the Hokage must lock himself in his office and pull his hair out as what he thought were memories of a long lost love turn out to be the memories of a mission he was about to assign his former student, Sakura Haruno. Complete (48,635) | KakaSaku | M

[I’ll update this again soon!]

[raendown]

Just finished the latest chapter of my Soulmate AU Collection and I had so much fun writing this tiny kakairu scene I wanted to post it here too.

Pairing: KakaIru Soulmate AU: You can only see color the first time you hear your soulmate speak and the colors spill from their lips

Iruka giggled as he squirmed farther back in to the branches of the tree he had settled in. He knew from experience that this spot was excellent for hiding from his angry elders and right now he really needed a place to hide. He’d set off a smoke bomb in class because Nobuyuki-sensei had been extra boring that day. Once he’d escaped the classroom it had naturally followed that the twelve year old pulled as many pranks as he could around town before someone figured out it was him. Getting chased was fun. It meant that the grown-ups had to pay attention to him, even if just for a little while. Iruka liked making them search for him. Making them go through so much effort was the best part.

A rustle of leaves only a few trees to the south had him stifling his giggles behind a hand, hiding the wide grin on his face. No one had ever found him in this hiding spot and he was sure they wouldn’t now. He didn’t know what had made the hole in the tree but the way the branches grew meant that it was completely invisible unless you knew it was there. His small body was the perfect size for curling up in to it and disappearing while the adults went whizzing by, muttering angrily to themselves about whatever prank he had most recently pulled.

His smug thoughts were broken when a hand suddenly reached through his leafy cover, pulling aside the branches to reveal the mask of an ANBU agent. He gaped up at them in consternation. A grinning mask with painted streaks depicting a stylized dog stared back at him. Behind the mask, someone huffed irritably, then the hand not holding branches aside reached in to his hidey hole and grasped him by the scruff of the neck.

Iruka squawked indignantly as he was hauled out and held up in the air like a doll. Flailing his limbs did absolutely nothing to loosen the iron hold on him, so he went still and settled for crossing his arms and glaring. The ANBU chuckled but said nothing. It wasn’t a deep and scary laugh as one might expect of the demons that parents used to scare children in to good behavior. It was soft and slightly higher than was typical of a grown man. It made Iruka stop and take a good look at his captor.

The uniform was tight and minimal, showcasing the scrawny limbs and elongated torso of someone in the midst of a growth spurt they hadn’t fully completed yet. Messy hair spilled in every direction possible, swaying with the slight breeze and obscuring the edges of their mask. Under the armor flexed the muscles of someone who trained hard every day and had done so for a long time. One thing stuck in Iruka’s mind: this was not the body of an adult. His captor could not be much older than himself! Of course, as soon as curiosity took hold of his mind, his mouth followed behind at a mile a minute.

“You’re ANBU! How old are you? You can’t be older than me by much! I’m Iruka. I’m twelve. How did you get to ANBU so young? Will you teach me? You must know lots of cool tricks! I like playing tricks! Why don’t you say anything? Are you shy, ANBU-san? It’s okay, I’ll be your friend! How did you find me? Wait I know! You’re a dog so did you smell me?”

His flow of questions stopped at last when a gloved finger was pressed against his lips. He hadn’t registered how still the other boy was until he had suddenly moved and it succeeded in startling him in to silence. That was when he noticed how the finger against his lips was trembling.

Slowly, the older boy set him on his feet so they stood facing each other on the thick tree branch a dozen feet above the ground. Iruka watched as his captor lifted the hand that had held him to remove the porcelain dog mask. He gasped in delight as it was lowered. He’d heard that ANBU were never supposed to remove their disguise. Then he groaned in exasperation when he saw that there was another mask underneath, this one formed of black spandex. One dark eye was staring at him in wonder, its twin held closed almost as if by the scar that ran through it. He’d been right in his estimation of age. The boy that was awkwardly clearing his throat couldn’t be more than a few years above him.

His entire world was then turned upside down by the softly spoken words, “Hello Iruka. My name is Kakashi.”

He watched, fascinated, as the world around him lit up with color. It looked as though beams of every color imaginable were spilling from the older boy’s mouth with each word, streaking away to find their places in the forest scenery. He remembered his parents, before they had died, telling him stories of the day they had met. They had told him he would know his soulmate the moment he met them because he would put color in to Iruka’s world. He hadn’t known what ‘colors’ were. He’d had no idea they were this beautiful.

“Wow,” he whispered, watching the beams of color trailing off in to the air. His gaze snapped back to the eye that was watching him carefully. “A soulmate. I’ve got a soulmate! Hi Kakashi!” Then he leapt forward to throw his arms around the boy, who caught him with a surprised grunt. He felt a hand hesitantly cradle the back of his head where it pressed in to the ANBU’s chest plate.

“Yeah. Hi.” Kakashi, he decided, was slightly awkward. That was okay, though. Kakashi was his soulmate and Iruka already knew that he would love him with his entire tiny heart.

[artlessictoan]

ICTOAN’s Big ol’ Planned Fic Masterlist:

I’ve been meaning to do this for a while, but now’s as good a time as any, so; here’s a list of all the fics I’m currently working on and plan to write in the future! (I’ll keep this list updated any time I finish/start/think up something new and there’ll be a link to this page in my blog header)

I’m hoping that getting myself and other people excited for my planned fics will encourage me to crack on and finish my WIPs

Current WIPs:

Here are all the fics I am currently working on, I’m still trying to find a balance where I can update more regularly without sacrificing quality, I don’t know if I’d be able to work on more than 3-4 fics at a time, but I will probably be experimenting with having five or six on the go at some point – I do tend to get easily distracted and having more fics I can bounce between might actually be easier for me

Like Smoke into the Sand – 50% complete

Breaking the Cycle – N/A (no set plot or plan)

Nice to Meet You – N/A (oneshot collection)

The Fearful Unknown – 25% complete

Heliotropism – 20% complete (very rough guess)

False Starts – On hold until I figure out my.. Feelings on this one

(note that these are rough estimates and I have been known to extend a fic’s planned length by a couple of chapters before, so take these percentages with a grain of salt)

---

Planned Multi-Chap Fics:

My ideas for future fics (in order of when I will most likely start them), they’re mostly still in early stages of development and everything here can and probably will change by the time they actually come out

Next in the Gem AU –

·        Sequel(s) to ATFC

·        Pairings: NaruGaa, NaruHina, HinaGaa, NaruHinaGaa, SakuTema, SakuTemaTen, KakaIru, KankuKiba, InoShikaCho

·        Follows directly off of ATFC, the second act of the overarching LTL plot, will be similar to ATFC but more action and plot oriented

·        There will also be a third fic to follow, along with a few spin-off oneshots/collections

False Starts – 

·        Kase-san fic

·        Pairings: KaseYama, Aroace!Mikawa, maybe others

·        AU setting, the girls never met at school and thus led very different lives, Kase went on to become a star sprinter, but, with her entire life revolving around athletics, as she grows older and her star fades, she finds herself lacking motivation and teetering on the edge of depression, meanwhile Yamada has done exactly what was always expected of her, going to a local college, taking a course she liked but didn’t love and eventually becoming a teacher, never realising the option to follow her passion was even available

·        Story follows Kase as she’s forced into a long-term ‘vacation’ back to her hometown to rehabilitate and rediscover her drive, while there she meets Yamada and they strike up a friendship and eventual romance, helping each other find out what kind of life they really want to live and realising that it’s not too late to try

·         Mid-to-long fic, mostly fluffy, slice-of-life romance, but with exploration of things like depression and mid-life crises, the girls will be about 32-34 in this, possibly a little older

Liquor Bottles and Ukuleles –

·        Pairings: ChoGaa, ShikaTema, SakuKarui, InoTen, ex-LeeGaa, ex-ChoKarui, Aro!Kank

·        Long-ish fic, college AU, Chouji is a happy but lonely student, who has accepted that he’ll never meet ‘The One’, until his best friends shove a cute redhead in his direction, mostly a fluffy romance fic, though there will be some drama

·        Blind!Gaara

·        Lots of close friendships (InoShikaCho, ChoKarui, ChoOmoi, ChoKaruOmoi, InoTema, Sand Sibs)

College AU –

·        Pairings: NaruGaa, HinaMatsu, possible others

·        Short fic, each chap split into two sections, one following Naru/Gaa and one following Hina/Matsu, though they will sometimes intersect, both pairs will be getting equal billing, mostly a sweet and fluffy fic, it might (Might) have some smut (mIGHT)

Ghost Hunter AU –

·        Another series, made up of short stories following a particular character/pairing

·        Pairings: NaruGaa, SakuIno, KakaGai, TemaTen, HinaOmoiCho, ShikaShino, KankFuu, possible others

·        Each fic will be standalone, but will reference other fics in the series (first in series will likely be NaruGaa, then SakuIno), Team 7 are a gang of ghost hunters who travel the country dealing with paranormal activities, meeting all sorts of new people and strange situations along the way

YodoChou Fic –

·        Pairings: YodoChou, probable others

·        Canon-verse, next gen, I’m thinking this fic will be much more similar to the Naruto manga than my other fics with an action adventure story that has ninjas doing ninja stuff, though that doesn’t mean I’m not going to just ignore Everything that happens in Boruto, it’ll be more like the first few arcs of Naruto where the conflicts/stakes are relatively small scale and it’s more about the characters than any big world-shaking events

NaruGaa Gym AU –

·        Pairings: NaruGaa, SakuTema, probable others

·        Short fic, modern AU, Gaara is the sickly noodle boy who is roped into going to the gym with his big sis, where he meets the chipper, chubby gym-bunny Naruto, who peptalks him onto a treadmill and then laughs for ten hours when he Immediately trips over literally nothing and sprains his ankle (and then buys him a coffee to apologise), meanwhile Temari has managed to get into a weightlifting competition with buff lesbian Sakura and it all gets a bit out of hand

InoHina Modern AU – 

·        Pairings: InoHina, NaruHina (kinda), probable others

·        Based on this post

Post-college AU, Ino owns and runs a small boutique, when one day a shy, modest-looking woman comes in and starts browsing the more ‘scanty’ range, quickly picking up on her uncertainty and discomfort as she brings a miniskirt and low-cut tank top to the counter, Ino decides to help her get the guy she’s been mooning over for years (Naruto) by giving her a makeover that works with Hinata’s style, before realizing that she’s totally fallen for her somewhere along the way and now has no idea what to do about it

SakuKarui Modern AU – 

·        Continuation of this drabble

·        Pairings: SakuKarui, HinaTema, KankuShino, SaiFuu, Aro!Gaa, InoCho, NejiLee, OmoiNaru, possible others

Short fic, post-college, Karui is a struggling artist trying to make a living as a recent grad, Sakura is her loving, but delinquent, girlfriend, a med-school dropout, who somehow always manages to get into fights, both dealing with quarter life crises and trying to build a life together

Mythology AU – 

·        Pairings: TemaRui, SakuInoHina, Aro!Ten, KarinFuu, KurotsuFuu, KureKonan, Aro!Yugito, ShizuRin, KaruraKushiMei, ChiyoNade, possible others

·        Continuation of this drabble

Not entirely sure what I want to do for this, but I just really like the idea of exploring the ‘all the nart girls as goddesses of war’ idea somehow, will probably be a short drabble collection, each chap focusing on different characters/relationships, I’d like to keep this to only the girls (though some will be nb in this)

Hospital AU – 

·        Pairings: SakuTema, InoKarin, ChoGaa, KankuKiba, NaruHinaLee, Aro!Shika, ex-TemaTen, ex-NaruSaku

·        Continuation of this drabble

Short fic, real-world setting, most of the gang works at a hospital, centres on surgeon!Sakura and administrative manager!Temari’s mutual unrequited love, and the scheming of their friends who’re trying to get them both to realise how head-over-heels the other is for them, a fluffy comedy with some Sad

Sci-fi AU – 

·        Pairings: HinaMatsu, ShikaNaru, InoChoTema, LeeGaa, NejiTen, KibaRui, ShinoOmoi, KakaGai, AsuKure, Aro!Saku, Aro!Sasu

·        Continuation of this drabble

·        Long-ish fic, (light) sci-fi setting, a team of scientists from all fields is on a (likely one-way) expedition, hoping to push the boundaries of human knowledge and discover more about the galaxy and potential life outside the solar system (without disrupting it if at all possible, I’m really keen to try and keep any colonial themes out of this) sending any knowledge back to Earth to help humanity improve itself, while trapped on a ship with little to no hope of ever returning, the crew build new lives and relationships slowly develop, will probably be a slice-of-life fic with the space stuff just as a background

Will definitely have alien life, but I’m not sure if I want sentient aliens who’re as developed/more developed than humanity, I’d like to keep this to the more “realistic” end of the genre and the focus to be mainly on the crew and their friendships, but thoughts would be welcome!

Olympic Lesbian Shenanigans – ***

·         Pairings: uh, idk actually…… Every Girl x Every Other Girl?

·         Loosely based on Gentlemen Prefer Blondes

·         Short-mid length fic, modern au/period setting, a pair of girls (leaning towards Ino and Karin but could go any way at this point) end up on a multi-week cruise ship with the Konoha Ladies Olympic Team (which will somehow include any non-Konoha girls too)……. things get very Gay

·         Possibly smutty?

·         …Probably smutty

·         Purely me-pandering ngl

·         Oh god what am I doing

Spy AU –

·        Pairings: NaruGaa, InoTema, ShikaCho, HinaTen, NejiLee, possible others

·        Long fic, plot-focused action thriller, will likely end up exploring dark themes, but also I might change my mind and go for a more fun 70s spy-thriller type vibe (I’m thinking about making Gaa a trans woman in this one but I’m still kinda unsure? Feedback would be welcome)

Sand Sib Fic –

·        Possible implied NaruGaa and ShikaTema, but the focus will be on the sibs

·        Will probably be similar in style to BTC, following the sand sibs and their relationship as it changes over the years (not sure if I’ll go right from the beginning, or just from the chunin exam arc up to the end of the war arc), going into much more detail about their development since Kishi dgaf about them, especially Gaara’s struggle to change himself after the exams, how and why he got Suna to accept him, Kank and Tem and their very complex relationship with Gaara (and each other) and Gaara’s long recovery from.. y’know. death. I’ll probably diverge from canon in some places (like the Rasa/Gaa reunion during the war)

Samurai AU –

·        Pairings: NaruGaa, SakuHina, TemaTen, KibaIno, ChoKarui, possible others

·        Similar to SITS but more plot-focused, long fic, historical drama, set in Sengoku era Japan (or more likely a version of the Naruto world based heavily on it), no fantasy elements, might get dark in places, the story will mostly be focusing on Naruto, so it might be split into a series or have short spinoff fics focusing on other characters

Jinchuriki Fic –

·        No pairings planned thus far

·        Canon-divergent, after the chunin exams, instead of deciding to become Kazekage, Gaara instead wants to be for the other jinchuriki what Naruto was to him, follows the time-skip with Gaara traveling the continent and inadvertently starting a nomadic jinchuriki tribe, will probably be slice-of-life, though I might also just run with the idea and rewrite the whole Naruto plot based on this (and other) changes, for example:

·        Temari takes the position of Kazekage and her and Kankuro are taking steps to change their village for the better (they’re in regular contact with Gaara and constantly send letters to his new friends reminding them to make sure he eats)

·        Hinata and Neji are both much more active in their goal to destroy their clan’s caste system

·        Sasuke returns to Konoha earlier and him and the other rookies do their own investigating into their village’s long history of reprehensible actions

·        Cut the entire war arc. All of it.

·        Make the conflict less about big grand battles against ultimate evil mcbadguys and more about actually revolutionising the ninja world at its very core

Model AU –

·        Possible pairings: NaruGaa, probable others, it’s all very uncertain

·        ……. Look idk the idea just won’t leave me alone ok?

---

Planned Oneshots:

(Same deal as my planned multi-chaps!)

Narugaa, based on this post, Naruto trips over at a train station one day and ends up cackling uncontrollably on the floor, even as a cute redhead helps him up, the next day a friend shows him a craigslist ad from someone who helped up a laughing man at the train station and was too shy to ask his name at the time but was hoping that he was alright

Narugaa, based on this post, Naruto lives in the same apartment building as The Most Beautiful Man In The World, unfortunately they only ever cross paths when Naruto happens to have horribly embarrassed himself in some way, meanwhile The Most Beautiful Man In The World has been quietly trying to find excuses to see his cute blond neighbor, who must be really confident to not care about that giant salsa stain down the front of his shirt and wow he wished he could be so free and self-assured

Temari-centric oneshot about her strict training and life growing up

InoShikaChoTema, ot4 fluff oneshot

 ---

If there’re any fics I’ve spoken about here that you’d really love to see, then do let me know! I can push the stories with more interest to the top of my agenda, keep in mind though, that I won’t be starting anything new until I’ve at least finished ATFC (possibly SITS too) and that my more ambitious fics will require a lot of pre-production before I’m willing to start them – I spent a good six months doing research for SITS – so fics like the spy au and the samurai au will need a lot more time to get started than, say, a college au

As always, I’m open to requests and if anyone has thoughts on anything I’ve already got planned that they’d like to share, then I’m open to chatting! Almost all of these fics (apart from everything in the LTL series) are still very early in development, so things can change a little, or a lot! I reserve the right to reject ideas that I don’t feel comfortable writing/don’t fit my vision, of course, but I’m pretty opened minded about this stuff, so don’t be afraid to gimme a shout

[depressedhatakekakashi]

I know that you mostly a KakaGai shipper, but what do you think about this post? Their take on KakaYama is.... interesting

I don’t really care for the ship war stuff. Each age appropriate Kakashi ship has its draws and downfalls and i won’t even touch on Kakashi/His students

That shit is never acceptable and i will never interact with it even in Au’s (and that goes for kakashi with his own sensei as well. That’s actually worse cuz minato started training Kakashi when he was five and died when he was 14. The only time Minato knows adult Kakashi is for a day in the war arc, when he is dead)

That being said, If i’m turned away from an age appropriate ship it is 100% because of Fandom. The only age appropriate ship i hate for Kakashi on its own without fandom interference is Kakashi/Rin.

And one of the main reason’s I as a writer don’t read a lot of fic is exactly because of the OOC bs that comes with a lot of shipping.

The competent Iruka/ Incompetent Kakashi

Perfect good at everything Gai/Depressed nothing to his name kakashi

The just… the whole Kakashi/Yamato is the only good pairing and everything else sucks or has no where near the same ‘value’ from that fandom. I love Kakayama but gdi that’s such a mood kill for the ship.

I sit in my corner and do my own thing because i can’t stand how OOC Kakashi and others get twisted. I like them for who they are in canon and i’m not interested in these terrible twisted takes that make them into people they simply are not.

Their take on Kakayama is one i don’t really see. Ya Yamato saw Kakashi’s darkness and is more trusted with the shady things, that’s not a good thing in my opinion. Anbu was terrible for Kakashi in canon. That darkness did not need support and fostering and understanding. Kakashi needed help and Yamato is not equiped to be that help because of his own trauma’s. I like kakayama when they’re older because they have a chance to grow apart and find their own place. Yamato has an opportunity to really seperate himself not just from danzo but from kakashi

Because Kakashi replaced Danzo in a lot of ways. Not as Yamato’s teacher, but as Yamato’s life line. Yamato had bo other friends or connections to fall back on when he was pulled from Root

He had Kakashi. Just Kakashi.

They needed to be separated for Yamato to grow and become his own person and not just realize how different him and Kakashi were but accept it.

Kakaobi is interesting in the twisted unhealthy ‘this will destroy them’ way for me. Nothing good can come out of this pairing in canon. They are not healthy for each other and they understand this.

They relish in this.

Kakashi feels he needs to be punished for failing Obito and Obito needs someone to punish. I don’t think Kakashi would just give into Obito like a lot of the fandom

I think there would be a lot of scrapping and screaming and anger

It would be bloody and dangerous and so beautiful but so very unhealthy

KakaIru is a fun ship because Iruka is an outside force. Hd’s a balance for normality that even Gai can’t give Kakashi. He’s the dude who’s not a big special character and never saw Kakashi through his darkest times but who still looks at this broken man and see’s worth. Something he can love. That’s interesting to explore. I hate ‘Iruka’s secretly a badass’ because Kakashi has enough badass’ in his life. He doesn’t need another one.

Iruka is a pairing where we can explore Kakashi having someone to come home to. Someone he doesn’t worry about being out on missions. Who he doesn’t feel that stress of impending loss with. Because Iruka is an Acadamy Sensei. He doesn’t do missions.

His life isn’t in immediate risk almost all the time and for once Kakashi can relax.

Kakagai is my favorite because Gai was the first person to step up and offer Kakashi both a challenge and a support. Gai fought against the system that wanted so desperately to turn Kakashi into a weapon and tried to keep Kakashi human. To help him retain his kindness. Gai was the first person to see how bad Anbu was for Kakashi and fight for him.

I have issues with Gai volutelling Kakashi as a Sensei, but that came out of desperation. He just so desperately wanted to save Kakashi he would hse anything, including a job Kakashi was not suited for but was better than Anbu.

Kakagai is my favorite because Gai saw Kakashi’s darkness and didn’t try to change it or take it away. Gai knows Kakashi’s darkness and accepts it and offers him a place where it doesn’t have to exist.

Also you can just tag @huskymaine XD they follow me so they’ll see this anyways most likely

[depressedhatakekakashi]

(Prompt 'Spook' given to me by @kumooftheleaf who's probably never going to forgive me for making this one KakaIru. I'm sorry, i couldn't imagine Gai in this scenario T.T)

Graduation was a busy time at the academy. With lots to organize and set into place, Iruka was guaranteed to have his hands full with the event, and today was no different.

Organizing the new teams from the year’s graduates was first priority. A job that required him to work the Hokage so that the best fit was made between teams.

Not one to turn down an opportunity to surprise his boyfriend, Iruka had spent the morning setting up a nice picnic on his desk for them to enjoy while they went through all of the paperwork. A small treat to make an otherwise painful experience just a little bit easier to bare.

Now all he had to do was get Kakashi to his office. A taste that was easier said than done when it came to his students. As soon as they had spotted the Sixth Hokage walking through the front doors of the school they surrounded him. Asking question after question, and making it impossible for him to escape.

Well, not completely impossible. The only thing really keeping Kakashi from vanishing mid-question was the death glare that Iruka was giving him and the silent threat of a lonely night in bed.

“Alright,” holding his hands up in front of himself, Kakashi smiled awkwardly down at the students. “I know you have lots of questions, but Iruka-Sensei and I do have quite a bit of work to do.”

“I don’t think kissing counts as work, Lord Sixth.”

“Really?” Iruka sensed danger as soon as the words left Kakashi’s mouth, but it was too late. The troll had been activated, and no amount of negotiation would stop him now. “Perhaps you should inform Shino-Sensei about this fact. I’m sure he’d love to know about it before his ‘meetings’ with Tenten.”

A night without cuddles was now a given for the man, and he knew it as soon as he looked Iruka’s way. The proud, triumphant smile washing away from his eyes immediately.

He was certain that Kakashi was about to say something in his defence. A last-ditch attempt to save himself from a lonely night. Before he could though, one of the kids from the back of the crowd pushed his way through the others, breaking through just in front of Kakashi and holding his hands out excitedly.

“Lord Sixth, look what I found!” Holding out his hands, the kid beamed up at the older man with innocent glee.

“Hmm? And what is this?”

It was a mistake to trust a 12-year-old, but Iruka couldn’t blame Kakashi. His life had been full of fights and leadership since he was much younger than the kid standing in front of him. How was he supposed to know the mistake he was making.

“It’s my new best friend,” opening his hands, the kid stretched his arms out a little further. Just enough so that Kakashi was face to face with a spider that took up the kid’s entire palm.

Most people might think it embarrassing, having the Village’s leader jump into their arms with a deafening shriek. Iruka was different though. He thought it was the most hilarious thing that could have ever happened.

With an arm full of a grown Shinobi, he smiled down at the kid. “That looks like a great new friend,” he smirked, ignoring the glare that Kakashi shot his way. “I think it would like it if you took it outside. Spiders like that enjoy the fresh air a lot more than the cramped hallways of a small Academy.”

“Alright!” turning on his heels, the kid made a beeline for the door. The crowd that had been surrounding Kakashi just seconds ago following him all the way down the hallway.

“So…”

“I was not scared.”

It took all of Iruka’s effort not to laugh.

“If that’s not being scared then what do you call it, hmm?”

Poking a finger into Iruka’s chest, Kakashi gave him a sweet smile. The kind that always appeared on his face when he wanted to flirt his way back into Iruka’s good books.

“What if I just wanted a way to get close to you?” he wriggled his eyebrows suggestively.

“If that’s the case,” dropping his arms, he watched as Kakashi went crashing down to the ground. A loud ‘thud’ echoing through the hallway. “I would say that you’re a bad lier, Lord Sixth. You really should work on that.”

With that said, he turned on his heel and started on his way back towards his office, only looking back at Kakashi when he reached the end of the hallway. “Are you coming? Or do I need to get another spider to get you moving?”

In the blink of an eye, Kakashi was by his side.

“I wasn’t-”

“Yes you were,” he chuckled, continuing down the next hallway. “Just admit it Kakashi. The spider spooked you.”

He never would admit it, of course. Iruka knew without a doubt that his boyfriend would do everything that he could to make sure this moment was never mentioned again so long as he lived.

Unfortunately for him, he was dating the sort of man who would tell a room full of mourners all about the time that Hatake Kakashi jumped into his arms because of a tiny spider.