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bakugoushotwife · 1 year

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The Honeymoon // sasuke uchiha

a/n: this was a great request! i hope i did it justice :)

pairing: sasuke uchiha x female!reader

summary: sasuke makes love to his wife for the first time on their wedding night.

cw: fingering (female receiving), biting/marking, a little blood, nipple play, unportected penetrative sex (m + f), breeding

wc: 3.2k

You can hear your heart pounding in your ears. Your face was growing warm, especially under his amorous yet still cool stare. You stand in front of him, bare except for the white silk slip made to serve as your wedding night lingerie. You bite the inside of your lip, waiting with bated breath for any verbal indication of his enjoyment. The two of you had been…somewhat intimate in the years leading up to your ceremony, but this was different. This meant something, it meant your marriage was real and undeniable. He had felt the outline of your body beneath his hand before, seen the valley between your soft mounds and caressed over them. He has placed sweet kisses on your lips and on the blank canvas that was your neck, but this time would be the first real time, where he gets to claim his wife as his.

His body was warm too, his complexion just kept it a secret. His shirt was already off, the act of undressing each other after the party was hasty and clumsy, but now he stood across from you without knowing where to begin. The dress clung to the sweet dips of your body, your nipples poking through the delicate fabric due to the slight chill in the air and your own excitement. Your hair was still hanging around your face so perfectly he didn’t know if there were words in existence to describe your beauty. The makeup you wore was minimal, in his opinion, lovely. You were naturally stunning, a fact that was never more obvious to him than right now.

The moon was high in the sky, dancing across your skin and making your eyes glow brighter than his own sharingan. The tension was growing thick, the slight tingle he felt spreading across his body the only reason he hadn’t spoken yet; he was nervous what may tumble from his lips. His wife, her body so beautiful and waiting for him. He didn’t know what to do with himself and he certainly knew he didn’t deserve this, but he’s able to hold off his self-loathing for now; for the vision of you, breasts spilling over the neckline of that skimpy dress, sharp teeth nibbling on a perfectly pouty lip, is enough to make the world stop turning.

You fold your arms behind your back, holding your hands. It only made your dress slide up and your tits more noticeable. You tilt your head to the side and blink at him, shifting your weight to your other hip. “Is..do you not like it?”

He’s almost startled by the sound of your voice, but his brows pinch together so you know he’s heard you. He shakes his head, the one side of his mouth drawing up in amusement. “That’s not it at all, my dear. I’m sure you’ve noticed that you’ve left me speechless.”

Your cheeks darken, and you coyly tuck a piece of hair behind your ear. “Oh, I…I’m glad to have that effect on you.” You smooth your hands down the silky fabric that stops just below the large swells of your ass.

He steps forward, placing his hand on the dip of your waist. “And so many more effects, my love.” He muses, moving that same right hand to cup your jaw, the rough callus of his thumbpad swiping over your soft bottom lip.

Watching it sink in around his digit combined with your doe eyed stare sends a pulse to his cock, and he knows touches like this won’t last him any longer. His eyes gloss over with a new desire, and he comes closer until his hips press against yours. You bite at your lip again at the feeling of his semi pressing into your pelvis. Your arms snake around his neck, and his possessive hold on your face draws your eyes upwards to look at him. His lips hint at a smile.

“I think it’s time to properly make you an Uchiha.” He rasps, his deep voice even thicker as you back up, falling back onto the mattress. He watches you the entire time, obsidian gaze trained on your every move. You can see his chest begin to heave before he’s even really touched you. The way you scoot back on the bed, propping yourself up on the pillows and spreading your legs for him was enough to do him in, any modicum of self-control he’d managed to hold onto long gone.

It’s overkill when you smile. Your affection is so clear, the hazy lust clouding your eyes is just too much to bear. Your lips part so sweetly when you challenge him. “Then take me, Sasuke.”

This time he does smile, though most would consider this a smirk. He hated the stiff dress pants he was in anyways, and so did his now throbbing cock. It was easy to shove them off, hissing when his length slaps up against his dark happy trail. You bite down on your lip once more at the sight of him, feeling a pulse in your cunt immediately. It was almost embarrassing, how wet you could feel yourself getting, blushing as it slicks the insides of your thighs. You sit up to remove your slip, surprised by the lewd way he spits into his hand before stroking himself. His dick was as pretty as the rest of him; he was long and curved at the end, the tip closer to a blueish purple than pink. He sighs in relief at the pressure, putting his knees down on the bed and walking towards your now completely naked form. He lets go of his pretty shaft in favor of feeling your chest, seeing all of you for the first time. He turns his sharingan on, smirking at you as he does so.

“I want to remember this one, sweetheart.” He coos, calloused but nimble fingers rolling your perky buds in between his index and thumb. He grins as your hips move, your body so responsive to even his smallest of touches. “I…want to make sure I do this right.”

His voice is soft, but still husky with his need for you. Even his face is softer, less stoic and anxious. He leans over you, letting his frame dwarf yours, chest on chest and lips on lips. He closes his eyes to enjoy the feeling, your mouth was healing, it felt like the first sip of water after an exhausting fight. It felt like recovery, like a fresh start. Your fingers tugging on the ends of his soft hair felt even better, he loved knowing you wanted more of him, needed him closer. He’s happy to give that to you, his tongue sliding against yours. He relishes the little gasp you give out as he shows you how dominant he can really be, pinning your tongue easily before sucking on it. He only did what came natural to him, and he wanted to taste every part of you. He was unafraid to show this desperation, that’s why he married you, you could read him like a book and let everything flow from there. He feels your body melt into the sheets, your mind surrendering to his will with no questions asked. He groans at how obedient you are, even without a word being said. He bites at your bottom lip, grunting when he tastes a bit of blood.

He really is supposedly a changed man, and for the most part, his dark urges have left him be. But watching his pretty little wife writhe beneath him and succumb with just his kiss…it makes him wonder what else he can do to you, what you would enjoy and all the things you get to try now. Tasting your blood on his tongue followed by the sultry moan that slips out as he bites you only drives him further.

“Oh? Is that something you enjoy, lover?” He almost teases, though you catch his genuine interest. His face is inches from yours. His eyes flickering to the pulse jumping in your neck. You nod, and his smile becomes wicked. “What do you like?”

You know he’s stroking his ego now, wanting to make you ask even if he desires nothing more than marking the canvas that is your neck. It makes you smile, even if you’re a little breathless from his teasing. “I like…biting. I trust you..”

He nods, needing no more encouragement to sink his teeth into your dainty flesh, eyes fluttering shut again when you hiss and arch off the bed. The taste of your skin was nothing new, but it felt like uncharted territory now that you bear his last name. He would never hurt you, and he knew how to read your signals. But for now, he sucks deep bruises down the side of your neck, his languid tongue soothing over any sore spots. Your moans egg him on, his hand groping at your chest again.

You like the way it feels, the burning sensation mixed with the sweet satisfaction only soaked the sheets beneath you, your hips moving against nothing, poor puckering hole left with nothing to clench around. He chuckles at the sight of you, impossibly needy and moments away from begging for more. He was wise enough not to bite too deeply, but part of him was growing unruly. He knew he needed to restrain himself to keep from hurting you, and as if you could sense his unease, you whine for him.

“Sasuke…don’t have to be easy, we’ve done all this before..”

“I know, I just want to make you feel good–”

“Feels good when you bite hard, wan’ you to feel good too–even if I bleed.” You mumble, grabbing his wrist and dragging it towards your bucking hips. He gets the hint, though his gaze is still trained on you as he lays beside you. He’s warped by your words, knowing he can push a little further than he’d been before. He knows you trust him to stop when necessary, and he can’t help but think you want to feel him let loose too. He grins, giving your neck a few gentle pecks as he slides his body just a little lower. He knew your neck was good and marked already, and far too dangerous to draw blood from. So he distracts you a little, sliding his fingers along your middle and sighing at the soaking mess he finds there. He draws up some of your slick so his digits glide in circles around your cute clit, the shaky gasp you make only makes his grin spread. You whine with every move he makes, eyes closed with pleasure. His fingers work you perfectly, your stomach sinking in the best way possible. Your mouth hangs open, and you’re useless already. You can only move your hips in rhythm to his strokes, chasing your own high. His cock pounds at the sight of you, and he sees the stickiness of his own pre-arousal glistening on your hip from where he’s pressed against your side. He moves the curled tresses of your hair, clearing a path to his ideal target, your neglected chest. He leans in, suckling on the nipple while his fingers snuck into your tight hole. He groans against your skin and your moaning pitches up.

Even his sinewy fingers stretch you open, and the feeling burns for a second before it turns into pleasure. He loves the sensation of your silky walls clenching down on his digits, his palm still nudging your button with every pump. He’s grateful he sat up this way, his body angled to worship your chest and cunt simultaneously. He shudders at the thought of what he was trying to do, working you up to your peak. His tongue moves over to a random patch of skin above your saliva-coated bud, teeth scraping at it periodically. You can feel a light sheen of sweat cover your body, hips bucking into his hand wildly.

“S-Sa-Sasuke—I’m close…wanna cum for my husband..” You purr, your brain a white-hot wasteland of pleasure. At your words, he can’t help but sink his teeth into your skin, groaning at the sounds you make. His fingers fuck into you faster, his teeth burrowing deeper until that tang of iron seeps into his mouth. You don’t cry out in pain, in fact, your legs shake around his hand and clasp around him, hips stilling. You whine and whimper and squirm, the sudden flood he feels around his index and middle confirms that his bite sent you over the edge. He grins, his tongue lapping at the shallow wound he left, fingers slow to a stop as your mewling does. He leans up, his lips gently pressing into your cheek.

“Did you like that?” He asks, the subtle anxiety of losing your shared virginity creeps back into his mind, maybe he took it too far despite your insisting. You grin though, parting your legs again and letting your head flop over to meet eyes with him.

“It was perfect, honey…can’t imagine what this is gonna feel like.” You whisper, jutting your chin in a way that tells him to get on top of you. He hums, kissing your temple again as he gets to his knees in the opening you gave him, lifting your leg to dangle by his hips. It gives him the perfect view of you, your gorgeous cunt glistening with the orgasm he brought you. It makes a sense of pride and need throbs through his body, his cock aches. He grunts again at the sight of his cockhead sliding around in your slick and prodding at your clit, sending jolts through your body. You watch him, mouth still agape, just admiring how the tufts of his black hair point in all directions because of your fingers carding through and tugging at it, his eyes are hungry and half-lidded as they stare down at you, lips swollen and red from intense kisses and sucking at your skin. He looks like a god, pale skin and lean, strong frame, a big hand keeping your leg against him as teases your entrance.

You moan and jump, every squeal of yours prickling the back of his neck and making the tips of his ears turn red. He couldn’t take it anymore. He had to have you. You were just too perfect, the marks he’s left on your skin driving him insane. You love his crazy possessiveness, and he had the desire to possess you in every way. How much better could that be than by letting you walk around with the evidence of his carnal craving? Could he be so lucky to give you a honeymoon baby? You had big plans to rebuild his clan, he knows, you’re insatiable need for a baby almost worse than his to put one in you. He groans as you wiggle closer, trying desperately to get him to slip inside. He can’t help but chuckle at that.

“You’re adorable, Mrs. Uchiha. Be patient.” He hums, moving his hips so he could slide right in, the mess you’ve made is more than enough to lubricate you both. He stops at the hilt, watching your face scrunch at the adjustment. His sharingan takes in the scene, memorizing your face changing from pain at the tight fit to unimaginable pleasure once he starts to move. His head falls back with a groan, the impossibly tight and warm squeeze made his balls twitch immediately. “So good for me, god you feel incredible.”

Your mouth drops open to speak, but you know you can’t, only gripping at the ripples of his biceps and tugging him closer. It feels like you’re being split in half, the length of him allowing him access to your spongy spot just by sinking all the way in. He obliges you, leaning forward so you can hold him, grinning at the neediness drawing up your eyebrows and leaving you speechless. His slow rolls turn into sloppier ruts, the shakiness of your breath and the way you claw at his back the indicators he needs to know he’s fucking you good. You wrap your legs around his hips, eyes rolling back in your head. You begin to shake like you did earlier, and that tells him you’re close.

He hums, sitting up from your hold and spitting on your pussy, letting his thumb spread the saliva over your clit again. He smiles when you jerk, the sight of your pleasure more than enough to send him spiraling. You can feel his cock jump inside you, causing you to clench down on him.

“Nngh~” He groans, hand holding your hip still. “My good girl’s gonna make me cum.” He husks, the desire in his tone giving you goosebumps. “And she’s gonna keep it inside, right? So she can give me a kid?” He asks, to which you can only nod vigorously. He hums, shaking his head in gratitude of your obedience, feeling your cunt gripping and letting go in sporadic spasms, he can’t hold himself back anymore, groaning as his hot load floods your womb and stuffs you full. He keeps rocking into you slowly, noticing your hips still working yourself down. “My beautiful wife.” He sighs lovingly once you both still.

You beam, chest still heaving. He reaches out to push your perfectly styled hair—now a perfectly styled mess—out of your face. He leans down to kiss you softly, as full of love as everything else.

“You really do look so gorgeous like this…now that I’ve had you I don’t understand how I can be expected to do much else.” He smirks softly, admiring your fucked out expression and lovebites one more time. “I’m so happy we’re finally married. I never thought…I never thought I would be happy. Much less like this.”

He smiles warmly down at you, letting your legs fall. He doesn’t care if you two make a mess of the suite, this is what it was meant for. He kisses your forehead one last time, letting his weight fall to the side of you instead.

You giggle at his remark, having been on cloud nine all day long. The love you’ve nursed since childhood has blossomed into the love you will know for the rest of your life. He lifts his arm up, signaling for you to lay on his chest. He loves holding you like this, and you feel so safe tucked in his arm. You lay your head on his pec, hand over his heart. He smiles, and kisses the crown of your head. He truly never imagines a life where he was a married man, worshiping his wife on their wedding day. He was sure he was bound to a sour future, full of loneliness and darkness. Your voice brings him back, the weight of you against his body reminds him of what is real.

“You think you’re happy now? Just wait until you watch me swell with the baby you gave me tonight.” You hum, looking up at him so adorably that he wants nothing more than that. He squeezes you to him, and in a way, his touches tell you more than his words ever can. You know you’ve turned him on again by the statement—and the way his hand kneads the plush of your ass—but…it is your honeymoon after all.

#naruto x reader #kyleewritesnaruto #sasuke smut #sasuke x reader #sasuke uchiha #uchiha sasuke #sasuke uchiha x reader

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leportraitducadavre · 6 months

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Alright, since I’ve received multiple asks about who I ship Sasuke with (or if I have a problem with specific ships), I’ll reiterate my posture regarding shipping culture:

I think it’s very poor, borderline shortsighted, to focus so incredibly much on the possibility of a character –that never specified being sexually interested in anyone, having a romantic partner. Besides the fact that Sasuke is a very traumatized man, a survivor of state-sanctioned genocide which affects his libido to the point of it being non-existent, the entirety of his characterization revolves around him seeking justice for his family. No. It’s not about his bond with Naruto, it’s not about his apparent sexual tension with Karin, nor is it about his crush (the fuck?) on Sakura.

It’s Naruto the one whose characterization revolves around his bond with Sasuke, it’s Karin the one whose characterization revolves around her sexual desire for Sasuke, and it’s Sakura the one whose characterization revolves around her crush on Sasuke –Sasuke’s entire arc differs completely from theirs, as his entire goal, through the entire series, is about seeking justice for his family.

What happens once Sasuke realizes he won’t be able to kill Itachi if he stays in Konoha? He leaves because he chooses his goal as an Avenger before his connection with Team 7 (yes, Itachi’s presence also reminded him of the imminent threat of having bonds that Itachi could easily destroy, but he doesn’t leave to protect T7, but to seek power to kill his brother). What happens once Sasuke kills Itachi? He learns about the truth behind the UCM, and decides to barge into the Kage Summit to kill Danzo and not return to Konoha. What happens once he kills Danzö? He still decides not to return and plans to bring the entire system down. I mean, where is his “bond with Naruto” in all this? Where is his “sexual tension” with Karin in all of this? Where is Sakura’s relevance in all of this? At no single moment does he focus on these bonds, often questioning the reason why these people are so adamant about pursuing him. Am I saying that they don’t matter at all to him? No, and you know that’s not the point of the post unless you’re looking for a reason to get upset in which case, I cannot help you. What I’m saying is that they’re not relevant to his main goal or characterization, as that power rests upon Itachi’s shoulders. Each character here mentioned has either more or less importance throughout his journey, but none of them are detrimental to his objective and none of them are important enough for him throughout the manga to deviate from his ambition (he even tried to kill each one of them when he deemed them a liability or they threatened the continuation of his mission).

Who do I ship Sasuke with? Nobody, I don’t enjoy a single pairing that is attributed to him, and I wish the fandom would realize that the entire plot revolves around the actions and consequences of a fascist regime, and not about who wanted to secretly or not so secretly fuck who, or who deserve his dick and who doesn’t. Yes, I’m being blunt, and some of you will think I’m exaggerating, but if you don’t see me talking about ships as often as you see me speaking about feminism or politics inside the Naruto manga, well, what a shocker, there’s a reason for it.

And to prevent people from putting words in my mouth, let me say this: I’m not saying you can’t enjoy a ship –go crazy if that’s what you want, do art, fanfics, and whatever rocks your boat, I won’t go after you trust me, but oh my god how come some of you would give a “potential romantic couple” so much more relevance than the actual plot?! Sasuke plainly and continuously reminds the characters and the readers what his true goal is and what he wants, and still, some of you will force a deep reading of a bubble of speech detached from his overall characterization to prove that he was smitten with x,y,z all along!

#personal #sasuke #sasuke uchiha #pro sasuke #pro sasuke uchiha #anti shipping culture #anti shipping #anti sns #anti sasunarusasu #anti ss #anti sasusaku #anti sk #anti sasukarin #anti sns fandom #anti ss fandom #anti sasusaku fandom

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buymeanewlaptopty · 9 months

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Dos X Batman crossover

So Tim Drake is planning on exploding Ras al ghuls base. And after many sleepless nights (as usual) gets in his sleep-deprived brain, the brilliant idea to summon the God of explosions. Cause why not? It would be way quicker and more efficient than to get all the explosives himself. Young Justice being the enablers they are just support him, cause Tim is the smartest Robin, he was trained by Batman, surely he knows whats up and what are the chances even that actually works??

And they do some summoning ritual from a Sus book Tim found on his travels (when Bruce was stuck in the time stream). And tbh Tim is mostly doing it for sht and kicks but THAN

BAM the summoning is actually working. There is a bit of panic (lots) but then the one who appears is a lil girl. Younger than all of them it seems. Can't be more than 14/15. And she's just like 'sup' (shikako is starstruck cause WHAT??? IS THAT RED ROBIN?? THE BEST ROBIN ??? AND IS THAT YOUNG JUSTICE?? WHAT IN THE WORLD??), cause she's a ninja and she can keep her cool under any weird circumstances and to be fair getting summoned isn't all that surprising with her track record.

The hero team explain that they summoned her. And shikako asks how (assuming she speaks English even though it's been a lifetime ago)? And they show this ritual where Tim made some adjustments to summon the God of explosions (which was basically a seal that Shikako will decode later). Shikako says on instinct/autopilot that she isn't a goddess. She is a bit mortified cause omgomgomg she can never let this be known to Sasuke or Kakashi or Anyone really. She would never hear the end of it.

They talk some more and Shikako asks why they need explosions and Tim explains his situation. And shikako is completely on board like hell yes let's fk up the creepy stalker. And she shows she can make explosions with a touch. And they go on and basically egg Ras base with explosions and its a great time.

After that Shikako stays for a while cause it takes time to find her home dimension and decode the summoning ritual. She is the closest with Red Robin cause he's her(mine) favourite Robin. And they can totally geek out over her seals and technology and differences in their worlds and all that. They both have that single minded drive where they just get lost in their research. And shikako would totally explain her seals to Tim and he could like give suggestions.

Once they didn't come out of their research drive for 3 days, it would have been longer if Superboy didn't drag them out of the room for some food that wasn't caffeine or soldier bars (or whatever I forgot the name)

In the end she leaves but she lets them know that if they ever need her for whatever reason they can summon her again.

Afterwards when Tim summons her again and explains the problem. Shikako is like I have just the thing and she has this very weird and very convoluted plan.

But it works.

And they realize that explosions isn't the only thing she can do.

So they begin to call her for other things to and shikako always has a (convoluted) plan that usually works (and if if doesn't then she has a plan that will)

And she can also heal??? So like an on call healer which is great!

But when shikako goes on a mission or isn't available she will let it know through a message (somehow, via seal or via interdimensional technology or maybe a combination)

Sometimes the summons are just to catch up.

And just imagine how the Bats would react. Like there is some seemingly impossible problem/villain and Tim be like 'I know a god' and just summons Shikako from his instant-summon-seal and there Shikako is in all her glory, in her pjs with her blanket still on.

And just has all contingency plans ready for all situations.

Batman has the adoption papers ready and filled by the end of the crisis. But shikako already has a lovely family🤣 so she rejects the offer.

I NEED MORE SHIKAKO DC CROSSOVERS😭😭

Anyways lemme know what u think

#expecting explosions but getting convient natural disasters #dreaming of sunshine #nara shikako #shikako nara #tim drake #batman x dos #dos x batman #shikako in DCU

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anyon-else · 3 months

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Bite the Hand That Feeds Me (Bite the Hand That Needs Me) (The Red Room pt.15) | You and Kakashi are confronted with familiar demons. (Marvel AU) – spotify playlist | read on ao3

Pairings | Kakashi Hatake x Black Widow!Reader + Sakura Haruno, Sasuke Uchiha, Naturo Uzumaki, Ino Yamanaka, Danzo Shimura, Asuma Sarutobi, Kurenai Yūhi, Genma Shiranui, Orochimaru, and one (1) mysterious man

Warnings | ANGST, hurt/comfort, this one's pretty heavy ngl, gun violence, blood, torture (kind of? like a little but not really), dissociation, suicidal ideation (I PROMISE IT'S NOT AS BAD AS IT SOUNDS)

Word count | 10k (yeesh)

(previous chapter) | (next chapter - coming soon) | (series masterlist)

"I am a dead woman, and I don't care."

Katherine Mansfield, from Journal of Katherine Mansfield

Kakashi came to in a room that he had only been in once before.

It had been decades since he'd last seen these concrete walls. The two-way mirror in front of him was an unwelcome sight that left him with nothing to do but watch his reflection watch him back. He wondered who was doing the same on the other side.

Handcuffs kept him locked to the table, though he took note of the lack of restraints on his ankles. Standard procedure aside, most of the suspects who ended up in this room were violent enough that extra precautions were oftentimes necessary.

Not that he planned to follow their example.

They could have left him anywhere else. Any other room would've been better than this—hell, he would've taken a doghouse if it had been an option.

The last time he was here, he was being questioned for murder.

He looked up at the creak of the metal door—the decades-old hinges still sounded the same as they had when he was twelve, and it was as unwelcome as it was familiar.

His hope for any semblance of understanding from his interrogator was lost when Danzo Shimura stepped through the door. With his lips turned down in an irritated frown, Danzo looked like his usual, unenthused self. He and Kakashi watched one another for a very long moment, trapped in a silent stalemate that felt uncomfortably familiar.

What wasn't familiar was the air of dangerous satisfaction Kakashi could sense from the older man.

Danzo took a seat in the chair opposite to Kakashi's, blocking his view of his reflection. With little decorum and far more force than was necessary, he tossed something noisily onto the table between them. It slid across the hard metal and came to a stop in front of Kakashi.

Kakashi instinctively reached towards it the moment it came within arms reach. His handcuffs jerked noisily, and he scowled at them, then at the satisfied look on Danzo's face.

"I take it you know who this is," Danzo said, pointing towards where you stood in the framed picture. It was the one of you and Sakura that he kept in his room, and its only purpose had been to bring him some semblance of comfort in your absence. Kakashi closed his eyes, trying not to linger on his stupidity for having something so damning out in the open.

Still, he never thought that SHIELD would go so far as to kidnap him and his...

"Where," he began darkly, noting the slight downward twitch of Danzo's smirk when he heard the dangerous note in Kakashi's tone, "are my students?"

"Things will go a lot smoother if you just answer my questions."

Sasuke was angry. No, he was livid.

He had never really put much faith in SHIELD as an organization. After HYDRA had been exposed from within their ranks, the small seed of trust that he'd tried to cultivate in his early days as a trainee was ripped from the ground. He only trusted Kakashi-Sensei because he could tell that his mentor wasn't just another one of SHIELD's loyal dogs. He was his own man with his own sense of purpose and justice.

He had always held that same respect for Asuma, but now he was beginning to rethink his initial assessment

"Sasuke," Asuma sighed above him, "I know you're confused, but–"

"Confused?" Sasuke spit back incredulously, finally looking up and meeting Asuma's eyes. The man was thin-lipped, waiting expectantly for Sasuke's words.

If Sasuke had any say in the matter, Asuma would never get the answers he wanted.

"I'm not talking to anyone except Kakashi-Sensei," he finally grumbled, turning his head from Asuma with a finality that made the agent sigh.

"I guess I shouldn't be surprised," Asuma shook his head, slumping into a chair near the door and running a hand over his face, "look, I'm not your enemy, Sasuke. I just want to understand what's going on."

More silence.

"You asked Shikamaru for help with something," he pushed, pulling a small grimace from Sasuke, "and if it had something to do with the HYDRA agent–"

"Don't call her that," Sasuke snapped.

"What should I call her, then?"

Sasuke sneered in lieu of an answer. Asuma sighed again.

The conversation was interrupted by a groan on Sasuke's left. Both glanced towards where Naruto was lying on his side, the last of the three to regain consciousness. He shifted away from the lights, lifting an arm to shield his eyes from the harsh fluorescents.

"Sasuke?" he grumbled, peeking over his arm at his friend. Sasuke glared at him, an unspoken order of silence. "Where are we?"

"SHIELD headquarters," a third voice snapped from the corner of the room. Asuma glanced at Sakura warily, "we were kidnapped by our own people."

Sasuke couldn't help but be unsettled by the rage in Sakura's voice. It reminded him how cruel HYDRA had been to her. It had shaped her into a person that, at times, felt completely foreign to him. When she was consumed by this kind of anger, she felt unreachable. Untouchable. Like anything she came into contact with would burn to ash.

It was as if the room itself held its breath when she spoke. Sasuke saw the way Asuma halted at her biting words, and he wondered fleetingly if his suspicion of HYDRA extended to Sakura. After all, she was no longer the girl he had helped train in her adolescence. Now she had the training of HYDRA's most lethal weapons.

"Sakura–"

"How did you find out?"

Sakura turned, looking at Asuma over her shoulder with a gaze that almost made Sasuke shiver. He swallowed against his drying throat.

"I can't tell you that," Asuma sighed, looking genuinely apologetic for the situation he was putting the three in. Naruto narrowed his eyes, putting the pieces of the situation together and giving Sakura a hopeless glance. Sasuke saw his desire to go to her and offer some form of comfort, but stopped him with a firm shake of his head. Sakura had turned back towards the wall, completely closed off from even Sasuke and Naruto. They couldn't see her expression, but they saw the slight tremble in her shoulders.

"Is Shikamaru alright?" Naruto asked after a pause.

"He's fine."

"What about Kakashi-Sensei?"

"He's being questioned," Asuma said, trying to keep any emotions from bleeding into the words.

Sasuke knew that this couldn't have been easy for Asuma—despite the orders he'd been given, and despite Sasuke's own anger, it was clear that Asuma believed in Kakashi's loyalty.

But he did not have the power to decide what happened to you or Kakashi. That was up to the Director.

Although, in the Director's temporary absence, he supposed those decisions would fall to Danzo. The thought concerned him as much as it infuriated him.

"Can we at least talk to him?"

"Not yet," Asuma sighed, "we need to get a grasp on the situation. And things would go a lot smoother if the parties involved were a bit more cooperative."

He looked at Sasuke pointedly, knowing that any glances in Sakura's directional would go unobserved. The boy scoffed, arms crossed almost petulantly over his chest as he turned his head away from Asuma's gaze. Naruto looked between his two friends, then at Asuma.

"Naruto," Asuma softened his tone, kneeling in front of the boy with only a hint of guilt in his expression for exploiting Naruto's mixed emotions. Clearly the weakest emotional link of the trio, he was the most likely source of any useful information, "this is a complicated situation, but the last thing I want is for anyone to get hurt. Things would go a lot smoother if you tell me what's going on. Maybe then I can help Kakashi."

Naruto looked skeptical. He glanced at Sakura, who still had her head turned away from them, then at Sasuke, who glared at him. Their determined silence sent a clear message, but Sasuke knew that Asuma saw how uneasy Naruto felt at the idea of leaving Kakashi to his own defenses.

"You have to try to save her, too," Naruto said after a long silence.

"Naruto," Sakura hissed, turning towards him incredulously at the same time that Sasuke slapped a hand over Naruto's mouth. He shook it away and glared at Sasuke, who met his gaze with the same determined ferocity.

"This might be our best option," Naruto hissed, "Kakashi-Sensei trusts him. We've known him our whole lives–"

"It doesn't matter," Sakura snapped from her place in the corner of the room, "once you've been stained by HYDRA's name, there's no undoing it. That's all you are, and nothing can change the way they look at you. It doesn't matter how you got in or why you stayed—it just matters that you did their dirty work."

"Sakura, that's not fair..." Asuma started, but the furious glare she shot in his direction silenced him.

"Fair?" she laughed. Suddenly, it was like Sasuke got a glimpse into the person who had spent four years in HYDRA's clutches, surviving off of nothing but rage and a fierce determination to survive. "No, you're right. There's nothing fair about this. She and I were in that hell together. We both killed for them. We escaped together. You're so worried about her, but there's another person just like her standing right in front of you!"

Silence followed the outburst. Asuma held Sakura's gaze, unwilling—or maybe unable—to look away.

"She was born there," Asuma said slowly, looking guilty even before the words began leaving his lips. Sasuke tensed in anticipation of his next words, glancing cautiously in Sakura's direction. Her calm expression was masking the rage that was clear in her tense form. Her fingers twitched as if they itched to wrap around Asuma's throat. Despite his own anger, he leaned forward in the event that he'd have to put himself in between the two. Asuma was strong, but Sakura was an unstoppable force now that she had the training to give weight to her rage.

"I'm not blaming her for what she's gone through," he continued cautiously. Sasuke knew he noticed the way Sakura's calm facade was beginning to split into a boundless anger he had only seen a handful of times. He wanted to beg Asuma to shut his mouth, but a part of him wanted to let Sakura do as she pleased.

Maybe she could get them out of this room. Maybe they'd find you before you were taken somewhere they could not follow.

They needed to get you back.

"But she has been a HYDRA agent her whole life," Asuma continued, pulling Sasuke from his thoughts, "she is unpredictable. And if she hurts someone, then she becomes a liability."

Sasuke glanced at Naruto, thinking back to your return. Had anyone at SHIELD known how close you'd been to shooting Naruto, no explanation of mind-control or Orochimaru's cruelty would have convinced them that you were not the enemy.

"You know nothing," Sasuke finally muttered, both to tell Asuma what they were all thinking and to stop Sakura from saying something that would only make their situation worse. "And locking her away like she's a common prisoner is nothing short of cruel–"

The door clicked open, cutting Sasuke off before he himself could lose control of his spiraling emotions. Asuma stood from where he was blocking the entrance and pulled his chair from the door's path.

"Director," Asuma gaped, "we didn't expect you back until tomorrow."

"I heard that Kakashi and his students had been brought in as suspects."

Her voice floated into the room like a clear, refreshing spring. Then she entered, looking like an angel descending to save them. Surely she would have enough common sense to fix this without letting anyone—namely you and Ino—get hurt.

"Yes ma'am. Agent Hatake is being questioned."

The Director sighed as Asuma stepped away from the entrance.

Director Tsunade Senju was Sakura's hero. Alongside Kakashi, she'd helped shape Sakura into the person she was today. Before she was taken, Tsunade regularly coached her in field medicine, requesting her help on small missions to give her as much experience as possible.

She was kind. Sasuke knew that, despite her cold exterior, she'd understand that you were a victim of Orochimaru's cruelty as much as Sakura had been.

She fixed them with a long look, both to ease their worries and warn them to stay put.

I'll fix this, it seemed to say, just be patient.

Patience was not in abundance between the three of them, but after one last longing look in Tsunade's direction, Sakura sat in between Sasuke and Naruto, and they waited.

"If you don't talk, you won't get to see your students."

Kakashi thought his jaw was going to break. He'd been clenching his teeth together for the entirety of this interrogation, and he could feel his cheeks starting to ache from the tension. Having a conversation like this would've been infuriating with anyone, but he was quickly losing patience with Danzo's condescension.

Perhaps to the detriment of any argument he could hope to make to the Director once she returned, he stayed silent.

"Hatake," Danzo sighed, tapping his fingers against the glass picture frame between them. Kakashi glared at the smudges he was leaving in lieu of looking at the infuriating expression on his face, "this isn't going to just go away like Rin did."

Danzo went quiet as the words sunk under Kakashi's skin. He felt cold—like he'd been dunked into a pool of ice water. The room suddenly felt suffocating. Danzo knew what this room meant to him. He had probably demanded that it be used for this interrogation.

"Don't talk about Rin," he said lowly, feeling the full weight of Danzo's words as the man sneered.

"You have no right to speak disrespectfully to me. You're lucky you're here and not a cell. If it were up to me, I would've–"

The grating creak of the door interrupted Danzo's threat, and both he and Kakashi paused as Genma stepped into the room. He looked bored—like this was just another interrogation—but when he met Kakashi's eyes, Kakashi saw the suspicion that he was trying to mask.

"Agent Shimura," Genma droned, "you're needed outside."

Jaw tense, Danzo hesitated for a split second before rising to his feet.

Kakashi tried to be subtle as he tested the reach of his cuffs, but they caught just shy of the edge of the frame. He sat in dejected silence as the door creaked shut.

While being in this room with Danzo was more than unpleasant, being in it alone was somehow worse. It reminded him too much of a time he thought he'd put behind him, but being back here made him feel like a child again. When he looked back at his reflection in front of him again, it was as if his face had become younger. Those youthful features were twisted with grief and anxiety. He had just been a child back then, unable to face the reality of his actions.

But he refused to let Danzo use his failure to save Rin against him. Not when all he wanted was to keep you away from HYDRA. Despite his initially selfish intention to just save Sakura and let you go, he knew that he had done the right thing in offering you a place with him and his students.

Convincing SHIELD of that was going to be more difficult.

The door didn't move again until what must've been at least an hour, and the creak of the hinges was sounding more and more like nails on a chalkboard each time it opened. He glanced towards the silhouetted figure standing in the entryway and felt relief for the first time since he regained consciousness.

Tsunade was standing in the doorway like an angel come to save him. Even the light that surrounded her shone like a glowing halo. Kakashi felt his unease begin to melt away, replaced by utter exhaustion.

Tsunade stepped further into the room, and the door shut firmly behind her. He could almost feel Danzo's eyes on him on the other side of the glass.

"I'm taking over your interrogation," she began, sliding into Danzo's chair and pushing the frame to the edge of the table with barely a glance in its direction, "Danzo has an uncharacteristically colorful vocabulary when it comes to you."

Kakashi stayed silent, treading these waters very carefully. When he was a child, he'd been volatile and reactive. It had been easy to rile him up and get him to let information slip in his anger.

It was a pattern of behavior that he had long since grown out of and had no plans of repeating.

"Well, I'm sure you've been given very little information, so I'll make this easier for you," Tsunade began, folding her hands over a stack of papers that Kakashi assumed contained Danzo's case against him. It was thicker than he would've liked, "Danzo received a tip that you were harboring two HYDRA agents and decided to release a toxin in the compound rather than risk a confrontation with potentially hostile targets."

Kakashi blinked. He wondered if Tsunade also saw the absurdity in Danzo's tactics, but her expression told him nothing. She was as stone-faced as ever, and Kakashi began to fear that he'd lost her trust in all of this too.

"The HYDRA agents," he began, "are from the Red Room."

Tsunade froze. The words were as familiar to her as they had become to Kakashi—everyone in SHIELD knew who had taken Sakura. The problem with finding her hadn't been their identity, but their location. Orochimaru's strength was in his ability to hide the Red Room from SHIELD's watchful eye. It's main base changed locations frequently enough that finding Sakura had taken years.

"They're not with HYDRA anymore," he told her carefully, lowering his voice and leaning in close enough that his words wouldn't be overheard by anyone on the other side of the glass, "they both knew Sakura while she was there. They protected her from Orochimaru. I...I don't know if she'd even be alive if it hadn't been for them."

Tsunade considered this, albeit briefly. Kakashi knew how complex the situation was—realistically, Tsunade couldn't let any personal feelings interfere in her decisions. Despite Danzo's less-than-ideal method of bringing you in, he was technically within the bounds of SHIELD's protocol.

Kakashi was the one who had complicated things. He could see that Tsunade was not just angry with him, but hurt by his lack of trust in her.

"I would've told you when I brought her in," Kakashi said lowly, "but she was an important part of making sure Sakura was safe. I couldn't risk her being taken. She was too valuable to let go."

"Sakura has been cleared for nearly a year now," Tsunade snapped, though she kept her voice at his volume. Her eyes were knowing, and he wondered just how desperate he looked to her, "you should've told me."

You would've taken her, Kakashi wanted to say, and I couldn't risk that.

"Have you seen her?" Kakashi asked instead. He knew where his priorities should've been—Tsunade was expecting answers, but he had to know where you were. Once he knew you were safe, he would give her everything she needed to know. Everything that would convince her that you weren't a threat.

Tsunade blinked at him. His stomach knotted.

"She's not here, Kakashi."

Your instincts as were sharp as knives.

They'd had no choice but to become so. Anyone who got too close didn't walk away unnoticed or unscathed. It was one of the fundamental teachings from the Red Room: surveillance of one's surroundings is crucial for survival. If you cannot identify a threat that is out of sight, your skill level will not make a difference.

So, even half-conscious and unable to open your eyes, the first thought that came clearly through your muddy thoughts was that you were not alone.

There were two other people in the room—one to your left, and one in front of you. They were veiled by shadows and obscured from your vision, but you felt their stares like guns pointed at your head. You choked on the breath that you greedily sucked into your lungs, then exhaled with a strangled sound that seemed far louder in the thick silence. Neither of the figures moved as your breathing evened, but each eye that was on you seemed to glow in the suffocating darkness. They were like predators poised to kill, and with the handcuffs keeping your arms behind the back of your chair and the rope holding your ankles still, it wasn't hard to guess who their prey was.

Familiarity was a quiet buzz in your ear, but you ignored it in favor of evaluating your chances of escape. As the fog cleared from your mind, however, you became less hopeful of your odds.

The figure to your right stood and approached you, his face slowly becoming visible as he walked towards the single light illuminating the middle of the room. He moved out of the shadows with careful, calculated steps, and you recoiled as soon as he came into view. While you barely recognized his face, you understood what the clothes he wore meant.

A black robe cloaked him almost as much as the darkness had, but it was the small red insignia on his sleeve that sent a cold chill down your spine. The bright red eyes of the skull seemed to glow in the darkness, almost matching those of the wearer.

"HYDRA," you whispered before you could keep your mouth from moving. You shut it immediately, unsure of where the word had come from, but realizing with uncomfortable clarity why it felt so significant.

HYDRA owned you. The thought was so clear that you wondered how you had ever forgotten. Suddenly, the urge to kneel at this man's feet and beg for any form of mercy made your position in the chair uncomfortable in an entirely new way. You shifted, nearly bowing your head to him when he caught your chin between long, nimble fingers.

His eyes held an intensity that sent a shock of fear through you. His fingers were cold where the met your skin, and you fought not to flinch when his hold tightened. He was looking at you like he could see into your mind and read your every thought.

"For someone under Kakashi Hatake's protection," he finally said, though his words held more curiosity than threat, "you are a laughably easy person to find."

You swallowed, but your throat had dried up the moment he'd stepped into view.

"I suppose I should apologize. Orochimaru was give far too much leeway. He should have been taken care of a long time ago."

Your breath halted at the name. Though it was still mostly a mystery to you, fear was a familiar feeling that wrapped itself around you and squeezed until you couldn't breath. The man watched you carefully, studying your reaction with clear interest.

His eyes drifted to the second figure sitting silently in front of you. His face had become more clear as your eyes adjusted to the darkness; long, dark hair framed his face, and his eyes were venomous, narrowing when they locked with yours. Though his head was downcast—partly, you assumed, because of the blood dripping down multiple cuts on his face—his expression was full of familiar malice.

For the past eight months, you'd felt as if a crushing weight was hovering just above you, held up by one thin thread. You knew what that weight contained—it was everything you'd lost. Even without it bearing down on your shoulders, you were certain that it would crush you, but you wanted to feel its weight all the same. You wanted to feel whole again—not like the ghost of someone you couldn't reach.

You laid eyes on Orochimaru, slumped in his chair and gagged by a white cloth, and the weight fell.

Memories of the experiments you'd undergone suddenly came into sharp focus, and the blurry face that had always resembled Kakashi finally became clear. Instead of grey hair, black locks came into view. They surrounded your vision as Orochimaru leaned over you in half-remembered memories, studying your eyes like they would hold the key to your submission.

His voice rang in your mind clear as day: I gave you everything. It is only right that you return my kindness. You owe me everything. This is your purpose.

It was his voice. His hands holding you down as you thrashed against bolts of lightning in your veins. His control masked as reassurances of an end to the pain. His face behind the mask that he wore to convince you that Kakashi was your enemy.

It was his rage that followed you when you escaped. His ghost that you were so desperate to protect Sakura from.

"Hm," the man hummed after observing you for a moment, "Kabuto was right. It is you that brings her memories back. That must've caused you quite the headache."

He was looking at Orochimaru now, who snarled at the man in front of him. You recognized the look—how had you ever forgotten such a terrifying face?—and the rage it contained did not seem to phase its receiver, but the force of it left you paralyzed.

Or maybe it was the memories that were still flooding your overloaded mind, each begging to be seen even when you had no more room left to look.

You didn't realize that the man had moved towards Orochimaru until you heard his voice. It was that same light, hissing cadence that made you beg for mercy each time you failed his experiments. It was the voice that raised you to submit to his will.

It was still just as terrifying as it had been when he abandoned you.

"I'm impressed," he said with a snarl, looking at you rather than the man now standing at his side. "I thought you were weak enough to be forced into submission. But look at you now: gaining the attention of the Akatsuki."

Your eyes widened, and your gaze snapped to the man who was watching the conversation with interest. He met your eyes, waiting in silence as you processed Orochimaru's words.

The Akatsuki were ghosts. You had never been told their identities, nor had you ever seen a member in the flesh.

All you knew was that they ruled HYDRA from the shadows, pulling the strings of the organization with terrifying ease.

"I've come to understand that the Red Room is in need of new leadership," the man sighed, a disappointed frown falling over his lips, "now I see that the problem is worse than I anticipated."

Orochimaru's rage filled the room like smoke. You felt as if you could choke on it—it filled your chest and left you breathless and gasping for air.

"Would you like to kill him?"

It took you far too long to realize that the question had been directed towards you. The words were as genuine as the man's gaze. He didn't say them like this was a taunt or a test of loyalty. It was an offer.

You swallowed against the panic blocking your throat. You couldn't breath. This man...you could feel his power. It filled the room, thick enough to drown you. You wanted more than anything to refuse—to make him understand that you couldn't kill Orochimaru—but you couldn't force a response from your lips.

"She won't kill me," Orochimaru sneered, saving you from the man's suffocating gaze. His eyes slid from you to Orochimaru, "she can't."

"We'll see," the man responded cooly. "Let's hope that fear was a strong enough tool to save you from your own creation."

The man reached behind you and unlocked the handcuffs around your wrists, then cut the rope from your ankles. Before you could regain feeling in your fingers, the cold, familiar steel of a gun was pressed into your hands. You looked down at it, expecting to see the HDYRA insignia etched into it. Instead, the hourglass-shape that symbolized the Red Room was cut into the grip.

This was Orochimaru's weapon. You'd watched him use it countless times. You had faced its barrel more than once.

Holding it felt wrong. The idea of using it made you nauseous.

"Well?" Orochimaru said, a cold grin on his face. "Prove me wrong, little spider."

You hated him. You hated how useless he rendered you—as if you were nothing more than a machine waiting for commands. You begged your useless limbs to lift the gun in your hands. Killing Orochimaru was something you'd dreamed of for a long time. It was an urge you'd felt more strongly than any other when he'd tried to kill you using Sakura's body.

The Akatsuki approached Orochimaru, producing a knife from within the robes that cloaked his figure. In one swift movement, he cut the ropes from his wrists and tucked the weapon away.

Orochimaru brought his hands in front of him, flexing his stiff fingers with a heavy sigh.

"You gain nothing if you kill me," he said, wasting no time before standing from his chair and pushing it to the side. He seemed utterly unconcerned by the weapon in your hand, "I'm not the one holding you hostage."

His eyes were on the Akatsuki now, as if he had forgotten all about your presence and the gun in your hand.

"You want your freedom so badly? Kill him," Orochimaru said, sliding his gaze towards you once again. He watched you with an intensity that made your stomach drop—his eyes were swimming with an emotion that you couldn't place. You could see that his desperation was turning into something closer to insanity.

"Kill him!"

You flinched against your chair, grip tight on the gun. The Akatsuki watched with thinly veiled interest, unconcerned with Orochimaru's attempts to get him killed.

"You understand, don't you?" Orochimaru said with a laugh, stepping towards you with little hesitation. You stood, pointing the gun towards him. Undeterred, he walked forward until the barrel touched his chest, "if you kill me, you'll never be free. Do you truly think the Akatsuki will let you go after everything you've done?"

You stilled.

Your life was beginning to feel like a cycle. The moment you escaped Orochimaru's suffocating clutches, he sank his fangs into you once again and dragged you back into his web. You had been trapped for a long time.

"Is that what I was with you?" you whispered. "Free?"

Orochimaru tilted his head, lips twitching with a poorly concealed smirk.

"If not for me, you'd have no home. Am I not your family?"

"No," you choked, "that's not what I asked. I asked if you gave me freedom."

Freedom was what you were taught to hate. Freedom went against everything you'd been told since birth. You were raised with a set of shackles and ordered to give the rest of the world the same treatment.

"Freedom is a lie," he hissed, amusement gone from his tone. He leaned over you, forcing you to lift your eyes to see his malicious snarl, "you've been gone for far too long. Freedom is unattainable, and therefore should not be striven for. You've wasted your time trying to escape the allegiance you owe to me."

Before you could respond, Orochimaru was reaching towards you with speed that you hadn't realized he possessed. He gripped your wrist and reached for the gun in your hand with a maddened look in his eyes and a fierce determination to bring you to your knees once again.

But you were faster. You shifted so your back was to him, but his grip on your wrist remained tight. To keep hold of you, he was forced forward, closing the distance between your back and his chest with a frustrated snarl. At the same moment that he tried to trap you with his other arm, caging you against his chest, you threw your head back against his. He released you with a groan, clutching his forehead and stumbling backwards. His eyes were alight with fury. Your hands trembled around the gun, adrenaline and fear mixing together to create a messy, confusing swirl of emotions in your gut.

Part of you wanted to beg for his mercy. Another part wanted to kill him where he stood.

He began approaching you again, seemingly too furious to speak, but you steadied yourself and lifted the gun. He stopped, disbelief making a split-second appearance on his face before it was masked with a smirk.

That twisted, sickening smirk seemed to follow you everywhere. Even now, after he'd tried so hard to erase himself from your memory and replace his cruelty with a false version of Kakashi, seeing that expression on his face felt like welcoming an old friend.

Every Widow was familiar with that smile. For many, it was the last thing they saw.

You were not righteous. You had never felt the desire to seek revenge or justice for the things Orochimaru had done. For most of your life, Orochimaru's word had been law. The Widows were unquestioning against his demands and unflinching in the face of his cruelty. Detached from the reality of your comrades dying, you had never considered their deaths as sacrifices or tragedies. You couldn't. You would've fallen apart the moment you let yourself grieve them.

"There will always be failures among you," he'd said once, "and it is my job to see that the weak are purged. You should all be honored that you are among the strong. I've chosen each of you because you have the potential for greatness. Do not disappoint me."

Perhaps it was the sudden onslaught of memories that made the voices of those he'd killed echo within your tortured thoughts. Perhaps their pleas for mercy were directed at you, transforming into demands for vengeance as each overlapped with the other.

They begged for his death. His suffering would calm them into silence. You were a vessel for their desires, and they wanted him to bleed.

"Beg me for your lives," he would order, watching with that same smirk as they got on their knees and asked for his mercy.

He never gave it to them.

"Believing that you are special," Orochimaru said lowly, "will only bring you misery. You're still the same, scared little girl that you've always been. You're barely keeping yourself upright."

He wasn't wrong. You could feel the tremors wracking your body, and you knew they were clearly visible to both him and the silent Akatsuki watching from the corner.

"Do you remember them?" you finally asked, voice hoarse and trembling, though you were beginning to have trouble distinguishing your fear from your fury. "The girls you've killed?"

He let out a sharp, cruel laugh.

"Do you?" he asked, eyes narrowed. "You're no more innocent than I am. That's why I chose you. And what do you do with my favor? You throw it away like some petulant, ungrateful child!"

"I never wanted to kill anyone."

"A sorry excuse," he spit, "that does not mean anything. I didn't give you a place as a Widow because you were skilled. Every girl I trained, alive or not, was a skilled spy and assassin. You were chosen because you were obedient. I told you to kill, and you did so without hesitation or mercy."

Hinata's face flashed in your mind, eyes wide and desperate as you sank a knife into her chest.

"Yet you still chose to follow my orders," he continued, "I was not controlling you. It was your hands that ended their lives. You may believe you're being righteous, but if your intentions were as pure as you seem to think them, you would end us both. Your hypocrisy disgusts me."

"You forced us to kill one another," you shook your head, fighting against the voice in your head insisting that he was right. "That wasn't a test of strength?"

"Strength of will," he grinned, teeth bared and shining in the dim light. "You proved your loyalty was to me rather than any so-called bonds you may have formed with the others. It's a pity I didn't see your uselessness sooner. Your work for me was certainly not worth the headache you've become."

His bravery was commendable. Or perhaps it was confidence in your inability to pull the trigger.

"Haruno was a step towards a better future," he told you, smile falling from his face, "I was close to perfecting her, and after that, I would've been able to implement the same technology for all of you. The Black Widow Program would have seen a new era of growth."

You bit your tongue, trying to contain your anger at such a casual mention of Sakura and her suffering. You felt the iron bite of blood stain your teeth and tongue and let it ground you.

A long time ago, you would've allowed yourself to become what he wanted. You would've tied yourself down at a single command from him and allowed him to control your each and every thought. All he had to do was say the word.

But you had never cared for him. Never loved him in the way that he imagined his Widows should. Even in your desperation to go back to him in those first months with Kakashi and Sakura, you hated yourself for your dependence on him. You hated him for turning you into an extension of his own will, leaving you with no room for your own thoughts or desires. You had always been angry. You had always hated him.

But your anger was a quiet thing.

It festered beneath layers of fear and unquestioning obedience. Orochimaru beat his girls down until devotion to him became second nature.

And although fear remained, your devotion had cracked beneath the weight of his cruelty a long time ago. And now you knew what kindness was. What it looked and felt like. Affirming words and gentle touches that had once been foreign broke through the haze created by Orochimaru's control. Each layer that he had built so meticulously had seemed to shatter with a single touch.

It had all broken down so easily. His fragility had never been more clear than in this moment.

"Beg."

Stillness followed the word. As the sound faded, it felt as if it took all of the air around you with it. You thought the room itself had gone still, paralyzed by the force of your command.

An invisible, suffocating weight fell onto your neck like hands, as if attempting to force the word back down your throat.

Orochimaru was silent. His face was a tempest of disbelief and rage, and his hands itched at his sides as if it was painful for him to keep them still.

"You think I won't kill you for what you've done to Sakura? To the other girls?"

You took a step towards him, gun now steady in your hand despite the slight tremble in your voice.

"To me?"

You might have lost your mind. He was certainly looking at you as if you had.

"Beg me for your life."

On your knees, he'd always ordered.

He needed to feel as powerless as the girls he'd killed.

Why does your life have value to me? he'd ask, not caring to hear the answer.

He needed to hurt like they did. Like Sakura did.

Beg me for your life, he'd said each and every time he held a Widow at his fingertips and made her grovel, and I'll consider letting you live.

"You're a fool," Orochimaru chuckled, voice low and quiet despite the fury behind his words. He looked like he'd gone mad with rage, just barely holding himself back from violence. "just like all the others."

He took another, careless step forward. Before he could take a second, you lowered the gun and fired off a single shot. It hit his leg with a muted crack, then he was on the floor, breathing through grit teeth. He fell to the opposite knee and let out a frustrated shout.

It felt like something had taken over your body. Like it wasn't your words, but the words of those who deserved justice slipping from your lips. Pure, unhindered anger surged through you like a sudden, destructive wave. You'd never felt anything like it before.

Perhaps it was Orochimaru's conviction that you were too weak to kill him that triggered it. Perhaps it was the sight of him on his knees in front of you and the sick satisfaction you felt at the sight.

Before he had a chance to react, you shoved him back with your heel. He landed on his back with another groan, and you pressed the toe of your shoe into his neck.

"Well?" you asked quietly. "Why do you think you deserve to live?"

"They're just going to kill you," he hissed lieu of an answer, meeting your eyes and choking on the final words when you pressed harder against his throat, "you...you think Hatake will be able to protect you and Haruno from them?"

The laugh he let out as he motioned vaguely in the Akatsuki's direction was nothing more than a wheeze, but it still sounded gleefully arrogant.

"I don't care anymore," you said, closing your eyes and raising your head to the ceiling, "he'll protect Sakura, and they can do whatever they want to me. It doesn't matter."

You lifted your foot from his throat and he gasped, laboriously pushing himself off of his back.

"As long as you're gone," you said, lifting the gun once again, "I can die in peace."

"Wait," he wheezed, holding up a hand as if it would do anything to block a bullet, "I can help you. I can help you gain your freedom from HYDRA."

He's getting desperate.

A smile slowly spread across your lips.

"I told you," you knelt down, pressing a thumb into the wound on his leg. He groaned, too weak from pain to move out of your reach, "to beg."

He was panting now, chasing after desperate gasps for air. Pathetic, the Widow whispered in your ear. You smiled again, lips splitting from ear to ear.

Hello, old friend.

"Please," he finally snarled, his glare deadly as he wrapped his fingers weakly around your wrist, attempting to pull your hand from his wound.

Ah, you thought, eyes lighting up as the word tumbled from his lips, so this is what power feels like?

"Again."

No longer was the room engulfed in silence. Filling it now were Orochimaru wheezing breaths, each one more labored than the last.

Then, he began to laugh.

"You..." he muttered as he pushed himself forward, settling into a crouch before meeting your eyes, "you really are a hypocrite."

Then, in a burst of strength, he leapt forward, hands grasping at your shirt and lips pulled back in a wild, furious snarl.

You fired a second time.

Finally, everything went still.

He stumbled, eyes locked onto yours and a foreign expression on his face: pure, unconcealed shock. Then he fell forward, hands still gripping your shirt. Even in death, he managed to pull you to your knees, though it didn't take much effort. The strings of ghosts holding you up and guiding you until this point were suddenly cut, and you collapsed in a heap of dread and debilitating relief.

Orochimaru landed unceremoniously next to you, arm hanging limply over your lap and his fingers loosened on shirt.

He had stopped breathing before he hit the ground.

Disgust suddenly sent a wave of nausea through you, and you shoved his arm off of your legs. He rolled onto his back, empty eyes staring at the ceiling and arm landing on the floor with a smack.

The sound sent a shudder through you. Any rational thought had left you in the wake of the chaos—you just felt empty.

You took a deep breath, choking on the inhale and sinking onto your back as you pushed it from your lungs.

"That was quite the performance."

You didn't have the energy to be startled. Your head rolled on the floor until you were looking into the Akatsuki's eyes. He had the audacity to look pleased.

"To think that one pesky little spy was enough to bring Orochimaru to his knees," he let out something akin to a chuckle, "The Red Room must've been more fragile than he was letting on. Though it's rather poetic, no?"

He knelt down next to Orochimaru's body and gingerly pulled his eyelids over his open, shocked eyes.

"Well, I suppose we can discuss it some other time," he said finally, standing and taking a step closer to you. You turned your head, forced to look straight up to keep your eyes on him, "under different circumstances."

"Where are the others?" you choked.

"They're safe," he responded cooly, "they're at SHIELD's headquarters. Well, almost all of them."

You narrowed your eyes at him, thinking back to the haze that the night before had become.

"Ino," you whispered, breath catching in your throat.

The man looked amused by your concern

"There's no need to worry about her," he shook his head, waving a hand as if waving the mere idea of her away.

"Where is she?" you asked weakly—a far cry from the demand that you meant it to be.

"As I said, she is no longer your concern, nor are you hers."

His voice had become firmer, and you were reminded who it was standing above you.

You closed your mouth.

Seemingly satisfied with the way things had gone, the Akatsuki gave one final glance at Orochimaru's body before turning in the direction of the door.

"Wait."

The man paused and glanced back at you, emotions wiped from his face. You looked at him again—studied his face and his black hair and the ring of red around his pupils.

"Sasuke..." you choked, "he has a brother."

He stared at you, expression the picture of composure, then slipped through the door.

You remained motionless on the floor for a long time, splayed out next to Orochimaru's motionless body. His blood stained the ceiling, and you flinched when a drop of it fell onto your face.

You couldn't—wouldn't—think about what you had done. If you acknowledged the blood splatter above you or the body next to you, you'd have to admit that...

That Orochimaru was dead.

What am I supposed to do now?

The thought was passing, but you felt wholly unequipped to try and answer it. You felt far away from the person who laid motionless on the ground next to the lifeless body of her creator.

And even though Orochimaru was gone, this was still a cage. HYDRA had still found you, and you were insignificant compared to the larger powers at play around you.

The Akatsuki had said it himself. You weren't important to HYDRA.

So why had you been given the power to kill Orochimaru?

Through a haze of muddled emotions, you heard boots pounding against the concrete floor outside. You tried to give your body the appropriate commands to prepare for an unexpected entry—get up, move behind the door, keep quiet and catch any intruders off guard.

But you remained motionless, completely drained of any fight you had left.

If you were going to be trapped by HYDRA again, then maybe letting them find you was the best option.

You could hear doors being opened from the end of the hall. It wouldn't take long for them to reach you, and it was clear from the gun in your hand and the body next to you what had taken place. They'd see what you had done, and they would finish the job that the Akatsuki had left incomplete.

You pushed yourself against the wall on the opposite side of the door, cloaking yourself in shadows. Orochimaru's body was illuminated by the single bulb hanging from the ceiling, and blood was pooling on the floor around his head, reflecting the light and looking impossibly bright against the concrete beneath him.

You closed your eyes, but his face remained burned into your memory like a brand of guilt.

It only took a few moments for the pounding feet to reach the door of the room you occupied. It was shoved open and hit the wall behind it with a crack. You swallowed against rising bile.

"Y/N."

Your eyes slipped open automatically at the sound of his voice.

He couldn't be real. The Akatsuki would be back for you. Catching the attention of such powerful members of HYDRA couldn't be anything less than a life-sentence spent serving them.

But...

"Kakashi?"

He was here. This wasn't some trick or a poor imitation—he was here and he was real.

You were reaching towards him before you could stop yourself, risking falling forward in your haste to feel something solid and real and alive beneath your palms. He rushed forward, kneeling in front of you and taking your face between unsteady hands. He studied you for a moment, searching your expression. His touch was warm, masking the lingering chill of the Akatsuki's fingers gripping your chin. You felt yourself relaxing, head sinking into his hold.

"You remember."

It wasn't a question, but you nodded anyways. You were still piecing together your memories, trying to sort out what was real and what had been a mere fabrication under the threat of torture, but your feelings—your real feelings—they were all there. They'd been dug up from the trenches of your mind and demanded recognition.

You felt the weight of Orochimaru's death and your tempestuous memories lift when Kakashi pulled you against his chest.

His arms were anchors. They kept you from slipping away or looking just past his shoulder at Orochimaru's body. You buried your face in his shirt, closing your eyes and breathing in the smell of the forest that lingered in the fabric.

"I found you," he whispered. You nodded, too drained to speak. He held you like you would slip through his fingers if he loosened his grip. Still, you wanted to be closer—to make sure you wouldn't fall away from him again.

"He's dead," you whispered. You looked up and watched the door with wide, burning eyes, terrified that the Akatsuki would come back through the door at any moment. You could still see the blood surrounding Orochimaru in your periphery. "I killed him."

You choked on the words, denial flooding you before you could stop it. You couldn't have...you wouldn't have killed Orochimaru. He was everything. Your master. Your father. The reason you were still alive. Without him, you–

"Stop," Kakashi whispered.

The river of doubt came to a halt, and all you saw in the clear blue was a reflection of you in Kakashi's arms.

"He's gone," Kakashi whispered. At the same moment he spoke the words into existence, he brought a hand up and cupped the side of your face, blocking his body from your line of sight. "He can't hurt anyone anymore."

The other girls. He can't hurt the other girls anymore.

He can't hurt Sakura anymore.

Your eyes drifted to Kakashi's wrist. Though it had been weeks since you'd attacked him, the ringed bruises where your hands had been hadn't fully faded yet.

You touched the marked skin as gently as possible, running the tips of your fingers over yellow and purple skin, then dipped a hand under his shirt and pressed it against his stomach. You remembered, albeit vaguely, the way you'd kicked him to the ground, heel mercilessly sinking into his stomach in your blind panic and rage. He hissed at your touch, barely loud enough for you to hear, but you froze at the sound, retracting your hand as if it had been burned.

"I'm so sorry," you croaked. You had done this to him. No explanation of brainwashing or torture could excuse that, "I hurt you-"

"Stop," he said firmly, "you thought I was going to hurt you, and you were defending yourself. Nothing that happened was your fault."

"I could've fought harder."

You'd known, even while in the deepest recesses of Orochimaru's tricks, that what you were being told wasn't true. You knew that some part of you had always been skeptical, even if it had been buried somewhere you couldn't see.

"You did what you did to save Sakura. If anyone should've fought harder, it's me. I was the one who thought she was safe, and I was wrong. I should've fought harder for you."

You shook your head, but stilled when Kakashi's head fell against your shoulder. He deflated, sinking into your arms as if all of the energy had drained from him in a single moment. His hands fell from your face and wrapped around your waist, pulling you in so close that your legs had no where to go but on either side of him. You blinked, one hand lifting to tangle in his hair and the other falling to his waist like it was the most natural thing in the world.

The hands around your waist were trembling just slightly. Kakashi's head was pressed against your neck, and you could feel his eyelashes brushing again your skin.

"Kakashi..."

"Don't leave again," he whispered, breath heating your skin. You felt his lips brush against your neck as he spoke, and your grip tightened on his waist, "please."

Your breath halted at the word, and you could feel your heart racing as you thought back to what you'd done just moments before.

Beg, you'd said. You hadn't even hesitated.

You were just like Orochimaru. Kakashi hadn't seen your cruelty towards him. Hadn't seen how bloodthirsty you were in his final moments. Would he still be saying this if he knew what you'd done?

"Breath."

Kakashi was running a hand up and down your spine, as if coaxing the air from your lungs. You did your best to do as he asked, taking in a trembling breath and closing your eyes so that you couldn't see the gruesome scene surrounding you.

"They're going to kill me, Kakashi," you whispered, panic finally finding its home back in your chest. There was no world in which the Akatsuki let you live after everything that had happened.

Kakashi sat up at your words, his hands leaving behind a captivating warmth on your back.

"Who–"

The creaking of the door cut him off, and you looked over Kakashi's shoulder and met the eyes of a woman standing in the entrance. Kakashi lifted his head at the noise, tense and preparing to jump from where he sat to confront the intruder, but to your surprise, he relaxed at the sight her. Her eyes shifted from you and Kakashi to the body on the ground, then back again.

"Tsunade," Kakashi said, voice hoarse. "Buy us a few minutes. Please."

You watched, wide eyed, as Kakashi addressed the director of SHIELD like they were old friends. The woman standing in front of you was someone you'd been taught to despise your whole life, and Kakashi was still holding onto you like she was simply a passing stranger whose opinion held no weight.

Tsunade was silent. She watched you with a calculation that almost reminded you of Orochimaru. You shivered, still doing everything in your power to block his body from your view. Finally, Tsunade sighed and stepped out of the room.

"Ten minutes," she instructed coolly. "All clear! Start searching the next corridor!"

When the door slammed shut behind her, you looked back at Kakashi with wide, panicked eyes.

"Why is SHIELD here?"

The better question was: why isn't HYDRA?

"I'll explain everything," he swallowed, "I promise. I just...I need to hear you say that you'll stay."

That was not a simple request for him to make.

"Kakashi...it's not that easy. HYDRA will still–"

"I don't care."

You looked up, shocked by the intensity of his gaze. He looked angry and determined and desperate. He looked so, so sad.

"I'll fight for you," he said lowly, framing your face between his palms once again, "you've done nothing but think of others since the moment we met. Let me return the favor."

You felt warm. Warmer than you had in so long. Like the chill in the air left by the Akatsuki had been washed away by Kakashi's presence. You wanted to hold onto it for as long as possible.

Could you really go back after everything you'd done?

"I..."

You wanted too much. It felt selfish, but you were suddenly filled with desires that you hadn't dared to fully consider with Orochimaru's threats looming over you. With his mere existence making you fear any form of attachment.

You wanted to be with Sakura. You wanted to help Kakashi train and protect his students. You wanted to be able to feel this intoxicating warmth everyday.

"Please," he said again, and this time is felt less like a curse and more like a promise, "I need you to stay."

What about SHIELD? you wanted to ask, What about HYDRA? The Akatsuki? The kids?

But instead:

"Ok."

Just this once, in this moment, you would be selfish.

But as Kakashi deflated, sinking back into your arms and letting out a shaking breath, it didn't feel like selfishness at all.

It felt like freedom.

MEMORANDUM FOR

FROM: Agent Danzo Shimura

TO: Director Tsunade Senju

SUBJECT: Operation MASQUE

MISSION REPORT

On September 22, Agent DANZO SHIMURA received a tip from [REDACTED] regarding Agent KAKASHI HATAKE's contact with active HYDRA personnel. On September 23, Agent Shimura deployed a reconnaissance team to SHIELD COMPOUND 18 for confirmation. The reconnaissance team consisted of Agent GENMA SHIRANUI, Agent ASUMA SARUTOBI, and Agent KURENAI YŪHI. Agent Shiranui reports TARGET A (Y/N Y/L/N, Alias: BLACK WIDOW) being restrained in the medical wing, likely due to hostile behavior.

On September 27, Agent Shimura organization OPERATION MASQUE to infiltrate and detain the targets and escort Agent Hatake as well as trainees SAKURA HARUNO, NATURO UZUMAKI, and SASUKE UCHIHA for questioning. At 18:00, the Recon Team began the operation. Anticipating hostile behavior, Agent Sarutobi released an incapacitating toxin into the outpost's ventilation system and waited until all suspects had been effected. Agent Sarutobi entered the building at 18:15 and observed TARGET A and TARGET B (INO YAMANAKA, Alias: BLACK WIDOW) speaking in the left wing of the compound. Both targets then began carrying all of the buildings occupants (including trainee SHIKAMARU NARA, who has been cleared of suspicion) into Agent Hatake's bedroom. Agents Sarutobi, Shiranui, and Yūhi converged on the targets' location and forced entry into the room. All occupants had been incapacitated and were prepared for transport back to SHIELD Headquarters.

At 20:00, SHIELD's transport vehicle was forcefully stopped and raided by Red Room operatives. The unidentified individuals removed Targets A and B from SHIELD's vehicle and transferred them into an unregistered black van. Agents Yūhi and Shiranui continued to SHIELD headquarters to bring Agent Hatake and his trainees to safety, while Agent Sarutobi pursued the suspects to an inactive HYDRA base.

Following Agent Sarutobi's report on the targets' location, Director TSUNADE SENJU took over the operation and successfully detained Target A in the HYDRA base (see separate report for details). No suspicious HYDRA affiliates were found within the base. As of September 28, Target B is missing.

CONCLUSION

I, Agent Danzo Shimura, recommend an indefinite suspension of Agent Kakashi Hatake from duty and the immediate detention of Y/N Y/L/N, as well as the reassignment of Sakura Haruno, Naruto Uzumaki, and Sasuke Uchiha.

END MEMORANDUM

(previous chapter) | (next chapter - coming soon) | (series masterlist)

Author's note | thank you for reading! i promise y'all when i started this series i did not intend for the burn to be this slow. i PROMISE we're getting somewhere in that regard, and even though we're nearing the end of this series, i have so many ideas that i'm so excited about for more fics involving these characters so it will continue to burn (or just like,,,be on fire ig). i'll be taking a short break before i start writing again, but the sequel series will not take long to get going after i finish this one, so stay tuned!

i hope the amount of unanswered questions left from this part is exciting and makes you want to read more to see what's going on. if you find it takes away from the reading experience (or makes it better), please leave some thoughts! also, as always, any thoughts and feedback are more than welcome

i'd once again like to say thank you to everyone who has left me such wonderful comments and feedback. you guys are truly the reason i have continued writing this series (fun fact about me: this is the first series i've ever actually finished and have been excited about for this long). alongside the sequel series i have planned, i'd also like the write some one-shots that are more fluffy and light-hearted, so please send any requests for scenarios you want to see these characters in to my tumblr (linked below).

thank you to everyone who is still following this series. your patience astounds me. i feel like the time between each chapter has been getting longer, but i really want to be putting out quality storytelling and writing for you, and i don't have a beta so i get a bit perfectionistic about editing and stuff (even though i know it's not perfect).

anyways, that's all from me! i'll see you guys in the final chapter (although i know myself and the next chap might end up being so long-winded that i just split it into two, so we'll see). if you've read this far into the a/n you are my hero and i love you. please leave me some love if you enjoyed!

title is from "Bite the Hand" from boygenius

#kakashi #kakashi x reader #kakashi x you #kakashi imagine #kakashi hatake #kakashi hatake x reader #kakashi hatake x you #kakashi hatake x y/n #kakashi hatake imagine #naruto #trr #emwrites

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jotarosexhusband · 1 year

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ANIME TBOY SWAG BRACKET

alright people. i am going to compile an anime tboy swag bracket. let's find out who has the most tboy swag in all of anime. want your boy in the running? let me know! reply to this post / reblog and put it in your tags, send me an ask, submit a pitch, whatever. i'll be taking suggestions for at least a week! feel free to send propaganda for your boy(s) too. if you could reblog this post to get the word out that would be great!

CONDITIONS:

canon and noncanon trans characters are fine. it's about the swag

"anime" as a qualifier also includes manga and japanese visual novels / video games with an anime art style. special exceptions can be made if it's funny

depending on how many suggestions i get, i may cut characters for whatever reason. no hard feelings!

be respectful etc etc. if you disagree with a character's inclusion, just vote against them!

by nature of taking submissions there will be characters in this bracket from things i know nothing about. just keep that in mind

current (at the time of posting this) list, compiled by myself and a few friends, will be under the cut! Beneath that you will also find a list of all suggestions i will be considering

ones with asterisks are For Sure going on the bracket

reigen arataka (mob psycho 100) *

phoenix wright (ace attorney) *

bakugou katsuki (boku no hero academia) *

trafalgar law (one piece) *

yamato (one piece) *

vash the stampede (trigun) *

roy mustang (fullmetal alchemist)

ling yao (fullmetal alchemist)

shirogane naoto (persona 4) *

higashikata josuke (jojo's bizarre adventure part 4: diamond is unbreakable) *

kujo jotaro (jojo's bizarre adventure) *

nishinoya yuu (haikyuu!!) *

hinata shoyo (haikyuu!!)

kageyama tobio (haikyuu!!)

yato (noragami) *

matsuoka rin (free!)

killua zoldyck (hunter x hunter)

gon (hunter x hunter)

isaac o'connor (paranatural) (included because his parents are sailor moon and irish goku) *

simon (gurren lagann)

soul evans (soul eater)

death the kid (soul eater)

lavi (d gray man)

hikaru & kaoru (ouran high school host club)

megumi fushiguro (jujutsu kaisen)

sumimura yoshimori (kekkaishi)

sanageyama uzu (kill la kill)

lio fotia (promare)

galo thymos (promare)

dirk strider (homestuck) (included bc that's what he would want) *

sasuke uchiha (naruto)

L (death note)

kyo sohma (fruits basket)

kuroko tetsuya (kuroko no basket)

kabru (dungeon meshi)

rin (ao no exorcist)

inosuke (demon slayer)

zenitsu (demon slayer)

shinji ikari (neon genesis evangelion) *

spike spiegel (cowboy bebop)

brock (pokemon)

luke triton (professor layton) *

genos (one punch man) *

apollo justice (ace attorney) *

link (legend of zelda)

ishimaru kiyotaka (dangan ronpa)

SUGGESTIONS:

light yagami (death note) *

dororo (dororo)

portgas d. ace (one piece)

togata (fire punch)

kaoru kurita (wonder egg priority) *

black star (soul eater)

edward elric (fullmetal alchemist)

sigma (bungo stray dogs)

claude (claudine)

yoshioka masafumi (apocalypse no toride)

ciel (black butler)

mafuyu (project sekai)

jesse pinkman (breaking bad) (this was a suggestion that made me laugh out loud. he has to be here) *

sasara nurude (hypnosis microphone)

kamille bidan (zeta gundam)

aki (chainsaw man)

jacuzzi splot (baccano!)

firo prochainezo (baccano!)

miyamizu mitsuha (your name)

casca (berserk)

dazai osamu (bungo stray dogs)

kei kisaragi (black jack)

haruhi fujioka (ouran high school host club)

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naruto--imagines · 8 months

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Sasuke X Reader [Best Friend] [Part 2]

[A/N] I do not own any of the characters present in this story, nor do I own the GIF that is featured. I do hold ownership over the story itself, please do not re-post it anywhere. Thanks! <3

It’s been 5 years since you broke up with Itachi and started dating Sasuke. You two have graduated from school (Sasuke received a degree in criminal justice and you double majored in forensic investigation and in communications). You two have been living together and you both applied to the National Police Agency. Sasuke was hired as an investigator and you as a liaison for the department. It was while you were out celebrating your new jobs with your friends that Sasuke ended up proposing to you. It wasn’t a big fancy ring, but you thought it was perfect.

The two of you decide to have your wedding in 2 years time. That gives you enough time to comfortably plan, save money, and accumulate time off. The first thing you decided to work on was the guest list. After work one night you and Sasuke sat on the sofa. You have a legal pad in your lap and are chewing on a pen. You both decide that you want a small ceremony and a small wedding party. Sasuke selected Naruto as his man-of-honor and you chose one of your closest friends.

The two of you decide to invite your friends from school, that’s about 24 people between the 2 of you. Then family, you quickly made a list of all your family members that you want to invite conferring with your fiance along the way. Then you start on the Uchiha family. You quickly scribble down Mikoto and Fugaku, then you write an ‘I’ before stopping your pen. You pause and look at the legal pad. Then you look up at Sasuke. He looks back at you with a head tilt. He leans over to see what you were writing before he lets out a sigh. Sasuke pulls the legal pad from your hands and shifts so the two of you are sitting side by side.

“We should talk about that huh.” He states wrapping his arm around you. Things between the two brothers had been tense for the first year after you and Itachi broke up. Sasuke was pissed for so long, and the rage resurfaced every time your feelings of insecurity were brought up. Obviously not at you. But you weren’t quite the same after Itachi cheated on you. Things started to look to be on the mend after all three of you started working at the same place. It was big enough that interacting regularly was out of the question, but you often had to work with Itachi and his team to prepare public statements. Sasuke saw him on a more regular basis. The two would be called in for their opinions on the harder cases their father was handed, and Mikoto frequently demanded family dinners. So while the relationships were improving, your heart still had a scar on it.

“Do you want him there?” You ask him keeping your voice neutral. He rolls his eyes,

“This isn’t about me-”

“He is your brother Sasuke, and this is our wedding.” You emphasize turning toward him more. “If you want him there, then I want him there.” You place your hands on his face and press your forehead against his. “I don’t want what happened to still be a problem. We have moved on with our lives. I love you with all of my heart and I want to marry you no matter who is at our wedding.” You finish by pressing your lips to Sasukes. He presses into you, wrapping his arms around you and drawing you in to straddle his lap. You let out a hearty laugh at the action and smile down at him.

“I want to invite Itachi,” Sasuke says. You smile at him then lean back towards the table, Sasuke stabilizing you as you do so. You messily scribble Itachi’s name on to the growing list. You drop the pen back on the table and wrap your arms around Sasuke’s neck again.

That was almost a month ago. The plans were steadily made, month by month. Currently, you are sitting at a bakery with Mikoto and Sakura sipping coffee and tasting cakes. Since Sasuke is practically repulsed by anything that is branded as a sweet, you brought the two ladies with to help you decide. Sakura and you are talking about the pros and cons of ordering flowers through the Yamanaka shop compared to others (presently you have more pros than cons). Mikoto was silently sipping on her coffee, she carefully set the cup down and cleared her throat sending a smile your way.

“Have you decided on the guest list? Sasuke says you were working on it the last time I saw him.” She asks with a gentle smile on her face.

“We have, but the problem I’m having is,” You recap the last conversation you had with your fiance, the two girls listen in a rapt manner. “I really don’t want to dwell on the past. But sometimes when I see Itachi my breath still catches and my heart skips, in a bad way. The worst part is that I still struggle with what happened.” You tell them. The two of them sat quietly thinking over what you had said.

“Have you considered seeking counseling?” Mikoto asked setting her cup down.

“What, like, get my head shrunk?’ You asked confused by her question.

“No no. You and Itachi going to couples counseling. Most divorce couples seek it out, it could be beneficial to you.” She explained.

“Hm.” You took her suggestion into consideration, you’d have to talk to Sasuke about it, but if it would help alleviate the tension between you and Itachi, it might be worth it.

“Well, what cake do you guys like?” You ask your guests in front of you, hoping to switch topics.

---

That day when you got home, Sasuke was already working on dinner. You walked into the kitchen and stepped up behind him wrapping your arms around his waist and pressing your face into his back. He stirred the food in the pan he was working with. Sasuke placed one hand over both of yours and soothingly rub his fingers over yours.

“How was cake testing?” He asked going back to cooking.

“Hn.” You responded drawing a laugh from him.

“That bad huh?” Sasuke questioned.

“Hmmmmm. Well, it wasn’t bad per se, we chose a cake flavor. But, your mom made a suggestion.” You trailed off, still thinking about what she said.

“What’s that?”

“She suggested that Itachi and I go to couples counseling to resolve what happened before.” You explain tightening your grip on Sasuke, pressing your nose between his should blades. Sasuke let out a sigh before turning the burner off. With you still ‘attached’ to him he maneuvered to grab two bowls to serve dinner. He grabs the now full bowls and starts to walk to the living room, you’re still holding on to him and awkwardly walk with him. Sasuke sets the bowls down on the kotatsu, then sits on the floor pulling you down into his lap.

“Tell me what you think about it.” Sasuke says, keeping his voice neutral, indicating he wants to genuinely hear your thoughts. He begins to eat the noodles he prepared waiting for you to speak. You sit silently thinking about your response while also slowly eating the food he prepared. When you were halfway through your food you had your thoughts in order. You place your bowl down and tuck yourself back into Sasuke with a sigh.

“Your mom suggested that Itachi and I see a therapist that specializes in divorce counseling. I think if it can help mend the relationship between us and him, then we should consider it. I- I’m still struggling with what happened. And I don’ know how to make it any better.” You confess feeling your throat tighten. “And I don’t say this to make you feel bad, or anything like that.” The tears are now pooling in your eyes. “You are so amazing and supportive, and Sasuke, I love you so much.” Sobs have broken through fully acknowledging what you hadn’t before. Sasuke set his bowl down and wrapped you up in his arms, firmly squeezing you.

“Whatever we need to do to assure you feel the best, we will do it.” He says pressing his lips to the top of your head. You turn fully into Sasuke wrapping your arms around him and crying into his chest while he soothingly rubs your back.

---

The next day at work you approach Itachi on your lunch break.

“Can I talk to you for a minute.” You ask him, there are a few other people standing around in his office. And he looks slightly surprised to see you.

“Yes, please everyone if you will excuse us.” The others left the room and you took a seat in front of Itachi’s desk while he closed the door. Once closed he sat down in front of you. The tension is thick in the air.

“What’s up?” He hesitantly asks you. You watch as he fidgets with the ring on his finger. The ring he had since highschool when he was hanging out with those kids that Fugaku hated. If you remember correctly the group called themselves Akatsuki, or something like that. Itachi developed this nervous tick early on. He would spin the ring around his finger, and on the days he tried to hide it from his dad, he wore it on a chain around his neck and he would drag the chain up and down. One week he needed your help hiding the ring, his dad said if he saw said item again, he would throw the ring away and send Itachi to the boonies of Japan. It had been a bad week for Fugaku, the office was getting ready to try a massive case, and he had been more than tense. So Itachi placed the chain with the ring on it around your neck and asked you to keep it safe. You were insanely giddy. Honestly, you secretly hoped he would eventually propose the same way. A shot dream.

The thought made you smile and you were brought back to reality when Itachi shifted forward, resting his forearms on his desk (still fidgeting with his ring). You took a large shuddered breath, looking down at your hands as you laced them together glancing at your new favorite ring.

“Sasuke and I would like it if you attend our wedding.” You state, your eyes moving up to look in his. Itachi’s eyes widened slightly at your statement. “Um, but before that, I kinda need … something from … you.” You tinker off, the nerves back tenfold. Your gaze drops away from his once more, and you begin ringing your hands together tightly squeezing one then the other.

“If I can help you in any way, I would be glad to.” Itachi softly murmurs, but it felt loud in the quiet office. Engulfed in the silence once more you struggled to find your words. Itachi was using that work tone on you. Just like Sasuke, he was keeping his voice in a neutral tone. Gauging you without influencing you with his tone.

“I-I, need you to go to therapy with me.” You tell him. Your hands in a vice grip of each other. You heart beating fast and breath coming short.

Suddenly two chilled hands are pressed against yours and Itachi is kneeling next to you. Carefully he pried your hands apart, he hated when you did this explaining that he didn’t like that you inadvertently caused yourself harm, and he held them in his. You look over into his eyes and realize that tears had flooded your own and you were holding your breath attempting to suppress the sobs bubbling in your chest.

“Breath,” He cooed, using his thumbs to rub the back of your hands. A shuddered breath rips its way through your throat and the next thing you know you are full blown sobbing in your ex-boyfriend-soon-to-be-brother-in-law’s office. For a few moments the two of you sit there, Itachi doing his best to soothe you and you crying. Eventually, you calm down, Itachi grabs a kleenex from his desk and hands it to you. You clean up your face, and take a few calming breaths.

“What did you have in mind for therapy?” Itachi asked, looking up at you from his kneeling position. You take a few breaths and explain to him what you had been researching. By the end, you and Itachi decide that next Saturday you will go together to check some counselor offices.

---

On Saturday, the two of you shopped around until you found a counseling office that you both liked. The two of you set up a time to come back for your first appointment. It is as you are leaving that the therapist comes back out to greet the two of you.

“I forgot! I have some homework that the two of you need to do before next week.” She explains. She hands each of you a sheet with instructions on it and tells the two of you not to let the other see it. Afterwards, the two of you head to a tea shop located near by and sit down for a drink.

The two of you sit down at one of the tables while you wait for your tea. Both of you fingering the papers you were handed. You glance over at Itachi as a familiar sweet smell permeates the air, dango. You see his nose twitch as a display is set on the counter where everyone was ordering. Itachi has a longing gaze in his eyes, you know it is his favorite snack, but he was frequently reprimanded for enjoying sweets so much. With a laugh to yourself you stand from your seat mentioning that you will be right back. You walk up to the counter and order a plate of dango for the two of you to share. When you get back to the table Itachi has unfolded his paper and is looking it over. You see a furrow to his brow that lifts when you set the plate down. He smiles at the trat and you sit down once more.

“What’s it say?” You ask him, curious to know if he will give in to your prodding. Instead he smiles at you and folds his paper up.

“You know I can’t tell you. You’ll find out next week.” He tells you grabbing one of the sticks from the plate between you too. You smile at him, knowing there is no way he will tell you anything until next week.

The two of you enjoy your tea and treats. Reveling in the conversations you have and laughing like you two hadn’t for a number of years. At the end of your time together you both say goodbye and head your separate ways. On the bus back to your apartment you find yourself crying silently remembering how things used to be.

---

During work the next week you were tasked to assist Itachi and his team to prepare evidence that will help the prosecutor convict an at large criminal. It seemed easier to work with everyone now that some of the tension was alleviated between you and Itachi. During your lunch breaks you would pop into Sasuke’s office to hang out with him, providing the two of you a break from the gruesum elements of your jobs. Then it was back to work for the rest of the day before you went home with your finance for dinner.

On Friday you and Sasuke ordered takeout and sat at the kotatsu to eat. Dinner was put away and you pulled out the homework you were given. You had been putting it off for the whole week, but seeing as you were going to the office tomorrow you should probably fill it out. Sasuke came back in and sat down behind you wrapping his arms around you.

“What are you doing?” He asked, resting his head against your shoulder.

“Homework,” You tell him. Sasuke gives a confused grunt in return and you explained it to him. Sasuke sat up and read the paper over your shoulder.

“At this mediation office we work on positive separations. To do this, your first task is to write a letter to the person you are separating from about all the positive attributes they possess.” Sasuke read outloud. “Hn.” was his response as he tucked his head into your shoulder and closed his eyes. The two of you sat in silence momentarily before he broke it once more. “You better start writing, I want to go to bed soon.” Sasuke said, pulling you tighter to him and snuggling into your back drawing a laugh from you. So you started writing.

---

The next day found you and Itachi sitting side by side across from the councilor in her office. She told the two of you to call her Koi, a nickname she gained from childhood due to her soothing mannerisms. Koi sat there smiling at the two of you, a notepad in hand, and waited. She asked you to read your letter and upon her request your throat grew dry and tight. You took a shuddering breath, drank a sip of tea set in front of you and clutched your papers in your hand.

“Dear Itachi,” You started a quiver to your voice. “You and I have known one another for almost 20 years, and because of this I have come to know you inside and out. Every expression your eyes make, even when you think no one else knows what they mean, I do. I have been in love with you since I was 7 years old,” You say with a laugh, in turn getting Itachi to laugh as well. “ Because of this, there are a few things that I want you to know about yourself that you often neglect. First of all, I love how sure of yourself you are. You have always been comfortable with who you are even when the world has pushed back against you. Being with you made me grow in my own confidence. Second, you have so much love in your heart, and I am glad to witness it nearly every day. From the care and hard work you put into your job every day. You make sure that the people who deserve justice get it, and I am so proud of you for that. I also see the love you have for your family-” Your voice breaks at this point forcing you to take a breath before you continue “You were the pillar of support for Sasuke and I when we were growing up, and you still are to both of us. I see the love you have for your mother and father, the way you keep the Uchiha house together makes this blatantly obvious. Finally, the security that you offer. You have always been someone that I could confide in, in my life. I am thankful for the love you showed me for nearly 5 years, and although it isn’t the same type of love now I still feel it.” Again you have to stop to compose yourself through the tears. “Itachi Uchiha, you were the love of my life for so many years and I am grateful for all the time we spent together. With love, Me.” You finish folding the paper up and sitting back in your seat with your arms crossed. Koi leans forward and hand you a tissue, which you use to wipe your face.

“Thank you,” Koi says with a smile, “Okay, Itachi, would you please read your letter now.” She says turning her gaze to him. You also turn to look at the Uchiha seated next to you and his eyes are locked on you with one of the saddest expressions you have ever seen him wear.

“My dearest love,” He starts, and immediately you are clutching your shirt with the hand not holding the kleenex. He hadn’t called you that in nearly 5 years. “I feel as though there is so much to say, and only a little time to say it all. You are the first person to have so much of my heart. One of the earliest memories I have of us is when you were about 8 years old, the first time you told me you loved me. And the first time you said you were going to marry me.” Itachi said with a smile, the memory made you grin as well. “You came into my life because of your outgoing personality and your convictions and those same qualities made me want to keep you in my life. My favorite thing about you is that you are a great friend. You are always there to offer a hand to whoever needs it regardless of the cost to you. You are as selfless as they come, frequently giving up your happiness in favor of others. You are the kindest human being I have ever known, but you don’t let people take you for granted. You work hard every day to prove your worth to those around you, personally I think you work too hard some days.” Itachi pauses to clear his throat, you continue to watch him, tears fully streaming down your face. “My dearest, you shine brighter than any observable star in our galaxy. And everyday I am proud of the progress you have made. I believe that I am a lucky man because I was given the chance to love you and have you love me in return. There is not one thing that I like about you above any other trait. I love everything about you, because it all makes you who you are. Sincerely, Itachi” He finishes and tears are officially brimming in his eyes as well.

Itachi sat back in his chair, gently resting his letter in his lap, his hand rose quickly and brushed any tears that may have accumulated from his eyes.

“I am glad to see that the two of you still have positive feelings for one another.” Koi said “That will make this process easier moving forward.” Your meeting wrapped up, and the two of you quickly parted ways after the fact. You got home and found Sasuke resting on the couch with a book.

“Welcome back,” He lazily drawled, “How did it go?” You simply smiled and walked over to him. Sasuke sat up a little straighter when he saw that your eyes were red. “What happened?” He barely managed to ask before you threw yourself down on top of him. You laid with your chest pressed to his and your legs in between his. You wrap your arms around his neck and press your face into his shoulder.

“It went well,” You tell him. Sasuke deposits the book to the side and wraps his arms around your waist. His hands rub soothingly up and down your back as you two snuggle. “I love you.” You whisper into his shoulder.

“I love you too.” Sasuke replies, pressing a kiss to the top of your head.

---

It's been about four months since you and Itachi started seeking counseling. Youtwo go the first Saturday of every month and you have already noticed vast improvements in your relationship. The two of you are back to being friends and you can see that it has brought ease to those around you, especially your fiance. Things continue to look up for everyone, and you are excited for your upcoming wedding.

#sasuke x reader #sasuke uchiha #Reader insert #Naruto #Naruto Shippuden #reader #gn reader

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