#sasusaku poke

[burningtalelight]

Some people argue that forehead tap is actually a sign of distancing and not love as that's how itachi used it. So, sasuke's forehead tap with sakura is not actually a sign of love instead he is distancing him from sakura. I want to say that sasuke is not itachi, he is sasuke. How he perceives things is different from itachi. The only moment where itachi says that forehead tap was to distance them was after the reanimation was stopped by him and he now puts their heads together but what about all the other times. Even in his real death, he does that forehead poke to sasuke, which itself shows that it was a precious thing they shared. Specially to sasuke, it was a sign of affection, it was like, itachi saying, I don't have time for you now but I love you. He loved that forehead tap that's shown by him blushing. Not just that he never forget that. Even in his revenge days from itachi, he always remembered itachi's forehead poke. When he meets the reanimated itachi, he asks the same to him, "you kept poking my head always". A guy like sasuke who doesn't care much about things, remembers this gesture, doesn't that already tell that it is a special gesture. Not only that even after the fight with naruto, when they are unconscious, he imagines itachi poking his head and smiling. That's one more proof saying that the forehead poke is something special and positive for sasuke. It's a sign of affection. Sasuke poking sakura's head is basically him saying, "wait for me". That's definitely the sign of ultimate love as stated.

I would also like to add one more thing here. I believe that the forehead tap is also like a memory to sasuke. I mean after all that shit happened to sasuke during his childhood and teenage, this one gesture remains as the only memory with sasuke that is a reminder of those times which were filled with love and happiness in his life. As now sakura is the one who is filling her life that warmth and love again, he shares this gesture with her and now also sarada. This is also a reason why he doesn't share this gesture with naruto. Since, he did bring him out of darkness and is equally important to naruto as sakura is but the dynamic is not that of filling love to each other's life, it's like we stand by together as the pain we felt, which was similar.

One more thing, sasuke dynamic with itachi is more similar to his dynamic with naruto. Sure, he sees naruto as his brother and sees itachi in him, but way he behaves with him is different, it's actually similar to with sakura. Just how sasuke used to admire itachi and wanted to be by his side but itachi used to ignore and it looked to sasuke that he doesn't care, similarly, sakura has always been chasing sasuke, she admired him, wanted to be by his side, but sasuke ignored her and it looked to sakura that he doesn't care. At this moment, just how itachi's forehead poke affirmed sasuke that his brother indeed loves him, sasuke used the same poke to tell sakura he also does wants to give this relationship a try and he loves her too.

So I believe, the forehead poke really fits perfect with sasusaku and it shows the "bond even deeper than the love" the boruto manga was talking about.

[uchiwaflame]

— "sakura, thank you"

[sasunarualways]

When you rewatch the whole Naruto series and look for a moment that Naruto and Sasuke were ever remotely interested in their future wives

[evanescentdawn]

he loves his daughter sO MUCH

“Hmm,” Sasuke says, looking down at his daughter. “What is it?”

Her gaze is wide as she gazes up at him. Her chubby hands — despite how brittle they look, how tiny they are — grip his hand so tightly it amazes him.

“You’ve been awake for a while now,” Sasuke continues to say, “Shouldn’t you be sleeping now?"

He tried to put her to sleep minutes ago but Sarada refuses to sleep, cried so ferociously, that Sasuke had to give. She doesn't want sleep, she demands more of her father's time.

Sasuke is only happy to give it. But really —

"You know, it isn't good to follow your mother's footsteps," Sasuke tells Sarada, who unfortunately won't be able to understand and parttake any of his very important lecture. "That woman doesn't know what's good for her, despite being a doctor."

He knows he's being a tiny bit mean. Sakura is a medic, she doesn't get to have a normal sleep regime. But in Sasuke's personal opinion, she pushes herself too much sometimes.

Freeing his finger from his daughter's grasp — with some difficulty, Sasuke thinks with a smile, she's just like her mother — Sasuke traces his thumb across Sarada's face with delicate pressure, laughing silently as how Sarada crinkles her face.

She's adorable and it lessens the guilt he carries at the fact of how she's awake and not sleeping as she should be. It seems like fatherhood has really sodten him like the dobe said. But his wife — Sakura with a tiny, secret smile and loving eyes — rebuted it, saying, “Anata you’ve always been soft at heart.”

He wanted to contradict that statement, but somehow could not.

[uchihaculture]

sasusaku forehead poke in manga / anime / stage play.

[catflorist]

omg that sasusaku art you reblogged... i would pay so much money for your take on that prompt!!!

hi anon! here you go! :) thank you for this prompt, it's been a long time since i wrote anything and it was really fun! i hope you like it!

inspired by this incredibly beautiful artwork by @millientea!

dreams [post-war sasusaku, rated T] ao3 / ffn

In the brief time between the break of his fever and the break of dawn, Sasuke was absent of all his guilt. He held onto Sakura’s hand, and fought sleep to experience the sensation for as long as possible.

After the war, Sasuke's injuries keep him stuck in the hospital. Sakura visits every day.

First Sasuke lost a war with himself. Then he lost an arm. Then the infection and the fever struck, making him keel over then shiver feebly in his hospital bed for three days straight.

His more lucid moments were filled with strangers whizzing into his room to poke and prod him and stick needles horribly into his arm. And when the fever took hold, it carried him downstream to delirium. His nightmares were kind enough to visit him in waking hours, magnified and painted in strong color and detail. And each time he drifted briefly back to consciousness he was greeted with hot, billowing pain at the stump of his arm and the sound of his vitals blaring.

Later a team of doctors inform him that he’s survived a deadly case of sepsis and avoided a second amputation of his left arm. He’ll need bedrest and continued close monitoring. Naruto’s healing well, he hears. Figures.

The days blur. An IV chains Sasuke to bed, where he chokes on boredom thick as smoke. He memorizes the markings of each bird that lands on his windowsill. He watches a ball of dust in the corner move three riveting inches to the left over the course of twenty-four hours. He whips out his sharingan to memorize the lines of his palm, and compares that image to a corresponding record from the last time he was bored to death in a hospital. His heart line has grown longer.

Monotony breaks whenever Sakura breezes into his room.

“I brought you apples.” She smiles at him, a little knowingly. The apples are cut neatly into decorative slices.

She visits at the beginning and end of each shift. In the mornings she smiles brightly in a crisp white coat, and twelve hours later she still smiles brightly, with tired circles under her eyes and loose uncombed hair. This time she’s wearing civilian clothes, here to see him even on her day off.

She’s fearless, for her part. He’s quiet.

When he thinks back to the haze of fever, he remembers slender and cool fingers smoothing damp hair from his brow. A swirl of healing chakra that felt like the way her voice sounds. When he awoke, a nurse mentioned the doctor attending his case invented a new chakra technique on the spot to siphon away the infection.

Sasuke didn’t need to ask who. She never said anything, and he never asked.

He suspects Sakura’s involvement elsewhere, too. When he thinks about why he’s not kept in handcuffs or locked away entirely. In the roasted tomatoes that appear on his meal trays. The reason why Naruto is allowed the occasional visit, shuffling in on crutches and staying until the nurses chase him away.

Sakura sets the plate of apples at his bedside. Today, they resemble rabbits. Sasuke has never eaten more apples in his life, but he does not think of complaining.

“Good news. Your IV is coming out tomorrow!” She smiles, waiting for his reaction.

Right. He should be happy. The feeling flickers dimly and goes out like a damp torch.

Sasuke doesn’t know what his life will look like from here on out. There’s nothing left to hunt after. The main sources of his suffering have all vanished or changed form. All that awaits him is empty space and time—time to reflect, to let the cumulation of all his actions and decisions sink in.

He doesn’t regret the desertion, the treason, as much as others might hope. If he were to go back in time, knowing what he knows about the village, his choices might even look similar. But he regrets hurting the people who cared for him.

He regrets hurting her.

Sakura’s smile has faded. “What’s wrong?”

Sasuke wants to sink under his blankets, to be alone with his guilt. “Nothing.”

“Are you in pain?”

He throws her a glare. “I said it’s nothing.”

Years ago, this would have been enough to scare her away. Now green eyes meet his with full force. “Don’t do this. Don’t be distant.” Sakura’s fingers flex and curl at her sides. “Whatever is on your mind, you can tell me.”

She treats him with such kindness, such patience, though he’s certain he doesn’t deserve it.

“Why are you here, Sakura?” he asks quietly.

“I’m a doctor,” she says, with a flash of irritation.

“You know what I mean.” Sasuke’s vision swims like the beginnings of a migraine. “Leave me. Get on with your life.” He wants the words to carry a touch of contempt, but the lump in his throat filters it all out.

“Why would I leave you?” The pure sincerity of her voice cuts him through. “We just got you back.”

His tongue feels thick and heavy. “I’ve hurt you.” How could she forget?

“I’ve hurt you, too.”

He manages a shake of the head. It’s not the same.

“It’s in the past,” she insists. “We want you in our lives—we always have!”

“I don’t understand why,” he bites, gaining strength.

“Because I love you!”

Birds take off from the windowsill.

Wringing her hands, Sakura clarifies, more weakly, “I love all my friends.”

An icy flame tears through Sasuke’s entire body. He doesn’t believe her. Somehow, he must have tricked her. After everything he’s done, how can someone lower themselves so deeply as to love him? Hot pressure rises behind his eyes. He opens his mouth to recite every reason why she’s wrong.

“So get used to it,” Sakura snaps, recovering and doubling down, like she knows what he’s about to say. Sakura, who has always been a little brazen with her affection, who has so much love and care to give that it confounds him and most others. “I don’t care what’s happened or how long it’s been. You’re still my teammate.”

Sasuke feels a phantom of his past self crouch on his chest. It whispers, push her away, break the plate of apples. Trust yourself and no one else. Be alone. This is the way he knows to protect himself. It’s worked so well, all throughout his life, he can’t imagine anything different.

Does he need to protect himself, from her? Did he ever?

“And…you’re still my friend.” Sakura’s shoulders rise and fall in a deep breath. “If that’s what you want.”

Outside, a raven’s feather drifts in a slow spiral of wind. Sasuke nods.

Sakura straightens. “Good.” Her eyes are jade reflecting fire. “Being friends won’t kill you, I promise. See you in the morning.”

In the morning, Sakura arrives to remove his IV. She’s still carrying an air of quiet victory. To inch this close, to insist on picking up their friendship exactly where they left it, that’s some audacity. Bravery, even.

He needs it.

His heart would crack without it.

Sakura carefully loosens the adhesive and presses gauze over the IV site. Sasuke is already looking away, taking a shallow breath to prepare himself.

“There’s no needles at this part,” she says.

It’s true, he hates needles—one glimpse and he breaks into a cold sweat. But he’s never told anyone. It bothers him that she noticed. “How did you know?”

“I’m a doctor,” she says, which explains very little. “It’ll be quick, I promise.”

“Still hate it,” he breathes.

“I know,” she says. “Done.”

He looks back. She smiles when their gazes meet, holding down pressure on his arm. He didn’t feel a thing.

“You make a small sound.” Her voice is soft. “Under your breath. Like you’re trying to speak but hold it back.”

Sasuke thought he hid the discomfort well. If he can miss such small details about himself, no wonder he was wrong about almost everything—what path to take, and where to place blame, and who to trust. His world has turned over too many times to count.

His senses hone in on Sakura’s touch, muted as it is through gloves and layers of gauze. She’s never changed. Never failed to ease his hurts.

He wants to ask about the fever. The infection that strode in like one last attempt by the world to kill him. She saved his life.

He feels his hand float through the air, stretching towards her face.

Empty air buzzes where his fingers should be grazing her brow. He’s still not used to the loss of his dominant hand. His stump lowers back to his side. Sakura’s expression remains calm, unknowing.

“Thank you,” he says instead.

He knows what the words will mean to her. And so he says it.

A soft smile overtakes Sakura’s face. Sasuke is known for his infamous gaze, but now he doesn’t know where to put it. When to meet her crinkling eyes and for how long. If it’s considered normal to observe the rise of her cheek, the strands of pink hair falling around her face. If he should risk a glance at her smiling lips. The decisions overwhelm him, and he finds he must look away.

Something is different, he thinks.

.

.

“He’s on your roster today? Good luck.”

Sasuke’s room is stationed at a quiet bend of the hall, a blind spot between patient rooms and administrative offices where hospital staff stop to gossip before continuing on their rounds. Whether he wants to or not, he’s often forced to eavesdrop.

“—ripped out his IV. Yes, just ripped it out. Three times. Maybe four. Wouldn’t let anyone touch him.”

“Have you noticed all those horrible birds outside his window? The crows?”

A laugh. “Never seen anything like it. Like a curse, I swear—”

“Excuse me.” The conversation grinds to a halt at Sakura’s sharp voice. “Room Four is still waiting on warm blankets.”

Footsteps scatter in two different directions. Sakura sweeps into his room. Her face is a storm. If he saw that expression on a battlefield, he would reach for his weapon. He pictures her cutting apple slices into playful shapes to reverse the effect.

“Don’t listen to them,” she mutters, and throws the curtain divider closed.

“I don’t care.”

“I care.” Absent-minded, a frown tugging at the corners of her mouth, Sakura does something she’s never done before: she sits on his bed. All Sasuke’s attention is pulled to the hand’s width of space between his ankle and the slight dip of her weight on the mattress. He slowly shifts his legs away, careful not to draw her notice.

Sakura pulls a velvet pouch out of her coat. “Here. I brought something.”

The most exciting part of Sasuke’s day was when the scent of antiseptic wafted through the door a little stronger than usual. His interest spikes. “What is it?”

Sakura opens the pouch and pours dozens of black and white Go pieces onto the bedspread. She begins arranging the board among the folds of his blankets, and after a moment, Sasuke leans forward to help. He hasn’t played Go since he was a child, but the smooth, round stones feel familiar in his palm, and the rules come back quickly. They play five games in a row without speaking. Sakura wins the first, and he wins the last four.

When they look up again, it’s dark. Sasuke’s neck is stiff from bending over the game for so long. Time has never passed so quickly for him in the hospital.

Sakura is sitting fully atop the bed now, as she has for the past three games, legs crossed with a pensive hand held to her chin. She packs away the game pieces in silence and pulls the drawstring shut. A crease lingers between her eyebrows.

“You could have died.”

Her eyes swell with tears. She doesn’t make a sound.

“I didn’t,” Sasuke says, soft as he can.

“But you could have.” The tears flow faster than she can wipe them away.

“You didn’t let me.” It makes his gut twist to see her cry, even if she cries because his life matters to her.

“I almost didn’t bring the flowers that day. I didn’t know if you’d want them.” Sakura lifts a sleeve to her face. “If I wasn’t there when the shock hit…”

Sasuke struggles to follow. His memory of the whole ordeal is hazy. He has a vague recollection of a nurse removing a vase of wilted flowers from the bedside in the days after the fever lifted.

Sakura’s shoulders tremble with a sob. “I could have lost you.”

“You didn’t lose me.” He catches her hand. Fingers slide together like whispering a secret. “You have me.”

She lifts her tearstained face. Sasuke feels feverish as his words echo back in the silence of their breathing. Her lips part, bitten and red.

“You only ripped out the IV twice, Sasuke-kun.”

Her expression is knit with determination. Sasuke can’t stop himself—a smile twitches onto his mouth. Sakura seems confused by the reaction, studying him hard.

Movement flashes in the corner of Sasuke’s eye as a large black bird lands smoothly on the windowsill. He recognizes this one for a miniscule nick in its leftmost flight feather.

“And the birds. They’re ravens,” he says evenly. “Not crows.”

Sakura smiles, sudden and shining and wide. Sasuke doesn’t fully understand the meaning of the exchange, but contentment sweeps over him.

The warmth of her hand lingers long after she lets go, and he remembers something about the fever.

.

.

The infection stalls for days, but when the worst comes, it comes quickly.

First Sasuke’s mouth fills with saliva, then arrives a tsunami of inexplicable dread, and that’s all the warning he receives before an important current in his body shifts off-course and begins to sweep him away. Sasuke breathes deep. A sweet scent hovers in the air. Sakura arrived a moment ago with fresh-cut flowers.

His stump throbs with such a sick, bleeding ache that he loses his grip on his senses. His limbs are all trembling. Another breath. His lungs allow just enough air to call out her name.

Footsteps, a sharp voice. “Sasuke? What’s wrong?”

Healing chakra skims over his body. Sakura lets out a tense breath.

Sasuke knows suffering like he knows the face of an old friend. He can feel it loom over him, its breath ghosting the back of his neck.

“It’s—it’s serious, Sasuke-kun.” The air thickens with chakra, a thrum strong enough to detect by ear. “But you’re going to be fine.”

The breath returns to his lungs, but in exchange, screaming hot pain erupts at his arm and reverberates through every corner of his body. Each pain that flares and fades is replaced quickly by another. His mouth and the tip of his nose go numb. His vision cuts in and out. He is a boat tossed by angry waves, kept afloat solely by the light touch of Sakura’s fingertips.

“Don’t leave,” he hears himself say.

Her voice finds him like sunlight. “I won’t.”

“Do you hate me, Sakura?”

Not long ago, Sasuke hated her. The ache of hatred never left his chest. He hated her so much that her face sometimes replaced his nightmares, and he would wake up blinking away tears. He understands if she feels the same.

He never hears her response. A dark, turbulent quiet rushes over his head, and his old friend follows after him.

At dawn on the day his fever breaks, Sasuke floats awake, greeted by swirls of light floating on the inside of his eyelids. His body feels like his own, but different, like he’s been pulled apart and put back together in a different order. He curls his fingers—the numb tingle of phantom pain lights on one side. The fingers of his other hand tighten around something.

He opens his eyes to a world washed in soft grey. To Sakura’s sleeping face, her hair silver in the light. A dream? No, his mind doesn’t grant him peaceful dreams.

Her head rests tired and heavy on the edge of the bed. Between them lies their hands, tightly clasped, as if they met in a moment of turbulence and held on ever since. Long enough so he can’t distinguish her touch from his own. Flowers watch on the windowsill, shedding petals.

.

.

Sasuke plays more games of Go. Less needles are stuck into his arm. He begins to walk again. He feels fresh air on his face. Sakura’s visits continue like clockwork, until one morning she fails to walk through his door.

He sits and watches the birds as morning stretches into afternoon. The chair that has never left his bedside remains empty. After years apart, how quickly he’s grown accustomed to her presence. But this stretch of time is coming to a close. When he leaves the hospital, he doubts he will see her so often.

His window looks out onto the hospital roof, crisscrossed with pipes and exhaust vents, and a small sliver of the street. When the wind blows just right, the branches of a sakura tree wave into view, buds unfurling.

Hard as Sasuke tried to shunt away his past life, he could never escape the spring. The torture of falling petals, of green and pink. The world around him transformed as if to ensure he could never forget her.

Daylight is getting long when Sakura wobbles in, rubbing her eyes. “Hi.”

Sasuke’s spine straightens. “Hey.”

She sits in her spot by the bed, where he’s been playing a game of Go with himself. “How’s the game?”

“I’m losing,” he says.

Sakura smiles and shifts one of the white stones to a dangerous location. Warmth floods Sasuke’s chest, though now he’s certain to lose. Their hands move back and forth over the imaginary board, bold and quick.

Sakura yawns victoriously as she captures his last tile. “Another?”

Exhaustion shadows her eyes, but if he answers yes, she’ll delay sleep even longer. Does she ever sleep? Hospital staff are always wandering the halls to seek her opinion, or pull her into surgeries, or hand her a stack of paperwork. Yet she carves out a portion of her valuable time for him.

Sasuke shakes his head. But he’s not selfless enough to give up her company so soon. “How are you?”

Her tired gaze lifts and flicks away. A faint blush dusts her cheeks. Why? Is it strange for him to ask? He’s still ruminating when she answers. “I’m okay. It’s been a long day. Emergency surgery, complications, everything. I can’t remember the last time I slept…” Their fingers brush twice as they put away the game pieces. “I’m really sorry I couldn’t come earlier.”

“You don’t have to be sorry.”

Sakura leans against his bed and drops her head onto her arms. “Hope you didn’t miss me too much.”

What can he say? He did miss her.

Springtime has come again. The season used to drive him mad. The sakura flowering all at once, all over the continent, wherever he looked. The petals scattering like rain in the wind, catching in the folds of his cloak. The sight of blossoms on bare wood, crossing over his head in a blooming lattice. The five-petaled flowers, the five fingers of a hand he would never touch again. The color. It tested his patience, his devotion to his goal like nothing else.

Sasuke skims his fingers over the pink wave of her hair. He’s always wanted to, deep down. Sakura cracks open her eyes, catches him red-handed in his affection. He runs a thumb in the barest caress across her cheekbone. He is at his weakest in the spring.

“Come here,” he mumbles, fairly certain that she will. Terrified that she won’t.

“Where?” she whispers.

Sasuke lifts his chin. He rests his hand on the blanket. His fingertips burn from touching her. “Here.”

In the brief time between the break of his fever and the break of dawn, Sasuke was absent of all his guilt. He held onto Sakura’s hand, and fought sleep to experience the sensation for as long as possible. He did not deserve her, but he pretended he did.

Even as Sakura slides into the bed, rests her head in his lap, he cannot fully believe what he’s seeing. She presses closer to him, as if she wants to be close, and her eyes drift shut, as if his presence soothes her. A spell falls over Sasuke as he listens to her breathing. His hand lowers to her back.

Maybe, in the end, it’s as simple as she said. She loves him.

Sleepy green eyes blink open with a trace of shyness, of the girl that used to blush each time he spared her a glance. He will never admit how often he tested his powers. “You don’t mind?”

“No,” he says.

Sakura climbs higher. She folds her arms across his chest like he’s a pillow and tucks her cheek into the crook of her elbow. Sasuke’s heartbeat grows unsteady. Her hair smells the same, like jasmine.

Sasuke never imagined a future beyond his revenge, that his life could continue on and contain moments lit in a glow like sunlight through petals. Holding her awakens desires that have nothing to do with pain and sacrifice. He wants to stroke her hair until she falls asleep. He wants to visit her dreams. He wants even more. His chest aches in the way he once thought was hatred.

He touches her cheek, straightening out a lock of silky hair. She doesn’t stir.

Sasuke closes his eyes, and like he’s never had trouble with it before, dreams.

.

.

.

.

[mangasstuffcomics]

V jump releasesd this for Naruto 25 anniversary

And some it said this about the forehead poke

Greatest expression of love

Sasusaku

[madara-fate]

hi! first of all, i have to say i love your comments on sasusaku stuff, so that's why i came here. i don't know if you've talked about this before, but what are your thoughts on the forehead poke sasuke gives sakura on the end of the manga? i know some people try to downplay it, but for me that was such an important act from him - because it was something special he shared with itachi. so like, i don't think it's small or something that he would've done it with anyone. it's really special, no matter how you look at it

It was a hugely significant gesture from Sasuke, because Sasuke considered it a very comforting gesture of affection from Itachi who he loved greatly, because it showed that while Itachi couldn't be with Sasuke as often as he wanted to, he still greatly cared about him. Sasuke used it the same way - to signify to Sakura that while he needed to distance himself from her, she was still highly important to him. I disagree with certain SS fans who view the forehead poke as a romantic gesture on Sasuke's part because it really wasn't, but its general significance really shouldn't be understated.

[narutosway]

So funny how to me when people think of ships they automatically think they need to kiss to prove it you know reality that isn't true right I mean sure yeah people do kiss but there are also other ways to show being affectionate towards one another without showing it like that for people to think just because SasuSaku doesn't kiss that means oh obviously they're not together this may surprise you but even in the older days people didn't show kissing all that affectionate if you were old fashion SasuSaku has a different way of showing that they love each other and that is through of what Itachi showed Sasuke is with the forehead poke how hard is this to understand this

[lunaneko14]

sasuke fans, most specifically, sasusaku stans who hate on itachi make me boil, like as if ain't that the person Sasuke loved the most. like be frrrrrr.

They’re jealous that their self insert isn’t even thought about as much as Itachi.

And you’d think that the same fandom that totes around the forehead poke in 699 and Gaiden as an “act of love” would have more respect to its creator.

[sasunarualways]

when you just poke a girl in the forehead and now she thinks you love her

[nartml]

"Naruto and Sasuke are married to women, they are canonically straight."

Everytime I read this it makes me laugh. Its like those ppl know nothing about the real world and the amount of people who are in the exact situation.

It's probably the most annoying argument, right up there with "they're brothers" 💀💀

Yes, they're married, but that's not exactly the flex they think it is? Sasuke poked Sakura on the forehead (a gesture that symbolizes lies and primarily distance) then dipped for 12 years, didn't recognize his own kid, kept in contact with his beloved Naruto and not her, and even now that he's back he's still barely there. If that's what a love-filled, devoted marriage looks like to them, then I think they need to reevaluate their standards.

And as for Naruto? Bro somehow manages to be an absent father when he's right there in the same village, area and house as them.

That's impressive. He literally prefers headbands to going home, and he's slept on every. Available. Surface in his house; apart from his own bed next to his amazing wife ofc.

The epitome of happy and fulfilling marriages, don't you agree? 🥰😍

And yes, they have kids, but they don't seem to like them very much ngl 💀

I physically cannot comprehend how Sasusaku and Naruhina have a fan base; and such a large one at that

[daifukumochiin]

Summary: Sasuke's orderly life at elite Sairiumu Academy is disrupted by the arrival of Hinata, a timid transfer student whose obvious crush on him, a young man dedicated to his craft and his current relationship, stirs unease. (Initial SasuSaku with SasuHina endgame, modern Norse myth AU, high school, angst, romance, photography, postmodern-ish fic). Rated T

LIGHTS,

BOWS, and

MISTLETOES

an entry for SasuHina Month 2024, Day 27 : Forget and Remember

(for peachy-hina, since December)

@sasuhinamonth

ffnet: https://www.fanfiction.net/s/14369143/1/Lights-Bows-and-Mistletoes

ao3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/57030778

Part 1: Lights

go to Chapter List>

iii

It wasn't a baseless assumption.

Sakura wanted to ride the train home that day. For a magnate's princess like her, the commuter's daily struggle was a novelty.

"Let's hit the rush hour!" she said, eyes gleaming.

Sasuke huffed. "Don't wanna. The last time I was with you during rush hour, you left me at Hashirama’s bridge in the rain, remember?" 

"Oh, come on. That was different. We're taking the train. Forgive and forget, okay?" She pinched his nose playfully. "Don't you love what we have now? Isn't this better than before?"

Sasuke thought about the apartment she got for them. She broke up with him in a fit of rage after losing at an inter-high kyudo tournament. Now they shopped together, visited convenience stores late at night, and went to school holding hands.

"What about the car?" Sasuke asked.

"Park it near the station. We'll get it tomorrow."

Sasuke nodded, impressed. "Getting street smart, are we?"

"Of course," Sakura smiled, poking him in the ribs. "Learned from the best."

"But wouldn’t it be smarter to just drive? I have a lot to do. Plus the laundry—" He didn't mention her lack of help around the house, how that meant he had to squeeze in doing house chores for the both of them amid schoolwork and his creative projects.

"Oh!" Sakura smacked her glossed lips. "Make me one of those omelet rice you made last Sunday!"

"Were you listening?" Sasuke could only sigh and protested no further.

While they waited for the train at the subway station, Sasuke passed the time by observing the other commuters, the play of light and shadow across faces, making diagnoses which club camera he'd use, which lens, and the camera settings. Then a figure briefly caught his attention—a flash of dark indigo hair that stood apart from the muted tones of the crowd.

Hinata Hyuuga.

How had she managed to track them down here?

No Sairiumu student would normally be found in subways mingling with common people.

How long does she intend to keep stalking him?

He has a girlfriend—shouldn't that deter her enough?

Does she know where they live?

He’s had the worst experience with stalkers that do and his parents didn’t even know. They left messages on his window sill and inside the flower pots on his balcony, and he always felt like he was being watched everywhere.

Suddenly, Sasuke's fight-or-flight response went haywire. His pulse quickened as questions swirled in his mind, his fingers turning cold.

"Take one like this."

Sakura's voice snapped him out of it. She embodied a sultry pose with the subtle tilt of her head towards the direction of the incoming train, her eyes appearing soft and drowsy, her lips not fully closed.

"Or perhaps this?" She adjusted her hair, fingers combing through it to the side.

Sasuke looked around but couldn't see Hinata anymore.

"What's the matter?" asked Sakura.

"Nothing."

"You looked spooked."

Sasuke shrugged. "No way."

"Well, if it's nothing, don't miss this chance. Who knows when I'll be in the mood to come down here again? Come on, take a photo." She motioned towards herself.

Sasuke pulled out his phone, adjusting for the best lighting and how shadows fell across Sakura's face as he framed the shot. While he scanned over the details in the background, she hadn’t been noticeable, blending into the bustling crowd waiting on the platform. Only when he zoomed in did he spot Hinata, partially obscured behind Sakura, her presence almost ghostly against the backdrop of the arriving subway train.

More people rushed onto the platform as the rails clattered against the weight of the incoming train. 

Sakura grabbed his phone. 

“Wait—!”

"Not bad. Needs a little editing." Sakura made a face. "Post this on your Dinsta."

"No," Sasuke answered abruptly, regretting it immediately.

"Are you saying it's ugly?" Sakura asked, irritated.

“We need to go."

He grabbed her wrist as they joined into the sweep of the crowd boarding the train. 

The doors shut, the cubicle crammed on every side. Sakura's bright, electrifying peach perfume mixed in with the various other human odors assaulted his nostrils.

"Isn't this romantic?" Sakura giggled, her body fully pressed into him.

"Too hot and too crammed is romantic now?" Sasuke smirked.

The train suddenly jerked, causing Sasuke to step back and unintentionally bump into someone behind him. When he glanced over his shoulder to apologize, he froze—it was Hinata Hyuuga. The indigo dome of her hair brushed against his scapula, faintly emanating an unexpected blueberry scent.

So that's what she smelled like... Tenderly sweet—fruity, with a hint of tartness that lulls one into lowering defenses—clean and crisp, like the freshness of morning dew on flowers when he'd camp out for landscape photos in the prairies of Mist region. The blend of natural sweetness and subtle floral notes was almost comforting in its familiarity, and he felt an immediate easing of the tension in his nerves.

It’s a well-known fact that scent influences animal perception and behavior, and Sasuke couldn’t help but think: what a sly, underhanded girl.

Did she deliberately choose this scent to disarm him?

Was it her strategy to make him perceive her as kind and harmless, despite her stalking?

He almost wanted to laugh.

He'd hate to break it to her, but such tactics wouldn't work on him. 

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[davekat-sucks]

Like people write Hinata from Naruto having an affair so he can end up being with Sakura instead.

I would compare it more to fans writing Naruto and Sasuke cheating on their wives to be with each other, that's far more common. And, listen, to be fair here, Naruhina and Sasusaku are the m/f version of Rosemary/Davekat and Vrisrezi respectively. So honestly it'd be hypocritical of me to deny that I think hs2 Karkat cucking Dave with Sollux would be hilarious and karmic justice.

But yeah most Dirkjake stans are vicious towards Jane and Roxy. Same goes for Davekat with Jade and Terezi. I will never forget how they victim blamed Terezi and said she left Dave/Karkat for Gamzee, or how they blamed Jade for 'getting in between davekat' or how they ignore that Act6!Lobotomized!Dave said her childhood wasn't awful or as isolating as his.

Anyways, Naruto x Karkat, aka "Talk no Jutsu" is better than davekat

That's what even Caliborn's drawings were poking fun of too. People who ship Davekat would have either the girls killed or act OOC to make sure they are shown to not be good enough to be paired with the guys. And yet, it was lost on the Davekat fujoshi even to this day. And I have a feeling this kind of same moment of the guys getting together because the girls acting like bitches is happening again for Homestuck Beyond Canon. Not only with Davekat by making Jade OOC, but Jane as well for DirkJake. They will do this in BOTH Candy and Meat Timelines.

Naruto x Karkat aka TALK NO JUTSU is better than Davekat.

[shiningstars-world]

Sasusaku doesn't make sense 😭😭 no matter how hard you try to put a lovely song on them to make it bearable, the song won't match with them😭

Like you want to put a lovely song on the moment where sasuke used the brotherly forehead poke on her? Or when she fell and he catches it? Or the eye contact? Or when he apologized to her? Or thanked her? Like only these 3 bold panels and not more?

Sns have countless better panels and dialogues than them.... actually the point is, at least sns make sense!!

Here sasuke calling her annoying and shut her down and refuse her help/love confession

Meanwhile calling Naruto he's one and only

That's the difference!

[uchihaculture]

What’s your favorite moment from gruvia and sasusaku ?

sasusaku: cursed mark hug & forehead poke

gruvia: juvia’s sacrifice for gray