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bakugoushotwife · 1 year

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inextricable p3 Sasuke xFem!Uchiha!Reader)

a/n: thank you guys for your patience in waiting on this last part! I will be releasing the angst ending later today and will link it to this post for convenience later!! i also have to thank you for voting in how this part should turn out and overall even reading these!! this has by far been my favorite series and makes me want to do more in the future! also also, I was thinking about making this expandable if I get more requests, so you can request specific moments for the Uchiha Princess like Kakashi finding out she's pregnant or more on Sasuke and Y/N's stay in the Sand!

cw: violence, death, fighting, mentions of sex nothing crazy, pregnancy, etc. not proofread so shoot me

wc: 17, 212

part one // part two

He was thinking about you. He wondered what you would think if you could see him like this, teeming with rage and anguish. Ever since he was told about the truth, since he shared that truth with you, he hasn’t been able to stop the rage brewing inside him. He watched his brother die, he helped kill him. He endured three days worth of suffering in his brother’s genjutsu, watching helplessly as his parents died over and over. His brain was so damaged when they found him, it took a Tsunade miracle to piece him back together. He lost his best friend, separated in order for him to foster this hatred in order to carry out this revenge. He has done what his brother wanted: he has activated his mangekyo and stalked the man with the most to do with assigning Itachi this mission. Yet still, he yearns for your company. He wants you to see the man that wrecked your life too. He wants to help get your revenge too. But you’ve always been so much calmer, he guesses that was Kakashi’s influence. Would you join him in this crusade? No. You’ve tried to talk him off the ledge several times, you would be appalled with his behavior. That realization hurts a little bit, hurts in a different way than everything else. Itachi engineered him to be a being of hate, knowing that someone would stop him from going too far. Does he think Kakashi or Naruto have the capability? Did Itachi prepare for that person to be you?

He knows that the newly-recognized Hokage Danzo will be in the Land of Iron, that all five kage would be in fact. He didn’t initially plan on a visit to the Leaf, but the opportunity to see you again weighed heavily on him. He just wanted a chance to talk to you in person. To try and convince you one last time to join his revenge tour. He could teach you more and keep you safer than Kakashi can. You are the last of the Uchiha, you are inextricably bound to him. He needs you, this is meant to be a journey for two. You would come to him this time, he’s sure. You may disagree with his methods, but he remembers you swearing your allegiance to him, telling him with big teary eyes how much you missed him. Surely that would outweigh any anger you have. That’s why he sent Madara ahead to scope you out in the Leaf, to make sure you were safe and well cared for. So imagine the surprise, the pride, the wide amalgamation of anxiety and something close to fear that Sasuke experiences whenever Madara comes back to report the antithesis of what he had expected.

“The Sharingan Princess is not in the Leaf.”

Sasuke’s head whipped toward the masked man. “What? Not in the Leaf? Where is she?” He asks in rapid succession, getting to his feet.

Madara held his hands up in uncertainty. “Who’s to say? She seems to be cloaking her chakra very cleverly. She’s been listed as a deserter in the Bingo Books.”

Sasuke narrows his eyes in confusion, his mind reeling. He couldn’t figure out what would make you leave so suddenly, he hadn’t had the chance to speak with you in months, too focused on his plans. Had you become so worried you came to look for him? “Were you able to find out why she left?” He asks in more of a statement, expecting the man to provide more information.

You could hear the smile in the masked man’s deep voice. “Pain attacked the Leaf. It seems many died in the initial attack, including your lady's father. Naruto Uzumaki was able to get Nagato to reno-rebirth them all, but it seems our Green Goddess of the Leaf left before that happened. They haven’t seen her since. Naruto Uzumaki keeps making efforts to find her, no luck. It’s believed that Y/N Uchiha has obtained the Mangekyo Sharingan with an ability similar to Shisui’s dangerous Kotoamatsukami.”

Sasuke’s rendered speechless. You’ve been on the run for several months, with Mangekyo powers and with a renewed sense of hatred? He had to find you. His mission to the Iron seemed incomplete now, and he couldn’t risk the Leaf finding you first. He glanced at the other members of his team and sighed.

“We have to find her first.”

Madara chuckled. “No need. It seems the Last Uchiha Princess was searching for you, and found you indeed.” He says, stepping aside to reveal your form. Time slowed to a stop, he swears. Your hair had returned to its full black, all the traces of dye long gone. The moon’s beams gave you an angelic glow. Your shinobi headband was gone .Two swords crisscrossed in sheaths on your back. Your eyes shined the color of blood, the symbol of your Mangekyo made his lips spread into a grin. You were beautiful, just as he knew you would be from his crows over their many visits. Revenge and anger flowed through you freely, and he thought that looked good on you.

A girl with bright red hair and eyes stepped forward with her arms crossed. She looked at you with malice. Your eyes snapped to her. “Whatever you’re thinking about saying to me, don’t.”

Sasuke nearly chuckles. Your presence was like medicine, and he was relieved to know your ferocity remained intact.

Karin frowned at your words, and the shark-featured boy next to her giggled lightly. “Oh don’t mind her, Y/N,” He says, as if you’re old friends, “She’s probably just wondering how you found us.”

“I could detect Sasuke’s chakra even if he repressed it to zero.” You reply flatly. “Plus, I ran into this guy and followed him back up here.” You add, still eyeing the girl analyzing you. Her eyes flickered back to Sasuke, who was watching you carefully. You smirk at her, tracking her eyes. “Hey, girl.” You chuckle, the smile on your face vicious, eyes crazy. “Don’t try it.” You say as sweetly as you can manage, clapping her on the shoulder and moving towards your old friend.

She frowns, the smile on Sasuke’s face as you come closer was unmistakable mostly because he had never smiled so widely before. Suigetsu elbows her, distracting her from watching your every move.

Your smile wasn’t missable either, and you did have to repress the urge to wrap your arms around him and cry out in relief. However, given the reputation you’ve both acquired, it would be in bad taste. It’s been years, four to be exact, since you last laid eyes on him. He’s perfect, tall and well-built. Your cheeks grow warmer as you realize just how beautiful he has grown. It’s also like no time has passed, his chakra presence putting your nervous heart at ease. He holds his hand out with a small half-smile. You never look away from his eyes as you gently place your palm in his. You turn your eyes off, returning his tiny grin. The moment felt intimate despite all the other people gathered in the hideout. The truth was the two of you had been imagining this moment for years, wondering when you’d find yourselves together again. He looked at you gently, with all the love left in his mangled dark heart. “I’ve missed you.”

“I’ve missed you too.” You say plainly, you’re both walking a fine line of collapsing into all your emotions and showing none at all. You felt vulnerable, and in front of Sasuke that was alright, but in front of all these new and dangerous Akatsuki members, you wanted to look strong. Because you are, the months that passed proved fruitful for your talents.

“I’m glad you’re okay.” He adds after, his thumb stroking the back of your hand mindlessly.

“It’s good to see you safe.” You say, essentially the same message. We’re alive and back together.

He makes a nervous chuckle of some sort. He thought it was interesting that you considered him safe, he was a rogue nin and now you were too. “I’m..sorry. About Kakashi.”

Your grip on his hand loosened momentarily. The memory of his death flashes before your eyes and you're forcing yourself to smile gratefully. “I appreciate it…it truly was the last straw.”

“Do you think he would support you?” Sasuke asks, more out of own curiosity since he knows that Kakashi is alive. He feared you finding this information out, would you flock back to him?

You nod. “Kakashi specifically asked me to leave the village just before he was killed. I have to believe that he knew I would come to you.” You answer truthfully, able to talk yourself into believing that your adoptive father’s support and love for you could never waver.

He hums at your response. Perhaps you were right, it was a calculated risk that the Sensei took on his deathbed. It was desperate, but it made sense. Kakashi knows you well, he knew the craving for revenge that brewed in your heart and he wanted you to satiate it safely. Maybe he knew that the other Uchiha would never hurt you, maybe he just hoped that was the case. Either way, Kakashi would be stupid to think you wouldn’t search for the only other person that mattered to you.

“How did you find my chakra?”

You smirk again, proud of yourself. “I’ve told you, dear Sasuke, I’m very strong.”

He matches your expression, knowing that with his Mangekyo where it was as of now, you were probably just as prodigious as him. “I know you’re powerful, Y/N. I want to know the specifics.”

“I have insane chakra control and tracking abilities from my senseis.” You say, moving your bangs to show him the seal on your forehead. “I found an old friend of yours…name’s Kabuto.” You share with a shrug, watching Sasuke raise his eyebrow in interest. “He told me about Danzo...the man that ruined our lives. Apparently there’s a Kage Summit in the Iron, I knew you’d be around here somewhere. I could sense all the chakra pooling and then I saw Madara standing down there, almost like he knew I was coming.”

“Interesting indeed, I wonder why Kabuto felt inclined to help you.” He says, truly just wondering out loud.

“Same reason anyone does, power. He’ll be an issue later.”

Sasuke is markedly impressed. You had a variety of different talents and abilities, and though you may never be as strong as he was, he doubts many could ever be as strong as you are. And for a time, you were inarguably stronger. He was glad he never sparred with you. Your prowess in most fields made you borderline invincible. Perhaps Kakashi was no slouch after all.

“You’ve unlocked your Mangekyo.” He states, but his brow is raised like he wants you to add further comment.

You nod, hand still in his warm one, eyes still locked. “Kakashi’s death.”

He nods, the intensity of his gaze makes you feel like a precious jewel under his microscope. “I see. Your abilities?”

“Similar to Shisui’s. I don’t have full blown mind control, but I can move the body and speak with the mouth. They usually don’t remember anything that happens.” You reply with a broad grin, now this was something you definitely were proud of. "My other eye lets me cast my jutsu effects on others. So if I put someone in a genjutsu, they see my delayed sense on me and whoever I touch."

Once again he has to fight a chuckle. It felt weird, the odd rhythm of his heart as he looked at you with such fondness unfamiliar to everyone else. The other Akatsuki decided to give you some time to catch up, much to Karin’s dismay. They went to make preparations for their short journey into the Iron. This left the two of you standing alone in a cliffside cave, staring at each other in hopes it said everything you wanted to say.

“Have you performed a susano’o yet?” He wonders where the limits of your expertise were without Kakashi there to guide you.

You shake your head. “I haven’t needed to, you know how it goes.”

He nods. “That’s good, but you’ll need it soon.” He says with a hint of his familiar arrogance.

It makes you smile this time though, and you nod in agreement. “Alright, noted.” You hum, your smile so warm and genuine that it’s hard for him to imagine you as you were when you entered the cave. He takes time to admire your features, the arch of your brow and the pink dusting your cheeks. He notices the stress lines forming under your eyes, which makes him frown. But mostly he notices the purple headband on top of your dark hair and the purple earrings you wear, complete with purple bracelets. It was interesting, your clothes all black, he felt the need to comment his thoughts.

“I thought I was purple and you were green?” He asks, the ode to childhood seemingly out of place given your current conversation of power.

You touch the headband with your free hand, almost like you knew that’s why he said anything at all. “Oh. I guess I was. I just like the familiarity of purple.”

The sentiment in your voice hits him like a ton of bricks. He had noticed the headband before, thinking it was some sort of reminder of him. But it ran much deeper than that, the headband was your prized possession. It gave you lines to both Sasuke and Kakashi, made you feel close to them. You needed no reminder of him, you needed a connection. He thinks of the way his chest tightened every time he saw something in the same deep green of your tricycle, the same shade of your chakra, the bright lime. It put your face in his mind each time it happened. His hand squeezes yours, suddenly refocused on the lack of a normal childhood he had, you had, what you two could have had together.

“We’ll kill him. For Itachi, for Shisui.”

You nod. “For our parents, for the entire clan.”

Naruto slams his fist on the wall, clearly frustrated and guilty. He can’t find you. He can’t find Sasuke, though, even he is smart enough to assume you two are together. Losing Sasuke crushed him. He loved him like his own brother, even though he never really knew how that felt. He saw Sasuke’s strength and wanted to surpass it, make a name for himself and become Hokage. But how could he do that if he can’t protect the people he loves? Losing you was a devastating blow. You were family, his love for you hard to quantify. You were the sunshine of Konoha, how could you leave?

Kakashi insists it’s his fault, though it’s easy to see his grief wearing on him. He told you to leave the village. At that point, he was scared for your life. He just wanted you to get away, preferably finding Naruto. He should have been smarter than that, but in that moment of weakness he’s able to admit he thought about the possibility of you going to Sasuke. He wasn’t angry, nor would he say he’s necessarily disappointed. It’s hard to put a name on this feeling, other than guilt. He’s sad, and he’s worried about what this means for the future, but he knows if you were here right now he would sigh with relief and hug you close.

“Don’t be too hard on yourself, Naruto.” Kakashi breathes, trying to hold tightly to the students he had left. He can see how this weighs heavily on the young man, his face tightened up as he tried not to scream and cry.

“My friends! What have I learned if I can’t even keep my friends in the village?!”

“It has nothing to do with you, Naruto..” Kakashi says in comfort, his own heart panging at the sentiment. What kind of Dad am I if I can’t keep her in the village? “They…have their own troubles to deal with. In time, we will get them back. I don’t think he’ll hurt her.” Kakashi adds, hoping to ease some of Naruto’s worries.

The blond widens his eyes, looking at the last teammate. “He’s tried to kill Sakura twice!”

“He won’t.” Kakashi repeats, more sternly this time, trying to convey a message behind the simple statement. He was trying to say, ‘Yeah, well, Sakura isn’t his childhood friend and last lady Uchiha either. She doesn’t matter to him the same way Y/N does.’

Naruto’s lips tightened in a thin line, seemingly dissatisfied with Kakashi’s urgency. “Aren’t you worried sick? She’s an enemy of the village now!”

This was true, as a deserter there were no exceptions. Classified as a SS threat, there was nothing he could do to lower your profile now. All you had were enemies, in a way, Kakashi was hoping you did make it to Sasuke. He tried to sway Tsunade, explaining that he told you to leave, but it was no use. The Lady Hokage was visibly upset by this as well, a mentor to you in your teenage years. He knew it would take work, but he knew he could get you admitted back into the village after some time. Even if you had to serve a small sentence, it would be better than living as a rogue nin for all your days. He only wished there was a way to find you, but you knew how to hide. He had taught you. And you didn’t even know he was alive, if only he could talk to you.

“Of course I’m worried about her future, but I’m not worried about her safety at the moment. It would be wiser to come up with some sort of plan.”

“Go on, take it.” Your best friend says, holding out a red crane fashioned from folded paper. He had made you all kinds of things, a paper purple rose, a gray elephant, an orange cat. He never looked you in the eye when he handed you the little trinket, almost like he was embarrassed.

You smile softly, gently taking the bird from him and inspecting it. He really was quite good at origami, and you wondered when he learned how to do this. “Thank you Sasuke.”

“Mm.” He grunts in acknowledgement, fingers busy working on yet another paper craft.

“I wish I knew how to make you something, I feel so useless over here.” You chuckle, setting the crane down next to his other creations.

He sighed, like it was a dumb thing to say. “You are giving me something.”

You hum in amusement, thinking about what he could mean. You two rarely spoke in lengthy flows, much of your communication was non-verbal or through a system of subtle noises. “I’m stumped.”

He looks into your eyes this time, and slides his latest design across the mountain-side hideout floor.You arch your brow and notice the light shade of pink dusting his cheeks and nose bridge. You look down at his symbol of affection, a green paper heart under your fingers.

“You came to me, that’s quite the gift.”

It’s your turn to heat up. You knew you couldn’t tease him like your first instinct is to, since he’s being so vulnerable, but it also made you feel a tad exposed. “You have a point there.” You hum, deciding to combine both approaches. “Does this mean this qualifies as the date you said you would take me on when you saw me again?”

It’s no wonder that neither of you are well versed in the language of feelings and human emotion. All you knew was that Sasuke meant more to you than anyone in the world.

A couple beats of silence pass, and he hums in approval. “Yes.”

The three of you stand on the bridge, carefully watching as Danzo Shimura unravels the heavy bandaging around his arm. When he drops the gauze, Karin gasps. His right arm was riddled with the sharingan of your dead clan. Your eyes narrow in anger, the pit in your stomach impossible to ignore. These are the deep seeds of hatred, and you are letting them grow. Sasuke’s eyes widen and then squint in disgust, the stare in his eyes as dark as they come.

His regular sharingan analyzed the mutative arm his enemy possessed, and with a menacing tone he asked, “How did you get those eyes in your right arm?”

Danzo looked unbothered, the eye visible to his challengers closed, the other side bandaged up in similar fashion to his arm. It made you feel as if he were hiding more of your clan’s eyes under there. You searched to find Shisui’s, determined to take it back, but you couldn’t see it easily. That was to be expected, your brother’s Kotoamatsukami was easily one of the most powerful Mangekyo abilities to be had, and your training on your own had discovered it was much the same. You could now influence thoughts as well as control the body, you could choose when to release it, and it was only penetrable by other genjutsu. Still, it would be nice to have your brother’s eyes back in your family and usable for your Eternal Mangekyo. It was clear either way that the man before the Last of the Uchiha severely underestimated the power of each of you individually.

“Through various means, it would take too long to describe.” He answers nonchalantly.

“Any explanation would have upset me more.” Sasuke says with a stern frown. He closes his eyes. “Forget it. I’ve decided to kill you. Y/N, stay back unless I need you.” He says, to which you nod affirmatively. You would step in if his chakra was running out, as your chakra control and storage made you tireless. He nods back, satisfied with your answer. “Before that, let me ask one thing: Is it true that Itachi Uchiha eliminated our clan by order of the Elders?”

Danzo doesn’t respond. He simply starts weaving hand signs and staring blankly at him, and then he runs. He sprints full speed straight at Sasuke, reeling his arm back for a chakra packed punch. It’s stopped by a purple wall of Sasuke’s chakra.

“Part of a susano’o..” You wonder softly aloud.

Danzo stumbles back in surprise. The fist of Sasuke’s summons sweeps Danzo into the air and threatens to crush him.

“So this is the Susano’o.” The old man groans, obviously struggling for breath in this chakra hold. The fist starts to squeeze inward. You’re standing off to the side, not quite able to read Sasuke’s expression, but his raised voice tells you everything you need to know.

“I’m going to ask one more time. Is it true that Itachi Uchiha eliminated my clan by order of the Elders?” His voice thunders, larger than you’ve ever heard before.

Danzo looks at you, clearly unfocused on Sasuke’s line of questioning.

“I’m asking if it’s true!” Sasuke roars again, demanding his attention. The Susano’o’s fist tightens once more, and you’re sure Danzo’s bones will start to break soon. You smile at this, knowing it is kinder than what he deserves. Danzo grunts out, the pain clear. “Answer me!”

“I–I didn’t think he was that kind of man.” The Leaf’s Hokage says with a trace of disgust. Sasuke gasps softly at his words. “Damn Itachi. I see he revealed everything to you before he died. As I thought it seems that you are truly special, that younger sister of Shisui as well.”

Sasuke seems stunned, lost in thought momentarily. You’re thinking of the night of the massacre, what Itachi said to him then. He made hate his driving emotion in hopes of this, this revenge that’s happening right before your very eyes. He built Sasuke himself, pushing him as far as he could go to increase his power. Did he do this for you as well? Did he know that you would become such a powerhouse yourself, was he expecting you to be part of this retribution?

Surely. Itachi was nothing if not meticulous and intelligent. He could basically see the potential future, and he figured out exactly how to play the cards to his game. He knew. He knew there was nothing he could do to keep the two of you apart forever. He just needed it to happen long enough for Sasuke to breed this strong emotion in his chest. He needed you to learn under talented teachers until the day you came back to serve in avenging the Uchiha.

Itachi and Shisui were betrayed by the shinobi world, abused and thrown away like nothing. You find yourself clutching your fists and begging for a chance at one of the men that made it all happen.

“Answer me!” Sasuke’s voice cuts through your hazy train of thought.

“I…I didn’t think Itachi was the kind of man who would reveal secrets.” Danzo says, genuinely frustrated that Itachi dared to share their corrupt ways.

“Does that mean it’s true?” Sasuke asks calmly.

You watch as his susano’o grows in power. The formerly bony skeleton mass of purple chakra became strapped in muscle and flesh, eyes glowing like two stars in its skull. You marvel at the creation, grinning at what you would be able to accomplish in time. Who knows, maybe you would get the chance to try it out against this pile of trash. Sasuke stands proudly before his susano’o, knowing he’s effectively bulletproof. Karin gasps and covers her face in fear, making you roll your eyes. And she hoped to be with Sasuke? Sakura was more bold.

“Self-sacrifice…That’s what epitomizes a shinobi. Never seeing the light of day. Toiling in the shadows. It is as it was in the past. That is what a true shinobi is.It describes not only Itachi. Countless other ninja have died the same way. Niceties alone will not make the world go round. Peace was attained all because of people like him.” He says, almost generous in the way he speaks. That demeanor quickly turned sour. “People like you who misunderstood Itachi’s intentions couldn’t possibly understand. Still, for Itachi to reveal such a secret to you makes him a traitor to the Leaf.”

Upon hearing those words, Sasuke’s Susano’o fully closes his fist around the man, and your eyes widen slightly as the blood oozes out from its palm.

“Don’t say anymore about Itachi!” Sasuke said, staring at the dangling corpse of Danzo.

“You’re right…Then let us proceed to a battle of the eyes.” Danzo’s voice rang out from behind him, kunai drawn. Sasuke whips his head around, Mangekyo fully displayed, Susano’o surrounding him. Danzo charges again, attempting to plunge the blade into the chakra shield.

You were astounded that the fool was even alive, knowing it had to be some kind of ability related to the sharingan he stole. But even you had to laugh aloud at his pathetic attempt at piercing a Susano’o. Karin looked at you wearily, and you just shrugged. It was a terrible move.

“As expected…Susano’o.” Danzo says as if the gigantic chakra skeleton man did not tell him that it was a Susano’o. You cover your mouth so as to not laugh again. “Just the thing to protect yourself.”

At just the moment he finished speaking, Sasuke’s susano’o dropped a pile of rocks likely from the landscaping above. It landed right on top of Danzo, yet you felt as if he would somehow escape this death too. You watched as the debris cleared, focused on Sasuke and his chakra levels. He was using quite a bit with his Mangekyou and Susano’o. You needed to figure out what kind of jutsu Danzo was using and quickly, to end this for good.

“The power in its attack is as expected.” Danzo says, you and Karin quickly look to the side of you. There he stood, up on a carved stone tower a few hundred feet away. Sasuke stared at him, you could tell he was working to sort it out just as you were, but the emotion he felt was getting harder and harder to ignore.

You knew this couldn’t be a genjutsu. You were extremely resistant and everyone’s chakra remained undisturbed. It had to be some unique ability connected to one or all of the sharingan in his right arm. Sasuke’s Susano’o had only formed from the spine up, yet it had the balance to rear back a punch to the tower, sending Danzo flying on a lifeboat of a stone slab under his feet. He landed on the ground below, just in time for another punch from the chakra being. Fog from the debris clouded your vision and flew towards you both, Karin screaming out in fear. Against better judgment, you wrap your fingers around her wrist and reluctantly pull her out of the way with you.

You turn your regular Sharingan on, searching for Sasuke within his Susano’o. You see him fly towards the head of his summons, and you hear the faint deep rumble of, “Amaterasu.”

You sigh, knowing he would be even more depleted by this, and Danzo would know that too. The fog clears enough for you to see the Elder being consumed by the signature black flames of Sasuke’s Mangekyo ability. Danzo plummets to the ground in agony as Sasuke lands back on his feet with his chakra shield summon dissipating around him.

You can see how tired he is, and you begin to worry. He’s been using his Mangekyo all this time, it had to be bleeding or close to it. His body heaved with heavy breath, yet you knew this still was not over. Effectively the third time he had killed the Hokage, but it was not over. You and Karin scanned for his chakra presence, shouting in unison, “Sasuke, behind you!”

“Wind Style: Vacuum Bullets!” Danzo shouts as he weaves his hand signs to activate the jutsu. It sends several compressed air bullets flying Sasuke’s way, and you wince as once slices open the top layer of skin on his arm. It shatters the rocks as he flies through the air to avoid them, sending himself flying over the bridge.

“Sasuke!” Karin cries out, moving towards him. Your hold on her wrist keeps her in place, she looks at you with confusion.

“He’s not an idiot, he has a plan.” You promise, eyes focused on the scene.

Before you know it, Sasuke is rising before you, standing on the back of a giant hawk. Karin sighs in relief, but you just smile smugly. You never doubted him for a minute.

Danzo chuckles. “Amaterasu. It’s been a while since I last saw that. You are Itachi’s younger brother after all.”

It’s now that you can see his face that you confirm your earlier suspicions. His left eye is already bleeding. He hovers in the air on the bird, crouched on its head. Your eyes flicker between him and the enemy, watching as an eye closes on the back of his arm. That had to be significant.

“You’ve taken over Itachi’s jutsu.” Danzo observes, just serving as kindling for Sasuke’s fire.

“I told you never to speak of Itachi again!” He reminds not-so-politely.

“Brothers with the same ability…Yet, what your eyes perceive is so different. I wonder if the sister of Shisui is the same. The truth about them doesn’t matter to you. You direct your hatred at whomever you can lay your hands on. You two make the sacrifice of the Uchiha Clan meaningless.” He spits, holding that disgusting right arm over his face.

Sasuke snarls. “You have no right to talk about the Uchiha!” His bird soars toward the man standing on the bridge, his hand gripping his sword. Danzo begins to weave more hand signs.

“Wind Style: Vacuum Blast!” This attempt sends some of the debris towards the hawk, which the rogue nin easily evades by jumping off and pulling his sword in the air. Sasuke scans for him in the smoke, catching the spinning shuriken hurled his way. He easily evades this as well, bending backwards out of line of danger and flipping himself to a safer position. He positions his sword in front of his face and spots Danzo atop a large rock pillar. He sends two more rounds of spinning shuriken Sasuke’s way. He catches one on the tip of his sword and sends the other one flying in the air. You notice the screech of his hawk, as if he was instructed to do something here. Sasuke slings his sword, sending the rotating weapon back to the sender. Danzo knocks it upwards, watching as it takes a chunk of rock off hurtling toward the spot where he stood. He had no choice but to move towards Sasuke. The Uchiha jumped toward him, hopeful of landing a blow with his sword, but Danzo caught him by his neck.

Your eyes widen in anxiousness, Karin once again pathetically screams his name. The hawk screeches again, and you see the missing shuriken from earlier come back into play, slicing Danzo’s arm and allowing Sasuke to strike yet another fatal blow. You inched forward, hoping this was the final time. How many times could Danzo use whatever it was he was using? Surely he would be done soon. Karin elbows you as another eye on his right arm closes.

“It’s like they represent his lives, almost.” You say, to which she nods.

“No way!” She says, prompting you to follow her eyesight up to where Danzo once again stood above you all on one of the only carved pillars remaining.

“It’s useless.” Danzo says to Sasuke once more. The wind blows across Sasuke’s face, moving his hair to let you see the serious glimmer to his eyes. He would not give up, you would have to join him yourself when he got too tired. His eyes widened again, and out from his body came a murder of crows. Danzo seemed genuinely thrown off by this, searching wildly around him, coming face to face with the figure of Itachi.

“Th-this is…Itachi?” The man asked, staring at the sharingan of the boy gone too soon.

Itachi stares blankly at him, more crows circle overhead.

From the ground, you watch Sasuke’s chakra dwindle even more as he says,”Die…Amaterasu.”

Danzo is consumed in flame yet again, but now you begin to expect his scheming survival. “I commend you for placing me under genjutsu.”

Sasuke capitalized, taking the time that he had for Danzo to be distracted to appear behind him, sword nearly pressed into his back.

“However…” He knew Sasuke was there. He realizes this truth too, grimacing. The blade of the sword dropped a little.

“Sasuke! Now’s your chance! Why did you stop?” Karin yells, and you want to punch her for her stupidity.

“He can’t move.” You say, the answer is obvious to you. And sure enough, a curse mark burns its way up Sasuke’s body.

“I was aware of your genjutsu long ago. It is a far cry from Itachi’s powerful Tsukuyomi in which he freely manipulated time.” Danzo says dismissively, he’s growing arrogant.

It’s clear that Danzo placed this mark when he touched Sasuke earlier, and you didn’t come this far to watch him lose. This is what you were here for, it was time for you to take over. You turn your eyes to Mangekyo, ready to throw your version of Kotoamatsukami down. You feel a hand on your shoulder before you can focus, causing you to turn toward the figure.

Seemingly, Karin had the same hopes to help as you did, mindlessly running up the pillar and subsequently being plainly kicked off. She lands in a pile of rocks with a loud whine, and you fight a smirk.

You shrug the hand off your shoulder, faced with Madara Uchiha. You sigh at him.

“He needs to do this on his own, it’s Itachi’s will.”

“Sometimes I think you’re just making shit up for your own benefit. Itachi doesn’t want him to die!” You argue back with a faint snarl.

Once again, you can hear the fondness coating his voice. “Oh, dear Y/N, have some faith.” Madara encourages, eye flickering between the fighting above and you. It was apparent that someone had to keep you back, or else you would prevent Sasuke’s growth. Danzo makes eye contact with you both on the ground, seemingly deep in thought.

You sigh and fold your arms over your chest, pouting like a child. “I deserve revenge too.”

Madara nods. “And you will have it, my dear. We both want to see Sasuke at his fullest potential. He cannot do that if you save him now.”

You bite the inside of your lip and nod. “Fine.”

But Madara is not dumb, he won’t leave you unattended now.

“He’s your ultimate mistake.” The words from above caught your attention, watching with true fear as he swung Sasuke’s own blade toward his paralyzed body. You jump, but Madara’s arms stop you.

You gasp. The Susano’o reappears, much bigger and sturdier than before. It burns a mass of purple flamed chakra, the skeleton becomes armored and stands tall. Sasuke lets out a guttural yell, and you can tell his chakra stores are expanding, as if he’s leveled up his hatred yet again. The curse mark fades, and he gains control of his own body.

Danzo sucks in a breath and flies through the air. He tries to stay out of reach of the Susano’o, landing on the remnants of the bridge in front of the armored mass. Sasuke shoots an arrow of pure chakra at the man. He looks as if he’s about to weave, but then abandons it in favor of summoning a massive tree to absorb the blow.

“Wood style?” You hum to yourself, amused and confused. You notice how his chakra has plummeted with the attack as well, making you take a sigh of relief. It all makes sense to you, something Tsunade showed you a long time ago. Hashirama cells…it must be to manipulate the powers of the sharingan. He must be getting close to his last few extra lives, and that’s why he’s getting desperate.

“Sasuke! That’s the real Danzo! The jutsu that makes him invincible is broken right now!” Karin yells out, making you hum. She was smarter than she acted. “He’s vulnerable!”

That makes you slap your hand over your face. If she figured it out, if you figured it out, that means he had figured it out too. The last thing he needed was her advertising that he knew.

Danzo’s seals were fast, but Sasuke raced to hit him with another purple beam of chakra. He was clearly exhausted, one eye closed it was ailing him so badly. He was breathing hard, trying to accomplish his one true goal for the two of you. He felt rejuvenated, having you there to watch. He didn’t want you to fight. As good as you were, he hoped he could prove to you that he could defeat anyone on his own.

Karin celebrates, but you hold your breath.

Surely, Danzo reanimates just next to the spot he was standing in. You look at Karin, she had figured out his chakra levels were fluctuating just as you had.

“The key has to be in the eyes that close. Maybe they’re used up for the time being?” You hypothesize aloud.

“Sasuke!” Karin brainlessly calls again, causing you to grab her and shake her a little.

“Get a grip. Your screaming is only going to distract him or get him killed, and if that happens, I will kill you. So shut up, and keep watching Danzo for better reads.” You say, to which the redhead tearfully nods.

Danzo runs for the Susano’o only to be impaled by the chakra weapon. It’s almost as if nothing happened, Danzo appears again right in stride, still running towards Sasuke. He creates a gigantic air bubble, blowing it towards the Susano’o. It’s guarded easily, but you can tell these attacks are just to bait him and tire him out more. You believe in his abilities, but he didn’t have to fight alone, so why make him?

“Madara, please, he’s running out of time.” You say shortly, eyeing the masked figure that still stood so close.

“No.”

You huff, folding your arms again. “This is ridiculous.” You turn your head back toward the action in front of you. Or rather, inaction. Danzo stood, catching his breath and analyzing his next move. You would finish him where he stood, no time for pleasantries. You were sure he would do the same if he wasn’t so wiped.

To your surprise, Danzo summons a massive elephant-like beast. It creates a vortex of wind as Danzo sprints toward the Susano’o. The summon sucks everything toward it like a vacuum, allowing him to get close enough for another wind style attack. The Susano’o is unable to move properly, and it seems as if Danzo needed that to happen .

Sasuke sends a fireball for the beast to eat, gaining mobility of his Susano’o back, He swings around in time to punch his opponent in the face and body, sending him flying towards the rocky ground. Sasuke falls to his knees, and you inch toward him, though you know you won’t be allowed to move much further. Sure, you could try to fight Madara, but that would only distract Sasuke and possibly damage his support so you didn’t want to take the risk. Though it slowly became more and more of an option as you watched your best friend cough up blood.

Your heart quickened, the thought of the only person in the world that held your heart perishing here, right in front of you, just days after you’ve reunited, felt like hell. You needed him to get up and finish this so that you two could get the revenge you deserved.

The Susano’o starts deteriorating, matching Sasuke’s chakra levels. Karin explains her findings aloud, and you nod along with her explanation. “Oh please don’t–”

“Sasuke!” She calls up to him, “I figured out a little bit of that guy’s jutsu! Listen. Alright?”

“When all ten of your eyes have closed on your right arm, your jutsu will be undone, isn’t that so?” Sasuke asks, focused on the enemy.

You smirk, and look at the girl with a glimmer in your eyes that portrays exactly how smug you feel.

Danzo seemed unimpressed, but his words prove otherwise. “You knew about Izanagi?”

“As I suspected!” Sasuke says, dropping down to his level inside the remnants of the Susano’o.

“You tricked me? What a crafty brat.”

“Y-you fool! Why are you engaging him?” Karin asks, and you slap her arm.

“Haven’t you questioned him too many times? Let him prove himself.” You say with a fond smile, proud of what Sasuke had been able to accomplish. You still wanted to vent your rage, but Madara had a different target in mind for you.

Danzo tried to stop the Susano’o’s approach with a gust of wind, but it was only delayed. He dropped an elbow down on top of the Hokage, waiting to see if an eye closed. It did.

“Sasuke! Get away from him now!” Karin panics, outwardly showing her fear. That’s where she made her mistake, and you know it. “Prolong the battle!”

You groan, watching as Sasuke turns away from her loudmouth. He doesn’t hear her, you don’t think. He’s entirely too focused. “You idiot, if that means that his jutsu is undone, then all of Sasuke’s chakra is still gone and he’s uninjured.”

Sasuke has his back to you, but when he turns back around he’s flinging shuriken at the man coming at him in the air. Another eye closes. Just two more minutes, two more killing attacks. Danzo disappears from midair, appearing behind him. Sasuke’s palm is encapsulated by chidori, one of the only things that he learned from Kakashi. He forms it into a sword, wielding it by his side as he yells, “How many Uchiha did you kill to get that right arm?!”

Danzo has a chakra blade of his own it seems. “It was Itachi who enabled me to get it.”

“You made him do it!” Danzo’s eye grows wider and everyone watches in wonder. Sasuke’s lightning blade rests burrowed deep in his chest.

“You were too hasty. My eye is still open. Go to Itachi so he can lecture you. I win.”

You shook your head in disbelief. No, this couldn’t be it. He had done it! What did he mean, he wins, no he doesn’t! Not against Sasuke, not here.

“You may think you’ve seen through Izanagi..” But then the man’s eyes go wide in a mix of shock and fear. He coughs up a stream of dark blood. It’s not working, you think, Sasuke put him under a genjutsu. The last eye closes, and you clench your fists as you eagerly watch on. Sasuke pushes the man back slightly, freeing his lightning blade from his abdomen.

“You’re the one who is going to see Itachi.” Sasuke states smugly, watching as his opponent fell to his knee with a grunt of pain. Sasuke’s exhaustion was clear, and you hoped this would be the extent of it. You’re not as confident about him having to do this over if the Izanagi was undone. With another yell of suffering, Danzo falls forward on his hands, inches away from Sasuke’s feet.

“Now that’s battling with your eyes. Don’t underestimate the Uchiha.”

You watch them carefully. Danzo never used Shisui’s eye, perhaps he was worried about you or Sasuke or even Madara getting it back. You knew that he was seeking power and prowess, but you were sure he would allow you to keep your brother’s eye. You want to get it back, it should’ve never been abused like this. None of this should have happened like this. Danzo is the reason your brother is dead. All because they wanted his abilities. You are his second coming, the now mostly heartless version of the boy who had been so kind. Your abilities will make up for the loss of his.

Ripping you out of your thoughts was Sasuke’s yell of pain. You focus back on the present, moving toward him as far as Madara would allow. Karin runs fully fledged, and you’re annoyed that he lets her. This of course is an ultimate move to keep you out of danger and to allow Sasuke to be the best. Madara knows Karin can’t contribute anything too useful, whereas you could have used your Mangekyo ability to control everything.

Karin crouches next to him. “Are you alright? Hurry up and bite!”

You roll your eyes. That would be how her healing works, how stupid. He grabs her arm and his eyes flitter over to you for a moment. He looks back down at her wrist and reluctantly chomps down. You can actually feel your body temperature increase when she moans out and turns red, obviously getting something from this.

“Bringing that woman was a wise decision, she’s useful. I see why Sasuke chose her.” Madara says, and you wonder if he gets pleasure from pissing you off. You’re fully capable of healing too, it really wasn’t necessary for her to be here at all. Sasuke did want her to join, however, and now you’re wondering why. It felt silly to be so jealous at a time like this, so you force the thought out entirely, choosing instead to watch the scene before you.

You watch as Danzo summons yet another huge tree from his Hashirama given ability. It makes you wish you could make trees this powerful under your plant jutsu, but the wood style was so unique to the first Hokage.

“What a persistent guy!” Karin says as Danzo reaches to undo the bandages covering his head and right eye. You almost shout for her to get out of the way, but something causes the words to die in your throat.

“Not yet. This is where we battle with our eyes.” Your stomach sinks. This could really only mean one thing. The sharingan in his head was Shisui’s. All you see is red, wishing you could throw caution to the wind in order to get it back.

Almost as if he’s able to read your thoughts, Madara’s other hand claps down gently on your shoulder. “We’ll be getting it back.” He promised, needing both of the Uchiha to unlock their eternal Mangekyo status. His visual prowess combined with yours would make any opponent terrified to stand across from you.

Sasuke realizes this as well, recognizing the sharingan pattern of your older brother. He charges at Danzo with his left hand consumed by Chidori. But Danzo doesn’t wait for him to make it, choosing to run around to hold Karin by the neck. You clap your hands over your face. Of course, she would be annoying this entire mission and then get herself taken hostage when the battle was nearly won.

“You used your visual prowess too much, didn’t you?” Danzo asks, a smug expression on his face.

Karin struggles in his grip. “Sasuke..!”

“Useless.” You mutter, directly arguing Madara’s earlier claims. “I could have healed him faster and avoided this.”

“Isn’t it ironic that you, who glorified self-sacrifice, would take a hostage?” Sasuke asks calmly. You know that he has a plan.

“It’s not that I consider my life precious. But for the sake of the Hidden Leaf Village…for the ninja world…I cannot afford to die here.” He replies, making it clear how much of a rat he truly is. He cares not for the Leaf like he claims, he only cares about power and winning. “No matter what the means, I must survive. For I will be the one reformer who will change this ninja world. This woman will be sacrificed for that cause.” He adds, tightening his hold on the redheaded healer.

You can’t find it in yourself to care. You just want Danzo dead and your brother’s eye returned to you. You want to get rid of this whiny brat that thinks that she has any of Sasuke’s attention. You want to balance out the scales and go home, wherever that would be.

“Sasuke help!” She pleads again, not an ounce of self-preservation instinct in her.

“Don’t move…Karin.” Sasuke says authoritatively, causing the girl to smile with relief. You gasp. He looks terrifying right now, nothing but coldness and brutality emanating off of him. He shoots a beam of his chidori straight out, hitting Karin and Danzo both.

Karin’s eyes are wide, blood seeping from her mouth. Even you are surprised. Your shock turns into a smile, appreciating his desire for revenge. He would never let Danzo get away, just like he had promised to himself and to you.

Danzo is stilled, hit in a vital point. It should just be seconds before he draws his last breath.

“Brother…one down.” He says with a satisfied smile.

“Sasuke…what was I to you?” She asks desperately, as if the answer was not clear by his willingness to sacrifice her life to get what he wanted.

“Karin…You managed to get taken hostage, you are nothing but a burden to me.” His chidori finally powers down and Karin’s injured form falls face first onto the cement. Danzo’s breathing grows heavy, and you can still hear the woman struggling for her own breaths. Sasuke is satisfied. There is no guilt or remorse.

Danzo turns and starts to lightly jog away, his desperation clear. He had no other options, and was cornered once more. Sasuke starts to calmly walk after him, his dark eyes glowering with a crazed desire. He smirks, walking Danzo down. Madara takes you with him as he jumps to the bridge, cutting off his escape.

“Danzo..I’m taking Shisui’s eye.” He says with finality. Sasuke reflects on the night he found out about Shisui, the pain he felt for you. He couldn’t have imagined what it would be like to lose Itachi yet, and if you felt even a fraction of the way he did now, you deserve this retribution tenfold.

Danzo seemed enraged. “For the sake of the ninja world…for the sake of the Hidden Leaf…I will not let you three live!” He declares, a black seal appearing on his body.

“Sasuke! Get away from Danzo!” Madara yells, dissolving into the ground below. You and Sasuke jump into the air.

You shake your head. “No! Shisui’s eye!” You remind, eyes fixed on the man destroying himself just to keep you from having it. The two of you land on the Samurai Bridge, close to Karin’s body. There’s not any time to process what happened, and you think you’re hallucinating when you see Sakura walking toward you two.

She pleads with Sasuke to allow her to join your team, claiming she, too, has defected. You immediately know she’s lying. If another team seven member left the village, every available ninja in Konoha would be after her. And, as sweet and talented in medical nin as she was, she was not gifted in evasion or lying.

Sasuke seemed to play her game, telling her she could replace Karin on their squad if she killed her. You could see the terror flashing in her eyes. She wouldn’t do it. Karin groaned in obvious agony, watching all three of you. As Sakura approaches her, you share a glance with Sasuke. You shake your head, eyes flickering over to the other women briefly. He nods, agreeing with you. He lights his hand with what little chakra he has left, but before it goes anywhere, Kakashi flies onto the bridge, swooping the pink-haired woman away.

Your heart stops, your mind goes blank even. Kakashi? You really must be hallucinating now. You watched him die, how on earth is he standing before you? Is this a joke, no, no, a cruel prank. He sets her down, instructing her to take Karin somewhere else, if you hear him correctly.

After that, you’re not really sure what happens or what’s being said. You can hear the cold and biting tone in Sasuke’s voice. He’s really going off the rails, he’s getting more cruel and more dark. You knew that was Itachi’s goal for the most part, but only to drive this revenge and keep the name of the Uchiha respected. But he had killed the most prominent motivator behind the massacre, shouldn’t he feel better? Kakashi…it really is him. It’s his voice, all the body language is the same. A strange noise comes out of your mouth and you’re embarrassed when your knees buckle.

Kakashi is relieved to see you unharmed and relatively safe. He sees the myriad of emotions on your face, and for a moment he wants to pause all of this arguing to give you a hug and tell you that it is really him. That he’s not angry with you and he’ll do anything it takes to keep you safe, even if that includes hurting Sasuke.

You hear the battle between them commence, a few ninjutsu here and there until Sasuke summons his Susano’o. You know no matter how this ends, you’ll be heartbroken for a time. You wanted revenge too, but even you could admit that you were worried for Sasuke once again. And if Sasuke hurt Kakashi in any permanent way, you would hold that against him. His Susano’o falters, running on fumes of chakra at this point. He taps you in.

“Y/N, take care of this pretender!” He demands, enraged, that Kakashi has the sharingan and the chakra control to use it as a non-Uchiha.

But you don’t move. You know you can’t, you could never even imagine it. Deep down, Sasuke knows this too. That’s why he gives you such an order in the first place. He’s losing himself, he can feel that. All his love and care for you has been devoured by this Amaterasu of emotion. The only thing he can comprehend is hatred, is the need for crushing anyone and anything that’s hurt him. He’s jealous and angry at you, too, for having someone care about you like Kakashi does. You didn’t have to experience everything on your own like he did. Once, he wanted you to get revenge too. He wanted your hatred to burn and consume you just as it had him. But yours wasn’t strong enough. No, because you had weaknesses. Your loyalty to him could be blinded by your devotion to the man who raised you. Maybe at some point he had appreciated this about you. Part of him may even be glad that you had a family. But when you denied him the first time he was baffled. He knew you had to care for him more than that, right? But here you sit, on your hands and knees in the river, denying him again. Uchihas feel every emotion deeply, and you love him. You have always loved him, so how dare you choose Kakashi right now? It was your chance to prove that you were indeed strong.

Kakashi was going to be a few seconds too late. Sasuke moved toward you with the intent to kill this time, and he was stunned. Was he really this close to bringing you back home only to be responsible for your death?

Your eyes widened once you realized that he was coming at you, and then all you felt was a gust of wind and a strong body and chakra wrapped around you. You looked up, arms around the neck of Naruto Uzumaki. Maybe under different circumstances you would smile at him. But now, your emotions are so conflicted. Even when Naruto smiles warmly down at you and sets you back on your wobbly feet, you don’t know what to say. Because really, you are just as bad as Sasuke. You let him attack Karin and you would have let him kill Sakura on a whim, just because you knew you could. You got revenge, but you were devastated about not retrieving your brother’s eye. You fed off of Sasuke’s negativity instead of him feeding off of any of your light. You knew there were more targets, but how many innocent people would you have to hurt to finish attaining revenge?

Part of you died again with Kakashi. With every loss, your heart grew smaller and your eyes more powerful. You enjoyed being powerful, but at this cost…the price was much too high. It becomes clear to you that the only person that can save Sasuke is himself, and only Naruto can get close enough to him to force this. Kakashi’s hand is on your head, bringing you out of your thoughts while Naruto and Sasuke exchange words and promises. Sasuke wants to attack the Leaf, Naruto swears to defend it to no end. Life was so different just moments ago, but you have to let Sasuke go. It’s the only way you can ever hope to mend what you have, if that time ever comes. Kakashi’s hand is large, but it’s a welcome reminder of the best thing to come of this: his return.

“Are you alright?” He asks, eyes carefully analyzing you. He knew this must be beyond difficult, as most your life had been, he understands.

“I think so.” You reply unsurely. The truth was absolutely not. How could you be okay? You were in the Bingo Books but all you sought was justice, corrupted by the desire toward the end. And now, the only true love you’ve ever known would have killed you had Naruto not showed up.

Madara and Zetsu show up, trying to de-escalate the situation and take Sasuke away. Zetsu wanted to further the fighting to take you back, and perhaps capture the nine-tails inside Naruto, but he was luckily talked down from that. They disappear, and you’re left looking around at Kakashi and Naruto without a clue in the world what to say.

“Don’t worry Y/N-chan, Kakashi-Sensei and Old Lady Tsunade will get all of this taken care of! We want you to come home!” Naruto says cheerfully, though you can tell he’s hiding his emotions by distracting himself with yours.

You look down at the river beneath you. “Is it really that easy? I..I don’t know how I can face anyone..”

Kakashi’s face softens. He knows the feeling. “You’ll do what you have always done before. You’ll train and go on missions and earn back trust over time. It won’t be easy, but it’s nothing you can’t manage.”

“Plus we’re always here for you!” Naruto adds, patting you on the shoulder affectionately. “I missed you! I looked everywhere for you Y/N…” He chuckles nervously, clearly not trying to get on your case.

“I know, you got close several times. I’m sorry…I thought that this is what I wanted.”

“It’s alright, really! Don’t worry about it, you’re coming back home to the Leaf and now we can train together and we’ll be ready to take on Sasuke!” He holds his hand out for you to take, and you do. You squeeze it out of appreciation, and he seems a little lost for a moment. It causes a smile to sneak up on you, he wasn’t familiar with acts of affection and it made you wonder why he held his hand out to you at all.

“We’ll be ready.” You confirm, heart aching already at the thought of the Last of the Uchiha standing against each other instead of beside. Your smile is weak and it’s easy to tell that you’re still weary, but it means enough to the jinchuriki and your father figure that they both smile softly at you in return.

“Let’s go home.” Kakashi hums, relieved to have you in tow. But he felt immense guilt over Sasuke, and what lay ahead for you.

Home. You nod, wondering the same. Wondering what home really means, and if life is always this painful.

Naruto starts talking about some old story that Jiraiya told him, and you’re grateful that he keeps the journey from being silent.

“Gaara! I will stay and fight with the Kage!” You proclaim, taking up a spot beside him and aiding Tsunade in his healing.

He hums his approval. “Good, your prowess will help us well.” He says honestly, the last time he saw you was at the Kage Summit, and you were not so helpful then. But before that, you helped save him from Sasori and Deidara, and before that, you were kind to him at the chunin exams. Overall, he has more reasons to believe in you than not, and he chooses to trust in you.

The Mizukage sprays a lava jutsu all over the place, allowing the Raikage to pull off some lightning style moves.

Madara re-emerges from the rubble in a big blue Susano’o not unlike Sasuke’s. You hum, finishing up Gaara’s healing to form a Susano’o of your own. You had been practicing it as far as you really could, stressing yourself out by reliving your different traumas until your summon was perfect. A bright green chakra statue comes together in the sky, your Susano’o standing directly against Madara Uchiha’s. Madara throws attacks at you, Gaara’s sand creating a protective barrier around everyone else. You crush the attacks with your hands.

“Another pesky one of my own, is that so?” Madara chuckles deeply, almost admiring your perfect Susano’o. “It’s too bad I’ll have to kill you, child!”

Gaara covers his Susano’o with his sand, preparing for his ultimate sand coffin burial. Madara shoots his chakra through, piercing the layer and preparing for another attack. The Mizukage covers the field in mist, obscuring the rinnegan’s ability to see. The Raikage takes the opportunity to get through, and you follow his lead to take a shot at Madara’s Susano’o too, the sound of chakra against chakra like nails on a chalkboard. You knock him from the being, powering yours down to fight regularly. You punch the ground, creating a physical rift and hopefully some sort of visual one.

The Tsuchikage talks Naruto’s shadow clone into trusting in the five Kage’s abilities, especially with you as added backup. Naruto trusts you too, maybe more easily than you deserved, but his clone sped off and left the six of you to take Madara down.

Madara wraps vines around the Tsuchikage’s defense, and you recognize the plant style similar to yours. You grin, you summon your own vines in the variety that would smother out his own, considered more powerful but also more chakra consuming. Your seal appears on your forehead, and you’re ready to consume what you’ve had stored for so long.

Your vines take out half of his plants, but it's not enough. They start to admit a poisonous pollen, which Tsunade advises everyone to avoid. Everyone jumps in the air, giving Madara an opening to reform his Susano’o. The commotion of his summons sends everyone flying towards the tree roots he’s created below. He uses a fire style to light the wood on fire, smoke inhalation making you all fall forward, unable to overpower it. The Tsuchikage uses all of his remaining strength to use a metallic jutsu, repelling the flame away.

It takes a few minutes, but slowly you all wake, rushing to the Tsuchikage’s aid. Madara reveals his addition of Hashirama’s powers to his own, taking the time to insult Lady Tsunade’s powers in comparison to her grandfather’s. He even calls her a weak woman, to which your promise he will pay for.

“Alright it’s time for you to stop talking!” You grit your teeth, watching Tsuande’s 100 healings jutsu seal wraps around her body, and her punch is enough to actually physically crack Madara’s Susano’o. You’re mystified by this, and proud of one of your teachers for defending her abilities. Hashirama was a God amongst men, there is no comparison to be made except for maybe Naruto. The Mizukage has to jump in to extinguish another bout of fire style. Her water dragon comes next, allowing Tsunade and the Raikage to score hits on the chakra shield. Their punches land, cracking the usually impenetrable guard and taking Madara right out of it.

“I’ll admit it. Undoubtedly you are not weak woman. However, Hashirama, I don’t know exactly what it is you’ve left to all your followers. But this falls short of your abilities. If you’re going to let your underlings take over, you should have taught them how to resurrect you. The only thing that is ever truly passed down, of course, is hatred.” He says smugly, arms folded over his chest.

Tsunade flies at him. Landing a punch to his chest. The Raikage calls for Gaara, letting him enact his plan. He captures Madara in a sand pyramid, and you jump over to land with Tsunade.

“Way to go!” You cheer, just as a beam of chakra erupts from the tree root you’re standing on, shooting right through your mentor. It lifts her into the air, the rest of you staring in shock. Apparently Gaara sealed a wood style clone instead of the real Madara. Tsunade yells out, a guttural mix of frustration, anger, and the desire to win. She ‘cha’s’ the chakra beam impaling her, and this time even Madara is surprised. She holds onto the other end of the tentacle-esque formation, slamming it to the ground below her. Madara sends her flying into a pile of rocks, even more shocked when she pushes them aside and stands ready to fight again.

The Tsuchikage tries an attack from behind while Tsuande aims one at his front, but Madara is able to deflect. He summons five clones for every one of you, taunting you with the option for them to use Susano’o. Yours forms again, ready to take on most of the clones yourself. Your Susano’o fights with two samurai blades, slashing through several members of Madara’s army. One still hits the Mizukage, sending her flying back as well as Gaara when he tries to intervene. Lady Tsunade and the Raikage land a few shots on their own shadow clones, and then Madara decides to pick the Raikage out of the crowd. He puts him under a genjutsu, and the Tsuchikage’s summon is the only thing that saves the former’s life.

The Five Kage plus you stand aligned, ready for what came next. You knew the clones were going to be an issue, though Madara seemed less sure about them now that your Susano’o stands tall too.

The Tsuchikage sends out a particle style jutsu, absorbing the rest of the clones and forcing Madara into his perfect Susano’o. You force yours to his level, knowing that if you don’t, all five Kage will die. Madara hits the cliff, sending everyone but your shielded form back a few hundred yards. His Susano’o walks up to yours. You slash at him, but he’s quick. He lands a hit on your chakra form, making you take a couple steps backward. You block his next attack with one sword, using your other to stab through. For a moment, you believe your attack is what causes him to drop from his Susano’o, but he declares that something is wrong with the jutsu he’s been using.

You grin, knowing that if you can continue to hold him off, you may overpower him simply from your chakra stores. He obviously has virtually hundreds of years of fighting experience and Hashirama Senju was his opponent, but still, you tell yourself that your power compares to no one else, not even your brother.

“It appears that the reanimation jutsu has been released.” He says unbothered, though you feel like it’s a ruse. You drop from your Susano’o in favor of your right eye’s Mangekyou ability, Subete o Mamoru. It allows you to project your genjutsu onto everyone else, giving you the opportunity to give the Five Kage your delayed sense.

Madara barrels toward you, and the only person you can’t protect is Lady Tsunade, who barrels ahead to meet him. You watch her stutter mid-air, her seal must have worn off. The Raikage jumps to catch her, but she’s gently placed down on a tree root before anyone can actually make it to her. You’re all confused, as she seemed to have passed out in the air. When she comes mentally back, she seems re-energized, claiming she got to see an old friend. It must have been the reanimated souls making it back, someone came to see her. You wondered if it was Dan, or her brother, or even Jiraiya.

Madara claims that she will see him then again soon, releasing the jutsu. He voices his desire to go for Naruto instead, which you vehemently protest.

“Even if we can’t stop him, we can’t just let him get to Naruto!” You proclaim, arguing with the Kage of the Villages. You’re not sure what happens next, all you see is the ground beneath you growing closer dangerously fast.

It’s Kakashi that shakes you awake. The sun is hanging in the sky, things are mostly quiet other than a low rumble of a few people talking here and there. His eyes look at you with worry, but your gentle smile puts him at ease. You were mostly unharmed, just a few scrapes and bruises here and there. You fought valiantly and stood toe-to-toe with Madara. He pats your head.

“Is it over?” You ask, looking around at the immeasurable damage done.

He nods slowly. The war is certainly over, but Naruto and Sasuke were standing against each other for the final time.

“What is it?” You ask cautiously, able to read that there was more to know. Your heart drops, and you fear that you’ve lost your friends.

“Naruto and Sasuke are fighting in the valley.” He states, watching your expression shift. You didn’t even know Sasuke had shown up, and you immediately feared that he was fighting with the other Uchiha.

“Sasuke? Did…he–”

“No, he fought for the Leaf…he needs to fight Naruto a final time, I think. To fully put this to bed.” Kakashi explains calmly, lifting you into his arms to take you and Sakura to the scene. He lets the two of you heal each other, silently. There was a quiet understanding that you had between each other, and you were okay with that.

When you get to the valley though, all the fighting is done. The two boys lay almost lifeless on the rock, missing an arm and bleeding out. Sakura runs over the rock to Naruto, and you find yourself automatically moving the same way, sitting by Sasuke’s side with a pained smile.

Sakura is in tears, healing Naruto and looking between the two of them in wonder.

You hold your hand over Sasuke’s wound, and the look in his eyes is heartbreaking. His other hand closes around your wrist, pushing your hand away.

“I don’t deserve it.” He says, seemingly realizing the mistakes he’s made all at once. As he looks at you, someone who had every right to turn out just like him, but someone who was so much better. You were kind and forgiving and full of love for other people, and it hurt him to look at your brightness. Especially when he almost smothered it out, almost killed the person he cares most for simply out of anger.

You peel his hand off of yours, pooling your chakra to heal the wound. “You deserve to live, Sasuke.”

“I hurt you. I’m sorry, you didn’t do anything to deserve that.” His voice is thick and shaky, and you know he’s fighting tears.

You rest your other hand on his face. “Apology accepted. The world doesn’t work off of who deserves what, Sasuke. We can only do that for each other, from now on. I’ll give you what you deserve if you can do that for me.”

He nods, watching you stop his bleeding and bandage the nub that used to be his right arm. You’re beat up, and he wonders who you were fighting with and against in the war. He wonders how you can forgive him so easily and touch him so tenderly after everything he’s put you through, all the back and forth and the mistreatment and the danger. He can tell by the softness of your features, the gentle smile playing at your lips and the life that shines in your eyes, you aren’t upset. You meant what you said. He feels another emotion, one he’s felt in short bursts before, but this time it’s overwhelming. Anger and hatred burned from the inside, turning everything to blisters and scars. But what he feels as he looks at you, it soothes. It’s a rush of cool water relieving all his burns, stronger than the gusting winds of his doubt. He knows it will be alright, for the first time. He knows he will do whatever it takes to give you what you deserve, it’s the least he can do, so he’ll do even more than that.

He’ll make it up to you, or spend his life trying.

Kakashi was chosen as the Sixth Hokage, much to your enjoyment. You knew the job would keep him on his toes, but you couldn’t imagine anyone better for it. He pardons Sasuke for his crimes, citing his war effort and even Itachi’s work to protect the Leaf as the reasons why.

Itachi and Shisui are officially commemorated as Heroes of the Leaf. It warms your heart to know that this came from Sasuke’s journey. Just like you had hoped, Naruto forced him to save himself and understand his actions.

In an effort to continue making up for his transgressions, he vows to search the hidden villages for any more Kaguya-level threats to keep the Leaf safe for as long as he lives. Itachi would be proud. Sasuke cites you as the biggest reason he was able to come back to himself, the way you stood strong was inspiring. A true example of the honor, strength, and integrity of being an Uchiha.

It has only been a few months, but the two of you have become inseparable. All is right in the world, the Last of the Uchiha stand side by side wherever you see them. That doesn’t change even as he gets ready to set out on this mission, your journey unarguably bound with his. He knew you would come with him, but part of him worried that you would change your mind. He worried that you would realize that you were better than him, that he had done unforgivable things, he broke his promise. He swore he would never hurt you yet that’s all he’s ever done.

So how can you look at him so happily, bouncing up to your fellow Uchiha with a bright smile and a bag hanging off your shoulder, no doubt packed for the trip. How can you leave Kakashi behind in favor of him, the man who almost killed you? The warmth in your heart sparks life in him, determined to take your forgiveness and make the most of it. You look as magical as you usually do, your Uchiha-crested shirt form-fitting to your womanly figure. You took the comfortable and utilizable route of shorts, knowing that you would be active. Your cloak is snapped above your chest, the purple cape flapping in the breeze. And that damned purple headband keeps your dark hair out of your shining and love-filled face.

You love him, he realizes again. Once, it upset him. He felt entitled to your love without even really knowing what it meant. He thought a woman’s love was pure devotion, that it was something mindless and just another facet of life. From his earliest ages, he remembers assuming he’d marry you. He remembers not being bothered by the idea, but didn’t think you were much like a wife when you were little. His mom was quiet and sweet, and you were a yelling demon of a girl. His mom always made good dinners and always made him happy when he cried,so that’s what thought love meant. And he could live without a good dinner or and he doesn’t cry often enough to need someone to cheer him up.

That’s what he used to believe, until now. Now that he’s watching you carefully pack onigiri in a small box, rambling on about Shikamaru and Temari’s wedding that would happen while you two were gone, it all makes so much sense. The unfathomable care and worry he had for you that night, grieving your loss as a child, wondering if he would ever see you again. The jealousy of watching you become close with Naruto and Shikamaru, the deep need to have you by his side at his lowest mental point, it’s because he loves you too, and it means so much more than he thought.

You fill the emptiness in him with your smile, the sound of your laugh makes his heart beat funny but he likes it. If anything happens to you, he fears what he truly would become then. He decides to push that out of his mind, knowing he would never allow that. You would be safer than you’ve ever been, because he would die for you.

Your eyes narrow at him. You could tell by the look in his eyes that he wasn’t listening, he was lost in his own head again. You wonder if it’s a good or a bad place, whatever he’s thinking about. You think it’s pleasant, from the small grin betraying him. His hair ruffled slightly with the breeze, his dark cape doing the same. He stood tall, seemingly growing more even over the past few months. He traded his purple clothes for black, knowing you would keep the purple alive. His robes were simple, but you thought he would get too warm on the long road ahead.

Over the past few months, the two of you had grown closer, however that was possible. It seemed easier now, like after your traumas you were able to let things flow more freely. Unfortunately, neither of you were magically gifted with the ability of affection all of a sudden, though you were each trying to work up the nerve to display your true emotions in a more bold way. So far, the furthest confirmation you had received from him was the green paper heart tucked still in the pocket of your bag, and the most he had from you was your utter stoppage of Karin every time she was around. It was clear how much you meant to each other, and you were able to say as much. You usually stayed with him in his old apartment, which made conversations flow unfiltered and with plenty of wonder from you, gazing at the nearly barren place.

He’s been here since you were kids, and it didn’t have any personal decoration or flare to it. It barely looked lived in, though you imagine his desertion at 12 had a lot to do with that. Yet still, it was a time capsule of comparison. You had six years of learning to be a person with Kakashi, he had six years of beige walls and a ticking clock on the wall. Nothing but his own mind to keep him busy, his emotions and need to get stronger motivating him to train hard. You marveled at the dust settled over everything, opening the window to air the apartment out. You two had spent that afternoon cleaning the entire place, and you displayed a few pictures and some of the origami he made you to decorate. He smiled at the gesture, a picture of the two of you as rogue nin framed. It made him want to chuckle, so he did, though it sounded strange.

“What, you don’t like it?” You pouted, moving to grab it back. He quickly stopped you by stepping in between the picture and origami setup on the dresser and your lunging form.

“It’s just an interesting picture, that’s all. I do suppose that’s the only one you have, though.” He admitted with a shrug, a tiny smile on his lips. He was amused by the pouting and by the effort to make his apartment seem more like a home despite the fact you two would be leaving it to dust over again in a few months anyway. “I like it.”

You arched a brow. “Are you lying?”

“No. I don’t get the point of decorating when we’ll be leaving again, but I think it’s nice of you to worry about things like that.” He says, and you look at him critically, deciding he was telling the truth.

“Because it’s still yours. It makes me a little sad to think about tiny Sasuke growing up here. I guess I can’t undo that, of course, but..I can make the future better.” You say, pouting again at the idea.

He smiled and nodded. He definitely agreed, you were just about the only thing that could make him better.

So now that you two are ready to set out, he wonders if he has the nerve to push things just a little further with you. You set all his paper origami creations on his table that day a couple of months ago, all except the most important one.

“Hey, did you keep the..paper heart-thing I made you..?” He asks just as you were about to ask if he was listening. So that’s what he was thinking about. The question and his awkwardness makes your heart quicken.

You nod. “Yeah, it’s right here.” You reply, undoing the button on your bag so you can pull it from the pocket to show him.

He smiles softly when he sees it, and almost instinctively looks away. “Why did you keep it, instead of putting it up in my apartment?”

“Because this one means something else, I thought.” You say back, quicker in response than he anticipated. There’s a knowing tone to your voice, like you understand what he’s working towards and are letting him have the time to do it.

“It does.” He confirms, and it wasn’t as hard as he expected. He holds his hand out to you again, like he did in the cave months earlier, but instead of letting you grab it, he looks down at it like he wasn’t sure how to accomplish what he wanted. He wasn’t sure how to simply express his affection for you other than what you did to him after the war. He tilts his hand a little and rests it on your cheek instead. When you touched him like this it was gentle and sweet, he could feel your forgiveness. He hoped you could feel his love for you.

“I love you too.” You hum, sinking into the touch. He could feel your cheek move for your soft smile. Your fingers close around his wrist, The two of you just looking at each other. There was nothing else to say, out loud anyway. His heart softened at you words, you did know him so well.

Time heals most wounds, and so does working missions with your partner. It felt like the two of you versus the world, in a good way. The way you had always imagined it would feel. The wide open sky welcomes you both, stars lighting the way of your walk. It had been another few months since the two of you left the Leaf to start exploring threats, and since you confessed your previously unspoken love for one another. Not much had changed since then, other than the two of you holding hands as you talked about all kinds of different things and explored the hidden villages.

The beautiful night sky just served to highlight your beauty, in the eyes of Sasuke. It really was a miracle that you didn’t fall for someone else while he was gone, truly the Last Princess. Uchiha were unusually beautiful, but you were angelically so. Not to even factor in your immense power and perfect persona. He wasn’t completely sure anyone deserved to be with you. He was lucky you gave him that chance.

“We should rest here for a while.” He says in that ever calm voice of his. You hum your agreement and begin to set up a little pallet bed for each of you. He came over to help set up his own, remembering something you had said a few months ago. “Hm. Isn’t Shikamaru and Temari’s wedding today?”

You gasp and nod, pilfering through your bag for a scroll to write them a letter. “Yes! I completely forgot, thank you for reminding me!” You say, taking out the paper and bearing down on the ground with your ink pot.

“Silly girl.” Sasuke mused, summoning two crows. “This will be faster, and they’ll show clones of us. What would you like to say?”

You stand back up, pleasantly surprised that he would send chakra birds to deliver your message faster. “Of course, of course, uh let’s see.”

You stare off at the stars above you, biting your lip. Maybe everything really was worth it, if in the end he gets to keep you. You’re impossibly seductive, even when you’re simply thinking of what to tell your good friends.

“Congratulations, Shikamaru and Temari! I’ve known that this is how your story goes since we were chunin, the chemistry you two have is so amazing! I love you two so much and so does Sasuke!! We’re sending you a wedding gift when we get to the next village so be on the lookout for that. Can’t wait to see you both soon! Sasuke, say bye!” You say, cheerful and bouncy. He can’t help himself, everything in his body aches to grab you in his arm and kiss you, uncouth as it may be. So he does. He steps forward and wraps his left arm around your waist, tugging you close.. You look up at him when he does this, only surprise and excitement on your face as your hands brace yourself on his chest, waiting expectantly. He brings his hand up to hold your face in the way he likes so much, thumb gently stroking over your cheekbone. He leans down, trusting his body to know what to do. Your lips meet his, soft and warm. He finds that he does know what to do, mouth moving over yours easily. You feel him relax, hands still balled up in his clothes. His body is tingling, your breath giving him life and motivating him to keep going on. Only when he’s breathless does he pull away, resting his forehead on yours. His heart races but in a comforting way. Like he would spend the rest of his life chasing that feeling, of your hands and lips on him and no one else.

His eyes widen when he realizes that the chakra crows would replay the scene, and you seemingly understand this at the same time. You giggle and shake your head, turning back to them. “He gets a little excited, sorry about that you guys.”

He smiles sheepishly, waving towards the birds. “Um, yes, I apologize. Congratulations on your marriage,” He weaves the sign to send the birds, looking horribly embarrassed when he turns back to you.

You can’t help but laugh again, giving him a shorter but just as sweet kiss. “Well now the Leaf gets to commemorate our first kiss!”

The journey involves a few firsts for the young couple. You discover that you have an insane fighting chemistry, able to read each other’s moves and capitalize. Fighting together feels amazing, like all is right in the world. You train and keep your abilities sharp together, eat every meal by each other’s side.

You’ve been traveling for a little over three years, marked by your eighteenth birthday. Sasuke had already celebrated this milestone earlier in the year, but he wanted to make it more of a spectacle for you, if that can be believed. He visited a shop and had cookies made, and even sacrificed some of the money to spend the night in an inn. It still wasn’t nearly what you deserved, but he wanted you to feel loved by him. He’s not stupid, he knows he’s not very romantic verbally, so he had to rely on his actions to help.

You, of course, nearly sob at the gesture. It was impossibly sweet, and it got his message across perfectly.

“Happy birthday, Y/N.” He says after showing you the room you two would rest in for the night. You were taken with the space, it was bigger than Kakashi’s apartment, and it was decorated beautifully. The Mist definitely knew how to leisure.

“Sasuke…this is great!” You beam, throwing your arms around his neck. “I love you!”

“I love you. Don’t waste the cookies.” He says, returning your hug. He relished the way your body felt pressed against his, the way you tucked your face into his neck and the way your hands rubbed circles into his shoulder blades.

You giggle at the sentiment, releasing him in favor of trying your birthday cookies.

That night, you celebrate another first time, gifting all of yourselves to each other and demonstrating all your love.

“I think we should be married.” He says almost absentmindedly, the two of you walking by some official-looking building in the Stone.

“Oh, is that so?” You reply with a short hum, wondering if he was being serious. Though, admittedly, he’s not the type to joke around.

He hums in reply. “Yes. We’ve loved each other our whole lives, I think it’s safe to get married…I know that ladies enjoy things like that.” He adds, as if he hasn’t been daydreaming about marrying you since you sent chakra crows to celebrate that occasion for friends of yours.

You arch your brow. “Just ladies, hm?” You tease with a gentle yet mischievous smile.

“Not just, I…I believe you deserve to be a wife and not a girlfriend. That title undermines your importance to me.” He says, cheeks turning red despite your closeness.

You squeeze his hand. “Well, is that your way of proposing, Sasuke?” You whisper, almost afraid of looking up at him for his answer.

He squeezes back. “Yes.”

“Then I say yes.”

He stops walking and looks at you, a soft smile on his face. He holds your cheek and gives you a loving kiss. It says what he cannot find the words to, that you’ve made him the happiest man with that answer, that he wants to have your marriage in order immediately.

“Would you like to have it done here, in the Stone?” You ask, looking over the village you were visiting. To be transparent, you didn’t much care where you were married and you didn’t care for a big party in an event. You would be more than happy to marry Sasuke quietly in the Hidden Stone and have the legal work forwarded to Kakashi to announce the celebration.

“I would like that, dear Y/N.”

And so that’s how it went, you visited the officials in the Hidden Stone and had them perform a short and simple wedding ceremony. You both remained in your regular shinobi clothes, only the giddiness on your face revealed the importance of the situation.

You promised to love and support each other always, be honest and loyal forever, and to respect and honor each other above all else. When the village official pronounces you man and wife, you whoop and holler just to aggravate your new husband. He flusters, the only other person in attendance was the officiant, and even he chuckles at the scene.

“Well go ahead, kids, make it official and kiss!” The old man cheers, his day made by the charm of young love.

You don’t have to be told twice, leaning in to each other for a lengthy union. His lips were always a tad icy, giving you goosebumps every time. Everything else about him was warm, his hand on your face and the care he took in kissing you. Like usual, he rests his forehead against yours. This time his smile is hard to miss.

“My lovely wife.” He muses, proud of himself for making the moves. He wishes Itachi were here to see him, he’s sure he would be proud of his choice of bride. He hopes that Shisui would be happy to see his little sister married to him. This was a long time in the making, fated to the highest degree. You were practically made for each other, and now you two will make a new Uchiha name.

You two continue your missions as husband and wife, the last of the Uchiha united. Another year passes without incident. You miss Kakashi and the rest of your friends, getting word from Gaara in the Sand that Naruto and Hinata were married shortly after Sakura and Rock Lee. It makes you happy to know that all of your classmates were safe and enjoying their lives. Gaara congratulated you two on your marriage, just passing your first anniversary. He graciously offers for Sasuke and yourself to stay in the Sand for around a month or two, in order to rest and help them with some recurring invaders.

The two of you agree to stay, being put up in a nicely sized inn room for the duration of your rest. The Inn reminds you of your birthday treat, and you two can’t help but recreate that night several times over the course of the next two months.

It takes three and a half months to fully absolve Gaara of his concerns with the Sand.

There had been a string of violent robberies in the village, yet it seemed like the perpetrators were traveling into the village each time. It ended up being a team of rogue nin from another village, and you were able to take them into custody easily. Later that day, when debriefing Gaara on the situation, you nearly fainted. You were hit with a bout of lightheadedness and felt yourself fall into the wall that is your husband.

One of the Sand shinobi brought you a chair and Sasuke helped lower you into it. Gaara hummed in concern. “Are you alright, Y/N? Should I send for the medical team?” He asks Sasuke, who looks to you.

You wave off their concerns with a hum. “I’m probably just a little dehydrated, I can check.” You say in an effort to ease their worries. Your palm is covered in your chakra, allowing you to scan your body for any ailment. You place your hand over your kidneys, expecting to see a little damage. You were not expecting what you found instead as you gasp dramatically.

“What is it?” Gaara asks with more concern.

Sasuke crouches beside you, taking your free hand in his own.

“I’m pregnant.” You say softly, lips parted with shock. The room is quiet for a few moments, Sasuke visibly surprised. His hand squeezes yours tighter.

“Congratulations again, you two.” Gaara says with the trace of a smile. “Should I send word, or would you like to keep this between you for now?”

“We need to make arrangements to go back to the Leaf.” Sasuke replies, his mind made up. You still couldn’t quite tell how he was feeling, but you didn’t want him to assume you were useless now.

“Woah, Sasuke, I don’t want to go back home yet. We can wait until I’m further along! We can get so much more done.” You advocate, anchoring the hold on his hand to make him look at you instead of the Kazekage.

“I’ll not have you in harm's way, not now.” He says, effectively dismissing your argument. Anything can happen to you at any time. You’ve just changed his life, the entire way he thinks. He was going to be a father…

He couldn’t risk anything happening to you on this journey. You were the most important person in the world, the thought of anything happening to you already was unnerving but he selfishly wanted you to come along. But now it’s not just you, you were rebuilding the clan, a job much more important than his. He nods to Gaara, as if to say, ignore her and do what I’ve asked. Gaara nods back.

“Sasuke, please, don’t just banish me!” You pout, still worried that he was upset about this surprise. He turns to face you, his features softer than just a few moments ago.

“My love.” He breathes, holding your face and placing a kiss on your forehead. “I’m not punishing you, I could never carry on if something happened to you and now the child. You won’t ever for a moment be alone if you don’t want to be, Kakashi would never forgive me if I didn't send you home. I’ll join you before it’s time, I promise. It’s my job to protect you.” He reminds, smiling softly. It’s a mix of emotion, he doesn’t want to miss you like that ever again. But he had to make a choice for someone other than himself, for you and what’s best for you now that you’re giving him the greatest gift a wife can give her husband, especially in this case.

You reluctantly sigh. He was right, and you knew it. Part of you knew you wouldn’t be able to be a shinobi in the same capacity again, so you wanted to keep fighting to stay.

In the end, Sasuke won. You’ve been back in the Leaf for five months, estimating yourself around six and a half months along at this point. You basically moved back in with Kakashi, who spends all of his spare time preparing for his grandchild. All the ladies of the Leaf are thrilled, doting on you as you dote on them. Many of you are pregnant, hoping for another generation of classmates, you all would joke.

Hinata and you schemed the same way Sasuke’s and your mother did, planning playdates for children that aren’t even here yet. Sasuke was right, you were happier in the village with other women that knew what you were going through and the comfort of Kakashi and Naruto. Sasuke stays by your side in other ways, regularly sending his chakra crow clones to make sure that you and baby are healthy. Being apart this time isn’t as hard as it was before, maybe because you know he’ll come back this time or maybe because your relationship was much more concrete than it had been in years passed. In any event, you were counting down the days until he came home, just missing your lover.

You were over at Naruto and Hinata’s place when Sasuke came home, and he figured that would be the case based on the amount of times his crows had to track you there instead of his apartment or Kakashi’s. Hinata gets the door when you hear the knock, giggling happily at the visitor and escorting him into the living area. Sasuke hums at the sight of you, letting you jump all over him once you’ve realized he’s back.

He chuckles at your behavior, kissing your forehead without embarrassment. Naruto and Sasuke exchange pleasantries, you can tell how the men have missed each other and you make a mental note to let them have some time to catch up soon. He comes back to you, resting his hand gently on the small bump you’ve formed. He thought pregnancy looked amazing on you, and he wondered how it was possible for you to grow even more beautiful to him.

“I missed you.” You hum, resting your hand over his.

“I missed you, my love.” He returned, and the sound of his voice makes your baby kick ferociously. You gasp and then giggle, Sasuke’s brow arching in careful confusion. You move his hand to the location of the kicks, and his eyes widen slightly when he feels the sensation of pressure.

“They like the way your voice sounds, I think.” You giggle again, memorizing his shocked look. It was sweet, he was fascinated by it and couldn’t believe that he was the cause.

“Oh, well, be nice to your mother.” He said, a small grin on his face, his hand moving in subconscious circles over your belly. At this moment, everything is perfect. He never imagined a life like this for himself. His friends laugh and are happy to see him, the woman he’s wanted his entire life is at his side and growing his child in the first step to rebuilding their clan.

You’re at peace, knowing the only thing you’re missing now is Kakashi, who was probably still working hard at keeping the village secure. You’re safe, loved beyond measure, and living the dream. You know your family would be proud of the shinobi and woman you became, and now you can only pass on their memory to the Uchiha you would give life to.

“Would you like to go home?” Sasuke asks, and for the first time, you know exactly where home is.

tags: @cococola-cocaine @hinari27 @bbylime

#naruto x reader #sasuke x reader #sasuke series #inextricable #kakashi x reader

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nothomegal · 9 months

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“The little owl family” (Part 6)

(RZ!Michael Myers x GNReader)

Summary: your and your little sister’s life had an 180° turn when your parents got into a severe car crash, dying on the spot. You, being already past 18 had to figure out how to keep things afloat and give yourself, specially your sister, a good future. And you did! It was hard but you did it and became the absolute hero in the little girl’s eyes. People would often involuntary smile at the dynamic of your two, so wholesome and supportive, the perfect family bond.Bond that a certain Boogeyman noticed as well…

Warnings: a very light reference to suicidal thoughts at the beginning.

Word Count: 4k

Additional info: Gender Neutral reader. (S/N) = sister’s name.

(Part 1) (Part 2) (Part 3) (Part 4) (Part 5)

It's been a day or two after that late meeting between (S/N) and Michael. And... Things went oddly well from then! The little girl became more relaxed in his presence, and would often send him small waves when (Y/N) wasn't looking, and Michael would often answer with the same little wave. It became a little secret game of theirs, it was simple yet fun. The numerous close calls of getting caught or suspected by the older sibling would always awake the childish mischief inside of the man, the possibility to fool around a bit made him feel oddly comfortable and at ease, like momentarily experiencing the childhood he never had.

He also noticed that (Y/N) themselves began to act more on ease around him. There weren't as many death glares sent at his direction, mostly just some cassual glances as if to check what he's up to or where he is. He won't lie, he kinda missed the attention he used to recieve, but this calmer and passive (Y/N) wasn't too bad neither, it kinda made him feel more normal and welcomed actually.

But soon he began to notice that maybe this sudden passivity didn't start out of nowhere, and the reason would be uncovered pretty soon...

. . .

A light groan escaped through (Y/N)'s lips as they make their way towards the kitchen after putting their little sister to sleep. While walking, they've been holding their bandaged hand close to their chest, an instinctive attempt to soothe the throbbing pain that only increased over the days. They're pretty sure their awful sleeping also played a huge part of why the pain is so unbearable. The countless nights they've spent guarding the door of (S/N)'s room and staying on high alert durning most of the day over the past week really drained them, both phisically and mentally. Leaving just enough energy to breathe and maintain a positive actitude around their sister.

They let a sight of relief once they stopped in front of a counter that had all the medicines in. The older sibling reaches for the container of painkillers only for it to be suddenly snatched away right under their nose.

Already knowing who did that, they slowly turn towards the responsible of it, tiredly glaring at that stupid emotionless masked face they hated with burning passion.

The two of them remained still, observing each other in silence. Michael didn't even tilt his head, meaning that he wasn't wondering or asking, no... He wanted to know what they're doing and he wanted to know it now.

—"...What?"— you eventually blurt out.

No answer or movement.

—"I'm not going to kill myself, I just need some medicine because my wrist hurts..."— you elaborate tiredly. —"Can you give in back, please?"—

Still nothing.

The container was actually at a reachable distance. If (Y/N) really wanted they could probably snatch it back. But of course they're not stupid to attempt that, Michael is a very deceiving specimen and things are never as simple as they look when it comes to him and his shenanigans, (Y/N) learned that the hard way.

—"Look. I'm. In. Pain. I need this because I no longer can handle it. Please, give me back the container."—

Nothing.

They grit their teeth out of anger and frustration. Is this bastard mocking them now? Silently enjoying their suffering? Or he's genuinely oblivious of their clearly not okay state?

—"You did this to me, remember?"— you snap as you lift your bandaged hand to show it. —"You broke my wrist, it's been hurting for days and right now it's freaking unbearable. So please, just give me the painki-"—

Their heart nearly stopped when their injured wrist was suddenly grabbed by the masked man. All (Y/N) could do now is stay frozen and helplessly stare at the black eye sockets of the rubber mask, which were staring right back at their shocked expression. They didn't even notice their hands became shaky, anxiety slowly flooding their mind as they suddenly remember who is the man in front of them.

Michael Myers, the man who escaped Smith's Grove by killing with his bare hands anyone who stayed on his way, the man who scarred his own little sister for life by kidnapping her and killing everyone dear to her just because, the man that somehow escaped death and kept his reign of terror for an entire year without anyone being able to do anything... This man, this monster did horrible things, things that he can do to them whever he wants, and he may do it right now as punishment for their boldness and lack of self preservation.

(Y/N) doesn't even know what face they're making, their emotions are too unstable. The stress, frustration and exhaustion are way too much to handle right now. They can't even use the energy to mantain a stone face, not when they're trying to keep themselves from breaking down on the floor and scream out of the frustration.

They just want it to stop. They want him to go away and leave them and their sister alone. They want to stop feeling worry every second of their existence, to stop these anxiety spikes whenever the blade of his knife runs through their body as he teases them, to stop feeling fear whenever his dark gaze moves away from them and is casted on their little sister, to stop feeling guilt that creeps through them whenever they see sadness appear on the little girl's face when she catches them being upset, they wish they could make her smile again, please, make her real smile return...

They... They just want to stop feeling in danger... Feeling hopeless... Feeling like they failed...

Please...

Please... Make it all stop.

Whatever look they had, it was enough to make Michael suddenly let go of their arm. However, instead of walking away or stand still, he steps forward and closer to them, body langage unreadable as always.

(Y/N) doesn't move, they don't even look at him at this point. They simply let their arms fall limply on their sides and lower their gaze, not even noticing the hot tears sliding down their face.

They're so tired, they're done.

Their breath hitched when their body made contact with Michael's larger and warmer one, following comes the sensation of something equally solid and warm wrapping around their form in a firm grip.

The embrace was tight, maybe even tighter that the one from the night he broke in. It was hard to breathe, though (Y/N) is unsure if it's due Michael's strength or their own choked sobs they could no longer hold back. This gesture, though simple, broke them completely...

The more they quietly cried, the tighter the embrace got, as if the man was really trying to force them to spit all the angst out, and maybe he was. It's no secret that Michael has no knowlege about comfort, it's something he lacked most of his life after all. But now, right after seeing their gaze change, everything inside of him is yelling to grab (Y/N) and never let go. Their gaze... Oh, he knows that look.

That look on their eyes... It wasn't fear, it wasn't anger, it wasn't even hate. It was something dull, dull and lifeless, almost pleading for him to...

He presses his masked face against them. The only thought of having their blood on him makes him feel weird. Seeing (Y/N), who's usually composed, strong willed and straight up wild when it comes to the safety of their sister, so weak and broken in his arms, made the man feel very odd, a nasty and unpleasant type of odd.

—"...You."—

They grumble through gritted teeth as they press their forhead against his shoulder, as if really trying to hide their face.

—"I hate you..."—

He can feel (Y/N)'s fist collide with his back. Though the impact wasn't weak at all, it wasn't enough to make Michael let go, all the opposite, he only brought them closer.

—"I hate you."—

They repeat a bit lounder, tone cold yet broken.

—"Why do you still tormenting me? Why?... Why don't you just... J-Just..."—

Their voice breaks at the end of the sentence and is replaced by more cries. The punches soon ceased too, their hand slowly sliding off Michael's back. Soon their sobs began to quiet down and turn into ragged uneven breaths. They are mad, at themselves, at this man, at the world, at fucking everything!... But what pisses them off the most is that this bastard, the main responsible of their mysery, the devil everyone knows for the atrocities he commited, he's... He's somehow comforting them... Genuinely comforting them...

—"Why are you doing this?..."—

Silence.

—"Why are you making it look like you care?..."—

Because he does.

—"Why?... Why?"—

They kept repeating the same question over and over despite knowing that they will never get an answer. And to be fair, even if Michael could answer, he wouldn't. He doesn't know himself what he's doing or where this attachment came from or leads to, all he knows is that he desires to have (Y/N) close, hold into them like a predator into it's pray and never ever let go. But even with this unholy obsession, he can't deny the strange sense of comfort and completion (Y/N) brings him just by being around. Ever since (S/N) questioned him about his intentions and the strange attachment with the older sibling, he couldn't unsee or deny the way they make him feel. And even when they say they hate him, glare at him, try to hurt him... Even after all these unwelcoming actions, he just can't stop himself from wanting them around, from wanting them...

The two remain like this for a long time, even after (Y/N) stopped talking and crying they didn't move.

(Y/N) was a mess, both emotionally and mentally, yet they couldn't deny the fact of feeling a tiny bit better after letting it all out. Michael's grip on them remained tight, strong like steel, impossible to escape. It was like a cage... But a very needed cage.

No matter how much they try to deny it, deep down (Y/N) knows that they needed this, they needed someone to hold them tight as they spit all their concerns, pain and frustrations out. But that means nothing, that doesn't change the way they view Michael. Though his gesture is laudable, how do they know it's genuine? How do they know he's not taking advantage of them? Could this be his attempt to deceive them? Make them emotionaly dependent? And for what?... For what?!

What does he want from them for fuck's sake?!

They take one last deep breath, shuting down the swarm of thoughts and questions and finally calming down enough to speak properly.

—"Alright... I'm better, a bit better."—

But Michael made no movements, his grip remained strong.

They sigh again, a bit more annoyed.

—"Michael, really. I'm okay now. I-"—

They tried to lift their hands up to push themselves away, but a sudden yelp came out when they moved their injured wrist too harshly, making them recoil and Michael to finally let go.

—"Okay-... I'm not okay."— you grumble as you hold your bandaged wrist closely, trying to soothe the throbing pain.

When the ache somehow stabilized and (Y/N) looked up at Michael again, they were surprised to see him holding their car keys right in front of their face. They stare at the item a bit dumbfounded, questioning where the hell he wants them to go, until it eventually clicks.

They know what he wants them to do, and this is a golden oportunity to recieve propper help to their injury. But the anxiety and guilt of leaving their little sister alone, again, at night and with this man, is already eating them alive.

A couple of seconds of inactivity pass, and though (Y/N) was taking quite some time to decide, Michael remained stoic as a statue, patiently waiting for them to decide.

—"I..."— you sigh again, but with more determination. —"Nevermind. You're right, I need to go."—

They dry off the remaining tears on their face with a single rough wipe with their forearm. They have to quit crying, they embarassed themselves enough by having a meltdown in front of this bastart, which apparently was so bad and pity that he had to comfort them. Beside, they must stay strong, not just for their own sake but also for (S/N).

They reach for the key, but don't take it right away.

—"The terms are the same i suppose. I stay quiet about you and you don't disturb my sister, yes?"—

There is no movements from the man. Despite not seeing his eyes, (Y/N) had a gut feeling that he understood and accepted the deal. They mutter a quiet 'okay' before eventually taking the keys, without any issue suprisingly. Once all was settled, the older sibling steps aside but doesn't go towards the front door right away, instead they walk towards the stairs.

—"I'll make a quick check on (S/N) before I go, okay?"— you quickly explain before going up, not bothering to see if he did anything in response or not.

Suprisingly, Michael doesn't follow them, not this time. He remained at the bottom with his head turned towards the staircase.

To some the attention and worry (Y/N) shows for their little sister may seem overwhelming, but for Michael it is something to admire. They always place the little one in front of their own needs and safety, always checking on her and making sure she's safe and happy. Even after he came into their life, he saw the ammount of effort (Y/N) had always put into mantaining (S/N) away from him, to keep her hopes strong and always mantain that happy smile despite knowing it will dissappear as soon as he comes near...

(Y/N) is a good sibling, a very good and caring sibling. Is that how Judith could've been with him if given a chance? Would she ever made the same effort to treat him the way (Y/N) treats their little one? Would he be able to be as good to Angel? Was it too much to ask for her to remember him, to know who he is, to know her big brother was back home and be together as family ones again? Was it really so much to ask?...

"I wanna help you..."

"...But I don't know how..."

"...I wanna help you... But I don't know how..."

"...I wanna help you, but I don't..."

"YOU MOTHER FUCKER!"

Something inside of his chest squeezed uncomfortably, painfuly almost. He still remember these words and the way 'boo' screamed at him and the hate in her voice. It hurts, it hurts so much every time he remembers... He doesn't like the pain, it upsets him. Just why couldn't she recognize him?... What should he have done for that night to turn out different?...

The sound of footsteps softly going down the stair broke his train of thoughts.

—"Good news, (S/N) is still asleep. Doubt she will wake up until sunrise but I wouldn't go upstairs anyways, that girl sure wakes up from the randomest noises."— you comment quite casually.

However, they suddenly stop in their tracks when they reached the bottom and noticed that Michael wasn't following them with his gaze. A tiny detail that threw them off quite a lot.

—"...Are you alright?"—

The question made the tall man pause and realize that his hands were tightly clutched into fists. He slowly relaxes them, though an unpleasant aftertaste in his mouth and the general tension in his body remained.

Despite not having a clear answer, (Y/N) gives him a somehow knowledgeable look.

—"Remembered something bad?"—

He stays unresponsive for a moment, until he moves his head, giving a slow and barely noticible nod.

(Y/N) of course got a tag surprised, since it's the very first time Michael actually does something to answer them instead of staring blankly and let them figure out the message on their own. They don't focus on the sudden gesture though, instead they let out a small hum as they nod as well.

—"It happens... I too remember things I don't want to, a pretty nasty feeling gotta say."—

No answer.

(Y/N) seemed like they wanted to say more things, they decided against it and instead resumed their walk towards the front door. They stop to put some shoes and jacket, not minding too much the fact of them wearing pijamas. But before exiting, they look back at Michael's tall figure staring at them from the darkness, his pale masked face being the only visible feature.

—"I'll do my best to return before dawn, but no promisses."—

No reaction from the man, as expected.

They turn around and open the front door and pause again.

—"...Thank you, Michael."—

And after these words, they finaly step outside and softly close the door.

The masked man only tilted his head at this last sentence. Though these were three very simple words, he couldn't ignore how they affected him.

And the tension and ache from his memories were now completely gone, as if these bad feelings never came in the first place...

. . .

After a long wait and a ton of scolding from the doctors for neglecting their sleep and health, (Y/N) was finally driving back home. Luckly their wrist is healing fine, the sourse of the pain were the bad placement of the bandages and the overuse of their injured hand. Though they don't remember all the details, it seems like they'll be okay.

It was already dawn and the sun was slowly raising. However, they weren't too concerned, it was still early and there is no way (S/N) is awake, that girl sure enjoys lazy mornings after all.

And even after arriving home everything seemed in order, no weird vibes coming out the building and no funny feelings in their gut.

But the second they enter and close the front door...

—"(Y/N)!"—

A happy joyful voice exclaimed their name before something small launched at them into a hug with enough force to knock out some oxygen out of them. Nevertheless, the older sibling miraculously manages to mantain the footing and catch the little girl in a hug.

—"(S/N)?! How long you've been awake?!"— you ask in surprise and concern.

—"Oh... Uh..."— she thinks while poking her cheek with her finger. —"I think the little arrow on the clock was pointing at the number 5."— she innocently replies.

—"You've been awake since 5 of the morning?!"—you almost exclaim as you kneel down and take her hands. —"Are you okay? Were you scared? Did you know I was at the hospital? Did Michael do anything to you?"—

As an answer to their waterfall of question, the little girl childishly giggles.

—"It was all okay! But... I did get a tiny bit scared when I woke up and you weren't in the house, I though my nightmate of you dissappearing became true!... But then I saw Michael, and he explained that you went to see a doctor!"—

—"Michael... Explained?"— you arch your brow.

As soon as that question left their mouth, the tall man appeared at the entrance of the living room with a small toy ambulance in his hand.

—"Oh..."— you blink as you stare at the small item. —"I... I guess that makes sense how he did it."— you momentarily relax, but suddenly tense up again as you redirect your gaze to your sister. —"But seriously are you okay? Were you out your room this whole time?"—

The little girl shrinks in her place a bit flustered and embarrassed.

—"Well... I know you said last time not to exit my room when I had to stay with Michael, I swear I tried to follow your request! But..."— she bites her lip as she shrinks more. —"Please don't be mad, but I was just too scared to stay up there. You never left at night before! And... And when mom and dad left it was night too and-... And-..."— she starts hiccuping a bit by the end.

The little girl is interrupted when her sibling suddenly hugs her, holding her in a tight, secure and loving embrace.

—"Oh songbird, no... I'm so sorry if I came harsh on you, there is no way I can be mad at you for feeling scared for me."— you say as you place your head over hers. —"The first time I left, I was scared too... I was scared that when I come back you wouldn't be here..."—

A small gasp escaped the little girl and she quickly leans back to face her sibling.

—"You have nightmares of me disappearing too?!"— she asks quite surprised.

—"Yeah, I do."— you reply softly. —"Ever since I managed to convince the old ugly people to let me keep you, I sometimes have nightmares where they take you away."—

(S/N) frowns a bit, her childish mind not expecting that her usually super brave and calm sibling had such fears and concerns.

—"So please, don't feel bad, okay? Let's just be happy and celebrate that I made it home safely and you didn't disappear, yes?"—

—"Yeah... Yeah you're right!"— she exclaims, her happy-go-lucky tone returning. —"And Michael actually wasn't that bad! Though I wasn't in my room we still did our own things! Like, I presented him my toy dinosaurs while he stayed in thaaaaat corner over there and listened."—

—"Uh-huh..."— you mutter quietly as you glance at the tall man, who only tilted his head.

Man, if what the little girl is saying is true, then (Y/N) definetely owes Myers a medal for handling their sister's speech. Don't get them wrong, they love (S/N) to death and absolutely adore when she shares her interests and stories she invented about her toys or for their 'owl siblings' series! But sometimes she may get a bit too engaged with it.

Wait... Could that mean that Michael is being genuine with-.

—"And so... (Y/N)."—

(S/N) voice calling them snapped the older sibling back to reality.

—"About the 'celebrate' thingy..."— she says, suddenly shy.

—"You want me to make a cake, aren't you?"— you throw her an unimpressed look.

—"Yes!"— she giggles as she plays with her fingers. —"The cherry one, pretty please?"—

(Y/N) only rolls their eyes with a smile as they stand up and start taking off their jacket and shoes.

—"I guess I could make us a cake, remember the ingredients we need?"—

The little girl practically ignites in joy.

—"Yes! Yes I remember! Let me see if we have the all!"— she hurriedly says the last part before running into the kitchen.

The older sibling only chuckled as they finish undressing. They start going towards the kitchen but stopped right at the entrance, eyes already placed on the tall man.

—"Have you ever tried a cherry chip cake?"— you suddenly ask after a short pause.

The man slowly tilts his head to the other side.

—"I'll take it as a no. I'll make enough for you to have some too."— you pause. —"Don't get me wrong, it doesn't mean I trust you or enjoy having you around, but... I definetely owe it to you, for keeping an eye on (S/N) and such, and... And for what you did tonight."— you throw him a tiny smile before walking into the kitchen.

Michael didn't follow, not yet. His mind kept repeating that last image of (Y/N) over and over, from their suprisingly calm voice to the soft look in their eyes. But what would make his breath shake was the smile. It wasn't fake, it wasn't nervous, it wasn't out of politeness... It was a genuine, small yet sencere, dedicated to him and him only smile.

He lowers his gaze and places his hand on his chest, gripping the fabric of his coverals tightly.

It's hard to describe what exactly this set of emotions is, it all feels new. All he knows is that he suddenly feels warmth, a very soft and pleasant type of warmth...

It feels very familiar... Yet so distant and forgoten... As if he haven't experience these emotions for a long, long time...

...

...Happy.

He feels happy.

#nothomegal fic #michael myers #michael myers x reader #rz michael myers #rz michael myers x reader #gn reader #slasher x reader

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shinyhoundhandseagle · 4 months

Text

The Emerald of the Season.

Eloise Bridgerton x Male Character.

AU where Eloise Bridgerton falls in love with someone unexpected.

Word Count: 1,776

Part 1/?

Part 2: https://www.tumblr.com/shinyhoundhandseagle/754292327975092224/the-emerald-of-the-season

Relationship: Eloise Bridgerton/Male Character

Warning: None

• • •

The first day of the season started in quite a stressful way. With a beautiful carriage stopping in front of the Buckingham house. Brimsley waited outside with some more service people, all of them excited for the guest to arrive.

“Your Highness”-. Said Brimsley as a man, not older than 18 years old came out of the carriage. Wearing a blue tailcoat with gold buttons, black pants and shoes.

“Hello Brimsley”-. The young smiled at him as he started walking towards him. Right behind him was another man, a servant, that Brimsley recognized reminded him of Reynolds-. “This is Marcel, he doesn’t leave me alone.”

“I was appointed as your chaperone the day you turn 13 your Highness.”

“Where is my aunt?”

“The Queen is waiting for you inside. I’ll have the servants take you stuff to your chambers-.” With a movement of his hand Brimsley had the servants moving quickly to collect everything they had to-. “If you follow me, I’ll take you to the Queen.”

The walk was silent, with Brimsley leading the way as the young man looked around, amused by the castle. Marcel behind his Lord, constantly worrying about his safety and comfort. After some walking they stopped in front of a beautiful door for just one second, enough for both of them to catch their breath and then they went inside.

“Sebastian!”- The Queen looked happy, thrilled even. Her clothes and hair reminiscing of another Era, the Era when King George wasn’t hidden away.

“Aunt!”- He passed Brimsley, forgetting to bow or show any type of manners and just hugged his aunt. He had miss her and her blunt attitude.

“You have grown so much since the last time I saw you.”

“I would hope so! I was just 15 when you did-.” He laugh while his Aunt inspected him-. “It would be kind of embarrassing if I didn’t”.

“Have some tea dear”-. They sat down and while Sebastian decided to have some tea and biscuits the Queen kept inspecting him. He could feel her eyes, watching his every move so he decided to make some conversation.

“The weather seems nic…”

“You know why your father has send you here, correct?”- A sigh escape his lips, he knew exactly why.

“For me to find a wife now that I’ve declined every single woman in Spain?”

“You are the Prince of Spain, the future King and leader of your people. How long did you think you could go without marrying?”

“I knew I had to marry, I just couldn’t find anyone that was bearable enough”.

“Well that’s why you’re here with me, so I can help you find someone worthy of the title you will give them”.

• • •

The Bridgerton house was a mess. Gregory and Hyacinth ran around like the children they were, Anthony, Benedict and Colin were trying to get them ready and under control while Daphne and Violet tried (unsuccessfully) to calm Eloise down. It was her second season on the market and after the disappointment and mess of last year she was more stressed than ever. She couldn’t bring shame to her family anymore.

“Calm down, you will do great”-. Assure Daphne but that felt to deaf ears. Eloise was having a full blown panic attack at this point.

“Eloise calm down, it will be ok!”- Her mother held her face between her hands, trying to make her safer and it sorta worked. Her breathing was still erratic but calmer-. “We must make haste”.

That gained her a smile from Eloise, still remembering what she had screamed at Daphne two seasons ago. She wasn’t comfortable enough to talk yet but decided to give her mother a nod instead. She wasn’t ready but honestly would she ever be fully ready?

The ride to the ball was mostly quiet, Benedict tried to get Eloise to talk but he was unsuccessful. She wanted quiet time and thats what they gave her. With each minute that passed, her heart sank a little bit more and once she saw Lady Danbury’s house her stomach felt like it was turning on itself. She wanted to run, to hide away where no one could find her.

The carriage stopped at the entrance and with a heavy heart she got out of it. Walking in was dreadful and the stares she got didn’t make anything better.

But this was her life and it was time to face it.

• • •

The ball wasn’t as bad as he thought it would be but to be honest the reason it wasn’t bad it’s because no one knew who he was, no one knew his title and that saved him from every mamma throwing their daughters to him.

He walked around everyone, watching closely at every girl in that house. Marcel was right behind him, making sure to watch after his Prince. Sebastian was so concentrated on the dance floor, on moving so quickly and he didn’t realize until his shoulder clashed with someone.

Eloise on the other hand was aware of how quickly she was moving, it was actually on purpose. Lord Fife was right behind her, trying to ask her to dance and that was definitely going to go horribly. She was so concentrated on running away from him that she didn’t see the man in front of her until her chest hit his shoulder.

The clash was harsh, Eloise almost hit the floor and barely kept her balance. Thankfully Sebastian held her by her shoulders, as gentle as he could. Eloise looked up, ready to argue with whoever had bumped into her but before she could articulate any words he spoke.

“Are you hurt?”- He sounded worried and Eloise was frozen. She had never been this close to a man before.

“Ms Bridgerton!”- Lord Fife voice brought her back to reality, he had almost caught up to her.

“What is your name my Lord?”- She asked the blonde man in front who had stopped holding her shoulders a few seconds ago.

“What?”

“Your name… Please he is coming and I don’t want to…”- It was clear on her face what she meant and Sebastian wasn’t dumb. She wanted to play pretend so the guy would leave her alone.

“Would you allow me this dance my Lady?”- He asked politely while extending a hand for her to take. Lord Fife stopped on his tracks, looking at the strange man in front of Eloise. He had never seen him before.

“Of course”-. She whispered thankfully that the Lord had decided to help her out. They walked to the dance floor together, him holding her hand up.

“What’s your name my Lady?”- He asked once the dance had started. He wasn’t planning on spending a whole song without any conversation.

“One, two, one… What?”- Counting her steps was important, the last thing she wanted was to step on the nice gentleman foot after he saved her from Lord Fife.

“Your name? Or would you rather me call you ‘The Lady who runs from her matches’?”

“I’m Eloise Bridgerton”-. She could sense the stares from the people around her. She wasn’t know to interact with suitors and that included dancing with them-. “What if your name my Lord?”

“Just Sebastian Borbón”-. Eloise raised an eyebrow. The surname sounded familiar and the accent confused her. It wasn’t French and it was definitely not English.

“Where are you from? I can’t place the accent”.

“You’re blunt”-. He laughed softly.

“I’m sorry, that question was inappropriate…”

“Don’t apologize, be blunt. I promise you my ego won’t get hurt”-. He didn’t find it amusing, he found it brave. There’s not that many women in this society with the guts to be mouthy and it felt like fresh air-. “And to answer your question, it’s a Spanish accent”.

“I’m use to people telling me to act more like a lady and those kind of questions aren’t ladylike”-. Her eye rolled made him giggle-. “Spain? You seem to be far from home my Lord”.

“Seems like it”.

“If I could ask, why have you come so far?”

“For the same reason you’re in this ball my Lady”.

“Because your mamma decided to bring you against your will?”

“More like my aunt but yes”.

“Why is it that older women like the idea of forcing younger people to marry? We should be able to choose if we want to do it or not”-. Her eyebrows created a frown and she started ranting about liberation and women’s rights. Sebastian didn’t interrupt her, he just looked at her with wonder on his eyes. She really was a entertaining woman-. “I apologize, I’ve been ranting”.

She looked up, waiting for him to be angry and disgusted at her. After all that’s what every man felt once they heard her ‘radical’ opinions but not him. He kept looking at her with a soft smile and softly nodded for her to continue speaking but before she could, the song ended, Colin appeared out of thin air and he took her away from the gentleman.

“Are you ok sister?”- Colin whispered to her as they walked back to the rest of the family where their mother was waiting. Violet had been worried about her daughter since she had disappeared about 15 minutes ago without saying anything.

“I’m fine brother, just exhausted”-. Eloise lied, not wanting to admit to her brother that the mysterious young man had made her nervous.

“Welcome to my humble house!”- Lady Danbury was now in the middle of the dance floor, with a glass in her hand and a smile on her face-. “Each season we rejoice in courting and in the idea of finding love, and this year won’t be that much different. Except for one thing ladies and gentlemen and that is that the Queen’s nephew, the Prince of Spain will be part of our season. He will be looking for a wife and a future Queen”.

Everyone was whispering and staring. The Prince of Spain? Here? Looking for a wife? The mamas were going insane, looking around hoping to get their hands on the Prince. Almost all the Bridgertons were whispering to each other except Eloise because she was just dancing with a Spanish man… Could it be the Prince? No… Or yes?

“Come here dear, show your face”-. Lady Danbury reached her hand to one of the young men closed to her and pulled him to the center so everyone could get a good look of him.

Eloise’s heart stopped for one second as she looked at Sebastian standing next to Lady Danbury. No, he wasn’t just Sebastian. He was the Prince and she felt like an idiot.

#eloise bridgerton #bridgerton #penelope featherington #colin bridgerton #Eloise x male character #anthony bridgerton #benedict bridgerton #daphne bridgerton #queen charlotte #lady danbury

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sunshine-daisies-library · 9 months

Note

Request for John b routledge: reader and John b slow dancing while talking about their future together.

older | john b. routledge x fem!reader

summary: you and john b are the only ones that remain on the dance floor. the both of you can't help but reminisce on the past and look towards the future.

warnings: she/her pronoun usage, mentions of drinking and weed, partying

You weren’t sure how much time had passed by since you started swaying in John B’s arms. All you knew was that Sarah left a little after midnight with Kiara following suit, and Pope and Cleo went home soon after. JJ, ever the partier, continued through rounds of drinks and chasers until he ultimately ended up passed out on the couch. However, you and John B. remained awake, dancing along to the soft music playing from JJ’s speaker. You were grateful JJ was too far gone to complain that you connected your phone to his speaker and played something calmer for the end of the night.

“What’s on your mind, pretty girl?” John B. whispered softly in your ear, his hand just barely grazing your hip.

“Nothin’” you hummed. You allowed your fingers to loosen to play with the hairs at the nape of his neck. The mere sensation sent shivers down John B’s spine, delightful and exciting all at once.

John B. pulled away to twirl you, your giggles filling the air and drowning out the soft melody playing in the background. “Don’t lie to me, y/n,” he says with a chuckle. The conversation was light, no harm or accusatory tones being displayed. He was merely curious about what was going on in that little head of yours. “You can talk to me, always.”

“I know,” you relent, joining back together with him. “I’m just…content, is all.”

John B. raised an eyebrow at you, a smirk dancing along his lips. The smell of cheap beer could be smelled from his breath, and his corny Hawaiian shirt reeked of weed. You weren’t any better, though, with your bloodshot eyes and racing heart from one shot after the other with JJ. Your Converse were matted with dirt and spilled White Claws, squeaking against the beer can littered floors of his living room. It was your perfect paradise, despite everything working against the two of you. Anything was paradise with John B. and your best friends at your side.

You finally gave into his magnetic stare, his eyes your weakness. “I don’t wanna get older,” you sighed. “I don’t want to lose all of this.” You gestured to his small shack, complete with its unwashed dishes in the sink and sticky counter covered in God knows what.

John B. could only laugh softly at your confession. “So you want JJ to stay on his drunk ass on our couch for eternity?” he joked, swiftly dodging your punch.

“Not that,” you whined, but you couldn’t stop your heart from flipping at the way he called this place “ours.” That is what you didn’t want to lose. “I don’t want to get all old and wrinkly to a point where you don’t wanna love me. Or too old to go on adventures with the group and dive for random shit that tourons leave behind. Or too–”

“Slow down, n/n,” John B. cut you off. He reached for the sides of your face, his thumbs grazing your cheeks to wipe away the tears that began to form. “None of that is gonna happen,” he reassured you. “Yeah, we’re gonna get old and gross, but that’s not going to stop us from doing stupid shit.” You choked out a wet laugh at his wording. “We’re still going to take the boat out any chance we get. We’re still going to try and fail to prevent JJ from cliff diving. We’re still going to go on adventures together, and we are still going to be in love, no matter how old we get, you hear me?”

You nodded, but a pout still remained on your lips. John B dropped one hand to grab yours and kiss it softly. “We’re gonna get old,” he whispered. “And you’re gonna be my girl forever. You’re gonna wear that cocaine colored wedding dress and walk down the aisle, and I’m going to cry like a baby through it all.”

John B. pulled you in and began swaying again. Like clockwork, you rested your cheek against his shoulder. “I’m going to get a job, and we’re going to buy a house on a hill so we don’t have to worry about our basement flooding after hurricanes. We’re going to have three kids -no, four- and you can take care of them in that house.”

“Like a housewife?” you snorted, shaking your head in disbelief.

John B. dipped you carefully, a boyish smile on his face. “Well, you can do whatever you’d like,” he reasoned. “If you don’t want that, we can be a team and raise them together. I can..can be a mechanic or engineer, and you can be a teacher. Or nurse, or doctor, or whatever you want. I just want you to be happy and never stress.”

“We can cross that bridge when we get to it,” you decided, tears dried and frown replaced by a smile. “I guess getting older isn’t too bad, then.”

“With you?” John B. questioned as the song came to an end. “It’ll be worth it all.”

#john b routledge x reader #john b routledge #john b x reader #john b #john b fanfiction #outerbanks #obx #obx fanfiction #outerbanks fanfiction #requests #john b fluff #john b routledge imagine #john b routledge fluff

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geekywritings · 1 year

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Reunion

Got a few more requests done! So please, enjoy!

The request: “ Hello, I hope you're having a good day/night! May I request a cute Cal Kestis x Reader fic where they talk about their time as padawans? Maybe they found each other again after all this time. :) “

____

„What planets do you still want to visit?”

Cal turned toward you, his fellow Padawan, as your eyes were still focused on the starry sky above you. Peaceful evenings on a desolate moon like this, where you could just lie in a field somewhere and watch the galactic display above you were rare and you always tried to make the best of them.

The two of you had become apprentices during the war, your Jedi path thus vastly different from the one walked by your Masters.

“I don’t know.”, Cal replied honestly to your question. “I think I’d also be happy serving on Coruscant.”

You pulled a face at the admission, your adventurous spirit revolting at the idea of staying in one place. But just because it wasn’t to your liking, it didn’t mean that it wouldn’t suit Cal. The calmer and more spiritual of you two, life at the temple was probably exactly what would make him happy.

“I can see you becoming a teacher… or even as part of the Council one day.”, you mused, your eyes following a shooting star across the dark firmament.

“And what about you?”, Cal asked, clearly curious.

“I’m going to explore the galaxy.”, you announced, lips spreading into a smile. “I wanna travel the Outer-Rim and help those in need. Maybe I’ll even go into uncharted territory to see what’s out there.”

Cal chuckled. “Sounds just like you.”

This time you turned, directing your smile at your childhood friend. “But I’ll come and visit you at the Temple, of course. And bring back souvenirs.”, you promised, realizing that a life completely apart just wouldn’t do.

The entire evening was filled with dreams, what-ifs and adventurous plans for your futures. All of which would never come to fruition….

10 years later

“I can’t believe you visited so many places…”

Cal turned toward you, his fellow survivor, as your eyes were focused on the starry sky above you. Such moments were rare amidst the war against the Empire and this was the first time you had the chance to lie on a field on a peaceful planet such as Koboh.

“And I can’t believe you were on Coruscant all this time.”, he replied, noticing the irony in that. You had met by pure accident and hadn’t left each other’s side since.

“I figured I’d hide where they’d least expect a Jedi to be.”, you shrugged. The underworld of the city planet was huge, offering plenty of refuge to those who knew how to navigate it.

“Tell me more about Dathomir… And Bogano… They sound fascinating.”

Cal made himself more comfortable by folding his hands under his head, trying to figure out where to begin. There was so much to tell, both places being vastly different from each other. Meanwhile you had turned to your side, looking at him expectantly.

“You know, I think I’ll just show you.”, the redhead finally decided, making you blink.

“Are you serious?”

“Yes, why not? We deserve a break after that last mission. And I’m sure you will enjoy Bogano.”

The ravenous landscape, the cute fluffy Boglings and the impressive structure of the ancient temple sounded like just the kind of things that would earn him one of those smiles and laughs he loved so much.

“And what about Dathomir?”

“I’ll ask Merrin if she knows some nice places… Don’t expect an ocean vista or anything though.”

You chuckled as you already envisioned the Nightsister’s face at being asked to play tourguide.

“What about after the war?”

Your question had Cal turning toward you, trying to read your expression.

“What about it?”

“What do you wanna do?”

Cal fell silent. He hadn’t thought that far ahead. After the purge, he didn’t dare to dream anymore like he had as a young Padawan. Noticing that he wasn’t about to say anything, you gathered all your courage to speak yourself.

“I thought we could settle down somewhere… You and I… somewhere quiet and peaceful.”

Cal’s eyes went wide, lips parting in surprise. Settling down? You? With him? Suddenly an image appeared in his head. A small home, a garden, the two of you sitting on a bench with BD-1 running after a little red-haired child….

Realizing that he still owed you a reply, Cal smiled, one of his hands reaching out for yours. “I’d like that.”, he said. “But are you sure? What about your exploration plans?”

“I think we will do quite a bit of traveling before all this is done… Besides, I want to enjoy growing old with you, Cal. And settling down sounds perfect.”

It did to him as well. As long as it was with you.

#cal kestis #cal kestis x yn #cal kestis x you #cal kestis x reader #jedi survivor

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kawaiichibiart · 1 year

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Okay, let's get into this.

The new outfits, starting with Leo/need:

I, for one, do prefer the new designs over the old one.

I like the uniformity while still having things that make them them. I like that, so far from what I can see, they all have a star somewhere on their outfit (I say so far because Ichika's guitar blocks part of her outfit, so I'm not 100% sure they all have stars), with Shiho's and Honami's being more obvious and Saki's less so. They all still have their signature colors and I'm hoping that in future designs, we can see more of those colors come in, not the same shade obviously, I'm thinking lighter/darker depending on the person (like Shiho would have a dark green shirt, while Saki's is a pastel yellow).

I'm thinking about in terms of Huevemeber, where we have one color to work with (the hue changes every day) and we can only use different shades of that one specific color, you can't change the hue at all, vibrancy, intensity, sure, but if you're using red and you go towards orange, that's a new hue.

Now onto individual designs:

Okay, one: I love that Ichika's guitar also got a bit of a redesign. I like that they kept the belts on her thigh, it does look like the ones on her new design are a bit thinner and you can't see the ends of the belt, which leads me to assume that maybe these have a loop or a snap somewhere to make it look like that, or that they don't unbuckle and it's just a band.

As I said before, everyone seems to have a star somewhere on their outfit but we can't see if Ichika has one somewhere. If I had to guess, I'd say the buttons of her jacket.

The changes in her expression is something I also enjoy. Ichika feels more comfortable and confident. In her old design, she looks like she's a bit in shock, maybe considering things??? It's more... pensive I guess? So her standing there with more confidence shows how much she (and the rest of L/n) have grown.

First off: happy we can see more of her body standing upright rather than leaning over.

Second: I like the added details on her socks. As I said, so far, Saki's star detail is the most subtle. It's on her socks. It's something I don't think people will catch at first glance, unlike Honami and Shiho who both have it somewhere it's more notable.

I like that Saki's the one who got a bow tie in this redesign, I think it suits her. While I do like her old tie, I think the change is nice.

The double belt is a nice touch to the design, the only change I'd make is adding another star motif. Like having a metal star pinned there, or having one larger buckle that was shaped like a star.

Saki comes off as playful in her old design and calmer in her new one. The best way I can describe it is: ticking off something from a bucket list vs finding something new you want to pursue. I wouldn't think Saki wanted to be a professional just looking at her old design. I'd think she enjoys the keyboard/piano. Looking at her new design, it does come more across her being more pro.

That being said, I like that in both she comes across as the cheery one. Like, she just looks like the happy member of the band. It comes across differently in both, but it's the same general idea.

One thing I wish they added was a pair of ribbons, kinda like Honami's ↓ I dunno, I like having it look like something is holding her pigtails up.

Much like Ichika, one thing I notice is the confidence and being more comfortable. Honami looks a bit uneasy in her old design, like she's not sure if she's meant to be there, but she's there and she's going to try god damnit.

Not gonna lie, I'm going to miss her music note scrunchie. But the ribbon is a nice touch.

I need to point this out, but it looks like the red of her clothes have shifted to a darker shade. Like, in her new design, the red reminds me a lot of MEIKO, which I think it a nice nod to Honami's first event (iirc).

The star buckle and buttons on her sleeves are a nice touch. While I do like the star charm from her old design, I think the new design makes the star(s) work better.

The only thing I'm not too sure of is the belt/strap hanging on her skirt. I don't know if I'd rather move it so it's more on her hip or waist, or if I want to get it rid of it completely. I also wish they kept her fingerless gloves, but that doesn't bother as much as the belt/strap.

Out of all four redesigns, Shiho's is the one I like most. While I never had a problem with the color she's wearing, the overall outfit just never stuck with me. The thing I disliked the most was the bow, it looked so stupid. I genuinely like Shiho with the tie a lot more and I think she suits the blazer/suit jacket.

Again, I've never had a problem with the color, that being said, I do like that we've shifted to a darker green color (much like how Honami's shifted to a darker red).

As mentioned earlier, Shiho has stars in her outfit that are notable. One is on the cuff of her sleeve and the other is her bracelet on the same arm. I kinda wanna know if the bracelets match, so we have another star on her hand holding her bass.

I also like that she looks more relaxed, as opposed to her looking like she's trying to stand apart from the others. Which, thinking about it, is very telling of Leo/need's journey to becoming pros. In their old design, Shiho is the only one who's standing like she's working on being pro. Ichika and Honami look more like this is something they're unsure of but want to try, while Saki looks like she just wants to have a good time. It's very much a difference between career vs hobby. Shiho was the lone wolf before, but now she's able to stand with the rest of the pack, knowing that they're doing this together. She can relax. She looks confident in both, but again, like with Saki, there's a difference between the two.

On a side note, what's hanging on the side of her skirt? I wanna say it's a belt but I'm not sure...

....anyways!!

All in all, I like the uniformity (seriously, I like them in the same outfits, any time I play/watch a song with 3DMV, I make sure their outfits match otherwise it bothers me). I like the stars put throughout their outfits. I like the shift in Shiho's green and Honami's red. I like that they all look more confident. I like that they actually look like a professional band. I do think adding a lighter/darker shade of their signature color would have made their designs just slightly better, but other than that, I really like these designs.

#project sekai #project sekai colorful stage #hatsune miku colorful stage #proseka #prosekai #colorful stage #leo/need #ichika hoshino #hoshino ichika #saki tenma #tenma saki #honami mochizuki #mochizuki honami #shiho hinomori #hinomori shiho

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glorious-blackout · 9 months

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My Year in Gigs

Seeing as we're nearing the end of the year, I thought I'd look back on the amazing shows I've been lucky enough to attend in 2023 and resurrect my Post-Concert Depression with a definitive ranking 😅💚

Eurovision Semi Final One - Live Show: Absolute dream-come-true experience. Loved every minute, the crowd was so kind and supportive towards every act, and I got to see most of my faves steal the show and advance to the finals 🥰

Muse (Dublin) : My second Muse gig of the year was even more of a blast than the first! Absolutely nothing could have prepared me for the joy of finally seeing Butterflies and Hurricanes and Apocalypse Please live 😭

Queens of the Stone Age: Josh Homme arrived onstage, called us all crazy motherfuckers, expressed a sincere desire to get fucked in the ass by a Scottish dude, then called his guitarist a 500-year-old vampire before flirting shamelessly with him. 10/10, no notes. Oh yeah, and the music slapped too.

Käärijä: Half hilarious stand-up show, half incredible party with insanely fun, energetic songs. One of the most enjoyable gigs I’ve ever been to and I would pay good money to fly to Finland solely to see Käärijä play a gig on his home turf.

Muse (Bellahouston Park): My boys were incredible as ever and I had a genuinely great time at this gig, but it gets demoted a little due to the torrential rain cutting our setlist short and making me ill 😅 Would have been an easy third place had technical difficulties not robbed me of the chance to see Verona live...

Go_A: If you’ve never been to a Ukrainian Folk-Rave before, I can highly recommend it! Go_A were simply phenomenal with great energy that had us dancing all night. Highlight of the show was Ihor delivering a badass flute solo while Kateryna went backstage to recharge her awesomeness.

Sparks: These guys have been making consistently excellent music for decades and still have more energy and enthusiasm than most young bands could ever dream of possessing. Such a wonderful set filled with amazingly quirky songs both old and new.

Joker Out: It says a lot about the high quality of shows on this list that I’ve had to rank these guys so low. In any other year they’d be a clear contender for top three! The energy from both the band and crowd were insane, the boys were clearly in awe of having a venue full of Scots singing along with them in Slovene, and I need the Demoni scream injected directly into my veins 😈

Arctic Monkeys: This ranking has almost nothing to do with the band themselves who delivered a great show, but looking back on it I’ve just had to accept that I wasn’t having a good time during a large chunk of this gig. The crowd in my section were rowdy to the point where I couldn’t hear or see anything and I was wasting all my energy trying not to get shoved. My depression was also playing up to the point where I was struggling to get excited over songs I dearly love and I just felt unwell and burnt out all night. The second half was a definite improvement as we’d moved to a calmer area by the time they brought out The Car songs, but by the end I was just exhausted and desperate for home. Would see them again in a heartbeat in a more intimate indoor venue, but I think I’ll avoid any of their big stadium tours in future 😅

Busted: Honestly, I had a much nicer time at this gig compared to Arctic Monkeys. The nostalgia alone of singing along to ‘Thunderbirds Are Go’ at the top of my lungs is always a special moment. But I can’t pretend for a second that Busted’s music comes anywhere close to the quality of Arctic Monkeys’ recent output, so they’re a very reluctant last place on my list of generally incredible gig experiences 😅

Best Support Act: Nova Twins by a country mile. I may have fallen slightly in love with Georgia and her incredible bass skills. It was easy to see why Muse invited them on tour because they seemed so at-ease in a massive arena 😊

Here's to (hopefully) more amazing gigs in 2024! I'd love to hear about some of the great shows that you guys attended this year as well 🥰💖

#honourable mention to Lord of the Lost who I had tickets for but ultimately couldn't see because I was too sick; I'm still sad I missed them #and also to Voyager who I'm sure would have put on an amazing show - looking forward to seeing them after Danny kicks cancer's ass #my gigs #muse #muse band #queens of the stone age #käärijä #go_a #sparks #joker out #arctic monkeys #busted

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vilf-lover · 10 months

Text

what if

darlin and sam (my faves)

g/n darlin

851 words

cw - mentions of traumas (abuse), angst/comfort

darlin comes home to find sam in thought, specifically about his upbringing, trying to come to terms with things he can’t control and going into a ‘what-if’ spiral

wednesdays were darlins least favorite day of the week. sam was either with the clan or drowning in work at home.

to make matters worse, they had to go shopping. the fluorescent lights flickering overhead as they walked the produce aisle.

“that should be all i need. fucking finally.” they sighed, tired of the wailing children and beeps of items scanning and small talk from cashiers

they checked out and drove home…

walking into the house as the bags from their journey to the supermarket weighed down their arms, they noticed sam wasn’t on the couch as they expected

“…sam? did you move to your office?” they set the bags down, not putting anything away properly, and went to look for sam

there he was. sitting in his office chair though he wasn’t doing anything, until he finally spoke

“you’re home. how was the store, darlin?” he asked

it wasn’t in his normal voice. it was quiet, nearly monotone. he was still turned towards his computer, facing the wall, which was also unusual considering he’s usually more than happy to see them.

“is everything alright, sam?” they walked towards him through the door frame

as he turned his chair, they noticed that he looked exhausted.

“yeah, i’ll be alright” he muttered, pulling his chair back in

“sam. what’s going on?” they insisted, with as many times as he had helped them, they knew firsthand that alright meant not alright at all. “can you come to the couch so we can talk?”

sam slowly stood up and followed them to their living room. as they sat down, they noticed that he didn’t sit where he usually would, and he wouldn’t rest his back against the cushions.

after a long pause of silence, they could see that sam was going to say something (which was appreciated because they hated silence)

“y’know, i was 16 when i left home. i had just gotten my license and bought my own busted car for 1500 which was nearly all of my money, when i decided to leave.”

as darlin’ was about to console him, he continued

“when i drove off, my father shot at the car. after years of beatings and arguments and constant berating, it hadn’t even phased me.” sam’s eyes started welling up, “i was a child, darlin’. a 16 year old should not be impartial to being shot at, or abused in any way. but i was, because i had lost the ability to care about their actions.”

darlin’ had never seen him like this. not when talking about alexis, not even after inversion. it’s like they could see the hopeless teenager that he once was.

“they always told me they hated me because i was merely a collection of their worst traits. my mom said i held my fathers temper and my dad said i held my mother’s sensitivity. so i tried to change, i tried to be stronger and calmer, but i couldn’t change around them darlin’. so i left, with nothing but 100 bucks and bullet holes in my fender. still sometimes i think i’m destined to ending up like them.”

darlin’ decided it was finally time to talk, “sam. you are not destined to anything. you made your own future, and that just shows that you are not them. you grew up too fast, and you deserved nothing they gave you. yet, you prevailed, and you’re here.”

it seemed like there was something else he was thinking of, something he was hesitating to say “sometimes i wonder if i had never gone on that six flags trip, and i left to somewhere else that day…if i would be old and wrinkled, maybe quinn wouldn’t have come around as much, you wouldn’t have to deal with passive aggressive vampires, clan meetings wouldn’t be tense, and everything would be better” his voice got weaker and weaker as his head sunk nearly to his chest.

“woah. sam. stop” they rested their hand on his, which snapped him back into reality “look. it’s okay to grieve what could have been, but you need to know how important you are now. i love you, and i would not be anywhere else in the world right now. how many times have you told me that ‘what if’ isn’t productive?”

sam nodded his head lightly as he looked into their eyes- “i am so lucky i have you darlin’, im sorry you had to come home from the store to this” he chuckled moving closer to them as they felt the tension in his body release in their arms as they cradled his head

darlin’ playfully scoffed, “please don’t hesitate to tell me when you’re dealing with things like this, i want to help you sooner. plus, it’s my privilege to come home to this after how many kids were crying at the supermarket. i swear why can’t people just keep their children at home or something”

“i don’t think that would exactly work” sam laughed in darlin’s chest

“oh shit i think i left the milk out, come on” they realized, scrambling to the kitchen

I HOPE YOU ENJOY AND UM YEAH THANK YOU @isthatafuckinggayangel AND ANYONE ELSE THAT READ 💖💖💖

#kenza’s kreations #redacted audio #redacted asmr #redactedverse #kenza loves kowboys #redacted sam #redacted darlin #samuel collins

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sleepingdeath-sapphic · 3 months

Note

Hey Hi i saw that your requests are open so if isn't a problem, can you do some relationship headcanons for Crystal Winter from Ever After High with a Gender Neutral Reader? Thanks

dating hcs ; ever after high

thank you for requesting anon <3

this includes crystal winter <3

reader is assumed as gender neutral <3

my account is 16+, please interact accordingly <3

though crystal isn’t the biggest fan of over the top gushy (or, as she would say, ‘slushy’) stuff in relationships, she still does what she can to make sure you know just how much she loves you and just how much she genuinely appreciates your company — this is mainly done through her making sure that each and every date you two go on is as fun and exciting as it possibly can be

naturally her preference leans strongly towards winter themed activities (e.g. ice skating, hockey, snowball fights, and so on), but she’s not completely opposed to switching things up and going out of her comfort zone to do the things that you enjoy — so if you’re more of a ‘beach ball’ person than a ‘snow ball’ person then she’s happy to improvise and accommodate you (though she’s still not gonna go easy on you during play — lover or not, she’s still got a bit of a competitive streak)

if you’re looking for a calmer sort of date, however, then she’s also happy to take you out at night to look up at the endless starry sky and the gorgeous northern lights — combine that stunning view with crystal’s passionate chatter about meteorology and the specific phenomena you’re witnessing and you’re pretty much set for a quiet night out with your darling girlfriend

assuming you’re not a native of the top of the world where she’s from, crystal makes sure that each visit you take up the mountain is better than the last — that means better and more personal housing as she gets to know you better, planned activities that are even more fun and educational than those you participated in during your last visit, a larger array of meals that consist of an equal mixture of local dishes and the meals you grew up eating, and (of course), a new wardrobe that’s both perfectly suited to your style preferences and as optimised for the local weather as possible

she doesn’t really use any pet names for you and just calls you your first name for the most part, and if you insist on calling her something other than her name then she’d definitely prefer something that sounds a bit more modern or something related to her and her future role (e.g. ‘babe’ works perfectly fine for her, but ‘my queen’ or ‘my winter queen’ when used sparingly and jokingly enough is also going to get a positive reaction from her)

crystal isn’t really someone who is super big on physical affection in her relationship with you, and especially not if it comes in the form of over the top pda — a peck on the lips/cheek is fine in any setting, hand holding when you’re walking about is chill, but cuddling is only for when you’re in private and anything more than that will have her wincing and half-heartedly complaining about you being too ‘slushy’ with her

during sleepovers with her it’s pretty much inevitable that the conversation will inevitably shift to the topic of her future and where she hopes you’ll settle within it — from her perspective, as a royal, her destiny as the snow queen is pretty much set in stone and she dearly hopes that, come what may, you’ll be ruling right by her side through it all… if you’re someone without a set path or who has rejected what fate supposedly had in store for you then it’s much easier for you both to dream of this fantastical future of endless winters and a love that never melts, but if you happen to be a royal like her with a destiny that dictates that you’ll both part ways some day then this particular topic is going to be one she ends up dancing around for the most part (it’s easier to dream of the impossible when you only think of the present and not the future)

#sleepingdeath sapphic #sleepingdeath #gender neutral reader #ever after high x reader #eah x reader #fluff #fluff hcs #eah fluff #crystal winter x reader #crystal winter fluff #ever after high fluff

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jowrites · 4 months

Text

When the Dahlia sings Her Song - 1. Bad day to worst day.

TW: Mentions of death, physical abuse, mental illness, depression, anxiety, parental death, verbal abuse, mute disorder, mentions of sex, some smut(in future), cursing

Strangers to Lovers. Lee Heeseung x F!OC(I like giving names).

Masterlist Here. Prev. Next. Jo's Masterlist Here.

This wasn’t anything new to Heeseung.

Many times he had walked right into chaos at the company, he knew it too well. He would walk right into his very furious father(and boss) and sit there as his father spewed curses and threw papers everywhere. His anger wasn’t directed at him until it was because, “How come you weren’t watching your brother closely?” and blame him for the actions of someone else. Heeseung would apologize and his father would then apologize and tell him to handle him while he deals with the press. It was a never ending cycle and today was no different.

His brother, Beomgyu, seemed unphased as usual. Just sitting there and letting their father hit him and show his fury. Beomgyu usually left with a few bruises and today it looked like a busted lip. He looked over at his brother and shrugged at him as Heeseung sighed and bowed towards their father who was much calmer now. He took Beomgyu and they walked across to one of the meeting rooms where Beomgyu let out strong laughter.

“What was it this time?” Heeseung pulled out one of the first aid kits and began to lead Beomgyu to a chair.

“He doesn’t like my new girlfriend and said I’m supposed to be marrying Somi, said he already arranged it,” his brother shrugged. “Fucking asshole.”

“So you beat up a bouncer at a club?” Heeseung began to apply ointment on his brother's lip, who began to wince in pain.

“Hey, gently!” He cried out.

“Continue,” Heeseung, was not gentle.

“He laughed at me and it just escalated from there,” Beomgyu defended. “They’ll pay whatever money and it will go away in a week.”

“And you and Somi?” Heeseung asked.

“I don’t know, she’s pretty but kind of annoying. As long as she gets her shopping sprees and whatever I guess she’ll be fine,” Beomgyu shrugged and Heeseung looked at him with his eyebrows raised. “What? I can do it. You know, you all really doubt me around here when there's one thing I’m good at doing, it’s keeping a woman happy. Not like you have expertise in that department.”

“Done. Go home and just…stop being a little bitch, please I’m literally begging,” Heeseung sighed.

“You always have my back, brother! Oh! One more thing,” Beomgyu took a pen and some paper and wrote something down. “I need you to go to this address, ask for Gyuri.”

“What the hell is this?” Heeseung looked at the address written down.

“I need you to break up with my girlfriend for me,” Beomgyu started walking out.

“Absolutely NOT!” Heeseung grabbed him by the collar and threw him back into a chair, folding his arms across his chest. “That is YOUR responsibility. I already do enough around here.”

“Look, I can’t be going around there anymore and I really don’t like breaking up over text. Bring her flowers or something and send her my best regards. It was nice while it lasted! Also, you might find it really cool,” He stood up, giving a formal salute and then leaving Heeseung alone.

*****

The rest of the day Heeseung had this raging headache. He had meetings and more meetings, projects not getting on time and him having to be stern on the managers for not keeping their teams in check. This didn’t seem to be going right anywhere and it was just so…loud all the time. Wherever he went around the building there was just chaos and then more chaos. He was feeling extremely overstimulated and on top of it he felt hot liquid soak his suit and realized an employee walked right into him with her coffee.

“Oh my! Oh no! Oh my god! I’m so sorry!” She began scrambling to try and clean him up as he stood there pinching his bridge and held out a hand for her to stop.

“Enough! Get back to work!” He said sternly to everyone around who stopped to watch the scene.

He turned on his heels making his way back to his office to change. His secretary was on the phone and he quickly hung up as he walked behind Heeseung, closing the door.

“You look like hell,” Jay said, hands in pockets.

“Today’s not my day,” he said, removing his jackets and quickly unbuttoning his shirt as Jay went to the closet and picked out a new suit for him.

“Yup, it definitely is not. Should I fire whoever…did this?” He pointed up and down Heeseungs body, eyeing him.

“No, just drop it. Anything left for the day?” he asked, looking at the time, 5:57 PM.

“Nope. You’re free,” Jay said. “Do you need a ride today?”

“No, no I have something I have to do for Beomgyu, you can go without me,” Heeseung waved him off, finishing buttoning the last of his shirt and collecting his phone and keys from his desk.

“Wait, what?” Jay stopped him. “Beomgyu? That asshole has made today hell! What the hell does he have left for you?”

“Something I need to look into. I’ll tell you later,” Heeseung waved him off and left.

“Drive safe, sweetheart!” Jay yelled out. "Whatever, I guess."

*******

Heeseung looked at the paper in his hand and back at the building in front of him. He stood outside his car just staring at this place, unfamiliar and curious, a place he didn’t even know existed until now. A flower shop? Is this where Beomgyu’s girlfriend worked? It was on the outskirts of town, an hour drive and not many shops around here but looked like a small music shop and a small restaurant. The rest of the buildings looked to be abandoned or they could be apartments, he wasn’t sure. It looked like no one was home. Suddenly, the lights to the shop turned on, and the sign switched to ‘open’. A flower shop that opens in the evening? He shook his head and then walked across the street, opening the door.

The only sound he heard was the sound of the bell as he walked in. His senses began to fill with odors of floral beings of all kinds, and then the smell of…cinnamon and spice? The further he walked in the stronger the smell became, sweet and vibrant, hitting his senses from all around. Then suddenly, he felt a tap on his shoulder and turned around and came face to face with the most beautiful woman he has ever seen. Her hair was black, curled and put up in a long ponytail. Her eyes were a hazel of some sort, big and bright. Her lips were full and she wore a small smile, cheeks were just as pink as her cute nose. In that moment, his breath was knocked right out of him and he couldn’t stop staring.

Hello, welcome! Do you need anything?

She waved her hands in his face and he finally snapped out of whatever trance she had him in. Whatever strange spell he came under, he had no idea but wouldn’t mind it to happen again. He looked down at the small notepad in her hand and read it. She held up her finger and began to write something again.

Would you like to take a look around?

“Uhm, I’m looking for someone,” he said. “C-can you understand m-me?”

She nodded and smiled writing again.

I understand just fine. Who are you looking for?

“Her name is Gyuri?” He said more as a question.

The girl frowned and began to write.

Why? Who are you to her?

“Oh, no no please don’t misunderstand. I just have to relay a message,” he said in defense.

The girl nodded before holding her hand, wait, and then disappearing behind the back with another girl in tow.

“Uhm hi, you called for me?” the girl, who he assumed was Gyuri, said.

“You’re Gyuri?” He raised an eyebrow at the very plain looking woman, the type he could never see Beomgyu with.

“And you’re Lee Heeseung,” she folded her arms over her chest. “To what do I owe the pleasure?”

“Beomgyu sent me a message saying he’s sorry and it’s not going to work out,” Heeseung just decided to rip the bandaid off, fast and strong.

“He said that? Well, good to know. I broke up with him a week ago,” she chuckled. “Thanks for reminding me.”

“Wait-YOU, broke up with HIM?” Heeseung scoffed. “Fucking bastard.”

“Yeah, that guy is crazy like…we barely even went out or whatever but he’s crazy,” Gyuri said. “Sorry you came all the way out here, You want a cinnamon roll?”

“I’m going to kill him.”

#kpop multistan #enhypen scenarios #enhypen #kpop writers #kpop fanfic #lee heeseung #heesung enhypen

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mins-fins · 1 year

Text

the detectives treat.

summary: in which a snappy forensic scientist and an awfully flirtatious detective have a.. complicated relationship.

pairing: kim taerae x m!reader

genre: detective au thingy?, fluff

warnings: mentions of murder, mentions of corpses, and weapons

word count: 0.7k

notes: jun (@luvjiun) really read my mind when it came to this LMAO, not exactly angst because rn i feel allergic to writing angst, and this is shorter than what i usually write but take this because after this weekend updates will become MUCH slower 😭

— coroners forensic laboratory. — 11:23 am.

"if you don't stop coming in here to bother me, my knife will meet your face" taerae scoffs as he points the scalpel towards the figure who waltzes into his office, his voice full of contempt. yn lets out a gasp, stepping back a little bit.

"calm down mr. kim, if you do so you'll have to think about your murder case in the future, gunwook will be sad" yn shrugs, a vicious smile tugging at his lips.

taerae huffs, rolling his eyes as he gently places the scalpel down onto the examining table. he clicks his tongue and turns to yn, who smiles even larger at him.

"what do you need then, detective? hurry up i don't have that much time for you" taerae's voice calms down, but the clear annoyance is still there. yn sighs and shakes his head, used to this behavior.

"just the usual, i need the autopsy report for the case jeonghyeon's holding" he begins. "also, mind coming with me to mr. uehara's office?" he inquires, and taerae's eyebrows knit together.

taerae stares at the taller, contemplating.

was officer seok matthew not in today? that's quite unusual, he thinks.

"where's your partner?" he asks, pulling off his gloves and disposing of them. he again narrows his eyes at yn's smile. "ah, matthew? he's with keita, you know, he needs assistance after the whole incident".

taerae huffs, crossing his arms. "not you and that bibliography or, magazine, or whatever? your so full of yourself" yn laughs, a faux grimace coming to his face.

"your one mean person mr. kim, you know how hard jihoo worked for that piece to sell, it tells the amazing stories of me as a detective! even gunwook loves it, you can ask mr. chen too" yn beamed, his smile teasing, ticking off any of the remaining patience taerae had left.

"acting as if you didn't almost get jihoo arrested for a crime he didn't commit" taerae mutters meanly under his breath, snapping his head to the other direction.

yn grimaces, a real one this time.

"that was my job! i just sought out the truth".

taerae snickers, turning his head towards yn. "not during the trials you didn't, that was all chen and lee".

"but if it wasn't for me, no evidence would've been presented! i still did play a big role!" yn huffs in ignorance, taerae simply looks him up and down.

"you know what? here's the autopsy report you've been asking for, be off now" taerae places the autopsy report on the desk, turning away from yn and hoping he'll leave, even though he knows it won't do the trick.

"what? not to be rude but you still have to accompany me to mr. uehara's office" yn stood there, confused. taerae chuckles at his words, not taking them seriously.

"i don't think you'll need my help, can't you just go ask lee to help you with that task?" taerae looks back, a smile on his face, showcasing his deep dimples.

"no, jeonghyeon is busy with the trial, your the only one who can go to the office with me" yn walks over to taerae, and the shorter sighs. "your a grownup are you not? so you getting lost in seoul while looking for mr. uehara's office seems pretty impossible" taerae's voice was much calmer, his smile not fading.

"i'll treat you to lunch if you accompany me, besides, it's hotaek who usually goes to mr. uehara's office, not me" yn replied.

"lunch? are you ridiculous?" taerae scoffs. "we aren't even acquainted, what makes you think you can bribe me?"

okay, that's a lie, they are acquainted, and they have been for as long as they can remember, but close? taerae would never say he was close to yn.

"oh yes we are, gunwook likes me, admires me even! we've been acquainted since our first case together back when we both still resided in chungcheongnam-do" yn smiled, though his cheeks flushed.

it must be the temperature.

but they're inside a coroners laboratory?

taerae decides to brush it off.

"i.. ugh— fine, just to get this case through, i'll come with you" taerae sees yn's eyes light up, which is exactly why he continues.

"but, you should refrain from bothering me, that's all i ask" and again, before yn can give a response, taerae pushes past him, grabbing his coat and walking out of the door.

#kim taerae #zerobaseone #zb1 #zerobaseone taerae #zb1 taerae #zb1 imagines #zb1 drabbles #zb1 scenarios #zerobaseone imagines #zerobaseone scenarios #kim taerae x reader #kim taerae imagines #𑁍 ࣪˖ 𓂃 isa's works!

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sweetbillwriting · 1 year

Text

Love Just Happens

A New Chapter - Part 10

Characters: The future's Bill Skarsgård and others close to him. The rest is my own characters.

Setting: This story is set in the future but because it's hard to say how the world is then (and it isn't that important for the story) the future is similar to our time now, even with fashion and so on.

Warnings: 18+, age difference, ageism, pregnancy, family problems, emotional chaos.

The older man next to her had a white beard that made him look softer and kinder. He was in his sixties and looked at her with wise blue eyes. He made her feel calm just by his looks. Maybe he wasn't even a nice man but at that moment she was totally sure of it.

Aurora looked at the doctor while he felt her stomach. He listened with a cold stethoscope and smiled a little. Bill looked at his smile and wondered if it meant he could calm down. He sat on the couch with Aurora's head in his lap while the doctor examined her. Curious eyes looked at them from the doorway. His ex, his three daughters and his oldest daughter's boyfriend. They all were an audience while the doctor sat by Aurora's side.

"False alarm, your little daughter is happy and calm in there. I think you can feel her kicking? She seems like a lively one," said the doctor with a smile. It was the archipelago's doctor, he had come with his boat as soon as he got the call from Aurora's doctor.

"Are, are you sure?" Asked Aurora with shiny eyes.

"I'm sure," said he and with a smile he laid Aurora's hand at the spot where the baby was kicking. She could feel it without him doing that but in the pain she couldn't say it was kicking. "It's just contractions, nothing to worry about."

Bill made a sigh of relief and took Aurora's hand in his.

"But I think you should take it a bit calmer now in the last weeks? It can be a sign that the baby wants out a bit early so don't do things that can provoke it."

Aurora nodded like a well mannered student and looked down at her big belly.

"Does she need to be on bedrest?" Asked Bill. He sounded more like the student that wanted to show how much he already knew.

"No, no. But maybe you can take care of your wife a bit extra? Doing life easy and pleasant. Maybe some massages and a bubble bath?" The doctor smiled playfully and Bill did the same until he saw his middle daughter in the doorway. She talked with her mother without looking at her dad and his wife.

"Hm?" Said the doctor to get an answer from Bill. Aurora gave his daughter a fast look too but looked away. For the moment she didn't like her so much. She stressed her and made Bill give their baby less attention. She was just a child, Aurora knew that but she was so worried for their baby while Bill's attention just drifted away.

Bill looked at Aurora who sat up on the couch, none of them had answered the doctor and the doctor looked more and more worried.

"Bill? I hope you know it's important for you to be there for Aurora right now. This must be your priority," the doctor said to Bill who looked at once bashful.

"Of course. Of course."

He swallowed dryly and began to help Aurora to sit comfortably but she thought it was halfhearted and once in a while he looked towards his middle daughter. He didn't even notice that his oldest daughter's boyfriend stood with his jeans unbuttoned.

Before the doctor left he said once again to Bill that he should care about his wife. Bill nodded with a strained smile. Of course he would take care of her, even if there were a lot of other things to think about.

"We're going now… Us two," said his ex when he had turned around from the outer door, waving at the doctor.

"What? No?" Bill said, shocked and upset and looked at his daughter.

"She needs to relax and it doesn't seem like she can find that here…" his ex nodded towards the couch where his other daughters sat with Aurora. Aurora was crying and they tried to comfort her with pats and hugs. Even the teenage boy sat on the coffee table in front of her and patted her knee. He felt bad by seeing it because he should be the one comforting his wife but right now he didn't have time for it.

"You will call when you feel ready, right?" Said his ex and laid a hand on the girl's shoulder.

"But…" Bill said and tried to stop them from opening the door.

"Mom?" His oldest daughter stood suddenly next to him and Bill gave her a confused look. His ex and middle daughter looked at her with the same type of expression.

"Isn't it better if you're here? We are, we’re actually trying to be here for Lou right now. She's upset right now because she feels out of control and you don't make it better!" She said to her younger sister, upset. Her younger sister looked down at the rug.

"Don't talk like that to her, she's upset too," said their mother but Bill was quiet.

"What are you even upset about? What is it that you want? To have dad for yourself? For him to be with mom?"

"Stop it now, let her be!" Said their mother and Bill laid a calming hand on his oldest daughter's shoulder.

His middle daughter gave her older sister an angry look and tried to find the words she wanted to spit out.

"I just want a normal family!! I will never get that if he has a kid with Lou! He can never just divorce her and move on!" She screamed and pushed her way forward to the door. Their mother gave her oldest daughter and Bill an upset look and then ran after the girl. Bill dragged his hands over his face and leaned forward with his hands on his knees.

"Mom and you really must begin to see that she's just stupid. She is blaming Aurora for this weird ass period in her life. She is the one that must change."

Bill sighed, he didn't know if he should listen to her or not, either way he just wanted things to be easy again. All three of his daughters had loved Aurora and thought she was the best girlfriend he could have. They had even fixed the two of them together but suddenly his middle daughter seemed to think everything with Aurora was wrong. He walked into the living room where the others were. His youngest sat and patted Aurora's belly while Aurora sat close to Ahmen with his arm around her shoulders. He had buttoned his jeans now and looked respectable but Bill didn't like to see him there anyway. Ahmen was nineteen years old, a good guy but something with him comforting his wife felt off for Bill and he gave him a bit of an annoyed look. Not like he thought he made a pass on his wife, the boy just made him feel small.

"Thank you Ahmen… Can I take over now?" Bill said with a strained smile and Ahmen nodded carefully and looked down at Aurora. To both Bill and Ahmen's surprise, Aurora stood up instead and walked away without looking at Bill.

Bill pressed his eyes together with a frustrated face. He sat down on the coffee table with a sigh. Of course she would get angry now. To have so many females in his life could be a struggle because even if he felt he did everything right something was always wrong.

"Shouldn't you walk after her?" Said his oldest daughter, annoyed at her father.

"I think she may need some time alone…" he said with a resigning voice.

It wasn't meant for him to look at Ahmen but where he stood next to his daughter he saw his judging eyes. Like he knew anything about being married.

"Oh, right. She's mad that you don't care about her so your solution is to leave her alone," said his daughter with a growing anger in her voice.

Bill bit his jaws together and looked at her angrily. It was just too much to get berated by her in front of her boyfriend.

"I know you care about Aurora but sometimes you must understand a marriage isn't always as easy as you think."

While they were deep in their argument they didn't notice the youngest girl walking away, up the stairs to look after Aurora. She found her in the armchair in the nursery with her legs thrown over the armrest and a Bambi stuffy in her arms. Aurora looked at the girl with big eyes and wet cheeks.

"Hey…" she tried to smile and dried her cheeks. "I'm sorry for making a scene like that…"

Bill's daughter gave her a small smile and sat down by her side, on the floor. She laid her small girl hand on Aurora's belly and patted softly. Aurora smiled at her warmly and then looked down at her nails. They were glittery from their day together at the saloon.

"I'm sad sometimes too," said the girl and stood up on her knees to be able to pat her belly better.

"Why?" Asked Aurora worriedly and played with her step daughter's hair.

The girl shrugged her shoulders with a smile.

"I hope you know you can come to me and talk if you want," said Aurora.

She nodded and looked down at Aurora's belly.

It was quiet between them a minute or so until the girl said her youngest big sister made her sad sometimes. Not because she was mean to her but she acted strangely.

"Your sister is in a tough age now, it happens a lot and she grows fast," said Aurora. The girl nodded and then smiled towards Aurora.

"That's probably why she is so weird towards you too. And the baby."

Aurora smiled. It was actually comforting hearing that from the young girl.

"I love you, sweetie," said Aurora and gave her a kiss on the cheek.

"I love you too, Lou."

Bill's youngest daughter was different from her sisters. While Bill's oldest was mostly alike their aunt Eija or a female version of Bill himself, their middle daughter was more alike the women on their mother's side. His youngest was harder to put a finger on who she was alike. She missed that Scandinavian shyness, the pensive ways and the control of her feelings. She wasn't fully alike Aurora either but she had more in common with her than her parents. Maybe she had been affected by Aurora or she just had an idol. Aurora didn't really notice it was that way because the girl was happy and sweet to everyone.

She had a hard time understanding why her older sister was like she was towards Aurora. For her, Aurora wasn't an addition to her family but just as a natural part of it as everyone else. And the baby just made it all better. It was exciting and she loved the small clothes and the thought of having a soft baby to hug, bathe and play with.

And Aurora was the most talented person she knew and she didn't think anything about Aurora's history of doing quite daring photoshoots. All celebrities did that, even their dad.

"I think you're the best," the girl said to Aurora and laid her head on her shoulder. Aurora felt her eyes tear up again.

"Honey…" she said and kissed the girls head several times.

When she looked up she saw Bill standing in the doorway, looking at them with love in his eyes. He also looked a bit sad and worried but didn't say anything, like he didn't want to interrupt.

"Hey…" he said carefully and dragged his hands over his hips nervously. He knew he was in the wrong but didn't really know why or how. He needed to say sorry but couldn't say how he would have done anything differently. Aurora looked at him and then down at his daughter.

"I should probably talk to your dad…"

The girl nodded, gave Aurora's belly a kiss and then left the room on running feet. Bill would otherwise tell her to not run in the house but now he let her be. He sucked his lips so his dimples became prominent but not of joy as they usually would deepen by.

Aurora dragged her hands over her belly without looking at him. The baby moved around and she could feel a faint pain again, a contraction. She knew that now but it still hurt.

"I'm sorry… I'm sorry I wasn't there when you were stressed and sad… But…" he sighed and sat down on the round white rug. "But I don't know what to do with her…" Aurora knew he meant his middle daughter and looked at him with sympathy but sadness.

"You know, this is just as much your daughter… Will you leave her again when one of your older daughters starts drama?"

Bill made an offended sound and dragged a hand over his face.

"You make me sound like the worst…"

"The doctor had just said our baby can come early, that's not good and you know it too but instead you give all your attention to her and left me alone, stressing me when it is the last thing I need."

Bill looked down at the rug. He heard that it was bad but he hadn't seen it that way when looking at his daughter's distant expression.

"She is just so far away and angry and…"

"I'm sorry but I will say the same thing as your oldest daughter. What has she got to be angry about? She has parents that love her, a big loving family, friends and money. The only thing she doesn't have is a round room and married parents."

Bill sighed and looked at Aurora. He heard what she was implying, that his middle daughter just was jealous of her unborn sister. He nodded and scratched his forehead. When he looked up at Aurora his eyes were glassy and she could see he actually held back tears.

"Baby…" she said lowly with a worried tone and crawled down to the floor to him with some struggle with the belly. They hugged closely with Aurora on her knees in front of Bill.

"I just don't want to be a bad father to any of my girls…" he dragged a hand over Aurora's belly and she looked between his hand and his pained face.

"You're the best dad, you must just learn that your daughters, all four of them will try to manipulate you in all ways to get what they want. You could only imagine what I did to get what I wanted of my dad. Do you really think he would have fixed a record deal for me when I was sixteen if I wasn't on him all the time?" She said with a little smirk and Bill looked back at her amused.

"And think about all those times your dad let Eija do things while you got berated."

Bill laughed and hugged Aurora closer to him.

"Okay, okay. I get it… I'm going to take off the silk gloves."

Aurora gave him a strange look and he smirked with a shoulder shrug.

×××

Bill and Aurora sat in the security car outside of the school. It was a discreet black car so nothing anyone would think would hide two international celebrities. Bill played with Aurora's hand while waiting for his two youngest daughters to come out from the school. Otherwise they walked down to the ferry by themselves where Bill met them by the harbor but this day Bill and Aurora would meet them by the school so he could talk with his middle daughter and get her to come along to their granddad's big Skarsgård dinner party. All of Bill's siblings were in Sweden for the moment and his father took the chance to gather them, even if he was now a bit too old to cook for so many people and instead got help from his kids. Bill's two youngest daughters loved when they got to meet all the Skarsgårds (his oldest had her own plans) and he knew his middle daughter would probably want to come, even if she was angry at him and his wife at the moment. He had just been able to talk with her on the phone a couple of times the last two weeks and had now decided to force her to see him, even if his ex didn't think it was the best idea.

When he saw his daughters he jumped out and walked towards them with a smile. He could feel people look at him but they let him be. The kids in school hadn't really seen anything with him and the adults wanted to be respectful towards the two pupils' dad and had also seen him before.

His youngest ran up to him and he lifted her up in his arms. She was always so happy to see him, even if he had forced her to eat porridge for breakfast that morning. His middle daughter looked at him annoyed but she seemed to be too conscious about the people surrounding them to make a scene.

"What are you doing here?"

"Oh, don't you remember? It's grandpa's dinner today," said he with a smile, pretending like everything was like it used to be. His youngest made an excited scream. Bill could see his older daughter also got excited and she nodded a little until…

"Oh shit, there’s Aurora Lou…"

Even if the young mom believed she spoke with a low voice several people on the school yard heard her, including the Skarsgårds. Others started to whisper and some kids even ran towards the black car. Aurora stood outside of the car, dressed in her 20s inspired black fringe dress and a white coat. Her har laid in perfect glossy dark waves and she had burgundy colored lipstick. Even with the pregnant belly she looked like a glamorous doll, in high heels. Bill's middle daughter made an angry grunt and looked at Aurora taking photos with her classmates. Bill swallowed a sigh. Of course Aurora should be able to get out of the car and he had no right to say she couldn't walk like she wanted but right then and there?

"Let's just go to grandpa?" She said sourly and Bill put her sister down and took her hand.

The kids had left when they came up to Aurora and she smiled brightly. She got a hug from the youngest daughter and she gave her a lip gloss from her handbag. She knew she wanted to have it if they should do something special. YSL, Lush Coconut.

His middle daughter just gave her a look, zooming in on the dark lips and the long manicured nails.

"Can't you just look normal for once?" She said to Aurora with an annoyed tone before jumping into the car.

Aurora stood totally still, looking out into the air. She smacked her lips and laughed sarcastically. Bill and his youngest daughter looked at her. They were also shocked his daughter had actually said something intentionally mean and afraid Aurora would start to cry.

"Hey… You are so beautiful, she doesn't mean…" said Bill and took her hands before she interrupted him.

"It's okay. I don't care. This is me. She just must get used to it."

Bill nodded but looked at her with big eyes.

"You're the prettiest in the whole world!" Said his youngest while putting on more and more lip gloss. Aurora smiled towards her and Bill kissed his wife's cheek and temple.

"You really are," he whispered and breathed in her sweet perfume.

"Hello? Are you coming?" His middle daughter had opened the car door and rolled her eyes.

"Yes, but you, after the party we're going to talk about your attitude," said Bill authoritatively and with a serious look. She just rolled her eyes and closed the door again.

×××

The dinner was successful as it usually was, with good food, discussions and silly jokes. Bill had always liked that Aurora found her place so fast in the setting. She didn't try to be intelligent or theatrical as his exes had tried, instead she was sweet and curious. It was also obvious she came with knowledge they didn't have about music, fashion and gossip. To many's surprise, Stellan loved all the gossip she knew but he also had a weak spot for Aurora because of her looks. He was still a man even if he was old and his other son's girlfriends were also pretty but he had liked sensual brunettes and especially those who laughed at his jokes, or when it came to Aurora, giggled.

Bill and Aurora left quite early because she once again had problems with contractions. They even went down to the car before the kids so Aurora could be in a calmer setting.

Bill looked at her while she made pained noises in the back seat and pressed her eyes together, even the security guy looked back at her.

"Do you want me to drive to the hospital?" Said the security guy.

"No, no. It's okay, okay…" said Aurora out of breath and hugged Bill's hand. "I just want to go home."

Bill nodded and let her go but he looked at her worriedly. The doctor had said it was natural.

"I’ll go up and get the girls," he said and then ran up to the apartment again. To his surprise he met his middle daughter at the stairs.

"Are you tired?" He asked.

"Noo… They’re just talking about politics…"

"Oh, go down to Aurora then, but she's still in pain, so you know," he said and then ran up the stairs. The girl sighed and walked down to the car. She furrowed her brows in confusion when she saw the security guy standing outside of the car, looking in through the backdoor.

"What is it?" The girl looked at him then at Aurora who had crawled up to a ball and cried.

"She says it's alright…" said the security guard but looked at Aurora worriedly. The girl looked at Aurora too. Her dad had said she was in pain, but this sort of pain? Would he leave Aurora like this?

Aurora made a loud pained sound and sobbed while tensing her whole body.

"This can't be okay?" Said the girl and jumped into the seat next to Aurora.

"Lou, Lou? I must just get dad…" to the girl's surprise took Aurora her hand and looked at her in panic.

"Please don't leave me!"

Bill's daughter didn't say anything but felt her heart beat in her chest with worry, both for Aurora and the baby. It wasn't time for her to give birth yet.

"I’ll call him okay?" She said but Aurora just cried.

Bill stood and tried to put on his youngest daughter’s outerwear on her. She was high on sugar and wanted to stay with all the others. Who left a party first?

"Aurora is really tired…" he started to explain when his phone rang. He looked at it and saw his daughter's number. His thought was that she was angry or even had run away so when he answered he tried to sound really calm.

"Dad, there’s something wrong with Aurora. I think she is about to give birth!"

It wasn't time yet. She was in week 34. Six weeks to go. The doctor had said it was okay but he had also said she shouldn't stress. Had he stressed her? Maybe the family dinner wasn't a good idea?

The thoughts spun in Bill's head while he ran down the stairs, even jumping down the final steps. His father and his wife had offered to take care of his daughters while he and Aurora went to the hospital so the youngest was still in the apartment.

As soon as he came out in the darkness of the autumn evening he heard Aurora's pained cry from the car. The security guard walked in a nervous circle outside of the car. Clearly child birth was something the beefy guy was afraid of. His daughter sat in the car next to Aurora and tried to make her breath calmly. Bill looked at her with big eyes and could see how engaged she was in helping Aurora.

"Hey honey can I…? He said to his daughter, meaning he wanted to come inside. She walked out but looked worried, like she believed her father wouldn't be able to help Aurora as well as her. She and the security guy jumped into the front seats of the car and he started to drive to Södersjukhuset, the hospital in South Stockholm. Aurora had been there with Bill one time before.

"Take it easy," said Bill while sitting close to Aurora.

"Take it easy? Take it easy?? Easy for you to say! It's not you who feels a head coming out from your genitals!" She screamed and cried. For a second Bill saw the image of himself she painted up in his head and he made a small laugh.

"Are you laughing??" Said Aurora with hurt feelings.

"No, no. Of course not. No… Now we breathe together, okay?"

They breathed together a while and Aurora looked at her husband who looked so calm.

"Have you any idea how often you’re having your contractions?" He asked softly. Aurora looked at him with big eyes and then she started to cry again.

"No!"

Bill tried to smile. He knew he must be really calm with her, if he needed to be calm with his ex he needed to be ten times calmer with Aurora, especially because it was so early to give birth. He reminded her again to breathe but she started to cry hysterically again.

"I think that was the water..!"

"That means the baby is coming, right?" Said his middle daughter and turned back towards them. Bill hadn't realized she sat there with them.

"Didn't you go up to grandpa?" He said stressed while dragging a hand over his face.

"No? You didn't say anything about that?" She said with attitude but got a scared expression when Aurora made a pained sound again.

"Just let her be, let her be," said Aurora and dragged her hands over her belly. "Have you called the midwife?"

She had her own midwife at the private hospital. They paid good money so they would be able to contact her whenever they needed her and now it was time. Bill took up his phone and tried to find the number with stressful hands while his daughter helped Aurora to breath. Just when Bill had found the number the car stopped and then the security guy opened the door for Aurora. They were by the hospital, Södersjukhuset, the wrong hospital.

"No, no, no..! This is wrong!" Cried Aurora.

"I'm sorry but you must get out. I can't handle this!" Said the security guy. Bill took down the phone and looked at the guy confused while Aurora continued to cry.

"This is your fucking job!" Said Bill angrily.

"Not to take care of screaming… Whatever!" Said the guy and crossed his arms.

Bill felt the heat blow up in his face and the anger exploding in him.

"Your going to jump into the car right fucking now or you will soon lay on one of those fucking stretchers!"

The guy looked at Bill. He wasn't really afraid of his threat but he realized who he was talking to when he saw Bill's murderous gaze. He was on his way to close the car door and jump in again when Aurora made a loud cry.

"I think it's coming! Now!"

The security guard froze again.

"Just give dad the keys!!" Shouted his daughter to the security guy and made him look at her puzzled.

"Give him the keys!" Screamed Aurora and finally the man gave Bill the keys to the car.

Bill drove with one hand and called the midwife with the other. His twelve year old daughter sat in the back trying to make Aurora breathe slowly and when Bill hung up after talking to the midwife he heard them breathe softly together.

"Continue to breathe… I'm just going to say that she is on her way and there are two nurses at the hospital so in a few minutes we will be there okay?" Bill said calmly and looked back at Aurora in the rearview mirror. She nodded while hugging his daughter's hands hard who answered with giving Aurora a little smile. She wouldn't confess it but she was so happy being a part of this and while looking at Aurora being in such pain but still continuing to fight she promised she would never be mean to her again. And soon she would have a little baby sister.

×××

The first part of the birth had gone so quickly so it seemed like they would have a baby just a few hours later but then suddenly it calmed down and the contractions stopped being as painful. Bill sat in an armchair in the hospital room while Aurora walked around in a big white silky shirt. She had refused to have the hospital's nightgowns so she had bought silk men's shirts and Bill had got them from home. His middle daughter sat in the other armchair looking at Aurora with big eyes. Bill had called her mother but she was out with friends and the only one who could get her by car was Sam but he would be off work in two hours so for now she was there with them.

"I didn't know you had decided a name," she said and bit her thumb nail.

"We have an idea but we want to meet her first," said Aurora and smiled a little towards Bill. He smiled back with his cheek in his hand. He actually loved the name, it was Aurora who had come up with it but it fit the little girl he thought they would get. That she would have big Bambi eyes was obvious.

When the midwife came in, Aurora looked at Bill's daughter.

"Now I want some privacy, okay?"

"Why?" Said the girl, disappointed.

"Because the midwife is going to put her hand in my pussy," said Aurora bluntly and Bill laughed awkwardly.

"Okay, honey, you don't need to see that!" Said Bill and stood up from the chair.

"I don't mind?" She said and shrugged her shoulders. Aurora laughed a little.

"You're weird as hell."

The girl smirked.

"So are you! Having a kid with my old dad!" The girl joked. Bill laid a hand on her shoulder and laughed with the three women in the room.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Now we go out and wait so…"

"I can get a hand in my pussy," filled Aurora in and made his daughter laugh again.

That was the last Bill's middle daughter saw Aurora that night. Gustaf had borrowed Sam's car and got her. Bill was by his wife's side the long, hard delivery and 11 hours later he watched her birth their little, tiny baby girl.

Isadora Li Paula My Skarsgård.

#bill skarsgård #bill skarsgard #fan fiction #writing #story #bill skarsgård writing #bill skarsgård fanfiction #fiction #lou

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