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bespectacledbun · 6 years

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Across Time - Sasuke

So......this happened. I'm sorry. Words: 2800+ Rating: T Tagging: @impracticaldemon ⚠️ Trigger Warnings: Mentions of suicide, major character death, mentions of alcohol, blood. ⚠️ You can read this work on ao3.

He had loved her-- Sasuke knew this sad truth-- and he had loved her for as long as he knew how to love. She was the sun to his moon, the pull to his push, the one light shining in his life. She was as important to him as breathing, the sun that the earth of his life revolved around.

In the first life, their roles were reversed; ‘she’ was the crown prince of some kingdom long forgotten. ‘He’, meanwhile, was the caretaker who toiled away in the palace gardens, the girl buzzing around the flowers as a bee might, creating beautiful blooms for the nobles to enjoy.

They had been childhood friends. She had found him hiding under one of the camellia bushes, pouting and dirty and covered in bruises. Too many hits in swordplay, he’d told her. Her little six year old self had blinked at the absurdity of the crown prince hiding under a flower bush, his brilliant silk trousers covered in dirt and shredded petals. And then she’d laughed at him. His pout deepened. Come on, she pulled him out from under the shrub. I have a salve that can help the bruises. From that day forward, they were inseparable; everyday, without fail, he’d sneak out from practice (archery or swordplay or horseback riding) and come to visit her in the gardens; she would just shake her head at his recklessness and smile.

Days passed. Weeks. Months.

She began looking forward to his daily visits; he was an excellent conversationalist and she was an excellent listener. And she stared off into the roses and hydrangeas, imagining a world where she was the daughter of a noble, too, and she could join him inside the imperial palace. And her heart sped up when he gave that adorably stupid grin, the one that spoke of mischief and pranks. And she couldn't bring herself to meet his eyes, those eyes that could command her heart to do anything and make her feel like she owned the world. Memories bloomed in her little garden paradise: eating mooncakes at New Year’s; watching the fireworks during festival nights; sharing honey-sweetened persimmons for his birthday.

But of course, he was the crown prince, and already betrothed to another. When she heard the news, everything went numb. She should have expected it, after all. He was the crown prince, heir to an empire of thousands. She was heir to beautiful blossoms that would wilt before the year was over. Why? Why, of all the people that lived in the palace, had she chosen to prince to pin her secret hopes on, to pine over and carry a torch for?

A few weeks later, the petals came up. She stared at them in horror, the innocent bright pink petals lying in the palm of her hand. No, no no no no. It couldn't be. But it was, she could feel the faint ticklish sensation at the back of her throat, and instantly knew what it was.

Fate was so cruel, indeed. Day after day, he talked about her and her only, the beautiful princess he was destined to marry. She saw how his face lit up in excitement and the lovestruck expression that crossed his face whenever he talked about her. Did you know, he asked her one day as she was pruning the gardenias, that she chopped off her hair and dressed like a boy to learn archery with her brothers? All she had done was nod blithely and continue her work; her throat was choked with the ticklish sensation. She still couldn't look him in the eye, but this time for a different reason. Coughing quietly into her sleeve, she brushed off the butchered flowers that came up, shoving them deep inside the bush to hide them from the prince.

She ignored the streaks of blood that lined the outermost petals and thorns and the rawness aching in her throat.

Seasons passed, flowers germinated and bloomed and withered, and they were reborn into another life.

This time, he was the son of the local priest, adopted after being left at the steps of the iglesia; she was the only daughter of the wealthy marqués. She only knew him as the parish helper who led the church choir every Sunday at mass. But still, every week, without fail, she would come and visit the churchyard to see the Spanish roses and honeysuckle that climbed over the trellises. They're so beautiful, she’d said one day, running her hands over the deep red and white blooms, did you grow these? He had only nodded, unable to speak his mind. That she was the more beautiful than any of the flowers in that garden.

Evenings after mass were spent strolling in the garden with her (her maid hung behind at a safe distance, hiding a knowing smile on her face) and aimlessly making conversation: about the revolution; about the expeditions set by His Majesty for the New World; about the booming trade in the west. And she was always his princesa, or his lady. Why don't you ever refer to me by name? She asked him, giggling at his titles for her. You are too magnificent for me to treat you as anything other than a princess, he’d murmured back.

His father- ironically, everyone’s ‘Father’- caught him by the arm one day, murmuring a warning: Do not get too attached to her, my child. You are only inviting in your doom. He’d simply smiled and shaken his head. It's not like that. But he couldn't deny that he dreamt of her, of her musical laughter and her fiery passion for adventure and the blaze that flared under his skin when she said his name. She drew him like a moth to a flame, and he couldn't help but be swept along in her passion.

She came to him one day with her eyes sparkling and euphoria etched into her face. She was to be married before the month was out, to a son of a rich aristocrat who was to leave for the New World soon.

He expressed his best wishes for her engagement, doggedly ignoring the pressure on his lungs. When she was safely out of sight he stumbled through the door of the iglesia, clawing at his throat. Dark red petals came up, splashing on the floor in a sticky mess of blood and bile. He sagged against the wall, his father rushing over to help him, holding him upright in concern. The sobs spilled out, unchecked, a tidal wave of grief and pain washing over everything. The thorns scratched his throat, his heart, his soul. He’d lost her again.

And then they were in another lifetime.

She was from a well-to-do nouveau riche family, the kind that had connections in the underworld and in Wall Street. He was the owner of a speakeasy that was fairly quiet, the kind that attracted unwanted attention from the city gangsters. She frequented the bar almost as much as any other flapper, drunk on spirits and life. He watched her blossom into a fine young woman, and nearly half the boys in the Big Apple were just as infatuated with her as he was. She was a mystery to others, and enigma to her friends, and a goddess to him. She was the living embodiment of freedom, sweeping along everyone with her into wild adventures. She came and went like a spring wind, the first breath of cool air, refreshing everyone who was fortunate enough to meet her.

He had dreams, dreams of marrying her and moving to the country (or maybe they could go overseas), of traveling the world. Dreams of raising children with her--they’d have her sparkling eyes and maybe his cautious personality--and they would grow up and run around the house and laugh and play together. Dreams of waking up every day to her face beside him on the pillow, peaceful and relaxed and he’d lean over and kiss her brow to wake her. And she would open her eyes and gaze at him and he would be overcome by such adoration that he couldn't express it in any way other than I love you. I love you, my beautiful princess.

The accident took it all away from him.

The driver hadn't been paying attention to the road and had skidded on the ice buildup on the corners. The vehicle spun wildly, crashing against some brownstone downtown. She had been standing at the crosswalk, waiting for the signal. The car had crushed her against the wall. The wounds were too severe; she was gone before the paramedics could arrive.

The glass he was wiping fell, shattering on the floor and breaking into a thousand knife-sharp pieces. His dreams blurred and faded before his eyes, replaced by visions of her, gashes littering her broken body as she lay there all alone. Someone directed him to a chair, had him sit down and down a glass of water. He couldn't remember anything except her cheerful grin directed at him.

And he wept and wept and wept, salty tears running down his face and mingling with carnelian blood, staining the front of his suit. He didn't care. He couldn't care anymore. Not when his princess was gone. Again. After the bar was emptied and the last customer had stumbled out thoroughly inebriated, he sat back on the counter, head hung in his hands, numbness burrowing into his nerves and every inch of him. He moved automatically, finding the small tin containers hidden in the corner of the pantry. Rat poison.

C’mon! What's the point of staying behind the counter all day long? She giggled and pulled him along the pier. Let's go on an adventure!

His fingers poured the contents of the tin into the uncorked bottle on the bar table, shaking and deadened. He drained the bottle in one gulp. He would follow his princess ot the ends of the earth if he had to. He couldn't lose her, not again, not this time.

And then they were in this life.

When he'd first seen her at the Honno-Ji monument he'd instantly known who she was. Memories crowded into his brain, ghostly glimpses of lifetimes past, and he'd gasped at the flood of emotion that overcame him. It’s you. You've come back to me, princess.

The wormhole had struck, before he could reach her, and he was ripped apart from her again. Four years. Four years he traveled the length and breadth of the country, searching, always on the lookout for any sign of his princess. Finally, finally, he found her at Honno-ji, still bright and beautiful amidst the smoke and ash and flames of the burning temple. He introduced himself to her, watching over her as she went to Azuchi and stayed with the Oda forces.

He couldn't have predicted that she would try to escape, though.

She had almost made it out of Azuchi when she was caught and brought back. Nobunaga had her put under the charge of Tokugawa Ieyasu. Sasuke’s idol. He was nearly ecstatic. If anyone could help protect her, it was Ieyasu. Right? He saw as she followed Ieyasu around, with unfailing optimism, trying to get him to open up to her. She got archery lessons from him, and became increasingly closer to him.

Sasuke watched as Tokugawa Ieyasu fell in love with his princess.

He had visited her after two months (he woke up that morning with a cold feeling in the pit of his stomach) and set out to Mikawa immediately. Sneaking into the castle grounds had been easy. He’d looked up into the windows of the castle-

-to see Ieyasu kissing her. Pain seared through his lungs. Sharp, hacking coughs came from him. He doubled over in the tree, nearly falling out. Bloody cherry petals spilled past his lips. Sasuke stared at them in horror, head spinning dizzyingly. No. Not again. I have to see her.

The thought spurred him forward and he neatly infiltrated the castle. Entering her room, he waited there quietly for her to come back. Iron bands tightened around his chest.

She came in, and her face lit up at the sight of him. The question burned on his tongue.

Are you in love with Ieyasu?

Her blush was all the confirmation he needed. He bid her a good day and quietly left the castle, riding back to Echigo, her flushed face still on his mind.

When he stumbled in through the doors of Kasugayama Castle, Yuki looked up from his lunch. Sasuke where were- whoa, what's wrong? Sasuke staggered past him, out into the garden, collapsing on the grass. His head was still spinning; he felt so light. Like his soul might burst from his body and float away Everything was muffled, like he was underwater. Colors and shadows shifted around him, blurring and breaking apart. My princess….

The first wave of petals scratched his throat, bruised and shredded. His lungs heaved, searching desperately for air. His chest burned, the lack of oxygen making him feel lightheaded. He choked on the leaves and flowers that came up, clawing at his throat. Tears spilled, trickling down his cheeks, hot and furious amidst the pain.

He fell.

Yuki shouted his name, rushing over to holding him upright by the shoulders.

“She lo-loves some- someone else-” He choked out. Yukimura rubbed his back, unable to do anything to soothe his friend. The cherry blossoms came up in another wave, filling up his throat and mouth with petals and leaves and blood. He spat them out weakly, blood dribbling down his chin; Sasuke’s vision grew hazy. Vaguely, he was aware of being lifted and carried inside, cleaned up, examined by a doctor. Being told that he couldn't be saved, that it was too late and the disease had been left untreated far too long. It didn't matter, though. His princess was- in someone else’s arms- happy where she was.

Sasuke could rest.

He lay there on the futon, weak breaths rasping in and out of his lungs. Darkness crept at the edges of his vision. Before the exhaustion overtook him, a flicker of a memory came back to him, like an old film reel.

“Of all days to be stuck on gate duty,” Sasuke grumbled to himself. It was freezing out here, and he hadn't thought to bring an extra jacket to wear over the wool blazer. He rubbed his palms together to get some semblance of warmth into his fingers. The warning bell rang out over the school grounds, signalling that there were only five minutes left to get to class. Might as well close the gate now and go back inside, he thought to himself. No point in staying out here and freezing my ass off. But apparently the Great Almighty had other plans for him that day.

“Wait up!” His head jerked up; a girl wearing the second year uniform and blazer was running full speed towards the gates. She tumbled over the strip of metal the gates swung on, crashing into Sasuke and sending them both to the ground. Her books landed on the cobblestones; she wasn't so lucky. “Oh my gosh! I am so, SO sorry!” She gasped and sat back up. He sat up and groaned, rubbing his head where it had hit the stones. She put an arm on his shoulder.

“Are you okay?” Sasuke glanced up into her face peering at him in concern. She’s extraordinarily pretty. He quashed that thought. She smells like cinnamon and apples. He quashed that thought too. He didn't have time to be getting doe-eyed over a second-year girl. He nodded quickly, not trusting his voice to work properly. She broke out into a relieved smile.

“Oh thank goodness!” His heart thumped erratically against his ribcage; he told it to calm down. The relieved smile slipped off her face as she realized exactly where she was. “I'm gonna be late!” She set about gathering up all her fallen books. He helped her, fingers accidentally brushing hers as he handed her a rather heavy textbook on calculus; electricity sparked where he’d touched her. Sasuke stared at his hand. I'm dreaming. He blinked back into the present and stood up, brushing himself off.

The strange girl yelled a hasty “Thanks!” over her shoulder and turned to leave. On instinct, he reached out and grabbed her shoulder. She twisted to look at him; internally he cursed himself. “Um- name?” He winced. Really? That's the best you could do, Sasuke? The awkwardness hung thick in the air.

The girl blinked, then grinned in understanding. His heart skipped another beat. Normally he didn't think this much about girls, but…… She really was beautiful; he swallowed hard.

“My name is Mai.”

#ikesen sasuke #sasuke sarutobi #ikesen fanfiction #ikesen fanfic #ikesen #ikemen sengoku fanfic #my fics #my writing #im so sorry for this #hhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh #i apologize to all the sasuke fangirls out there

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notyourordinaryrandomgirl · 3 years

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Silent Treatment

An Uchiha Sakura, Uchiha Sasuke and Uchiha Sarada one shot

All he has to do whenever he comes back to Konoha is be with his wife and daughter. All he had to do is spend as much quality time with them and make memories, especially Sarada, he should know her more as much as she should know him more.

But no, he has the worst temper ever and the foolishness that he has decided to get mad to both of his girls.

He went home that early evening thinking the dinner he will get to share with his family after a long time, just great home-made food cooked by his wife and all the stories Sarada and Sakura will tell him, however when he went home Sarada is going out with bag on her shoulder as if she is going to sleep somewhere else.

“Sarada,” He called.

His precious daughter looked at him, her eyes slowly rounding in shock and her smile beaming as she ran towards him. Of course, he hugged her with his remaining arm and his one knee on the ground leveling his eyes to Sarada. He tucked the escaped hair to her ear.

“What’s with your bag?”

“I am having a sleepover at Chouji’s tonight, Papa.” She said, with an opened smile on her face.

Sleepover?

“Did you tell Sakura?” On all means, he hoped that she didn’t so he has a reason not to let her yet she nodded with confidence.

His brows furrowed, “Are you sure?”

“Hm, Papa! Before I went home from the Academy I went to Mama’s work and I told her. She agreed,”

Sakura did?

“Though she had a lot of reminders.” She pouted.

Sakura knew he is scheduled to go home today, be that as it may that he told her it is morning and it is night now, nevertheless it still counts as today. She knew how much he wanted to spend time with Sarada as much as he stayed in Konoha following what happened the last time she tailed the Hokage to look for him.

It confuses him why Sakura let Sarada, knowing he will be home. And it is 6pm, she should be home by now. Does this happen often, Sarada alone under the dark skies to the comfort of their home? What if someone tries to kidnap her?

“You can’t go, Sarada.” He said, calmly.

The moment he saw the crease on her forehead, he instantly wants to take it back. His pride just won’t let him. He wants to be with Sarada, as he only will stay for a week this time. The sleepover can happen next week.

“P-Papa? Mama already said yes!”

“But I didn’t. Now, I am telling you that I don’t consent to this.” He tried to hold his daughter’s arm but she stepped backward.

“But we are planning this for weeks now, Papa. I did everything to make Mama agree.” Sarada’s face is in a whole frown, upset and angry.

I sighed, “Sarada, I said no.”

“No, Papa!” Sasuke almost held his chest in shock of Sarada, “I did so many things just to have Mama agree for this night, and you cannot just ruin that by coming home and disagreeing!”

Before Sasuke could react, Sarada was already out of the door. He didn’t fail to see the tears that she shed as she ran outside the house. His fist clenched. He just made her cry again, and just right after he met her for a long time again.

Sasuke is in despair, his elbows on both his knees as he buries his face to his palms. That is the scenario Sakura went home to. A smile is plastered unto her face seeing the figure on their home’s couch.

“Sasuke-kun?”

Slowly, Sasuke raised his head to look at his wife. He knew she was coming. He sensed her chakra, and so did she. Sakura walked to his direction in delight, completely not noticing Sasuke’s mood. Or perhaps, she thought he was just tired.

“Have you eaten? I’m sorry I was stuck in the hospital again, but I can buy some outside. It would only take a minute.” Sakura suggests.

Sasuke exhaled. Sakura leaned back, noticing now the odd behavior of her husband. No matter how tired Sasuke has been whenever he returns, he doesn’t fail to at least have physical contact with her. Be it his hand on her waist or shoulder, or mostly hugging.

“Anata, are you… okay?”

“Is this the time you normally go home?” Sasuke asked, his face unreadable and cold.

Sakura’s brows furrowed in confusion, “Mostly. Why?”

“And Sarada is alone?”

She gets it.

“Sasuke-kun, Sarada is a strong girl.” She softly coaxes him.

“What if someone- someone who wants to get revenge tries to get her?” Sasuke’s question is in slits.

“Sasuke-kun…” Sakura tries to touch his arm to calm him.

Sasuke stood up, avoiding her hand.

“And you let her sleep somewhere else when you know I will go home today? Sakura, what are you even thinking?” He spats every word.

Sakura stands up now, her happy expressions now long gone. She is serious as she gazes back at Sasuke's sharp glares.

“Now, she is mad at me because I told her not to go just because you allowed her!”

“Sasuke…”

The missing suffix didn’t go unnoticed, making Sasuke shift on his feet.

“Sarada’s fine. I am also adamant about it but she assured me that she will be wary of her surroundings and considered that as her training too. I don’t go home at this hour everyday, just once in a while and Sarada knows what to do whenever that happens.”

Sakura sighed, “About that sleepover, I apologized. Sarada told me about that for a long time and ultimately gave her things to accomplish before I could let her. When I received your letter, I told Sarada not to go but she went on saying how am I not granting my promises to her. I just couldn’t break her trust and not trust my words anymore, so I let her. I’m sorry, Sasuke.”

Sasuke blinked. Sakura looked away with pure sadness and a hint of longingness in her green expressive eyes.

“I’ll be at Ino’s tonight.”

Before Sasuke could react, Sakura is past the door and nowhere to be found anywhere. Probably went to Yamanaka already. Sasuke badly wants to kick the couch but he knows it will infuriate Sakura more, though she demolished their entire house last time.

Sakura poured sake to her glass as she stared into nothingness. She feels hollow the longer the time she is here with Ino, and away from Sasuke who just arrived after months. However, their first conversation after a long time makes her upset. She can’t believe Sasuke just spats those words easily to her, he didn’t even give her time to tell him what happened.

“You know, if you’re going to be like this it will be better for you to go home and talk this out to him. The man went home after a long time to his family and the two of you left him alone there because he is an idiot, I’m sure he already contemplated his actions.” Her best friend, Ino Yamanaka, said.

Sakura eyed her, “I thought you said to let him suffer to teach him a lesson?”

“Oh well, my husband just told me something out there in the kitchen.” Ino pointed something in her back, where the kitchen and where her teammate is.

“I’m too upset to face him. I can’t believe he said those words to me. I feel so less as a wife to him and as a mother to Sarada.”

“Hey,” Ino held her hand, “You’re a great mother. You don’t want Sarada to not trust your words anymore, you only did what you think was right. I think Uchiha Sasuke is only sad because he wants to spend time with the two of you and you let her sleep somewhere else.”

“I know that, but it does not hurt me less. Do you think I am overreacting?”

“No, your feelings are valid. You just need to understand each other and communicate.”

Sakura’s thoughts went to her husband. He must have felt so alone and lonely right now, probably angry at himself. She knows him so well. Though there’s a chance he might go to Naruto to not be alone, a huge chance is he is tormenting himself at home.

“I think I will go home now. I’ll probably not just look or talk to him.” She said to Ino.

Ino smirked, “Well, goodluck to that. I hope it doesn’t make him less lonely knowing you’re doing silent treatment to him.”

Sakura smiled. She is sure it will frustrate him but her feelings should be pointed at a cross, and she thinks words are not enough to tell Sasuke that she is not only a wife to him but she is more of a mother to Sarada now and her feelings matter more to her. She will stand to her decision of letting Sarada go.

On the other hand, Sasuke went to Ichiraku to eat quickly. His stomach is rumbling like crazy and it infuriates him that he looks forward to the dinner but here he is, eating the dinner alone. He knows he is at fault as he thinks about the situation, and he blames his wife because the situation doesn’t favor him.

“Oh, Teme~” A voice suddenly appeared.

The owner gushed at his arrival, “Lord Seventh!”

Sasuke did not even look away from his food, determined to finish as soon as possible and go home. Sakura or Sarada might go home and he doesn’t want to waste time making it up to them. He needs to apologize, especially to Sakura. His heart aches with the mere thought of his wife mad at him.

Several customers also greeted the blond Hokage, and some tourists fangirls over him.

He felt a hand tapped him at the back.

“Dobe…” He acknowledges Naruto’s presence, but still does not spare him a glance.

“One of the usual…” Naruto told the owner before going back to the raven-haired man, “Why are you eating here? Did Sakura-chan kick you out?”

“That would be better.” Sasuke mumbled but enough for Naruto to hear.

“What? Do you mean you kick Sakura-chan out of the house? Why are you the one out of the house, then?” The Hokage questions, concerned.

“Idiot. She walked out.” Sasuke told him, then ate another slurp of the noodles.

Naruto scoffed, “What did you do, stupid? You must’ve done something big for her to walk out... Wait! You did not have another affair, don’t you? Because I swear I will break your other arm!”

Sasuke glared at his best friend. He could never do that. The mere presence of the Konoha 11 still shifts him in an uncomfortable feeling and the whole socializing gives him a headache. Sasuke could never even stand women, except of course his wife and slightly the women of Konoha 11. Besides, Sakura is someone he holds dearly with his life. He will choose to die for her. She is his salvation, his light, his irreplaceable partner and his wife.

“I’m not answering that stupid question, Dobe.”

“I know it’s out of you. I’m just teasing you.” Naruto snickered.

His order arrived and he slurped his way through his bowl and even before Sasuke could finish his bowl, Naruto was already on the way for his second. Hn, something never changed.

Sasuke stood up after his meal, “I’m going.”

“Yeah, apologize to Sakura-chan and I am sure she will forgive you. Well I think she already did.” Naruto shrugs.

“Hn,” Sasuke then jumped to the roof all the way to his house.

“Sasuke-san did not leave his payment so I assumed you will pay for him, Lord Seventh.” Ayame told Naruto, smiling.

The blond’s eyes widened, “Teme!”

Sasuke just arrived and settled on the couch to sharpen his kunai, when he felt his wife’s chakra signature on the way to their home. A nervous feeling aroused him but the thing he is sure is he will apologize and make up to her.

The door opened and Sasuke unknowingly stood up to welcome her but he was met with a cold stare before she walked past him going to their shared bedroom.

Is she…?

Sasuke slowly walked up the hallway leaving all his precious kunai to go to his wife. He did not try to hide his footsteps instead he wanted her to know he is on the way to her. Sasuke opened their bedroom as Sakura closed their bathroom’s door.

He is sure he could smell a faint of sake, and knew immediately she had a drink with her best friend. The thing is Sakura could hold her liquor more than anyone he knows, so he is not worried about her drinking but the reason why she drank in the first place which is him.

Sasuke contemplates deeply whether or not to go after her in the bathroom. She might feel invaded, though they are married and have seen more than their naked bodies but this is different. Sakura might want space, nonetheless Sasuke also told himself that he will not waste time and apologized to his wife.

Sakura could sense Sasuke outside the bathroom, the shower pouring into her back. She breathes deeply, trying to calm herself that she should understand her husband but her thoughts always go back to the moment Sasuke did not even try to ask her first before starting to throw those words at her. For her, it says something about their marriage.

Her head snapped when the knob turned all of a sudden.

Sasuke’s breath hitched when he realized that the door was locked. They never lock their bathroom. Whenever they are using it, the other is always welcomed to come inside no matter what the circumstances. There’s no reason for them to hide anything anyways.

Is she that mad…?

“Sa-kura…” Sasuke tried to call on her, but she heed no response.

He sighed, this is becoming more uncomfortable. He is not used to this. Sakura never got mad at him this way, it’s always words and he will listen but now she is silent and he needs to do the words. Those words really hurt her.

Sakura took her time to relax on the water and Sasuke, whatever it may be, will not leave their room and missed the chance of talking this out to her. He could accept any curses, words or punches but not this silence from his wife.

The bathroom door finally opened. Sasuke stood up from the edge of their bed, his hands fisted on his sides. Sakura, on her towel only, did not even try to look at him and went to her cabinet to get some clothes.

“Sakura,” Sasuke called. Should he close the space between him and her back figure, or what? No, he already concluded he will receive her punches just to stop this silent treatment. But the moment he stepped is when she walked to the bathroom again with her clothes.

She will change clothes in the bathroom? Since when did they do that?

It is a tormenting minute for him, when Sakura went out of the bathroom she did not waste time on anything or anyone. She went to her side of the bed and laid down, with her back on him.

Sasuke can only watch her, when he decided to shower himself to cuddle his wife after and maybe he could apologize. He can’t believe his first night at home after months of longing for it will be like this.

His daughter is in another house sleeping while mad at him, and his wife is not speaking to him.

When he went out of the bathroom and changed to his sleepwear, he slowly laid beside his wife. Although his wife’s back is on him and she is almost at the edge of their bed, it only takes an arm wide for him to reach her. He scooted closer to her, his hand already on her waist.

“Go to sleep, Sasuke.” Her cold voice has frozen him.

“I-I am.” He stuttered. Uchiha Sasuke stuttered!

“Then sleep on your side. I am tired.”

A familiar pain shoots at him. Tired? What kind of tiredness?

“I’m sorry… for everything.” He whispered, hoping to melt her coldness.

He is met with silence. Sasuke laid on his back and stared at the ceiling, with his heavy heart.

“You said we will never sleep if we are not okay.” He mumbled to himself feeling so dejected and hopeless. He made plans for his stay this time for her, and he is sure this is not one of them.

Sleep is far for Sasuke, he only shifts his look to the ceiling to his wife’s back. She must’ve been really tired with the hospital and instead of easing it out for her, he did the opposite. His eyes darted on their window, the sun almost peaking and rising.

Sasuke gives up his sleep and proceeds to the kitchen. Instead of moping he probably should make breakfast for her for once. His thoughts went to the time he isn’t here and Sakura needs to wake up early to pack lunch for Sarada while she is also tired from her hospital shifts.

I am taking her for granted again.

He decided to cook some eggs and something else available in their kitchen. He is so busy that when the door of their house opened, it made him jump. Who was it? It’s only 5:00am, who goes to their home without even knocking at this hour today?

Although all questions were answered when his daughter appeared. She has a solemn look on her face. Her hands were on her front clasped together. She’s looking away while she stands outside the kitchen but enough for him to fully see her.

“Sarada, you’re home.” Sasuke said, “Good morning. I cooked breakfast.”

“Papa,” She called. Sasuke gave her his full attention. “I’m sorry for walking out on you yesterday. I didn’t mean it but I am just so upset and I am sorry that I didn’t put it on your point of view. I know now that you only wanted to spend as much time with me now that you’re home. I’m so so-”

Sarada stopped when his father crouched down and using his only arm, he wrapped it around her and embraced her.

“No, Sarada. I’m sorry, for everything.”

Sarada frowned, “But Papa-”

“It’s okay.”

She embraced him back before she pulled away, “Papa, why do I smell something burning?”

The two were in the kitchen waiting for Sakura to wake up. Sasuke offers Sarada to eat first since she needs to go later for his morning training but his daughter insists on waiting for her Mama. He checked the time and it’s almost 6am and he knows that anytime Sakura will wake up.

“Papa, do you think Mama will talk to you after this breakfast?” Sarada asked him.

Sasuke took the burden of telling his daughter the situation he is in. Of course, his daughter understands her mother’s reaction to Papa, but she also knows her Papa’s side. All she wants is for the two to reconcile since her Papa will only be here for a week.

“I don’t know. She is stubborn, but I hope so.” He admits.

Sarada felt happy seeing his father agitated to her Mama. He looked so nervous because Mama was not talking to him. It felt nice to see him as a father in the house today.

To Sasuke, this is probably the most uncomfortable he ever felt inside this house. The house is where he is the most comfortable at, where he can freely express himself to his wife and daughter. However, since he acted like a jerk he knew he had all the right to be uncomfortable since Sakura rarely did not talk to him. They always reconcile at the end of the day. This is the first time in their marriage that he felt heavy sleeping at their home.

“Papa, calm down.”

“Hn,” But Sasuke can’t stop feeling nervous because he is. Sarada watched him, and if his eyes weren't playing to him he could see the amusement in it.

The door creaked open, making Sasuke abruptly stand up and turned the coffee maker on for her. He waited for her to appear and she did. She is all prepped up for her day at the hospital.

“Mama, good morning!” Sarada greeted her mother.

“Oh Sarada, you arrived early? Good morning.” Sakura smiled at her daughter. She still did not see his husband, but when she turned she saw him warily watching her. He is standing beside the island where a coffee is being brewed.

“Papa prepared breakfast for us today! Let’s eat all together, Mama.” Sarada cheerily said.

“Your Papa did?” Sakura looked from her daughter to his husband. Her eyes shift to the feast on their dining table. Sasuke prepared all this early? The one who loves to sleep in?

Sarada nodded with a grin, “He did. It looked so delicious, isn’t Mama?”

“It is. Have you eaten, Sarada?” Sakura asked. She slowly went to her place and sat at the chair in front of the feast.

“Not yet, Mama. I think we all should eat together since Papa is here!” Sarada seated beside her mother, “Papa, the coffee!”

Sasuke jumped and quickly got Sakura’s coffee, then put his own next. He placed the mug beside her. His eyes did not leave her.

“Your favorite.” He murmured.

“Thank you, Sasuke.” Her wife almost whispered the words. Sarada jumped out of her chair and went to the refrigerator, probably getting her milk.

“Your welcome, Anata.” Sasuke took the chance to be out of their daughter’s hearing, and said her endearment for him.

Sakura looked baffled. She looked at his husband.

“I’m sorry…” Sasuke whispered.

Sakura smiled. Her hand went on top of Sasuke’s hand on the table.

“You’re forgiven, Anata. Good morning.”

“Good morning, Sakura.” He mumbled. Sasuke looked at her daughter who’s back was at them, she’s taking her time on her milk huh?

Sasuke leaned forward and captured her wife’s lips on a quick but full mouthed kiss. Sakura smiled after and grinned.

“Are you really Sasuke-kun?” She teased.

Sasuke stands straight, “Tch, stop it.”

He went to get his coffee, but the moment he turned his back from his wife a smile played on his lips. Unfortunately, he caught his daughter’s smirking at him and he went back frowning.

“I love mornings like this, don’t you Mama?” Sarada said, going back to the table. Sasuke followed and joined his family on their breakfast as a family.

#sasusaku #sasusaku fanfic #sasusaku fanfiction #sasusaku drabble #sasusaku one shot #uchiha sakura #uchiha sasuke #uchiha sarada #uchiha family #naruto #boruto #sakura sasuke #uzumaki naruto #yamanaka ino #konoha

158 notes · View notes

teacup-set · 3 years

Text

Paperhearted

Summary: ‘Tch. Who says ‘I love you’ to someone they just met?’ he thinks, frowning all the way home. ‘Annoying.’

But his heart feels caught in quicksand, slowly sinking to his stomach.

She never did tell him her name.

[ModernAU, for @disquieted]

Read on: FFN, AO3

A chill cuts through the autumn air as Sasuke waits for his brother to pick him up. The kindergarten playground is quiet except for the creaking of the swing that he sits on as he waits. With every passing second his mood grows sour. All the other kids had already been picked up long ago, he is the only one still waiting. He wonders if Itachi nii-san will make up for his delay by playing with him when they get home, and suddenly perks up at the thought. In his mind he devises how he will pout and look disappointed to really drive home the guilt, when the silence of the playground is interrupted by a scream.

Startled, Sasuke whips in the direction of the sound. It came from the adjacent woods, and nii-san had told him strictly to never leave the kindergarten campus. Besides, he is only a kid. He will just get in the way, he reasons.

‘Then why am I doing it?’ he wonders as his legs move on their own accord, tugging him across some invisible string to where the sound came from.

As he draws closer, he regains enough control to slow down, and quietly pulls to a stop behind a tree. In the clearing ahead he sees two boys snickering, peering down at something obscured from his view, and he vaguely registers seeing them before around town. They look a year or two older and seem to wear the same school uniform Itachi wears, though mother would throw a fit if she ever saw Itachi’s clothes so rumpled and untucked.

“Boo-hoo, look at little strawberry shortcake crying.” one of them mocks.

“Ooh! Leave the cat alone!” the other squeals in a high-pitched imitation, “Well how do you like being in its place then?” he finishes in his normal voice, aiming a kick forwards.

He sees her then, as she falls sideways from the blow, into his line of sight.

Pink hair (pink! ) falling out from her red ribbon, teeth biting her lower lip to keep from crying out, and the brightest green eyes he has ever seen brimming with tears and the determination to not let them fall.

The first boy, egged on, aims another kick at her stomach. She closes her eyes shut tightly and gasps when his foot connects. Sasuke feels his heart clench. He wants to help, but there are two of them and only one of him. They’re older too. It would be stupid to engage.

‘I’m not stupid.’ he thinks. ‘I’m not stupid!’ he repeats.

Her eyes open and they are glassy and unfocussed. He watches as her gaze travels dimly across the landscape around her till she spots him and stills. All of a sudden the clarity of the world around him shifts, and Sasuke feels like he is waking into a dream. She holds his gaze, and then a single tear falls down her swollen cheek.

“I’m not stupid!” his mind echoes again. Only this time he isn’t thinking it, he is screaming it from his lungs as he charges across the clearing into one of the bullies.

By the time he has regained his sense of time and place, his fist has already connected with the face of the boy who kicked her the second time. Sasuke isn’t sure where he mustered the strength because the boy flies back a full two feet, planting face first into the ground. Around him, the boy’s accomplice and the girl both stare at the scene that just unfolded in shocked silence. Then the stillness of the moment is shattered as both the bullies scream, and scramble to get away.

Sasuke is heaving from the rush of what has just transpired, and watches as the boys make their escape. Behind him, the girl lifts herself off the ground and sits up. He turns to face her.

She is looking at him quizzically and he can’t say he blames her, he himself is unsure of what possessed him. But looking at her, eyes and cheeks swollen, hair and clothes in disarray, a tear-trail cutting across a muddied cheek, he can’t bring himself to regret it.

“Your hand...it’s bleeding.” she says, softly.

Sasuke frowns and looks down, and indeed she is right. There is a gash across his knuckles, angry and red.

Slowly she gets up, and limps towards him. Reaching out, she gingerly takes his bleeding hand into her own and looks at it thoughtfully. Then she retreats one hand to pull out the ribbon in her hair, and ties it around his knuckles. She releases his hand and immediately he feels bereft, though he isn’t sure why.

“Um, thank you.” she says shyly.

Before he can open his mouth to respond, they hear commotion in the distance.

They turn towards the sound to see the two boys from earlier staggering back towards them...with three other friends in tow. Sasuke doesn’t know where his strength came from earlier, but he is doubtful he can summon it again. Especially against five older opponents.

They look at each other. There is an understanding.

And then they run.

They race through the woods with reckless abandon, hair flying in the wind. Beside him he hears her laugh as they are running, and he has half a mind to ask her what exactly she finds funny about this, but he is laughing along too. There is something so freeing and young about the whole situation. They run without thinking, giggling every time they glance back at the group giving chase. Every few moments they are drenched in sunlight breaking past the canopy, before plunging into the shade again. Despite her beating, the girl manages to keep up pace, never falling more than two steps behind him. From the corner of his eye, Sasuke spots the kindergarten playground in the distance, and a lone figure standing in the center.

‘Nii-san!’

Swiftly he grabs her hand and breaks perpendicular to their trajectory, pulling her along with him. They run until they make it out of the woods, and Sasuke grins at the sight of Itachi looking confused to see his brother racing out of the woods with a girl in tow. The boys chasing them exit the woods not long after, hot in pursuit, before halting at the sight of Itachi.

Sasuke pulls the girl with him to stand behind his brother. Itachi glances at the pair, then at the pursuers, and quickly catches on. He stares at the boys and quirks an eyebrow, and that is enough. Itachi may be a gentle soul, but everyone knows better than to mess with him. In an instant they are scrambling to disperse from the playground, mumbling hurried apologies to Itachi. From behind him, Sasuke and the girl look at each other, and then break into full-bellied laughter.

Amused, Itachi bends down on his knee, “Care to explain what’s going on, little brother?”

Sasuke turns to him to answer but notices Itachi is looking downwards. He follows his brother’s gaze to where his hand is still wrapped around the girl’s.

Immediately he drops it and jumps a foot away.

Blushing and embarrassed, he explains to his brother what happened. Itachi listens patiently and then turns his attention to the grl. “Are you okay?” He asks. Mutely, she nods.

Before anything else can be said and done, a woman bursts onto the playground.

“Oh my god, there you are!” she exclaims, and runs to take the girl in her arms, “We’ve been looking all over for you!”

Moving back from the hug to take a look at her state, the woman gasps. “Sweetie, what happened?”

“Some boys were picking on me. He helped.” she says in a small voice, pointing her finger at Sasuke.

“Oh dear, thank you so much.” says the older woman as she pats him on the head. “She just wandered off. We were worried sick!”

“Come along now, sweetheart, we have to be on our way.” says the woman that Sasuke assumes is her mother, as she gently tugs her along in the direction of a car waiting by the roadside, a man standing by its side and waving.

“Wait!” the girl cries, and then turns to him, “What’s your name?” she asks, a desperate urgency ringing in her voice.

Sasuke knows because he feels it too.

“Sasuke!” he yells after her, because she is already halfway across the playground, “What’s yours?”

She breaks into the widest grin.

“Thank you, Sasuke-kun!” she yells back, “I love you!”

Her mother laughs loudly, and beside him Itachi huffs in amusement too. Sasuke is stunned, and can only stare as she gets into the car and drives away.

She has already disappeared over the horizon before his senses return.

‘Tch. Who says ‘I love you’ to someone they just met?’ he thinks, frowning all the way home. ‘Annoying.’

But his heart feels caught in quicksand, slowly sinking to his stomach.

She never did tell him her name.

There is a rumor spreading across their middle school that Sasuke likes girls with long hair, and he knows exactly what prompted it.

He jogs back from the track to the sidelines, breathing heavily, and then runs through his stretches. A brief cool-down later, he returns to the locker-room, trading in his sweaty track clothes for his standard school uniform. He finishes buttoning up his shirt, puts on his tie, and then reaches into his locker for one last thing.

He pulls out a red ribbon, and ties it around his hand.

Beside him, Naruto quips—

“Are you ever going to tell me why you wear that thing?” he asks, gesturing to the ribbon.

“Hn.” Sasuke grunts in the way of an answer.

“You know all your fangirls think that ribbon is reserved for your one true love , and if they make you fall in love with them you will tie that ribbon to their hair?” he questions, clasping his hands together in a decidedly feminine gesture for dramatic effect.

Sasuke rolls his eyes as he strolls out of the locker-room, with Naruto following behind him.

“I’m serious!” he insists, “I’ve seen them role-playing it after school!”

They settle into their seats for their next class, and Naruto pesters him again.

“Well? Is it true?” he wiggles his eyebrows, “Is this about a girl?”

Sasuke lets the question slide as he turns his attention out of the window. The horizon is endlessly far and there is a pang in his chest. If it’s about a girl, then it’s a girl he has never met again.

He never saw her again after that day, and figured she had only been visiting. As distinctive as her hair was, he was only a kid and the world was just too big to go looking. He doesn’t even know why he is looking, why even after all this time there is a feeling that something has been lost.

‘I’m a fool.’ he thinks, staring off into the distance.

“Or maybe it’s auntie Mikoto’s? Does leedul Sasu-cakes miss his mwommy?” Naruto continues to speculate.

Sasuke promptly smacks his best friend’s face into his desk.

Sakura watches Ito walk out from the classroom. He pauses briefly at the door, and turns around to flash her a forced smile that she returns with just as much strain. As soon as he is gone, she sinks into her seat. The love letter he wrote sits unopened in front of her. She is grateful, at the very least, that he chose to approach her after class when they had been alone. Others had not been so courteous, and her heart had lurched with each shake of her head in front of an audience of merciless classmates.

Not long after he is gone, Ino pokes her head into the room. Finding it bereft of anyone except her friend, she invites herself in.

“Well? What did he say? Actually nevermind that, what did you say?” her best friend interrogates her, and Sakura has no doubt she had been lurking just outside the classroom. She simply looks at the blonde and frowns.

“Seriously, forehead? Again?” exasperated, Ino plops down on the chair in front of her. “How many hearts do you intend to break, huh?”

“Why don’t you at least give someone a shot? What are you waiting for?” she eggs on.

Heaving a deep sigh, Sakura stares up at the ceiling. ‘What am I waiting for?’

“Earth to forehead? Hello? Anyway, since you’ve declined everyone who asked, you can be my date to the festival. Sai-kun will understand, he doesn’t care much for this stuff anyway.” Ino declares while inspecting her nails.

Sakura smiles at her friend.

“No, pig, you and Sai should go,” Sakura says, “I don’t think I am going anyway, I have to prepare for the university entrance exams.”

“Are you kidding me? Sakura, this is our final year of school. How can you miss the spring festival?” Ino is appalled.

Leaning back on her chair, Sakura scoffs. “It’s our final year, that’s why we need to study. We’ll have fun in college, okay?”

“You take this way too seriously, forehead. Are you that eager to leave us and run away to some big city?”

Sakura falters. A memory resurfaces. Being five years old, visiting her aunt in Tokyo, running through the woods, and then leaving much, much too soon.

To her relief, Ino isn’t waiting for a response.

“Well, let’s at least get some ice-cream on the way home.” she says, getting up. Smiling, Sakura joins her as they walk out of the empty classroom. “Just be careful Sak, the rate at which you’re going, you’ll end up passing right by your soulmate.” Ino says jokingly.

Sakura laughs along and tries to smother the voice inside her that says she might already have.

Sasuke finishes his last class for the day and unhurriedly strolls to his academic supervisor's office. He pauses in front of the office door and glances down at his watch. Two minutes late, not that it made a difference considering his supervisor. He knocks.

“Come in,” a lazy drawl beckons.

Sasuke walks into the office. “You asked to see me?” he inquires.

Hatake Kakashi leans back in his chair. “I did, have a seat.” he motions, “So Sasuke, have you given any thought to what you want to do after university?”

Sasuke shrugs.

Kakashi sighs and leans forward, resting his elbows on his desk. “Sasuke. You’re an excellent student, your grades are flawless, and you have so much potential. But all of that is lost if you have no ambition.” Kakashi looks at him with the slightest hint of frustration in his bored eyes, “You have a year of university left. Give it some thought. Ask yourself what gives you purpose.”

Sasuke nods, agreeing simply to end the meeting faster. Anticipating that he won’t get through to him, Kakashi dismisses him, promising to have another catch up after his mid-terms.

Sasuke walks out of the office, his book bag slung carelessly over one shoulder. Despite himself, he is pondering over the brief lecture he just received.

Ask yourself what gives you purpose.

“Tch.” Sasuke scowls in annoyance, and then halts his stride.

Though the scene itself plays in his mind like a vignette, blurry and faded at the seams, he still remembers the feeling of throwing his body forward on instinct, pushing off the bully from the girl fallen on the ground. He remembers standing between them and knowing with unflinching clarity that he had done the right thing. He sighs in disbelief at himself, even after all these years, living his life based on a stupid childhood memory.

On the way back to his dorm, he picks up a form for the police academy.

The announcer’s voice calls over the PA system, alerting the passengers on the train of the upcoming station.

Closing her book and stashing it in her bag, Sakura prepares to disembark. She glances at the door nearest to her, but finds it already packed with the rush-hour crowd, each one eager to be the first one out the doors when they open.

Instead of swimming through the hoard of people, she chooses to cross over to the only slightly less crowded adjacent compartment, hoping to deboard from there. Rubbing shoulders with the others that had the same idea, she traverses the narrow section that bridged the two coaches. Instantly, she feels a shift.

Anticipation coils in her stomach and all her nerve endings are firing in an urgent panic. It feels like crossing into a different world. ‘What is it?’ she thinks, trying to pinpoint the cause of her alarm. And then she spots it. On the far end of the compartment, peering into his phone, eighteen years older than the last time she saw him but nonetheless unmistakable, him .

She feels the urge to scream, but his name is caught somewhere between her lungs and her mouth. In the background, the speakers announce the opening of the doors.

Sakura feels the push from the people around her, and she feels like she is caught in the current of the sea, being sucked under again and again with nothing to hold on to, the water swallowing her voice. All of a sudden time slows to a standstill, and she watches as he lifts his head and looks in her direction. Their eyes meet.

There is a quiet murmur in her heart that she has carried with her most of her life. The one that piques up each time she thinks of him. The one that tells her it is all in her head, that he has already forgotten, that she has been building castles in the air all along. She feels that voice surface again, but then she sees his eyes widen, mirroring the alarm in her own.

He lifts his hand, and she catches a glimpse of an old familiar ribbon. The treacherous voice in her heart is silenced.

But the current around her persists, and she feels the tug of the crowd pull her along through the doors. One again she is five years old, watching helplessly as the distance between them grows.

She watches as he tries to wade through the crowd to reach her, but she has one foot on the train and one foot on the platform, and she knows he won’t make it. So, she decides to take this chance to answer a question she left unanswered many years ago.

She cups her hands around her mouth and yells, “Sakura!”

In the next moment, she is on the platform and the doors are closing. Rooted in place, she watches as the train begins to move and another chance slips away. An overwhelming sense of grief washes over her, but in the midst of her heartache is a small bud beginning to bloom.

‘He remembers.’

The day has not been going well for Sasuke. It started with being roped into attending a celebration with his batchmates to commemorate their passing out from the police academy. His social battery had long since run out, but the day wasn’t over. His parents had invited him to their home to celebrate his graduation with their extended family. Unfortunately, the celebration with his classmates dragged on longer than anticipated, and he had ended up missing the train that would have taken him to his parents home. Now he was forced to board a different train instead, one that required him to deboard and connect to a different line midway, and he had to do it during the evening rush hour.

‘Just great.’

Standing cramped against the back of the compartment, Sasuke distracts himself on his phone and hopes for the journey to end as quickly as possible. Twenty minutes into the ride, he has drowned out all the nearby chatter, the announcements over the speakers, the screech of the train wheels slowing down to a stop. Then he feels it, the shift in the air.

As if his body already knows what his mind is yet to discover, his gaze lifts from his phone to the other end of the compartment where the people planning to deboard are crowding. And there she is, bright green eyes, looking at him.

He hears his heart thumping in his ears.

He sees the surprise in her eyes, along with the slightest tinge of hesitation. On instinct, Sasuke lifts his hand over the bobbing heads in the crowd, to show her the faded red fabric that he has held on to for the last eighteen years, and watches as the doubt in her eyes dissolves. But all too soon the crowd begins to move, pulling her along. He sees the panic building in her eyes, and he is already pushing through the crowd to reach her. The divide between them is just too wide though, and he can feel time slipping through his fingers like sand. He has felt this feeling before, though he was too young then to understand its gravity. The weight of watching the course of your life change before your very eyes, like a train shifting tracks, moving away from what could have been.

She must know he wasn’t going to make it too, because just as she is being swept through the doors, she turns around and shouts—

“Sakura!” —the answer to a question long unforgotten.

In the next moment, she has bled out with the crowd, the doors have closed, and all the air in the cabin has left with her.

Sasuke watches in agony as she gets further and further away, unmindful of the people around him staring at his crazed state. He races out of the train at the following stop and catches the next one headed in the opposite direction back to where he lost her. He steps foot on the platform and is overwhelmed with the desire to run in every direction at once, but despite all his searching, he doesn’t find her.

Exhausted, he plops down on a station bench. Despite everything, in his defeat there is a sliver of redemption.

‘She remembers.’

A chill cuts through the autumn air as Sasuke crouches behind the boxes piled in the warehouse, waiting for backup. What started as a low-stakes inspection of a tip-off evolved into a drug bust gone very wrong. Beside him, Juugo coordinated with the en-route backup while Sasuke kept lookout, monitoring the movements of the cartel as well as searching for Suigetsu and Karin, their two other officers who had splintered off early into their inspection.

"Ten minutes." Juugo confirms the status of the backup's arrival and Sasuke nods.

Just then there is a commotion, and Sasuke feels a chill run down his spine as one of the cartel members drags Karin out to the center of the room.

"Found her hiding behind the loading dock!" he announces. There is a brief pause of contemplation before a man, that Sasuke assumes is the kingpin, announces—

"Pack everything up, we're clearing out."

There is a flurry of activity as the men follow what they have been instructed. Sasuke grinds his teeth, but keeps his eyes trained on Karin.

"What do we do with her?" asks the man who dragged her in and is still keeping her arms pinned behind her.

The leader gestures to the man on his right, "Kill her. Put the body in one of the crates."

'Shit.'

The man nods, and Sasuke stiffens at the sound of the gun cocking.

He watches as tears stream down Karin’s face as she looks into the barrel of the gun. This time around, his feet want to remain rooted to the ground. There is no tug, no reckless abandon from his youth. But there is a sense of duty, and so, Sasuke leaves the sanctuary of his hiding spot and tackles the armed man to the ground. In no time at all, the entire warehouse springs into action, and multiple men launch themselves at him. Sasuke parries a blow from one, and maneuvers to throw the goon over his shoulder, while Juugo provides cover by firing from his spot behind the crates. In the distance, Sasuke can hear the sirens of police cars nearby, but each passing moment has slowed down to be an eternity long. From the corner of his eye, he sees Suigetsu use the cover of the chaos to pull Karin away from the action and he breathes a sigh of relief.

In the next instant there is a searing pain in his side, and whatever little relief he felt is replaced by agony. Though he is aware of exactly what has conspired, Sasuke doesn’t look down, because seeing where the bullet went through him would make everything a little too permanent. His knees hit the floor just as the warehouse fills up with an influx of police officers. The call of duty that pushed him this far finally eases up, and Sasuke ceases his struggle against his body and mind. Lying on the cold concrete floor, Sasuke offers a quiet apology to his family for the pain he is going to cause them, and in the final moments of his consciousness, he wonders if the afterlife will be small enough to go searching for green eyes.

“Paging all Emergency Medicine staff. Please report immediately to Trauma Bay One, I repeat—”

Sakura pauses mid-signature as the announcement blares over the speakers, right as her pager begins to beep. Quickly closing the chart she was working on, she sprints off in the direction of the trauma department.

Arriving on the scene, she runs up to the attending surgeon, “What’s going on?” she asks, out of breath.

“There was an encounter between the police and a drug cartel downtown. We are receiving multiple gunshot victims.” answers Tsunade, “Kenji take the first one, Sakura you’re in charge of the second, I’ll take the third.” she orders, just as the paramedics pull up to the bay.

The first gurney rolls in carrying a man bleeding from his leg, with his hand tied to the side of the stretcher with handcuffs. Sakura guesses he is one of the cartel members as Kenji breaks off to inspect his patient. The second gurney brings in Sakura’s patient, also in handcuffs, with a bullet in his shoulder and a deep gash across his forehead. Sakura runs to his side as they roll him towards the operating theater. Behind her she hears the third patient being rolled in.

“He is one of ours, he was shot during the encounter.” an accompanying police officer tells Tsunade.

She feels a familiar tug at her heart.

Turning around, she catches the briefest glimpse as the nurses roll him away, but it is enough. She is always looking for that face, after all.

Her heart sinks to her stomach.

As wakefulness slowly seeps into his consciousness, Sasuke struggles to remember where he is and what happened. Then the pain kicks in and all his memories resurface. Slowly blinking his eyes open, he takes in the harsh, clinical white of his hospital room ceiling, tethered to consciousness by the routine beeping of the machines he is hooked up to.

Near his abdomen is a lopsided sensation. On the side he was shot is a searing pain, the sensation of an open wound replaced by that of his skin being uncomfortably stretched and sown. On the other side is a dull, weighted pressure.

He looks down to see a figure in blue scrubs sitting by his bedside, head resting on his side, and a waterfall of pink across his middle. The pace of the heart monitor picks up.

Slowly, the slumbering form rouses, awakened by the broken rhythm of the beeping. Sasuke watches as her brows furrow, trying to hang on to the fading traces of sleep. Her eyelids take their time to open, and the wait as they flutter is utter agony. Then she glances up at him, and her eyes widen as realization dawns upon her. There it is, he thinks, that brilliant green.

“You’re awake.” she says, breathlessly.

Without waiting for a response, she lifts her head from his side and immediately he misses the pressure. She pushes back the chair she has been sitting in and jogs out of the room. His heart panics like a caged animal and he wants to call after her, but his throat is parched and no sound comes out. In a few moments she returns, and in her hands is a familiar red ribbon.

“They had to cut you out of your clothes to operate, but I thought you might want this back so I kept it.” she tells him as she places the ribbon at his bedside table and pours a glass of water. She brings it up to his lips and he hungrily drinks it up, relishing how it drowned the thorns in his throat.

“Thank you.” he says, voice still hoarse. She smiles lightly in response as she sets the glass back on the table, then settles back into the chair she had been occupying before.

There is a pause.

Much of him is still suspended in disbelief. All these years he spent looking, only to wake up to her suddenly by his side. He can see the turmoil in her eyes too, as she stares at him with a frown, biting her lip as she searches for something to say. What do you even say to someone you have spent your whole life searching for but know nothing about, he wonders.

“I waited,” she says abruptly, and then shrinks just a little, like she surprised herself by the confession, “at the train station, I mean” she adds, as if trying to lighten the intensity of what she said. They are still strangers after all. In his mind, the memory of an ‘Iloveyou’ screamed across a playground echoes back.

“Aa.” he nods in agreement, “I did too.”

‘At the station, at the playground, at every turn and intersection, in every crowd’ , but he leaves that part out.

She smiles the sweetest, softest smile, and he decides it was all worth it for this alone.

“I should go now, I have rounds.” she glances at the door, “I’ll let Tsunade know you’re awake, she’ll want to check on you.”

“But after my shift I could swing by with some dinner, if you’d like?” she asks bashfully, “It’s only hospital food, but I have some seasoning packets I keep in my locker that make it a little bearable. But if you want to rest instead that’s totally okay, you’ve been through a lot and—”

“Sakura” he interrupts her rambling, “Dinner sounds good.”

She beams, and it’s a brand new start.

“Who says ‘I love you’ to someone they just met?” he asks out of the blue.

They’re on the couch in the living room, in the apartment they’ve been sharing for the past two years. He is turned towards the TV while she is deep into a book, sitting with her back pressed into his side, legs thrown over the arm of the sofa.

She scoffs at his question.

“What kind of a battle-cry is ‘I’m not stupid’?” she challenges back.

When he doesn’t respond to her jab she cranes her neck to look back at him, and finds there is no mischief in his eyes, only a solemn intensity. She closes her book and sits up, turning around to face him fully.

“Hm.” she says as she ponders, “I’m not sure.”

“I just...felt something big.” she says, “It felt like you were slipping away before I even had a chance to hold on and I was desperate to make you understand what I was feeling— and love was the only thing that seemed big enough.”

He nods like he knows exactly what she means, and she smiles.

“Besides,” she says, throwing her arms around his neck and leaning in close enough to brush her nose against his, “I was right, wasn’t I?”

“Hn.” he gives her a sideways smile, and closes the distance between them.

Fin.

AN: A mediocre execution of the extraordinary @disquieted‘s beautiful story idea. Thanks my love! And happy SS month to everyone! I love this community so much and I am so excited to see what’s in store.

#ss #ss fanfiction #ssm21 #back from the dead #kinda

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captnjacksparrow · 3 years

Note

Hi sparrow!

I’m will be straight honest with you. You must have some patience to deal with hardcore SS stans running in the tags to defend their ship, mostly their Queen because I wouldn’t.

Like, I’m not even mad if Naruto and Sasuke aren’t shipped together and are with other characters-male or female-or self inserts. However I can’t stand when SS fanatics pretend like SS is a perfect ship and bite other people’s heads off, especially if their same-sex, then play the victim when they’re called out. As I’ve mentioned, I’m fully aware that SNS isn’t a perfect ship but that ship is more meaningful because the characters MAKE it meaningful, us fans just sit and observe.

Also can I just say, enough with the “they’re straight excuse”. Now, I’m not trying to make this about sexuality so I apologize if I keep bringing it up. Regardless of their sexuality, why do they keep making it an issue? Like I’ve noticed that which is why I keep mentioning it like a broken record at times. Like, even if SNS is straight (which I highly doubt) why the hell is it an issue to ship them together? Like why the hell does it bother them that people ship them? Like YOU don’t have to ship them, but why can’t others ship them? You don’t see me going on SS accs and bitch about their ship, even though it’s horrible.

I also find it interesting how they Sarada as an excuse for their ship but ignore the shit that comes with it like Sasuke abandoning them for 12 years, no note— nothing. Why aren’t they pissed at Sakura who loose her temper at her daughter for wanting to know more about her lone wolf of a father?

All I have to say is this, you ship your ship and I’ll ship mine. Let’s not fight about it and move on, really.

I’m not trying to make this about sexuality so I apologize if I keep bringing it up. Regardless of their sexuality, why do they keep making it an issue? Like, even if SNS is straight (which I highly doubt) why the hell is it an issue to ship them together? Like why the hell does it bother them that people ship them?

Probably because they realize they are not straight and somehow they want to deny the possibility by going aggressive on everyone???. @larrycherry04 .... 😒😒😒

I've talked about this extensively in your other ask about the difference between Homo-Eroticness and Affection between two friends.

If you read that post, I never even brought sexuality in certain sections, still Sasuke never gave a damn about Sakura or her safety throughout Part 2. It's them who keeps on bringing up Sexuality into our discussion, which clearly explains how badly developed their ship is.

I don't know about other Shounen Animes. But one of my friend who watched many of those things say that it's only in Naruto, the main characters were put under an awkward situation that question their sexuality many times. Like Sasuke on Sai Jutsu, Naruto doing Reverse Harem with Naked Men. Most of them are passed off as comic relief.

Usually, other animes make comic relief by making the Main Character accidently watch the Heroine when she was about to undress or something like that. Here in Naruto, the main characters were put in questionable situation which always involves men. Like there is this picture Kishimoto drew Naruto and Sasuke in a questionable angle. Which is totally unnecessary.

I guess people from their fandom must have noticed this and got some reality check. But again, they want to deny it at all costs.

Usually when you go to other Shipping fandom, it was all about who is the better ship or reasonable ship. Here, only in Naruto Fandom, I've seen that they pull some non-sensical claims that 'They are not Gay', 'You are a Yaoi Fangirl', 'They are Brothers', 'You guys are Pedophiles', 'You ship Incest'.... All of these claims are very wrong and they can't even provide valid proof for their claims.

Why aren’t they pissed at Sakura who loose her temper at her daughter for wanting to know more about her lone wolf of a father?

They really don't bother about that poor girl. All they care about is Sasuke called Sakura 'My Wife' and a panel which showed Sasuke remotely caring about Sakura's wounds...

Other glaringly evident problems are not their concern. And they keep on making excuses like, 'Sasuke left his family for a decade because he wanted to protect his family. It's almost like a Military man's family life, where he leave his family alone and go on to serve the country'....

Am like, 'WTF?'

Even a military man was allowed to contacts his family once in a month either by letters, telephones or anything. But Sasuke wasn't even bothered to send any letters to ask about Sarada's well-being whereas he was completely A-Ok to send one to Naruto.

They just want to see what they want to see. Everything else is just insignificant.

Like YOU don’t have to ship them, but why can’t others ship them? You don’t see me going on SS accs and bitch about their ship, even though it’s horrible.

That's because they have nothing to talk about their ship using canon based materials. And when people mock their ship, they just get rabid and attack others.

SS and NH are very similar in this aspect.

#sns #sasunaru #narusasu #sasunarusasu

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ikemen-girl · 3 years

Note

Hellooooo sweety I'm back again 🤣🤣🤣

I'm kinda have a bad week this week (it's only Wednesday I know 😭😭😭 but I don't think I can take anymore than this orz). So, in order to lighten up my feelings, may I ask you how Mitsuhide AND Hideyoshi would react if they were being swallowed together by the wormhole, along with MC (and maybe Sasuke, your choice xD) back to MC's era, 500 years in the future? I want to know what chaotic misdeeds those two gonna do if they have to live together for 3 months in the modern era until the next wormhole comes xD.

Thank you soooo much and have a nice day! 🍀✨

Helloooo dear😍😍 & welcome back✨✨😍😍🤗🤗😘😘💗💗! Thank you so much for the request😍😍! This sounds so hilarious & fun giving me so much entertaining content to write on🤣🤣! I am sorry to hear that you are having a hard week, if this work of mine will be able to help even a little in lifting your spirits, I will be very glad😍❤😘😘 & hoping you have an amazing week ahead😘✨. So here we go💃💃~

IKESEN HEADCANON⚔💗:

Mitsuhide😏 & Hideyoshi😩 reacting to staying in 500 years later in the future🏙:

One day, everything was going very well in Azuchi Castle🏯, as for once, Hideyoshi was NOT nagging at Mitsuhide🤯 or Ieyasu throwing snarky comments at Mitsunari😒or Masamune on the adventure of jumping off the cliffs🏊🏻‍♂️ or Nobunaga eating konpeitos🍬.

Wait, wait, wait, what?! CUT🎬! WHAT IS THIS HAPPENING📽? THIS CAN'T HAPPEN🙅‍♂️! CHANGE THE SCRIPT😠🤦‍♂️! "Director sir, this is calm before the storm😅!", said the staff member. "Oh okay, continue, let's see🤨!", the director let out a deep sigh.

*ahem* Back to the scene in Azuchi castle🏯-

Mitsuhide was busy teasing his darling little mouse. "Can you stop teasing me already😒?", you pouted☹, your cheeks red with embarrassment🙈😳. "My, My and why should I do that😏?", said Mitsuhide squeezing your cheeks like it were made of dango-mochi, so soft to touch😘💗, chuckling😆 at your super adorable face😍😘👩.

Oi, Mitsuhide😠!", said Hideyoshi loudly coming around in the Mitsuhide's garden. "Not again!", Mitsuhide slapped his forehead🤦‍♂️. "My mom is here, you better behave😂😝!", you said giggling as you went running towards Hideyoshi seeing this as a chance of escape from his hug actually teasing.

"Welcome, Hideyoshi!", you said greeting him with a big smile on your face😍✨. Hideyoshi patted your head in return with a soft smile on his face☺️. "Oi Mitsuhide, where did you suddenly disappeared without a word again? What are you plotting again? Do you know how much worried MC was for you😠?", said Hideyoshi glaring at the kitsune boi. "My, My, whatever do you mean , Hideyoshi😏?", Mitsuhide smirked.

"Mitsu----", Hideyoshi was cut off in between with a loud scream. "What happened, little mouse😟?", Mitsuhide frowned, looking at you, concerned. "Look! Look there! Wormhole😱!!!!", you shouted looking at the dark-cloudy sky. "Worm-what?", asked Hideyoshi, confused. As soon as they both turned to look at the sky, droplets of water fell on their face & finally heavy raining without as much as a warning⛈. "Oh no! Mitsuhide! Hideyoshi!", you screamed as lightning striked. They all suddenly found themselves in the air. "What is happening?! Hold my hand, MC!", shouted Hideyoshi. Instead of you, Mitsuhide grabbed his leg tightly, "I asked to grab my hand, not my leg😑! Well nevermind😒🤦‍♂️!". Mitsuhide smirked at him😏 & wrapped his other arm around MC holding her close to his chest.

And boom! They found themselves in 500 years later in the future.

"Mitsuhide! Hideyoshi! Are you okay😱?!", you asked looking at Mitsuhide still holding you unconsciously and Hideyoshi who was also lying on the ground passed out. "Mitsuhide! Wake up!", you said as you gently patted his cheeks. "Yeah, yeah, I am fine, my little mouse! I am so glad that you are safe😘😍💗!", said Mitsuhide looking at her with a smile on his face.

"Oww! Where are we😵💫?", said Hideyoshi as he stood from the hard ground and fell down again. "Oh God, Mitsuhide! Let go off my leg right now, ugh😫😠!", said Hideyoshi glaring at him rubbing his forehead. "Oh my dear friend, I am so sorry😏!", said Mitsuhide looking as unapologetic as ever trying hard not to snicker at him🤭. "Don't you dare laugh at me😡!", said Hideyoshi glaring at him. You were so relieved that they both were fine & scanned the surroundings😌😍.

"Guys! Calm down, look around, we are back in the future!", you said breaking their conversation. "WHAT😲?!", exclaimed Hideyoshi finally turning his head to look around his surroundings.

"Now get up both of you, it's so embarrassing, people are staring at us😳!", you said giving your hand to help them get up.

"Is this really our future?", asked Hideyoshi looking around, highly shocked & confused😱.

"Yes😍💗!", you said, feeling nostalgic to be back in future after such a long time. "MC!", another voice added in. You all turn to look at the source of the voice. "Sasuke!", you exclaimed. "Are you okay?", he came, looking at you worried. "Yes, I am fine but how are you here as well?", you asked confused. "Got swallowed by the wormhole! I estimated that we can return to Sengoku era after 3 months", he replied. "You mean to say that we are stuck here for 3 whole months😱?!", exclaimed Hideyoshi, horrified. You and Mitsuhide looked at each other surprised at the declaration😲.

"Once I will be able return back to Sengoku era, my boss will kill me for sure, I am so scared!", Sasuke said with a stoic expression adjusting his glasses😬. "You don't look scared🤨?", asked Hideyoshi. "Sorry Hideyoshi-san, my facial muscles can't express my emotions properly", said Sasuke. "I can understand, God of War will certainly rage a war if he don't find you by his side, Master Sasuke😏!", said Mitsuhide with a smirk. "Don't frighten me more, Mitsuhide-san😯, I hope my BFF Yukimura handles the situation well🙏🏻!", said Sasuke praying silently. "Bee🐝-what-now?", asked Hideyoshi confused at the term. "Don't stress your mind, It's a future word for best friend", you chuckled at him😆.

"Let's go my home for now, I will show you both around, Sasuke please come as well☺️🥰!", you said stretching your arms. "Here is some money for you I quickly grabbed from my home!", said Sasuke handing you money. You gave him a grateful smile😇😍. "What is that paper?", asked Mitsuhide, curious. "Oh, these are the currency notes that are used to purchase things!", Sasuke replied. "Now, I will go buy some food & buy them clothes, you see!", said Sasuke as he pointed out at their traditional dress & went inside the supermarket across the road🏪.

"MC, why are those crowd of girls especially staring at me🤔😐?", asked Hideyoshi, confused. "Don't you know, that your charms are irresistible, no matter the past or future😏?", replied Mitsuhide throwing a mischiveous wink at you😉, smirking at the girls. You caught up on his intentions and gave him a silent a thumbs up👍 with a evil grin😈.

"GIRLS, DON'T YOU WANT TO TALK WITH THIS HANDSOME MAN HERE FOR A WHILE?", you shouted in loud voice😎.

"Wait, what, MC?! Mitsuhide, what did you tell her😱?!", said Hideyoshi angrily glaring at Mitsuhide. "HELL YES🤩!", exclaimed the girls happily. "Hoooh, I haven't done anything, Hideyoshi, it's your fault for being so irresistible😏!", said Mitsuhide with a smirk while the girls surrounded him.

"Let him enjoy the company of the girls for a while, little mouse, let's go🤗😘!", Mitsuhide said while taking you away from the crowd of girls surrounding Hideyoshi. "I will not let you go you this time, snek🐍😡!", Hideyoshi shouted angrily. You both laughed 🤣 looking at Hideyoshi who was politely trying to get away from his fangirls😅.

"Wanna eat icecream till the time Sasuke returns? Try it🍦!", you gave him the icecream. You didn't notice when he ate the whole icecream in 1 bite as you were paying the money. "Owww!", screamed Mitsuhide as he clutched his head. You turned back to look at him, surprised. "Who told you to eat it that fast😨?!", you said while gently rubbing his temples. "Little mouse, it's such a small ball of icecream, I didn't know", said Mitsuhide with his eyes closed, smile on his lips💆‍♂️.

"Here you are, Mitsuhide😡!", shouted Hideyoshi as he came and grabbed his collar. "Because of YOU, I landed up in such a huge mess over there! It was so hard to get rid of those girls😫!", said Hideyoshi angrily. Mitsuhide just smirked at him😏. "Now, now, don't fight already again🙅‍♀️!", you said separating them again.

"Now we will cross the road and go to the supermarket! These things are used for transportation like horses in Sengoku & are known as vehicles & here are mostly cars, scooters! They are dangerous, so be careful", she explained. Hideyoshi nodded. "Ready?", she turned to her left but Mitsuhide was gone⁉️.

SHIT! THIS IS BAD NEWS😱!

"Where did he disappear?!", you wondered looking around. "He was just here😱!", said Hideyoshi as he looked around. Mitsuhide was purposely trying to cross the road swaying around while green signal zone is on to annoy Hideyoshi causing the commotion on the road😏. "What the heck are you doing, Mitsuhide?! It's dangerous! Are you trying to kill yourself😡?", Hideyoshi scowled at him pulling him aside.

"YOU😠!", said the traffic police officer to Mitsuhide👮🏻‍♂️. "We are gone🤦‍♀️!", you said slapping your forehead. "We are extremely sorry, sir🙇‍♀️!", you asked him for forgiveness bowing again and again. Mitsuhide looked at you, confused. You glared at him & pushed his head down to join you in apology. "Say sorry😒!", you whispered. "Why?", he asked with a smirk. You pinch him secretly🙄 and he said "I am sorry!" with a pout on his face🙁🙇‍♂️. On the other hand, Hideyoshi was laughing at him🤣 and Sasuke took the whole video of the chaos to add it in his vines collection📱, "Mitsuhide Akechi is seeking forgiveness from a traffic police officer, this is great! MEGUSTA😎🤩🕺!", said Sasuke with glittering eyes.

You finally went to your home along with everyone to relax after having a long day, but both of the warlords were extremely taken aback by the technology of the modern Japan😱😳.

You went to change your dress while Sasuke explained the technologies present inside the house. Your house was very cute and sweet, nicely decorated by teddy bears & your paintings. These poor bois were taken aback by even the simplest things such as television, fan, lights, A.C., kitchen, washroom, vacuum cleaner, etc. "Can we enter the world inside the T.V by breaking it🤔?", asked Hideyoshi with a very innocent look on his face. "Please, don't even think about it, Hideyoshi-san😐!", replied Sasuke adjusting his glasses.

You came outside the changing room wearing a shirt and shorts. Mitsuhide & Hideyoshi gasped at the sight while Sasuke just captured their expressions in his camera📸. "Just what are you wearing, MC😱?!", he removed his haori and covered you with it. "I always wear it like this in my home, Hideyoshi, stop overreacting🤣!", you said laughing giving it back to him. "Mitsuhide, what happened😯?", you waved your hand infront of his face. Mitsuhide.exe. has stopped working😶😳

As they both came out after changing their traditional dresses, your jaw dropped at their looks. These both looked so dashingly handsome in the modern wear, you were trying not to swoon over them😍 while Sasuke captured pictures, fanboying over the fact that the greatest warlords in Sengoku era were wearing the dresses chosen by him📸🤩😍.

"These dresses are very comfortable☺️!", said Hideyoshi amazed. "Very stylish indeed💁🏻‍♂️!", said Mitsuhide smirking looking at himself and turned to look at you to give a wink & flying kiss😉😚🥰. "YES! THAT'S MY BF🙆🏻‍♀️😍😘🥰!", you shouted instantly, then realized what you blurted out😱 and immediately covered your face with your hands out of embarrasment🙈, the tip of your ears, red😳. Cue Mitsuhide laughing at you patting your head🤣

"Finally, my phone is charged, I missed watching youtube videos, scrolling instagram, tumblr so much!", you said with such joyful eyes😍. But the terms, you used just now went over the heads of Mitsuhide & Hideyoshi like: W A T👁👄👁?

"I brought all the delicacies of the modern world, like pizzas🍕, french fries🍟, chocolates🍫, potato chips, noodles🍜 from the market for our first day here!", said Sasuke as he took out all the food on the table🥰. Mitsuhide didn't care as he don't have any sense of taste🤷🏻‍♂️ while you all were crying tears of joy eating such delicious food after a long time😭😍😋 even though they were unhealthy😛. "I am letting you go for this time, MC but you should take care of your health😊!", said Hideyoshi looking gently at her. "Yes, I will!", she nodded☺️. "Masamune sure is losing a great deal of fun & delicious food here!", you giggled😂. "He must be jumping off the cliffs definitely right now!", Mitsuhide smirked😏. Cue Masamune sneezing in Sengoku, "ACHOO! Did I catch cold? Well jumping from this huge height was definitely fun this time!", he grinned like a tiger, soaking wet standing in the river🐯😁.

Sasuke went home after dinner while Mitsuhide and Hideyoshi went together with you to your parents' home next day😍.

You had a very emotional reunion and you explained everything to them about your journey in Sengoku era😭🥰🤗😍. Hideyoshi couldn't remember the last time, he had seen Mitsuhide who is a total nervous mess & stuttering the words out of his mouth infront of your parents😳😲😱. "Relax, Mitsuhide, they are only my parents, they won't kill you!", you said rubbing his back gently, chuckling softly😆.

"I-I would like to thank you both so much for bringing this angel😇 into this world and I promise to keep her safe🤗 and love her😘 with all my heart💓, lifelong💖! Please give us your blessings🙇‍♂️!", Mitsuhide bowed deep infront of your parents requesting for your hand and you were so happy beyond words, only tears roll down your cheeks as you gave him a very beautiful & happy smile😢😘🥰❤. Your father came to Mitsuhide with a very stern expression & you both were scared for a moment but he smiled and patted his shoulder, holding his hand, "I give my precious princess like daughter👸🏻 to you, take care of her for me👨🏻‍🦳!". Mitsuhide nodded with a grateful smile and eyes with unshed tears🥺💗. Your mother was very touched & happy with her son-in-law👩🏻‍🦳, "He is such a sweet boy😍😘❤!". "EXCUSE ME, SWEET😱😳?!", Hideyoshi exclaimed, shocked. "My, how rude😏!", smirks Mitsuhide. "Well, he is atleast very sweet to me, Hideyoshi😍😂!", you giggled and Hideyoshi sighed while everyone laughs together🤣.

In a week, you and Mitsuhide were married🤵🏻👰🏻💍💏 in the modern day with the blessings of your family👫🏻 and close friends👬🏻👭🏻. You were the most beautiful women in his eyes😍💓 while he was the most handsome man in your eyes😍🙈. You both were such a lovely couple💑. Obviously, your friends didn't know of Mitsuhide & Hideyoshi's real identity. It was the happiest of day of both of your lives✨🎊🎉💯. Cue Hideyoshi sobbing in the corner while Sasuke is busy comforting him😭😭.

Next day, you took your dream job in your favourite design company even if if was for a short while and both Mitsuhide & Hideyoshi were super proud of your talents👏🙌💯😍❤. That night, you fell asleep working on the table and it was past midnight. Mitsuhide carried you to your bed where Hideyoshi was sleeping😴. Mitsuhide kicked Hideyoshi out of the bed and placed you down gently on the bed and tucked you in properly.

Cue Hideyoshi screaming- MITSUHIDE! WHAT THE HELL😡!? Mitsuhide: Shhhhh! She is sleeping🤫. Poor Hideyoshi sleep on the sofa from that night but he didn't mind as it was also very much comfortable😍❤.

Well, for your own good and never in your right mind, give the duty of kitchen to Mitsuhide. I repeat- NEVER🙅‍♀️! Once Mitsuhide tried to impress you with his cooking everything on his own, your kitchen was destroyed as a result. Stick to making tea please, Mitsuhide, you are an expert in it🍵!

Also once Hideyoshi in the same way tried to impress you by cleaning the house on his own when you and Mitsuhide went together to the restaurant. He made a 100× times more mess of the house than it was already😱. That day, Hideyoshi was nagged by you🙍🏻‍♀️ for the first time while Mitsuhide snickered🤣 & Sasuke as usual made a video out of this epic incident to add in his vines collection💯📱. From next time, Hideyoshi made a mental note to help you only in your presence.

R.I.P. SASUKE's WALLET.

"I am so sorry Sasuke, I promise to pay you back for everything once I get my salary🙏🏻🙇🏻‍♀️!", you said with a apologetic look. "Don't mind that, I am happy that MY money is used to help my favourite warlords of Sengoku🤩🥰🤗🕺✌🏻. MC: Sasuke, W A T🙄. Hideyoshi: eye twitch🤨. Mitsuhide: smirks😏. Sasuke: 👁👄👁

Mitsuhide is a big prankster as usual, walking danger indeed, he takes his pleasure in Hideyoshi's misery😈😏. He would always play pranks on Hideyoshi like for instance, switching off the lights while he is in the washroom🛀🏻, yes, you heard it right. Cue Hideyoshi screaming: MITSUHIDE! LET ME TAKE A BATH IN PEACE! GODDAMNIT😡! Mitsuhide would definitely click the worst pictures & boomerang of Hideyoshi to annoy him 24×7.

You along with Mitsuhide, Hideyoshi, Sasuke would often go to the cafe together to eat, dance, sing, relax together🕺💃. Hideyoshi is a very good singer🎤 & is very popular in cafe so he is approached by many girls with love confession & Mitsuhide tries to makes his situation worse😈 but you stop him with a kiss😘 on his cheek😍❤ while Hideyoshi politely tries to get away from his fanclub yet again.

Cue-Hideyoshi passed out of drinking too much😵🍻. "Nobunaga-sama, don't eat konpeito....it's bad for your own health.....Masamune, don't run...in the hallways.....Mitsunari, eat your food.....Ieyasu...be nice...", murmured Hideyoshi in his sleep, even crying tears as he misses other warlords. "Awww, he is so sweet!", you said wiping his tears with a soft smile your face. "He worries about everyone too much", said Sasuke with a soft smile remembering his friends in Kasugayama Castle😊. "Guess, we have to carry him home again😆😍!", you said looking at Mitsuhide who nodded with a smirk, "Now, can I leave my best friend out here alone, my little mouse😏?", asked Mitsuhide. You and Sasuke both shake your head😂.

You all would often go to the amusement park together. Mitsuhide would definitely buy you all the the plushies & teddy bears of the shop winning them in a shooting game😍😘😏🔫. The shopkeeper got so suspicious of him but he couldn't say anything to him as he has no proof🧐. Hideyoshi will initially be against the idea of rollercoasters but will be dragged along by Mitsuhide. You and Hideyoshi will shout all the time but you definitely enjoyed it😱, while Mitsuhide & Sasuke sat through the whole ride like it was nothing🤷🏻‍♂️. "I made the video of you..", said Sasuke with a proud expression. "SASUKE, DELETE IT😱😠!", Cue you and Hideyoshi chasing him but he kervanishes while Mitsuhide peacefully sips his tea😌🍵.

Mitsuhide will definitely kiss you💏 on the top of the ferris wheel🎡 after hearing its significance from Sasuke😎as he ships you both already😍💯, you will be taken aback with surprise but would hug him out of happiness💗 fufufufufu. While Hideyoshi will be dragged around by Sasuke to all the places except the ferris wheel, he would be concerned about your whereabouts yet Sasuke wouldn't tell him. Hideyoshi: 🤨, Sasuke:😬.

You all would also go in the haunted house👻. The most terrified person would definitely be Hideyoshi 😱 even though he wouldn't admit it🤐. Mitsuhide & Sasuke will think them as a big joke while you will stick close to Mitsuhide & him playing your hero whenever you feel scared of the ghosts👻😏😎. Cue Sasuke dancing with the skeleton☠, MC: Sasuke, the heck are you doing👁👄👁? Mitsuhide will definitely scare the already sweating with fear Hideyoshi using his horrifying pranks available in the haunted house😏☠👻. Cue Hideyoshi screaming like a girl😱.

Mitsuhide will definitely take part in many shooting competitions and undoubtedly win them all🔫He is the best marksman afterall💯 What do you expect😏? On the other hand, Hideyoshi take part in singing competitions making all the girls swoon over him🎤🎶, afterall they cannot stay inside the home everytime, now can they😂?

All of you would travel to many places like temples, places of historical significance, well-known shopping destinations, hill stations across Japan with Sasuke as the tour guide, as usual🕺💃😎💯⛩🏙 Mitsuhide & Hideyoshi were thrilled to travel in bullet train & aeroplanes for the first time in their lives🚅🛩😍💗.

Mitsuhide & Hideyoshi would be the great fan of animes. Hideyoshi loves the anime containing lots of emotions😍❤🥰. Mitsuhide on the other, loves the anime involving a lot of psychology & suspense😍❤🥰. Hideyoshi would cry his eyes out watching anime movies like a silent voice, grave of the fireflies, hotarubi no mori e, I want to eat your pancreas, your lie in april while you and Sasuke comforts him💗, he loves reading manga as well & his favourite is Kyou no Kira-Kun❤🥰😍😢. He will definitely ask Mitsuhide, "How the heck do you exactly look like *Tomoe* from Kamisama Kiss🤨?" Mitsuhide be like: Who👁👄👁? On the other hand, Mitsuhide would absolutely enjoy watching popular anime hits like Death note, Attack on Titan & Code Geass🕵️‍♂️.

Mitsuhide would always protect you and if any man tries to look at you, one stare from him🙂 and they will ran away fearing their lives 😱 while Hideyoshi would always help you out at home😍🤗, he would be also always nagging at you to take proper care of yourself🙍‍♂️, while you be like: Okie dokie, big brother😍🤗!

EXTRA UNDER THE CUT~

AFTER 3 MONTHS:

AZUCHI CASTLE:

"How did you gain weight, Nobunaga-sama? You ate a lot of konpeito in my absence, right?! Give me your jar, right now! No konpeito for 3 months!, Hideyoshi scolded Nobunaga😠.

"Noooo! Don't order me around, Hideyoshi😱", said Nobunaga as he tried to hold the jar safely in his arms but Hideyoshi successfully snatched it away from him.

"Send him in future again, MC, please! I just want to eat konpeito☹🍬!", Nobunaga pleaded. You shrugged🤷‍♀️.

"MILORD, NOOOOO🙄!", shouted Hideyoshi with a groan.

"HIDEYOSHI! TAKE CARE OF MITSUNARI FROM NOW ON! I CANNOT TOLERATE HIM ANYMORE😡💢!", shouted Ieyasu almost throwing a table at him while Mitsunari blinks innocently.

"IEYASU, NOOOOOO!", exclaimed Hideyoshi, horrified😱.

"I seriously missed loads of fun in future, isn't it MC🙁?", asked Masamune after listening to their time in the future. "Yes, obviously but I missed this fun as well🤣!", said MC laughing. Mitsuhide smirks standing besides her and nodded😏.

KASUGAYAMA CASTLE:

"I missed you so much bro😭😭😭😭😭!", cried Yukimura hugging Sasuke.

"I know right, I miss you too my BFF, I know you had a hard time controlling Shingen-sama & Kenshin-sama at the same time", said Sasuke comforting him🤗🤗.

"That man doesn't listen to me, always eating sweets & flirting around, GROSS🤢! That god of war gave me so much trouble, always attacking me out of nowhere!",complained Yukimura😭😠.

"That's rude, my boy😒! I am glad you came back Sasuke!", said Shingen with a smile. Sasuke high-five with him😂🙌.

"DIE!", said Kenshin unsheathing his sword⚔.

"Kenshin-sama, I just came after 3 months and you are trying to kill me now!", said Sasuke barely avoiding his strong blow.

"I AM KILLING YOU BECAUSE YOU DARED DISAPPEAR FROM ME!", said Kenshin as he puts his sword against Sasuke's neck.

"It's time to ker-vanish!", said Sasuke adjusting his glasses.

"Don't you dare run away from me!", said Kenshin and endless chasing begins....

I hope you all enjoyed reading it 😍❤! Thank you so much😘😘💗💗! Likes, reblogs, comments are appreaciated ❤😇😘.

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avenger-hawk · 3 years

Note

Is Itachi insecure about his ability to protect Sasuke? Does he think he is "good enough" for him? I know you said that Itachi is a very confident person but when he met Sasuke for the last time he was apologetic about his actions and everything. Do you think he was only apologising because it was the last time they were going to meet? Or do you think if Itachi continued to be alive he would really change and try not to do everything by himself?

Apologizing because he might have made a mistake and because maybe it would have been better to tell him the truth doesn’t mean being insecure, it means reconsidering his actions and realizing he could have done things wrong. Confident people do reconsider their actions too, and they admit their own mistakes, if they’re clear minded, and I’ll never stop repeating that Itachi is one of the most confident characters of the whole series and that lol Itachi and insecure in the same sentence sounds funny and ooc to me. He is not insecure about his ability to protect him, or he would have not acted in a way to control Sasuke’s whole life. Even entrusting him to N*ruto means controlling his life and choosing who he should associate with. It’s an extremely confident attitude.

Does he think he is good enough for Sasuke? canon Itachi is not sas*ita or shi*ta fanon Itachi where he is a socially inept genius who’s also not confident about himself because he was used as a tool so he doesn’t know how to see himself. He was used as a tool and he was a child soldier but he is totally aware about his self worth and he thinks he’s more clever and better than anyone else, because he is, being a prodigy. And he tells Sasuke omg, when he says that he became arrogant, before the police comes for him after Shisui’s suicide, but his stans conveniently forgot this, too busy fangirling about martyr meek itachi eating dangos and loving all children.

Yes, he was apologizing to Sasuke because it was the last time they met and he never had the chance to face his brother with him knowing the truth.

No, I don’t think Itachi would change if he was alive, because changing is hard and not even genius can do it easily. IF someone thinks they’re more intelligent, more knowledgeable than others, if they can actually see how things will turn out and plan and all that stuff Itachi did, no matter if things actually go as he foresees, they’ll still rely on their perceptions and ideas more than on other’s. So I am sure that he would try to change but he mostly wouldn’t succeed because it’s not a matter of, idk, not eating something anymore, which is just a matter of willpower, it would be a matter of changing his own mind and deepest thoughts, and it’s almost impossible. Especially when it comes to protecting Sasuke, his little brother, that he loves and for whom he feels a duty to act like a big brother, which means also deciding for him.

I have a whole itachi tag where everything related to him has been discussed. And a whole itachi/sasuke tag, same as above.

(if anyone thinks differently, don’t bother discussing with me, I’m not interested~)

#Anonymous #vivalarevolution #vivalarevolution: in his defense #vivalarevolution: a love that is more than love #if anyone like all those itachi or sas rp blogs with meek martyr itachi are against this I blocked them years ago and they shouldn't even #see my posts #so if you guys see some of those posting screenshots of my stuff or comments you gotta know that they shouldn't even see me

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excitedlysuffering · 4 years

Text

Neji Headcanons Collection

Requested from my wattpad account

For everyone who has requested, I’m slowly getting through them, but I’ve been busy and exhausted lately so it’s taking longer than I wanted it to, I’m sorry!

What He Looks For In An S/O~

• Neji is a pretty stoic, introverted guy, so he’d need someone who was more on the introverted side as well. However, he would love an S/O who could bring him out of his shell a little

• He definitely seems like someone who would prefer to date a fellow shinobi so he didn’t have to worry about them and since they most likely aren’t apart of the Hyuga clan, them being a ninja would help his clan be a little more approving

• He needs a PATIENT S/O

• Neji is new to relationships and someone who understands that and wouldn’t rush him would be ideal

• Although Naruto changed Neji for the best, he can still be a little insensitive sometimes, so a partner who has a thick skin is important

• Neji hates small talk with a passion, so he would look for someone who could hold intellectual conversations or who didn’t mind silence

• As an introvert, Neji is something of a homebody, but make no mistake; this boy is always training so you’d best be ready for rigorous training being a regular past time

• COMMUNICATION is key in a relationship with him

• As smart as Neji is, he does not have the aptitude or patience to deal with mixed signals, so just talk to him, please

Relationship With Neji Stuff~

• Neji isn’t clingy by any means, but you’re his girlfriend and he expects to see you often, and will easily become concerned or upset if his partner starts to seem distant

• Trust is the most important thing to him, if he’s dating you he clearly trusts you A LOT, and it will upset him if he notices you don’t trust him as much

• Your relationship will most likely be lowkey, in public at least, but that’s not because he’s ashamed, he’s just an incredibly private person

• Although Neji will enjoy sparring with you, he will also be up to other ideas for dates

• He loves taking walks with you, whether it’s after dark, before average people are awake, or in the middle of the day

• He’s the kind of person to have a certain amount of time set aside for you, whether you spend it out and about, or inside, he won’t interrupt that time unless it’s unavoidable

• He’s very good at picking up your moods and such things, but he doesn’t always know what to do about them, so he’ll help you in ways he knows how tea and training

• He has a great memory. Whether it’s certain dates, the timing of your week, or little things he’s noticed about you; you can trust he won’t easily forget it

• PDA embarrasses him, but he will allow hand-holding and the occasional cheek kiss

• He takes so much pride in his hair, he won’t allow you to touch it until way later in your relationship, but once he does… he’d rather die than admit, so sometimes he’ll wordless put his head in your lap and scowl until you take the hint

• Neji doesn’t just date around, he’s looking for something serious, so if he realizes that you’re not what he’s looking for in a wife he will immediately (and respectfully) end it

How To Lose/Annoy Him~

• Generally, Neji is a very forgiving person since he’s needed to be forgiven many times, but there are some things he won’t tolerate; cheating, slander, and genuine disrespect

• An S/O being rude to someone for no reason would turn him off

• He really can’t stand gossipers and busybodies so if you want to lose him, go off I guess

• Laziness is a major thing for him. He can understand being tired of at your limit, but he really can’t handle his S/O just lazing around for a long time

• Immaturity is a big no-no. Neji comes from a clan who only recognizes maturity and formalities so he would be uncomfortable with an overly childish S/O

• Selfishness or being chronically inconsiderate can and will make him angry

• He won’t even entertain someone with bad hygiene like he really doesn’t understand how someone could be okay with not being clean?

• Incessant complaining and whining will grate on his nerves like anything else

• Not respecting his boundaries, even if you don’t understand them, will have him running for the hills before you could even say ‘Byakugan’

Soft Neji Things~

• Neji isn’t one for constant affection, but once he realizes how much he enjoys the lotus position (you sit in his lap, facing him, legs around his waist) it’ll be a regular occurrence. Whether he’s reading or just savoring your presence you’d better get used to it

• He loves to read and sometimes if you ask beg he’ll read to you and he has the smoothest most ASMR voice ever??

• He actually enjoys shopping with you because he loves helping you choose (and he likes to spoil you)

• I strongly believe that Neji plays an instrument (piano, flute or violin) and sometimes he’ll play for you

• If he’s had a really bad nightmare or his family is stressing him out, don’t be surprised if he climbs in your bed at a random hour of the night

• Locked doors or windows have never stopped this boy, so you’d best expect him to just walk in like he owns the place

• Considerate to the max, he’s always thinking about you and doing small things for you

• You actually bring out a new side to him, he’s more playful and free around you

Random Neji Facts~

• Neji made it into a game without your knowledge to see how many times he can scare you by just waltzing into your house

• He’s incredibly competitive, so the second you mention being the best at something, even in jest, prepare to have to prove it in competition

• His love language is in between quality time and acts of service

• He doesn’t really expect gifts or anything, so if you really want to see him light up, get him a little ‘I’m thinking about you’ gift

• Neji likes to journal, he likes to write down little things about his day, or ideas or even quotes that he heard and liked

• He really enjoys domestic activities because he didn’t really think he’d be able to find anyone to do that with

• He loves receiving and writing letters, it’s intimate and it’s special and he’ll keep everyone you send him

• Neji has a love/hate relationship with his hair; he’s very proud of it, but he hates all the extra work that goes into taking care of it

• He always carries extra scrunchies/rubberbands on missions in case his hair gets loose

• He gets sunburns so easily, he’ll always have sunscreen during the hottest months

Little Things~

Favorite:

• Place to kiss- Your wrist pulse point; it’s intimate and it feels so natural for him, especially when he’s holding your hand

• Way to hug- He loves to place a hand on the back of your head and one on your back; he loves the feeling of being so close to you

• Things to do with you- He loves doing small things with you; reading, drinking tea, or cuddling

• Cuddle position- When he’s not busy, he loves to lay back on the couch with you on top

• Type of date- Lowkey ones, maybe a stroll through the park, or going to a nice little cafe/restaurant

This or That-

• He enjoys spring the most, he loves seeing all the new life after a long winter

• He’s a hardcore morning person, he lives to be productive and the day won’t wait for him to ‘get in the mood’

• He’s a good cook, but as I’ve mentioned, his love language is acts of service so you cooking for him means a lot to him every time

• Loves to read, either on his own or with you and his favorite genres are classics and nonfiction

Conflict Happenings~

• He has a very sharp tongue, but he really hates arguing with you and will try to avoid that for as long as possible

• However, if something needs to be addressed, he will not hesitate

• Would prefer to have a calm, rational, debate, so if either of you loses your cool, don’t be surprised if he just up and leaves

• However, if you say something that crosses the line… God/Pein/Jashin/Kami have mercy on you, this boy will go off

• After the fight is over, he’ll need space to calm down, but once he is, apologies and makeups are quick and sincere

• He refuses to fight over small insignificant things, he finds it beneath him

• He will listen, though, because if something is bothering you, that’s valid to him

• Don’t push him or test his limits, it’ll make him uneasy and feel like he can’t trust you, which can lead to your relationship self destructing

• After fights, whether big or small, he needs some good ol’ fashioned cuddles (you both do honestly)

• He’s a firm believer in not going to bed angry, so even if you’re still upset, he’ll do everything in his power to get rid of his own irritation

• It’s hard to hurt his feelings, but if you do he’s cut deeply, so watch what you say

Modern Neji~

• OMG this boy is one of those people that are always smartly dressed and no one can change my mind

• He’s not a teacher’s pet, per se, but he’s very polite and is always doing his best

• He’s one of those gym obsessed people, but very lowkey about it

• I could definitely see him into fencing and/or martial arts

• He’s the kind of person to only hang out with his closest friends because he feels most comfortable with them

• Most people would know he was from the esteemed Hyuga family, but no one would really process it because he’s not overly flashy and doesn’t really mention it

• He’s still pretty antisocial but after Naruto pretty much shoved his way into his life he started to open up

• Has so many fangirls and is always being asked on dates but is so confused, like why do these strangers always follow him? And who are these gifts from??

• I can really see a turf war between Neji’s fangirls and Sasuke’s fangirls over who’s better

• He most likely majors in business and finance to inherit the Hyuga company or at least have a fundamental role in it

• I think he’d like a roommate, especially if he lives off-campus

• I could see him living with someone like him so he’s not constantly overwhelmed by someone with Naruto’s personality

• Neji is always the model student and I could see him tutoring a few people (begrudgingly, of course)

• He’s always doing his best, but it might not seem like it? Neji is very good at retaining information, so the only time you’ll catch him really studying is if he knows he has trouble in that area

• His living space is meticulously clean and probably kinda bare

• He doesn’t really feel the need to decorate because it’s temporary, but if his roommate wants to he won’t care

• Neji is not a partier, but if his friends drag him to one he might stay for a while

• He’s such a lightweight and he might find himself drunk quicker than he thought possible

• Doesn’t have much of a hangover besides waking up disoriented and dizzy

• I love Neji honestly

Masterlist

#neji hyuga #neji #headcanon #naruto scenarios #naruto shippuden #collection #canon #modern #requested

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youcanreadit · 4 years

Text

AT LAST- NARUTO X READER (MODERN AU)

I hope you enjoy this UwU

"Btw Naruto did you hear? The new student will be joining our school today."

Naruto simply nodded and continued to stuff ramen into his mouth. Shikamaru shrugged and went back to finish his own meal. Of course, nothing can make him happier than his ramen.

Later that day, you accidentally bumped right into him on the way to your class. He was opening his mouth about to apologize profusely but the words died down on his lips. A surge of inexplicable emotion surged within him, rendering him speechless. You were the most beautiful woman he had ever seen, apart from his mother.

But he couldn't seem to recognize you. That's when it clicked. She is the new student that Shikamaru was talking about at lunch!

While he gazed at your face like an idiot with an obvious blush on his cheeks, you muttered a quick apology and hurried off, leaving him standing there staring at you, awed.

After the day he met you, he was more cheerful and giddy than he usually was. Ever since he lost his parents, he had felt like he lost a part of himself. It was as if you pulled him out of the darkness and brought him back to his old self.

He would always arrive at school earlier- astonishing all his friends and teachers- so that he could see you more.

He was always watching you when you were not looking. He liked that farway look in your eyes, the shyness that radiated from you, the warm smile playing on your lips.

It felt like adrenaline was injected directly into his veins when you both locked eyes. Your voice, your face, your smile were all his brain would dwell on.

At first, he repeatedly tried to deny his feelings for you.

"I am not in love with her! I like Sakura! I like Sakura!!"

And then he would see you enter the class, your cheeks tinted pink and offering him a smile as you pass by. "Man I am so in love with her.."

He finally decided to take Jiraiya's help. Which was of course a bad idea.

*after hearing the whole thing* "I understand.. It's the L word Naruto"

"W-what?"

"Lust"

Seeing him struggle with his emotions, Sasuke was the one who made him realize he was in love with you.

" Hey dobe, I think Y/n likes Kiba."

"WHATTTT!!!WHO TOLD YOU?"

"But you said you love Sakura, so why are you worried?"

"NO I DON'T!!I LOVE Y/N!!" *silence* (thanks Sasuke)

He would always notice if you didn't have the usual sparkle in your eyes. Whenever that happened, he made sure to put cute little notes in your locker and notebooks. He would hide somewhere and watch you read them, and smile like an idiot seeing your face light up at the cheesy lines he had written in his messy handwriting.

As for Valentine's day, he would spend hours in the kitchen making chocolate for you. Then along with Sasuke, he would arrive at school like an hour earlier to get rid of all the piles of gifts in your locker( he sure is competitive)

"Yeah! Mine would be the best chocolate she has ever tasted!!!" Sasuke simply face palms.

Little did he know that he had accidentally added salt instead of sugar. Yikes. Cooking ain't your thing Naruto

At first he was worried that you would go after Sasuke like all the other girls. It was a pleasant surprise when he found out you weren't a fan girl.*breathes out in relief*

Just in case, he decided to warn Sasuke. " you keep your bunch of fangirls, but remember, Y/n is OFF LIMITS" "whatever dobe"

He stopped at nothing to impress you. He pushed himself to get better at studies. Over time, his grades improved.

When he didn't understand a concept he would rush to you with his books. He was glad that you weren't impatient like the others, but explained to him in simple ways you could.

A total sweetheart he is, it was impossible to hate him. But he could be annoying at times too.

Like when he doesn't see you for too long, he would be a whining, blubbering mess.

"Sakura, I want to se-"

"FOR THE LOVE OF GOD NARUTO SHUT UPPPP! I HAVE BEEN READING THE SAME SENTENCE FOR LIKE 10 MINUTES!"

"BUT I HAVEN'T SEEN HER IN TWO DAYS!!

Sasuke: *changes seat*

Not to mention that he is really protective over you. If anybody tries to hurt you, well let's say that would be the end for that person. "Fight me!!"

Naruto was known to be the loud, hyperactive, sunshine of the school. But he immediately transforms into a timid puppy when you are near him.

Like Naruto would be talking and laughing with his friends and then he turns around and sees you -

*you lean closer to his face* I need to ask you ab-Naruto?

*Naruto has stopped functioning*

It wasn't hard for his friends to figure out the reason behind his strange behaviour lately.

They teased him about how oblivious you were to his feelings and if he didn't hurry up, someone would steal you from him.

But he didn't want to rush. Some people are worth waiting for. And of course he was worried if someone like you would go for a person like him. Please tell the poor guy otherwise.

Many boys came forward seeking to be your boyfriend, but you turned them down politely. That left Naruto with a bittersweet hope. It could or couldn't be him. But he won't give up on you like that. His life motto itself was- Never give up,no matter what!

In the brief occasions that you spoke to him would be the best part of his day. The whole world would blur and he could see only you, and hear your velvet like voice.

You were the only one who laughed at his stupid jokes. Oh how much he loved that smile you gave him, he would later replay it over and over in his head.

He would imagine taking you to his favourite restaurant, Ichiraku as a date. From his stories about you, Teuchi and Ayame couldn't wait to meet you.

When you touched him casually, his whole body would light up with a warmth that only you could ignite. That made him wonder how it would feel like to run his fingers through your silky hair, kiss your soft lips and then his whole face would turn as red as a tomato.

On his weekly visits to his parent's grave, he eagerly tells them about the beautiful girl that he recently met. He would tearfully tell them about finally meeting a girl as fascinating as his mother.

As the years passed his feelings never dulled. He fell for you more, your smile, your alluring eyes, your easy going personality and everything else about you.

However, he started to worry when the graduation was getting closer. He couldn't bear to lose you.

The thought caused him such pain that he lay awake for nights, and then finally deciding that it was the right time to let you know of his feelings.

After the graduation ceremony, Sasuke held a party at his house for the new graduates. As much as Naruto enjoyed spending time with his friends, his eyes kept darting across the room from time to time, in hopes of seeing you.

When he finally spotted you amidst the chaos and the tightly packed people,his heart skipped a beat. You looked so beautiful in that blue dress you wore, the coloured lights dancing across your skin adding to the effect.

With his eyes on you, he excused himself from his group of friends and all but hurried over to you, ignoring the laughter and cheers that erupted from behind him.

After saying that he needed to speak something important with you,he dragged you through the mass of people- keeping a firm grip on your wrist to prevent you from getting lost in the crowd- to the backyard.

He finally dropped your wrist when you both reached a secluded spot near a cluster of trees. The loud music and noises from the house was now a distant, faint hum to your ears.

He took a step back and stood facing you. It was hard to believe how tall he had become over the past few years. You had to tilt your head back to look at him in the eyes.

"I am sorry I had to drag you away so abruptly." He hoped that you wouldn't notice the faint quiver in his voice. He clenched and unclenched his hands.

You laughed quietly and waved off his queries " It's alright Naruto. I was planning to get away from all that noise anyway" you grinned at him, flashing your teeth. "In fact, you helped me."

Naruto tried his best to smile back hoping you wouldn't notice anything amiss. But when your smile slowly melted away from your lips,he understood that he didn't fool you.

He was looking at you warily, like he was anticipating something bad would happened. His cheeks were flushed, and his eyes were full of worry and hope and some intense emotion that you couldn't quite pinpoint.

"What's wrong Naruto?" You asked quietly. You raised a hand as if to touch his arm, but then let it drop. "You can tell me"

He ran his trembling fingers through his spiky blond hair-which looked almost silvery in the moonlight-and nervously glanced at you with his blue eyes.

While you stared back at him in confusion, he was having a mental argument with himself.

I can do this! She is waiting for you to say something Naruto!do it!!

"I..." He faltered. He looked at the ground and then up again, at you.

Here it goes..

" Are you dating Kiba?" There was brief pause.

You looked utterly baffled "HUH??!"

Damn what the hell is wrong with me?! He awkwardly shifted his weight from one leg to the other, looking bashful " I mean- you both hang out with each other a lot.."

You laughed " He is a good friend of mine, that's all"

"So you both-"

"Nope" You sounded amused, but not at all annoyed, despite the fact that he basically dragged you away to ask you such stupid questions.

"Okay" he said with fake cheerfulness, turning his back to you. "Thanks for the information, I better get back"

You caught his sleeve, making him go still. He turned to look at you, eyes still wide and cheeks tinted red, but they slowly melted away when he saw you gazing back at him almost sadly.

"Naruto" you said his name so softly that his stomach fluttered in response " that's not what you were meaning to say. We both know that."

He blinked.

You were right. What was he doing?!

It felt as if your voice had brought him back to his senses.

He remembered Jiraiya's advice from the morning. It felt as if the old man sensed what Naruto was planning to do. Instead of giving his usual pervy tips, he had said : "Letting her know of your feelings is the way to get to her heart. If you want to know if she returns your love, tell her."

Determination and hope flared in his eyes. He took a deep breath and stepped closer until you could feel the heat radiating from him. You swallowed and felt your cheeks getting warm.

He reached out and took both your hands gingerly in his and stared intently at you.

" Y/n I love you..I always have..."

He watched your eyes widen and lips part with surprise. He continued before you could say anything.

"I know you probably consider me to be foolish and naive, but I mean it when I say that I love you more than I could love myself. I wish I could explain to you how wonderful you are, how beautiful your eyes or how your voice gives me butterflies every single time. I love who I am with you. I.." He swallowed visibly, but his gaze on you never wavered. " I don't know how to explain love..But when I see you, I imagine the two of us cooking together, fighting together..being together. And I can't imagine anything that would make me happier. I would like to do these things with you. That is'' he smiled shyly, his cheeks turning pink " if you feel the same."

Your vision blurred as you felt tears brimming your eyes. "Naruto ..."

Naruto's smile vanished quickly. Did he upset you?! Oh crap.

He immediately let go of your hands and started to panic. He raked through his brain,thinking back over the words he had just used on you, trying desperately to find where he went wrong. He had never been in a position before where he had to comfort a crying girl. Once he had borrowed Sai's book on human behavior. If only he could remember..

"Y/n I am sorry-"

He stopped abrubtly when he felt your finger on his lips, signaling him to stop. You slowly withdrew them to place your hands on either side of his cheeks, thumb tracing the whisker like markings on his cheeks lightly. His eyes widened.

"Naruto..that was beautiful.." You said wonderingly, as if you had just woken up from a dream. "No one has ever said such lovely things to me." For a long moment you stared into his eyes,those lovely blue eyes that has always reminded you of the blue waves crashing against the shore- a feeling of peace and warmth and comfort. You could feel yourself getting lost in them. Naruto was still dazed. It was as if the roles were suddenly reversed. He was staring at you open mouthed while you smiled back at him adoringly.

"You are such an idiot Naruto" you teased, but the affection in your voice took the sting out of it "my idiot"

Your fingers were still stroking his cheeks, making it difficult for him to concentrate. He swallowed "W-what?"

A giggle escaped your lips "you cannot seriously think that I didn't notice your feelings all these years" your smile spoke of mischief now "and it was not one sided. Why did you wait for so long to come to me?"

Naruto was shell shocked. His heart was pounding so loudly that he thought that it would jump out. Is this a dream?

You finally stopped laughing and gazed at his blue orbs seriously. "Naruto" you said " I have struggled to make friends all throughout my life. When my parents decided to move to Konoha I was absolutely against it. Starting a new life.." You shook your head slowly " I didn't want that. But then you came along, my personal sun. With your bright smile and cheerful personality..who always tried to cheer me up. Who was always by my side..Slowly I felt myself taking a liking to this place.. And I felt myself falling for you.."

You heard his sharp intake of breath and smiled again "Naruto, I can't find the right words to explain how much you mean to me, but I would like to spend the rest of my life with you showing them. "

He felt tears sting the back of his eyes. He wanted to laugh, cry, curse himself for having waited for so long. He was almost mad with joy. But when he looked at you, he knew that you could see the emotion plainly written on his face. Because love required no language.

His lips curled up into a smile that lit up his whole face. You had seen him smile before, plenty of times, and yet this was different from the others. This smile was the most beautiful one you had ever seen, one that spoke of love and happiness and gratitude, a gesture that was too deep to be explained in words.

The uncertainty in his eyes were long gone, replaced with hope and love. He cupped your face in his large hands so gingerly that you shivered sightly.

"It feels like a dream" he said huskily, brushing a strand of hair from your face "being here with you like this."

"Then let me prove it tlo you that it's not"

You pulled him down by the collar of his shirt until your foreheads almost touched. Leaning in, you kissed both his cheeks, his eyelids, the tip of his nose, over and over again. Your other hand was pressed on his chest allowing you to feel his rapid heartbeat.

When your gaze finally fell on his lips, resting on them for a second, made Naruto impatient. He craved for your touch,the warmth that you provided. He had waited to do this for so long, he couldn't bear to waste any second longer.

So he leaned in closer and his lips finally met yours, moving gently against your own.

Warmth and desire exploded within him, and the world slowly disappeared from around the two of you. It was slow and soft and perfectly natural, like breathing and yet so intimate.

His calloused hands were gentle as they caressed your cheeks, his warm breath mingling with yours. His hands went to the nape of your neck and drew you even closer, thus deepening the kiss. Sparks flew within you, and you wrapped your hands around his shoulder in response , to eliminate the space between the two of you as much as possible.

He loved the way your lips fit with his like puzzle pieces, moving in perfect sync with his. His lips tasted like ramen, making you smile into the kiss.

When you both finally broke apart for air, he rested his forehead against yours, his warm breath hitting your cheeks. He was breathing hard like you, but his whole face was lit with joy, a smile so beautiful playing on his lips that you couldn't help but return it.

Your slender hands went around his waist, cheek resting against his sculpted chest, and listened to his hammering heart. Physically, he had changed a lot since the first time you met him. The childish roundness was long gone from his face. You could feel the solid hard muscle as you held him,the sharpness of his cheekbones,the callousness of his hands. And yet he was still the same. The same luminous blue eyes that sparkled even in the darkness,the same exuberant personality and that infectious smile.

For a while you both stood in each other's embrace, basked in the silvery moonlight with a wide grin plastered on both your faces.

"Thank you Naruto " and in those syllables he heard everything. He closed his eyes in content and hummed in response.

This was the love he'd waited for, hoped for. And now finally, he was home.

At last.

Mom, dad are you watching?

#naruto x reader #naruto uzumaki x reader #naruto headcanons #naruto x you #naruto scenarios #naruto uzumaki

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spicyhokage · 4 years

Text

Hcs for dating sasuke uchiha

Anonymous: Non massacre Hcs for dating Sasuke uchiha

Sorry if it’s too short for you. I can make it longer. Also I love itachi and he deserves the world UwU

(Sfw) 🖤

- you guys started dating back in your childhood days. UwU

- how you met is actually really funny.

- sasuke was running away from fangirls and he bumped into you.

- sasuke being the bitch he is said something like "get out of my way. brat."

- and then when he looked up and saw you he got all nervous.

- "I- I’m sorry I’m just in a hurry." He quickly apologized and left before his fangirls caught up.

- the next time you saw him was the same way. he bumped into you while running away from fangirls.

- but this time you actually helped him hide and he thanked you.

- and that’s how your friendship blossomed. Which made sakura and ino jealous asf

- you guys started to hang out after that.

- it was simple as walking each other home or walking to the academy together.

- you guys would talk about mostly anything. it was like your way of getting to know each other.

- even after you both graduated the academy you still would walk each other home.

- so on a rainy night when sasuke was walking you home you all of a sudden decided to kiss him.

- it was your first kiss. not sasuke’s lmao he kissed naruto we all know that

- you guys were like 12 at the time so it wasn’t the best. Yes it was sweet but it was only a peck.

- and then he kissed you back.

- and then you both confessed how you felt.

- but that’s how you guys started to date.

- it was unspoken of yet you both knew this meant you were together now.

- since the massacre didn’t happened sasuke introduced you to itachi and his parents at some point.

- his parents loved you and thought you would make a perfect wife for sasuke in the future.

- they didn’t say that of course.

- and itachi thought of you as a little sister.

- you got along with itachi the most tbh.

- but as I was saying. you are always welcome in their home.

- now let’s actually talk about your relationship. you and sasuke isn’t big on pda.

- maybe you guys hold hands and give little pecks on the check but that’s as far as it will go.

- sasuke likes to give you all the affection in private.

- the whole village likes to call you "that emo couple" but I mean... does it bother you? No. That’s what I thought.

- Naruto annoys you both a lot.

- "hey sasuke! Why don’t you ditch your date for today and come hang out with me, neji, kiba, bushy brow, shikamaru, and shino."

- "tch ignore that pathetic loser."

- how sweet he chooses you over the guys. UwU

- Sakura can be a bitch to you tho.

- "hey y/n! I heard you’re dating sasuke and I just thought I’ll let you know that HES MINE so back off!"

- and when you tell sasuke about it do you know what he said?

- "tch ignore that pathetic loser." Ha in your face forehead!

- would he cuddle with you? Yes.

- but as soon as you go to sleep he’ll roll on his back or turn to his own side.

- it’s not that he doesn’t like cuddling. Not at all. He just gets over heated at night so he’ll eventually let go of you if he feels like he’s baking in the room.

- it’s quite funny because you’ll be moving closer to him to get warm and he’ll be moving farther away to keep cool.

- he falls off the bed in his sleep more then you could ever count-

- now we all know emo man doesn’t show much emotion so if you make him crack a smile or laugh. Then you must have a great power because I’ve never seen this bitch smile

- this might come as a shock but duckbutt can actually be funny. Sometimes without trying.

- poor emo man sometimes doesn’t understand why you’re laughing at him and then he’ll get all serious like "what’s so funny?"

- he can get so triggered if you call him "emo man" or "duckbutt" omg 😂

- one time he actually chased you around with his chidori because you called him one of those names.

- after that you learned to never call him it. to his face

- he sometimes still calls you "brat" like the first time you met and while he thinks it annoys you. You actually think it’s cute lmao.

- he’s so whipped for you tho.

- he’ll call you through out his missions to let you know that he’s okay and to make sure you’re okay.

- he thinks it’s cute when you worry for him. (Smh)

- don’t let emo man fool you. he’s a sucker for date nights.

- he likes to take you to a new restaurant or a place you never tried every once a week.

- if not then he’ll help you cook something (I know shocking) or have a movie night instead.

- sometimes you’ll invite itachi to your 'date nights' because you know it pisses off sasuke and plus itachi can be a funny bitch to hang out with.

- you and itachi like to make fun of him alot.

- overall your relationship is wild asf. but I mean... it’s sasuke so what did you expect?

#sasuke uchiha x reader #sasuke uchiha #sasuke x reader #naruto #naruto x reader #hcs for dating sasuke #hcs #request #anonymous

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aknosom · 3 years

Text

more from the besties au:

i think i’m making shino/sasuke canon because like... it’s so cute now that i think about it??

it takes a really long while for sasuke to warm up to shino because he (rightfully) assumes that shino’s just another person who has a crush on him. mostly because shino hangs out with ino and ino was kind of the unofficial head of the sasuke fanclub back at the academy.

but shino is such a non-sequitur from his goal of avenging the clan that he honestly ends up kind of sidetracking sasuke. the rookie 9 will be doing big team training sessions and shino just walks up to sasuke like “here, i want you to have this. it’s a particularly fine apis cerana specimen i found while taking a stroll through the clan grounds. it reminded me of you. i hope you treat it well.” and sasuke is torn between offended because of the comparison or flattered because yes, it’s a really cute bee, and the aburame hold insects in high regard anyway.

he ends up kind of a mixture of both. and he definitely starts looking up how to take care of all the bugs shino’s been giving him. it’s super embarrassing for him but also like, at least shino doesn’t try to follow him home or swoon into his lap every time he sees him so? there’s that?

sasuke also uses shino as fangirl repellant and is unapologetic at first until he realizes it kind of hurts shino’s feelings and he just hasn’t realized because shino has no idea how to express emotions in a healthy way, he just communicates by passive aggressively giving sasuke bugs that bite or sting. eventually sasuke does realize though and is like “um. s.........sorry *gag* *cough*” and it’s a SHIT apology but he’s at least trying, so shino gives him some bulbs for flowers that butterflies are exceptionally attracted to and that’s that.

i don’t think they ever start dating, and shino definitely doesn’t really want to look deeper into this than “i have a little crush on sasuke, he’s cool” and sasuke is kind of caught in that “do i like him, do i don’t” area. they’re just two kids with maybe-mutual crushes than each other and neither of them feel a really pressing need to talk about it more or take it really seriously.

also ino plays wingman but ends up crashing 75% of their dates trying to steal sasuke for herself. they almost always turn out as just friendly outings. it’s... an unexpectedly good dynamic and kurenai, kakashi, and asuma are more than happy to foster inter-team bonding, ESPECIALLY if it keeps the most temperamental members of their respective teams busy with each other.

(shino absolutely is the one on team eight with the worst attitude. he just has a different way of showing it)

i haven’t figured out what to do with the konoha crush and all

#inoshino besties au #naruto #PLEASE I HAVE BRAINROT #i'm going to make this AU into a fic one day please have patience with me #long post

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lazylazyhowl · 4 years

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A work in progress— (sasusaku oneshot)

—because the Sharingan may let him copy a lot of things, but skills of the heart are not amongst them. [Sasuke. On, accepting himself. And her.]

AO3 Link

—

"Maybe next time."

His words are calculated.

Maybe, he's said, and given himself a way out. Given her a probability that, should the odds fall through later on, he can point at and absolve himself of responsibility. The same shit Itachi pulled when they were younger, really, except he won't apologize for it.

He sees the way her face lights up with hope and feels a mirroring force of optimism inside him that he has to clamp down to keep from bursting through the surface and muddying the reality of what he's doing.

His journey cannot involve her no matter what. He's not ready to be with her in any capacity of the words. Perhaps never. But he also doesn't want his last—but only for a while, he adamantly tells himself—memory of her to be a frown.

She's been burdened enough where he's involved. So he'll let her see him off with a smile, even if it's only self-gratification.

There is no guilt when he leaves her with his own smile and gratitude and goes on his way.

The day before his departure, she demanded a spar. He was bleary-eyed squinting at her, in her ninja gears, standing in the damp cold of early morning in front of his door, the flush of her cheeks of strange particular interest to him for a moment before he simply nodded.

She cited professional purposes ("I want to make sure you're in proper conditions for travel, Sasuke-kun.") even though he had already agreed. Even though her reason was crap and made no sense whatsoever.

He wondered if that was the only reason she thought he would accept, even if not believe; and if her request the only one she thought he was least likely to turn down.

He wondered if she was right.

Thanks to her he never had to find out. He only had to hurry and leave for the training ground with her, knowing Naruto would appear soon after, demanding the same of him. But not for the same reason. (Whatever that might have been.)

He helps people during his travel, but otherwise generally stays away from them. It's for both his and their good.

More for his.

People ask too many questions, and even the simplest ones dredge up far more than he's willing to deal with.

"Who are you?" they'd ask. "Just a shinobi," he'd answer.

But he's not just a shinobi. Avenger. Missing nin. Akatsuki. Terrorist. War criminal. The list goes on and he cannot in good conscience cross off any one of the items. Those personas, damned as they are, are still a part of him, and if he closes his eyes, he can recall them all in sickeningly vivid details.

"What's your name?" they'd ask. "Uchiha Sasuke," he'd tell them.

And then it's a coin toss on whether recognition and fear flit past their expressions. For the first few times, he's even considered using an alias, but that would have been such a meaningless thing to do in a journey of redemption.

And cowardly.

He's done with running away.

Or so he tells himself.

It's a calm, sunny day when he stops at a dango stand in a village near the border between Fire and Rain. The decorative flags caught his eyes, he supposes, but he still can't quite pinpoint what has possessed him to purchase a stick of dango for himself.

Itachi loved these (his chest tightens the way it does whenever he's reminded that he can only refer to his brother in past tense), and maybe that's it. But then what?

He isn't one to waste food (though it's debatable whether this is 'food') so he brings it to his mouth and slides the first ball of dango from the skewer.

And he flinches, not from the taste but from the smile that flashes through the front of his mind, innocent and genuine.

His throat runs dry. Too sweet. He makes it through the second ball of dango before leaving the rest behind on the table.

The night before his departure, Naruto finagled him into joining the rest of team 7 for ramen as his farewell party. There wasn't just team 7 at the party.

She was there, of course, with same the dark rings beneath her eyes that he'd noticed rather belatedly during their spar in the morning. Those hadn't kept her from giving him a few bruises and grazes, but he'd be a little less bothered by them if she hadn't also healed him up afterwards.

("But you don't like the hospital, Sasuke-kun.")

She was out like a candle before they even got to the main course.

Being enthusiastic neither for the people nor the ramen, he jumped at the opportunity and volunteered to take her home.

As he left the shop with her, Naruto called after him not to try anything funny and the table erupted into laughter and catcalls. He did not dignify any of that with a response.

She was completely malleable in his arms (Susanoo), her warm breaths seeping into the chest of his shirt, and he didn't dash through the air and over the roofs of civilian houses to get to the shinobi side of the residential district.

Abrupt movements could wake her, and she would fight to stay awake again.

Susanoo used enough chakra already and he needed to be conservative for tomorrow.

Reasoning ironed out, he took a leisure stroll to her apartment, occasionally glancing down to ensure her eyes remained peacefully closed.

He supposes he did attempt something funny that night. He called upon his Sharingan and committed to memory things that rightfully should be of no consequence to him.

He enjoys the long stretches of solitude in his travel, even if his voice will croak from disuse once he hits civilization again.

He likes forests best, especially after rain. The musk of earth and tree sap reminds him that clean air exists, and there is no curious gaze on his Rinnegan, no whispering except for the rivers and trees.

A heavy flapping of feathers reaches his ears, and he holds out his arm to receive the messenger falcon.

Letters from his team.

Naruto rambles, illegible at places, about everything and anything that has happened and then some more; and Kakashi includes some personal postscripts after a mission briefing.

He reads hers last, after feeding the bird and sending it away.

He's forgotten if he was the type to save the best or worst for last.

It's the first time she's written to him, and she's surprisingly succinct. Perhaps reserved. A greeting. Comment on the weather. Well-wishing. Her name. And that was all.

But against all logic, he felt her longing for him.

He isn't sure if it's the way the ink seems to tremble at certain strokes, or how the creases where the paper was folded adds a depth to the spaces she's left between the sentences, that seem to be filled with unspoken sentiments. Or if it's just his inflated ego.

He burns every letter he receives, as the information might get into the wrong hands, but can't bring himself to do the same for hers.

Fortunate, then, that she's written nothing that would be of interest to anyone.

(But him.)

The feeling of her eyes on him was calming, almost spiritual, like a brush of warm smoke at the back of his neck, downy feathers on his skin. He could have pretended sleep forever if she wasn't likely to figure him out the longer he kept up the charade.

It occurs to him one night, looking out the dirty window of an inn, that he has no idea who he is, if not war criminal, not terrorist or Akatsuki or missing nin; if not an avenger.

He's certainly no hero.

The more people he helps, the less he feels himself. There's a disconnect between what he's doing and what he knows himself to be. More often than not, he'd ask himself—what would Naruto do? What would Sakura do? What would Kakashi do? What would Itachi do—have done? (Damnitdamnitdamnit.)

And whatever he'd think they would do he'd do just that. It makes for surprisingly simple problem-solving.

But at his core he's not selfless like Itachi. Not faithful like Naruto. Not loyal like Kakashi. Not kind like Sakura.

At the end of the day, he still doesn't know what he would do.

He scarcely acknowledges it, but he keeps chasing after the back of these great people. He's running himself ragged trying to catch up, but he's so aggravatingly slow that it's a wonder he hasn't lost sight of them all.

He fears it's only a matter of time. And then he will once again be lost and directionless.

He's Uchiha Sasuke, and he no longer knows what that means.

"Oniichan, you suck." This statement is followed by chattering agreements of the other kids crowding around him on the dirt floor of the orphanage.

Children are vicious creatures, he's beginning to learn. He struggles to recall if he was ever this much trouble to Itachi as a kid. They are also incredibly unhygienic, and they incessantly tug at his clothes and hair, poke at the stub of his arm with such disregard that he almost misses the fangirl treatment from way back when in the village.

By the fifth time that they make him redo the voice for the rabbit-dog-cat-looking thing in the story, he's teeteringly close to setting Amaterasu-fire to the worn book in his lap.

His rescue comes in the form of the old matron appearing in the doorway announcing dinner. The children abandon him like one would a sinking ship.

"Thank you for playing with them, Uchiha-san."

He nods noncommittally as he receives his own bowl of food from one of the older kids. It was hardly his choice when the little ones ensnared him within their circle of skin and bones, threatening to cry if he didn't comply, so he thinks her gratitude is therefore unneeded.

None of these is needed. The feeding him, the lodging. He's only sticking around for at most a few more days to take care of the group of mountain bandits that has been harassing the orphanage. He would have been fine setting up camp nearby and not having to deal with the children growing attached (because he knows they will), but the matron insisted.

He's always had this inexplicable soft spot for the elderly, and he wonders if it's not in parts due to the fact that so few in his world get to be old and grey.

"So Little Piggy went to ask Mommy Pig."

The matron's lilting voice floats to his ear as he perches atop the roof of the orphanage, miles and miles of moonlit forest spanning out before him.

"'What is happiness, Mommy?'"

"'It's your tail, sweetie,' said Mommy Pig, and Little Piggy looked at her wiggling tail."

For the longest time, he's had an idea of what happiness should be.

It was the firmness of Itachi's back. His mother's warm meals, and his father's approving grunts. It was a compound brimming with powerful chakras, and memories of children play-training in the clan's private training grounds; and red tomatoes getting snuck out of his mother's garden.

"Little Piggy looked at her tail and began to chase it around in circles until she was out of breath. But no matter how hard she tried she couldn't catch it at all!"

Happiness was home, when home wasn't yet piles of bodies and dark corridors and slipping on cold blood.

He has no idea what happiness would look like now.

"'Mommy, how can I ever catch happiness?" asked Little Piggy."

"'Well, sweetie, your tail will always be there. Why don't you keep walking and let happiness follow you?'"

He closes his eyes and taps into the warm hum of collective chakra inside the orphanage, the tiny sparks flickering dimmer and dimmer as sleep slowly claims the children.

"And so Little Piggy listened to her mother. She walked forward without worry, for she knew her happiness is always wiggling right behind her. The end."

"Goodnight, my dears."

Matron closes the book and gets up from her squeaky chair to stand by the window right beneath where he is, likely to stare out into the forest.

"Goodnight, Uchiha-san."

If he didn't have his shinobi hearing he never would have caught the whispered words.

He's turned the bandits in to the authorities and said all goodbyes in the afternoon. She doesn't know he's there, and he's all the more puzzled.

He stands guard for the rest of the night and silently slips away from the orphanage's grounds at the break of dawn.

The weather in Tea is shifting into spring when he arrives at its border. After a few days of travelling in silence, he stumbles upon a cherry blossom tree that has flowered early, its cloud-like plumage colourful in a sea of solemn green; low-hanging branches swaying in invitation.

He tells himself it's as good a resting spot as any, and feels a decided sense of betrayal that the spilling flowers don't smell the way he thinks they should.

A letter arrives suddenly, informing him of her kidnapping, and he doesn't remember another time that he's been more desperate. She's not someone who'd just let herself be taken, and he fears the worst.

Her letters that he's saved in his pocket weigh like a ball of lead near his heart. He's running as if his life's at stakes. Perhaps it is. For the first time since getting the Rinnegan, he wishes he knew how to control it better.

Then, watching her take down her captors, he learns these:

She's grown so much, has come so far from that little girl she once was and no longer needs to be rescued, least of all by him.

He's the very reason why she's been taken in the first place, her weakness, just that kind of toxic existence to her.

After making sure she will be safe, he leaves and doesn't look back.

Just as she has been born into this life to love him, he must have been born with the sole purpose of bringing her pain.

He only needs all of two weeks in Konoha to have her crying before him again. The weather is grey as if matching the storm in his heart. They're standing in front of that bench where he's left her once upon a time, and he can't say he doesn't notice how history is dangerously close to repeating itself.

Every muscle in his body is coiled for battle, ready to cite the 'maybe' in his promise and gain the slightest semblance of equal moral grounding with her.

She's chewing on her lip in an attempt to bite back her emotions (probably more for his sake than hers. She needs to stop making things easy for him). The tears haven't spilt yet, but they are there, glazing over jewel-like green eyes.

"I thought this time surely—" She cuts herself off when her voice cracks and chews on her lips some more, breaking eye-contact. "What went wrong, Sasuke-kun?"

Before he could stop himself, he'd already slapped her hand away, shouting at her not to touch him.

She simply smiled, like a mother dealing with the tantrum of a child, and calmly finished changing his bandages while guilt still had him in its vice.

He went wrong, but what else was new? With her, he's both a madman and a smitten fool, angry and frustrated and thankful and disgusted and confused and elated and most of all scared. Terrified.

The way she hugs herself and seems to be on the brink of falling apart is nauseating to look at. He's getting worked up over what was supposed to be a simple goodbye. But that's the problem, isn't it? Nothing's ever simple when she's involved.

"You know that this is your home, right? You've never needed to earn any right to stay in it."

"…I know."

She raises a doubtful eyebrow. "Do you?"

It had taken him two years and countless good deeds to finally find the resolve to forgive himself and return to Konoha as someone he thought would be worthy of his friends.

Yet all it took was one smile from her to undo all the confidence that he'd built up like it was a house of cards. He realized immediately that no amount of atonement would ever redeem him enough to be worthy of her.

"Welcome home, Sasuke-kun."

And the worst part was that he wanted to stay regardless.

"Don't be annoying, Sakura." And he can see her visibly shrink back like she's been hit. He might as well have. His fist curls at his side, itching to do something just to stop her from further torturing her steadily swelling lip.

Instead of leaving him alone as he expects her to (and how senseless it is to keep expecting something that will never happen), she steps forward and grabs gingerly onto his mantle.

"Are you…unsatisfied in Konoha? With m—with us?"

He doesn't respond, and she seems to take his silence as agreement and starts to cry in true. Big, fat droplets roll down her cheeks as she matches his gaze. The raw hurt in her eyes startles him.

"What will make you happy, Sasuke-kun?" She tightens her grip, pulling him infinitesimally closer, choking on her words. "Please, please tell me how I can make you happy."

"That's not your problem." That's apparently also a wrong thing to say. She looks resigned now, and the sight somehow claws at him even more. The wind picks up suddenly, nearly drowning out her next words.

"Do you even want to be happy?"

He thinks for a length and honestly cannot say for certain he does. He can hardly picture what his happiness would be now that the old one is so drenched in blood, and misery is a lot harder to take away from a person.

It's ironic, then – or perhaps apt – that he would chase after something he doesn't really want. Because he's full of greed and self-gratification.

She once again takes his silence into her own narrative and lets out a long sigh. Meeting his gaze again, her eyes are already dry, red-rimmed, beseeching. Her voice is but a whisper.

"Is there something you want, Sasuke-kun? Anything?"

If she puts it that way, he wants a lot of things, as a greedy man should. Full control over the Rinnegan. Restore his clan. A tomato garden. Her. To name a few.

But he looks at her, her red eyes and tear-stained cheeks and bruised lip, and sees that she is all wrong compared to everything he's etched into his memory; and blurts out the single thing that floats up to the forefront of his mind right then.

"I want you to be happy."

It takes her a second to react to his words, her large eyes becoming impossibly larger as her mouth opens only to close again. He's not sure why she's so surprised. Of course, he wishes her happiness, even if that will be independent of his own.

A million emotions seem to flicker past her expression in a second, of which he only identifies disbelief, suspicion, melancholy and finally exasperation before she inexplicably bursts into a short fit of giggles. She lets go of his mantle and, before he can miss the anchoring hold, reaches for his tight fist and brings it up between her palms, squeezing.

"I can do that."

She's smiling that smile that unravels him to his core again, her eyes glittering. And he can blame his carnal desires for overriding all of his faculty, but he finds himself ensorceled.

"How about we work on it together, Sasuke-kun?"

His chest is strangely free of heaviness as he uncurls his fingers, almost in a daze, and encases her callused yet delicate ones.

"Hn."

A few days before his departure, he asks if she would come with him and she agrees easily, if not a little exasperatedly that he'd waited so long to ask, and he's mystified as to why he's stayed up all night worrying that she wouldn't.

Three months into their journey together, a newly formed part of him is startlingly assured that she will always have his back, and nothing—nothing can ever change that.

It takes a while longer, but the day finally comes that he figures it out.

He's Uchiha Sasuke, and he means everything to Uchiha Sakura.

—

Notes: I do not own the children story.

#sasusaku #uchiha sasuke #uchiha sakura #haruno sakura #blank period #pseudo character study #hurt/comfort #pining #denial of feelings #light angst #self-deprecation #Sakura just needs to give him a hug

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sakura--jin · 4 years

Text

seven (sasusaku)

summary: Memories. Seven ways they were perfect from the start, and their story finally complete. Fluff.

note: I first posted this story on FFN 7 years ago - before we went canon! You’d think that I’d be tired of this couple by now...but I always come back. :)

-.-.-.-.-

seven

by JIN1968

-.-.-.-.-

Seven, the perfect number.

i. 7 colors of the rainbow

At six, it was your smile that made me smile and get butterflies in my stomach.

Now, I'm not sure if you know this, but I used to watch you and the other boys in our little class of fifteen play ball together after class. Because I was just that bit more mature, people thought I was hard to approach, so no one really talked to me - this was before Ino - and so I always sat alone on the swingset, watching you and the others play. I never said anything because I felt that if I did, I'd disrupt some kind of perfect harmony that everyone at the park had, and just carried on with my role of swinging and staring.

One day, you threw a perfect toss towards the wall - the weekly basketball games had turned to wall ball - and tripped and fell over. I think I was first shocked that you would make this kind of mistake, and then realized that you must've been in a lot of pain. So I yelled for an adult to come while I tried to help you stand. (Meanwhile, most of the other girls had just screamed at the sight of a bit of blood on your knees and ran away.)

(...Just for the record.)

When you came back the next week for another game of wall ball, I saw you smile at me before making another perfect toss without falling over this time. This made me smile so much that I got off my swing and started jumping up and down, cheering you on.

You came over to me, and asked, real politely, "Would you like to play with us?"

To which I answered in the most exasperated way, "Yes!"

And so we would always play together: me, you, and the other boys too, until that older brother of yours would come and pick you up. You'd wave and smile at me, saying our goodbyes, and I'd do the same back, before resigning back to my seat on the swings.

This was before the massacre, of course. Itachi would soon not only take you away from me after every ball game we played, but he'd also take away the warmth of your heart and the naive smile that I fell in love with which won't ever come back.

ii. 7 cosmic stages

At eight, it was your fake smiles and silent suffering that made me cry in your place.

I'd heard about the massacre and what happened with your brother from my parents who had heard it from the neighbors - after all, it was the gossip of the village for the next three months.

I can imagine how painful and annoying it was for you to be suffering from the trauma, and the murmurs and exaggerated sympathy from the villagers. Which is why, looking back now, I must've been just that much more annoying when I gave you a basket of tomatoes as an out-of-the-blue present and then proceeded to tell you that I was sorry.

It made me cry though, when you stood up from your seat and told me I was pissing you off. And it made me break down, even more, when you went on and reprimanded me for saying "I'm sorry" so carelessly.

But I wasn't saying it like that, just tossing an apology absentmindedly.

I said it because I couldn't understand why you would keep smiling and not have a complete mental breakdown in front of the grown-ups who gave their conspicuously feigned sympathies.

And when you don't understand something, Sasuke - one can only try to sympathize with the other.

But after losing you, and having the village call my teammate a "despicable traitor," I've come to empathize with you.

Completely.

iii. 7 heavens

At twelve, it was your silent ways of showing that you still cared that made me smile and put my faith in you.

Obviously, you were never really the one who'd boldly act out a random act of kindness for another; that was more of Naruto's thing. Instead, you probably did all of it subconsciously.

Subconsciously, you'd correct my mistakes in training by watching me and then demonstrating. Subconsciously, you'd pay for all the ramen after our team seven monthly dine-outs. Subconsciously you'd save my life and Naruto's, subconsciously you actually did listen to what I wanted for Christmas.

(And don't pretend like you don't know what I'm talking about, Sasuke. If I didn't notice the little things, then I probably wouldn't have been valedictorian of our academy class. I also wouldn't be head of the hospital, for that matter.)

Because it's the little things that count and the little things that matter. You'd always make all your weapons and everything nice and neat, down to the very detail.

So of course, when it came to your "betray the Hidden Leaf" plan, I'm sure you had it all thought out, of course. And knowing you - you probably already knew that I was going to stop you.

iv. 7 hells

At twelve, it was your flat out rejection that made me realize the pain of losing another.

How you sent me through hell and back with just two words, I won't ever know. I'd spent nights thinking about what they'd meant.

"Thank you…" But no?

"Thank you…" Me too?

"Thank you..."

Sometimes I wish that you were capable of speaking more than two words in a sentence. But then that wouldn't be like the Sasuke I know, so I wouldn't actually like that.

I remember spending so many days, so many nights, after you left, just walking around Konoha, watching the stars, thinking of you. Wondering if you were suffering now, or if you ever wondered about me and Naruto.

But most of all, I wondered if you had changed. I wondered and feared if the sheer environment, people, and society of Sound, was capable of changing someone so caring and brave and smart as Sasuke Uchiha —

And of course, it did.

I knew the Sasuke I knew had died some day in Sound. And so I cried every night, pretending that he was still alive and that I was still waiting for him.

But when the pain became just too much to bear - I gave up waiting and entrusted my dreams to the future.

v. 7 pillars of wisdom

At seventeen, it was my poisoned kunai at my throat that made me realize that our little love that could had already crumbled and fell.

Just what had happened to you, Sasuke? What happened between the time we'd last met at the hideout? What happened between fighting Naruto and living in Sound? What happened between my confession and now?

Did my feelings really mean nothing to you anymore?

After we'd left the area, and for months to follow the incident, the same question would always surface in my mind:

Did you actually want to kill us? Were you actually capable and fully prepared to do so?

In the weeks before the incident, I immediately would've said no. No, I would've said confidently, Sasuke's still the Sasuke we know, and the Sasuke we know is someone who cares for his teammates and is cold, but never cruel, towards others. I'd also add softly that, that was the Sasuke I had fallen in love with so many years back.

But looking back now and thinking so long, I don't think so.

I know you were fully capable of killing us that day, Sasuke. I'll never forget the maniacal laughter you gave that day. And I'll never forget that blood-stained expression on your face either.

vi. 7 circuits of jericho

At nineteen, it was your return to our side in the war that made me realize that yes, we're allowed to forgive and forget.

Of course, it just had to be me who first noticed you had come to us with the other Hokages. And of course, I just had to be oh-so-surprised and utterly wonderstruck when we first made eye-contact.

I'm sure you thought I looked pretty stupid, just like that good old twelve-year-old fangirl Sakura. Well, no sir -

for your information, that smirk you gave (and Naruto's little squeaks of...awe) after I punched the hell out of those monsters later that day was fulfilling enough to temporarily forgive you for looking down on me. And anyway, you came back by yourself, out of the blue - which to the me in the midst of such a great and confusing war, meant all the more meaningful. For years Naruto and I had just tried and tried to get you to come back, and yet, how ironic that in the end, you came back on your own accord (complete with a pretty impossible dream to become Hokage, you psycho). And for the first time in just far too long, we all fought as the original Team 7 again - which seriously, just meant much more than the world to me.

(Also, forgive me for randomly slapping you after it all was over. I just had to.)

vii. 7 pipes of pan

At twenty-one, it was your awkward cliched proposal on one knee and bouquet of roses in hand that made me realize that yes, Sakura - love can always start again.

And Sasuke, after making you read such a long story of us, I suppose my answer to your confession is, has, and will always be, quite obvious in the most exasperated way - hell yes, you stupid psycho bastard.

Seven, the number of completion.

End.

-.-.-.-.-

Thank you so much for reading - have a great day!

#sasusaku #sasusaku fanfiction #ssfanfiction #sasusaku fanfic #my writing #oneshot #short fic #ss fanfic #fluff

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theshinobiway · 5 years

Note

Hello there! Let me just start by saying I love the way you write. As someone who wants to publish one day, I find your style beautiful and inspiring. Now for my request, could you maybe write a scenario where Neji would end up falling for someone who is like his fanboy/fangirl? Kinda like the Sakura to his Sasuke if that makes sense. So sorry if it doesn't. Whether or not you choose to acknowledge this request, I hope you have a lovely day/night and please keep writing my fellow Neji lover ♥️

Okay first off,

May or may not have gotten a little teary reading this. You have no idea how much hearing that actually inspires me to continue writing! I often look back at my own writing all the time and feel like it sounds pretentious or too try-hard-y but hearing that people actually find it beautiful is, well, incredibly touching and feels like awonderful accomplishment as a writer. I hope I can do your request justice!

On the prompt: This is actually a really sweet prompt that I’ve mused about before! I tried to keep the story as gender-neutral as possible since you specified both. I hope you don’t mind that I took some liberties with giving the reader some medical jutsu because it just flowed well with the story. Since my last two Neji prompts were a little heavy I tried to make this one fluffier, and I hope you enjoy it! Thank you for for contributing to the blog!

Also SORRY IT TOOK SO LONG, LIFE HAPPENED BUT HERE I AM AT LIKE 3AM LOCAL TIME FINISHING THIS, ENJOY A 13K FIC AS MY APOLOGY.

Request Scenario – Neji Falling for his Fanboy/Fangirl

Neji Hyuga - Who You Are

“He’s so cool!”

“Woah, that technique!”

“He’s obviously a genius.”

“That guy didn’t stand a chance.”

A boy with long, brown hair stood over another, sprawled on the ground. His fist was at his fallen opponent’s face, perfectly still. As he rose from his completed match, you were in awe at how fluid every movement from him was—even out of combat. Still, what was the most cool was how his face didn’t contort in some ridiculous jeer or stupid grin. No, he was completely assured of his victory from the beginning, and his expression was disciplined, collected.

You were taken from the start.

[…]

Neji never paid any mind to any of the girls and boys that fawned over him in your class, let alone you. In fact, he was rather snarky and aggressive when they overstepped his wide boundaries. But you made sure that you stood out in ways that mattered. You remembered his birthdays, his favorites, and made especially sure to mind his preferences when he was around you, intentionally never getting on his nerves, and especially never speaking on his behalf as the other ‘fans’ did.

It didn’t take a genius to see that he hated people speaking for him. You stayed silent, letting him speak, and when he asked you about your portion of a group activity, you gave him straightforward answers—but with a smile, of course. You didn’t expect special treatment from him, you merely knew that keeping your professionalism in a school atmosphere was the right thing to do.

You knew that he knew you liked him, you made it clear when he asked you outright one day and he sneered at your answer. He was harsh, slamming you with a rejection to the confession he had intentionally solicited from you. You weren’t perturbed. He was rude, but it was his way. You told him it was what it was, and that you hoped he wouldn’t treat you any differently because of the answer—after all, you had always liked him, but most importantly you had always acted as you meant to. Neji raised a brow, but the vaguely disgusted look didn’t leave his face. It hurt, a bit, knowing this was a clear rejection, but you weren’t dissuaded. You meant what you had said.

You still gave him gifts for the occasions, but not out of the blue—he hated that, too. When Valentine’s Day came around, you especially made sure to never make him anything sweet, knowing he hated sweets. When all of the other gifts ended up in the trash when he left the academy that day, you noticed you didn’t see yours. When his birthday came around, you made sure you had taken note of some concept you noticed him looking for in the library and bought him a book accordingly. You didn’t mind that he threw most of the things people got him away, but you quietly noted that you saw your book in his slightly ajar bag some days after, or that when he sat eating lunch alone in some place the others couldn’t get to, the (healthy) granola bars you had made him seemed to have made their way into his lunch.

But you didn’t say anything. Because you knew that when Neji liked something, it was clear enough. And when he didn’t, it was just as clear—the other ‘fans’ just didn’t want to accept that forcing their way on him wasn’t the way to treat him, let alone anyone. You never wanted to force Neji to be what he wasn’t.

And, while he would never have admitted it to your face as an academy student, it was what made you at least bearable to be around.

[…]

“Hyuga Neji, Rock Lee, Tenten.”

Your heart sank a bit knowing you wouldn’t be on the same team as the one you admired. Still, you couldn’t be bitter: it was a good choice for the composition. The other ‘fans’ of the Hyuga weren’t as forgiving.

“Seriously? Her of all the kunoichi?”

“Such an eyesore.”

“Watch her get a big head after this…”

“She had better not interfere.”

“Look at that grin, what a sk-“

“Shut up!”

You slammed your fists on the table, and immediately the room silenced. The instructor announcing the teams turned to look at you as well, caught off-guard. You knew you had everyone’s attention, which was exactly what you wanted. If there was one thing you couldn’t stand, it was that mob-mentality bullying you had grown so accustomed to with the other “fans” of Neji.

“Tenten was the best choice for his team! She’s the best weapons user that’s probably ever been through this academy, so she’s the perfect choice! You all know exactly how skilled she is, so shame on all of you for talking trash about her just because of your petty jealousy!!” You huffed in the direction of the dissenters, already knowing exactly whom had been speaking. They hadn’t changed from the same girls in all the years at the academy.

You knew of all the other fans after all, and they had gotten to know you quite well, which is why you were mildly surprised they had dared say anything around you. You never leveled with just how petty they could be. ‘And frankly,’ you thought, ‘being a bully had nothing to do with admiration!’

You turned your head to Tenten who was shocked but sent you a small smile of gratitude. You knew the girl had thick skin—another reason she was likely on his team—but words could hurt. You shot her a thumbs-up and brushed your shoulder at her, and Tenten gladly returned the gesture. ‘Just brush it off.’ Lowering yourself back to your seat. The presenter clearly had no idea what to do with the situation, so he cleared this throat tentatively before continuing.

“Al..right…Next team, Team Four: Hitomi Tanaka…”

You focused your eyes confidently ahead, ignoring most of the dirty looks that had been sent your way, but occasionally returning the glare if you saw one out of the corner of your eye. Most of them immediately turned their heads away so you could focus again.

The one glance you didn’t see was from the root of the problem in question, who raised his brow at you and narrowed his eyes. He studied you for a moment, scrutinizing your every move, looking for some self-serving purpose. When he couldn’t find any—and he had never been able to—the corner of his mouth twitched ever so slightly before he turned his gaze ahead once more, lost in his own thoughts.

[…]

“(Y/n), You will be accompanying team Guy on this mission as the squad’s default medic-nin, providing additional aid and support where necessary.”

“Understood!” You chirped happily, letting your enthusiasm glow in full view. Tenten gave you a high five, glad that their first mission was with a familiar face—and you both trusted each other.

It had been almost a year since your teams were assigned, and your abilities as a medic-nin had become more apparent with time. Because of this, you had been assigned to this mission to assist team Guy in their first solo venture without their sensei. It was a C-rank with a moderate chance for conflict, so you knew to be on your guard. But still, you had only seen Neji periodically since then—occasional joint training exercises with your own team, a mission or two with Tenten or Lee when Neji was occupied—you hadn’t had much time to get to talk to Neji, and you were excited at the chance to finally show him how much you had improved. Your admiration from him had hardly waned during the time of distance.

This was to be your first mission with him, and you knew you were going to give it everything you had. You realized still that you wanted his approval more than anything.

[…]

“I want to help!”

“Then stay out of the way and do your job.” Neji’s voice cut deep, though you brushed off the pain. There was no worse feeling than the scorn of someone you admired so much.

“Just because I’m here as a medic-nin doesn’t mean I’m useless in combat!” you protested, but the glare from Neji the second you finished told you well enough to keep your mouth shut. He wasn’t going to budge, and you knew that much. If anything, he found it disrespectful that you were going against the squad leader’s—his—judgment call.

“You’re right, you’re not useless.” Neji’s voice perked you up. He was giving a compliment..? Suddenly you felt excited. This was what you always wanted. But, seeing his face filled with mockery, your expression fell immediately.

“You’re a burden. And, after this mission, I’ll consider myself lucky in that I will not see you again.” He turned on his heel, making his way to the front and in position, and your stomach dropped lower than it had probably ever been. Hearing those words from him almost made you want to cry. Tenten, who had seen the exchange from her position, gave you a pitying look from where she was. She symbolically brushed her shoulder at you.

‘Y/N, just brush it off. He’s just like that.’

You shot her a half-hearted smile back and brushed your shoulder back in response, but his words were stuck replaying in your head. As you hid yourself, waiting for the encounter, you tried to gather as much courage as you could. This wasn’t the way you had always envisioned your first mission with your longtime crush. Maybe it was just you, but for some reason, Neji felt much colder than he had been even at the academy.

As you heard the battle begin, you readied your weapon just in case. Then, when you heard Lee cry out, obviously injured, something within you lit like a torch and you couldn’t stay still. You never hid behind the scenes for your own teammates, let alone here in hostile territory. You had been preparing a new technique for months and you finally were confident in its use. Especially now. You heard unfamiliar footsteps thud towards you, the weight was too heavy to be a comrade. As you readied your technique, you were prepared to do your job the right way, even if it meant proving Neji wrong. For once, there were bigger things at stake than impressing your crush.

[…]

“I told you to stay put, and you disobeyed!” Neji raised his voice, something he never did. But despite your current victory, his pride appeared to be speaking on his behalf.

“I realize you gave an order. But given that it was a stupid order, I elected to ignore it!” The words fell out of your mouth before you could stop yourself. This was so uncharacteristic of you; going against the object of your affections, your squad leader, but as you worked tirelessly to heal Lee, halfway exhausted from the combat and the chakra exertions from your healing palm, you couldn’t keep your mouth shut. The irritation of what you knew could have been avoided was still currently draining precious chakra.

“You’re a medic-nin with no combat ability-“

“No combat ability?! I don’t think you know what that means, considering that my interference is the reason your comrades still have their organs intact and the mission didn’t carry on for another exhausting few days as we tracked them down again! Medic-Nin doesn’t mean walking-first-aid kit, Neji, it means I have a specialized skill set! And if your team—”

“If they failed their duties, then it’s not on you to interfere, it’s on-“

“YOU!” You finally raised your voice, barking back at Neji, who stood over you. His head jerked back and you saw the anger flash in his eyes, but you ceased your healing immediately to stand up and stare at him, eye-to-eye the best you could. Tenten pulled your shoulders back, trying desperately to deescalate the situation.

“You’re the squad leader, and for all the time I’ve ever spent admiring you in my whole life, you were absolutely the worst one I’ve ever seen! And, I’m not surprised after seeing the way you’ve talked to them this whole mission—and now me—it’s no wonder your teamwork is garbage! Who wants to work under someone like you?! Your pride comes before their well-being! I have no confidence in you as a leader to prioritize us, your teammates, and its clear your teammates are just as intimidated by you as they are the enemy!” You huffed, your fists balled and your knuckles turning white. “And you think that their failures are on them? No, you want to be the squad leader, you assume the responsibility—your team’s failures fall on you!”

You saw Neji immediately move towards you and you felt the anger radiating off of him in waves. Tenten lurched forward in time to hold Neji back, separating the two of you, shouting at the both of you to calm down.

The person you admired from the beginning, that anger that you saw in his eyes, the momentary snap of killing intent…was that really the person you admired for so long?

The mission ended when you returned to the village, but Neji had given you the stern silent treatment ever since, and when you were dismissed from the assignment room, he had left without a word. You grimaced at the report he was likely to make about your insubordination, but Tenten gave you a knowing look.

“(Y/n), he isn’t the kind to be…that spiteful. If the mission was a success, he’ll want to focus on that. It was his first assignment as squad leader, after all…” You offered a small smile to Tenten and Lee, knowing they appreciated you sticking up for them.

“I hope so.. but in the future, you two… don’t let him talk to you like that anymore. He needs to learn to look after you all, too.”

“I think you’re right, (y/n). Don’t get me wrong, he’s actually better now still than he used to be, but…” Tenten looked off, exchanging looks with Lee, who nodded.

“Neji-san is improving day by day! My rival refuses to remain weak in any area, and so I know he’ll improve as a leader, too!” Lee gave you his trademark thumbs up and flash of teeth, and you giggled back.

“Well, even if I’m not on a team with you three from now on, I hope I’ll see you around!” Both nodded and you waved, bidding them goodbye on your way.

As you walked home, though, the weight of your words bore down on you. You had never been that harsh with anyone in your life, let alone Neji, and you know there was a better way to handle it. You’d make things right. Because, after all, nothing ever would stop you from doing the right thing—not even Neji.

[…]

“We need to talk.”

You weren’t the kind of person to let arguments set without resolution, so you had spent the better part of three weeks tracking him down and contemplating what to say. He was skilled at avoiding you—and you knew he was avoiding you, because that was just who he was—until you cornered him in a remote park.

“Leave.” His brows narrowed, teeth grit, and body tensed in agitation. He knew you had tried to find him, and he also knew how to avoid fans—he had been doing it for the better part of his life, anyhow. The only reason you caught up was because he had become sick of putting forth the effort to avoid you.

“You’re going to attack me? Since when were you ever a slave to any of your emotions, let alone anger?” You huffed, standing your ground. “You’re better than this. And I know you are. That’s why I’ve always admired you.”

As you always seemed to, you caught him off-guard with your blunt confessions. Still, his steely-eyed approach didn’t waver. He let a small ‘hmph,’ obviously deeming you a non-threat, and returned to his cool demeanor.

“I’m not going to ask for forgiveness from you.”

“You don’t need to, I’ve forgiven you already whether you’re asking or not.” You crossed your arms, playfully returning his snark. Neji, after so many years, had weathered at least a little to your impenetrable wall of positivity.

“Oh? You’ve graciously forgiven me, I see?” Neji was sarcastic, but you knew him too well to pay it any mind.

“Yup, and you don’t have a choice about that. We all make bad calls, and I actually owe you an apology too.” Your demeanor softened as you finished until you paused meaningfully for a moment and sighed, letting your shoulders drop. You took a breath before making eye contact, letting him know you were serious. “You were under a lot of pressure for your first leadership mission, and I shouldn’t have snapped at you. I could have stated my concerns better. I’m not happy about the way I handled myself. Insubordination isn’t something to be proud of, either… I’m sorry, Neji.”

Neji, despite you being the one apologizing, looked like you had punched him in the gut. You waved your hands at him, defensively.

“Hey hey, you know me. I’m not trying to be the better person here. You should know I say what I mean. I don’t care if you apologize officially or not, it’s water under the bridge now. I just want to make things right, whether we see each other in the future or not...though, hopefully...yes?”

Neji shook his head, same expression on his face. There was a momentary silence between the two of you until he broke it.

“When I tell you to stay put, I mean it. I don’t take chances.” Neji looked off, monotone as always, hands on his hips. You quirked your brow at him, wondering if he had missed the point of all your protests on that mission. Until it hit you why he had commanded you to stay safe, and you blushed in realization.

When Neji turned back to you, he caught your face a deep scarlet and was startled. He waved you off, grumbling about you taking it the wrong way. Still, you couldn’t help but giggle and followed him, hoping that this particular good mood would make him more agreeable to a proposal for lunch.

It didn’t, but you were glad enough that you had made up with him. He coldly dismissed your offer and made his way off. Even then, he was sweet too… in his own way. He didn’t like you, but it seemed he wanted to assure your well-being, even if he could still cut you off at any time.

[…]

When both Neji’s team and yours went through the Chunin exams a year and a half after you graduated, you were worried sick about…his predicament. Knowing what you did about the participants involved, you prayed he wouldn’t come to meet her during the exam.

Your team had decided unanimously to go through, but the second exam was wreaking havoc on you. You lost your own scroll within the first day to a surprise assault, and now you had the task of finding not just one, but two scrolls. It seemed unlikely, until you noticed in the distance a team arguing over whether or not to open theirs preemptively. You caught the jump on them in their disoriented state right as they tried and your team’s well-timed ambush earned you an earth scroll and left them unaware. Not that you really had taken anything they wouldn’t have lost, anyway—there was a disqualification for breaking the rules of the exam.

Still, you were worried you wouldn’t find the other scroll in time, and you definitely didn’t want to run into the team that stole yours again—you had barely escaped with your lives. By a stroke of luck, you ran into Neji’s team during the exam.

They looked at you cautiously, but Neji was aware immediately that both teams held the same scroll, making a fight between the two of you pointless. That, and with Lee in a pitiful shape after his encounter with the sound-nin, your impulsive act of healing him—and disregarding conversation until you finished, you had a one-track mind on the matter—softened the situation. With Lee feeling better, you both drew up a temporary ally-ship. As a repayment for your medical services, Neji scouted two teams in the vicinity with heaven scrolls and you both planned out your assault. It was pointless to have two Konoha teams fight when allyship was far more lucrative.

When you both finally made it to the tower with a day and a half to spare, you immediately learned that there were no on-duty medic-nin permitted to assist the passing participants. After having a few choice words with authority, you resolved to take care of both teams, using your chakra reserves carefully over the next few days to revitalize both your team—and Neji’s.

When you finally got to Neji, he wasn’t as torn up as some of the team, though he did sustain a few nasty bruises from the second assault. The problem was that they were under his jacket…and his mesh armor.

“I-I need you to…” Gods, you couldn’t even say it. It was also fruitless to hold back your blush, but Neji narrowed his eyes at you.

“Work quickly, before the other teams catch on that we’re working together…and mind your manners.” He quickly unzipped the jacket and tugged off the armor as you stammered over something about ‘I just need to see the bruises to know what I’m dealing with’ and ‘what kind of person do you think I am?!’

Now in full view of him, you couldn’t even bear to look. You took glances to see where the injuries were localized, but immediately averted your eyes when you began. Neji kept his gaze locked on you the whole time, and you weren’t sure if his stare was really meant as threatening as it came across. It was hard to process anything besides your chakra control. You’d never felt flustered about this sort of thing before, but he always made you notice these sorts of things, and right now it was simply embarrassing.

“Are you done?” His voice brought your attention back to reality. Neji glanced down, and you followed his line of sight. Your hand was solidly on his bicep, your healing quite finished. In your lost thoughts, you didn’t recognize you had stopped and your hand rested there…of its own accord, obviously.

In all your training sessions for tactical withdrawal, you weren’t sure any of those recorded times came close to how fast you tore out of the room in that instant, yelping and stuttering a quick apology in your stupor towards the door. Neji, on the other hand, sat motionless on the bed, hands pulled into his lap, face solidified into a stern expression, and eyes locked on the door that slammed shut behind you as he waited for the slight tinge of color that had crept on his face to secede.

[…]

The preliminary rounds were difficult, but you and another of your teammates managed to pull through the first round by the skin of your teeth. Your third wasn’t as lucky, and you made note to see him later, his injuries not so bad because he had surrendered in time. The rookie teams quickly made note of how you and team Guy knew each other, and at that point, the atmosphere between the leaf-nin was friendly enough to socialize comfortably. Lee was forming friendly, competitive bonds as well. It made sense, of course: even if this was an exam, you all fought for the same village.

When Tenten’s round came, you were also shocked at how the sand-nin kunoichi quickly dealt with the girl you were barely on-par with. This filled you with a sense of dread for the upcoming fights. Still, you were concerned over your best friend, and took a small break to see her in the wing. When you came back, your eyes locked on the screen and your heart stopped.

During the preliminary matches, your worst fears came true—Neji was to face his cousin from the main branch. And during, all the progress you had seen in him after the last year of working on his anger fell apart in those thirty minutes. You felt nothing but pity and sorrow for the girl trying her best, and you knew firsthand how words from Neji cut deep. She was just like you—she admired him, honestly, and you could feel the sense of loss from what once was a close sibling-like relationship.

When Neji moved to kill her in the final act, you felt your legs jolt forward of their own accord before the Jounin were leagues ahead of you. When the orange-clad kid made an oath to get back at Neji, you were too lost in thought to process what was going on. You only hoped that if this kid would beat Neji—and you seriously doubted he would, because it was Neji—that some positive change would finally stick. Lee diplomatically handled the situation, telling the two to save it for the final matches, and you whispered words of praise for him when he returned to the balcony.

Neji, on the other hand, caught immediately the look of abject disappointment on your face. Disappointment in him. But in true and prideful Neji fashion, he scoffed at you, deciding to ignore you for the rest of the rounds. You couldn’t read his eyes, but that was his intention after all.

When Lee fell to the boy from the Sand, you experienced your second round of heartbreak that day. Once the matches concluded, you all but rushed to see him. He was being prepared for transport along with the other injured attendees to be transported out of the forest, but the medic-nin relayed his condition to you after you protested that you were his friend and a fellow medic-nin in training.

It wasn’t good.

You leaned against the wall in the hallway, look of horror plastered over your face. You felt the tears begin to sting your eyes as the words from the medic in front of you passed over you and he left, the hall suddenly eerily quiet. You didn’t notice that someone had walked up to you and was speaking to you until a hand rose and snapped in front of your face.

When you glanced over at Neji, jolted, his face impassive at your tear-stained cheeks.

“He’s not well, I take it?” The bite that was in Neji’s expression earlier was gone, but his voice held the same amount of emotion as always—none, perhaps with a hint of vague impatience.

You managed to shake your head, tears threatening to spring anew. You hated having to be the one to break it to him, but today had been emotionally taxing. Your sorrow at Neji’s match was forgotten now, your attention focused on Lee.

“How bad?” He moved forward, but you caught his eye twitched as your expression worsened.

“He…his legs…they think they’re…” You couldn’t finish, your voice cracked, and you shook your head furiously, unable to say the words, the tears streaming down your face as you clutched your hands your face. You tried to regain your breath, to force the words out, but it wouldn’t come. You knew it was unprofessional, un-shinobi of you. But you couldn’t stop.

Neji also didn’t ask you to.

You heard a sigh and a warm arm came around you, pulling you into a firm embrace. You almost gasped at the sudden contact, but your face was buried in his jacket. The part of you that always admired him would have been squealing with joy, but that wasn’t who you were right now. You clutched onto him for dear life, letting yourself cry and shake, Neji standing completely still to allow you to let it out.

“I’m going to make sure that kid from the sand knows…he’s made a terrible mistake.”

That was enough for you to know. Neji was still the person you always admired. A year ago, he would never have moved on behalf of Lee. Now, Neji had his own resolve, one that didn’t take kindly to those who assaulted his precious teammates. You hadn’t seen the encounter in the forest with the sound-nin, but somehow you knew that had to have been similar to this fury…no, this was a deeper anger, one you felt as his fingertips unconsciously dug into you as he spoke. But Neji would need to be calculated for this match, because that Sand-nin, Gaara, had no qualms about killing. At all.

“Please.. be careful… that guy is…” You buried your face deeper into his jacket, unable to help the outpouring of your emotions, trying to pull yourself together. “Please, please be safe, Neji.”

“…I promise.”

[…]

Neji had kept you busy during the month-long training period between the previous exams and the final. While you had your own match to prepare for, you both decided it would be best to train together along with Tenten. In addition, your opponent had been the particularly deadly nin that would have killed your teammate in the preliminaries had he not surrendered. This would be a difficult match.

You weren’t completely sure, but you picked up a sense of urgency that Neji directed towards you during your training sessions. Neji was much stricter and harsher with his critique during your spars than previous session pre-exam, and he made sure to leave little room for error. You secretly hoped you wouldn’t need to face him in the final rounds, as both of you could already tell the inevitable outcome. If it weren’t for Tenten’s positive attitude, you might have been overwhelmed with how serious Neji was. He wasn’t going easy on either of you.

“How long were you neglecting your physical spars? You’re not going to heal the enemy to death. Get up.”

After what seemed like the umpteenth time you had landed in the ground, your shoulders were crying out from the pain. Nevertheless, you groaned as you rolled over, drawing your elbows up under you in an attempt to push yourself up. One of your arms gave out midway and you tumbled back down, the side of your face hitting the ground as you winced.

“Is that all you’ve got?

“Ugh, I’m trying.”

“These exams have the fatality ban lifted, simply ‘trying’ is the last step before dying.”

You cringed at the thought, admittingly not knowing what the outcome could be at this point either. Your opponent was able to secrete poison from his body in both a liquid-like substance as well as blowing poisonous gas from his mouth and nose. Close combat was pout of the question. Still, it didn’t hurt to be prepared.

“Neji, lighten up. (Y/N)’s team isn’t a taijutsu specialty like ours. They aren’t as focused on-“

“It doesn’t matter what their specialty is, Tenten.” Neji snapped back, startling the kunoichi. Despite being used to it, Neji’s calloused nature was never pleasant to experience.

“If you’re furious about something then we’re not the people to take it out on, Neji.” You snapped back on her behalf, finally regaining your balance on your feet.

“What did you say?”

“You’re taking something out on us! You never told us what happened when you returned to the compound aft-“

“Silence.” Neji’s voice had a dangerous uptick and something flashed behind his eyes that you really didn’t like. “My affairs are none of your concern, and….” His voice dropped multiple levels. “…clearly nothing did, or else you know I would not be standing here.” His voice dripped with acid, burning a painful hole in the conversation by the end. Both you and Tenten stood there awkwardly for a moment, exchanging glances.

“(Y/N) is…we’re just concerned, Neji.” Tenten covered for you, knowing where your heart was.

“If we’re going to sit here and talk about my feelings instead of train, then I’m off to be productive. Goodbye.” Neji scoffed, turning on his heel and made for a new training ground.

“Why do you walk away from everyone who cares about you?!” You blurted out suddenly, already regretting the decision, but also somehow possessed by the question that had been lingering in you for a long time.

Normally, Neji never responded to taunts. And, he never needed to, he was far too self-assured. But this time, Neji’s feet halted immediately and his head snapped back at you in anger.

“Tenten, I need a moment.” You were still calm, giving Tenten a reassuring look before she acquiesced and left promptly, leaving you both alone for a time.

“Are you intent on getting on the very last nerve I possess? You clearly overestimate your importance, here. You’re a vapid and lovesick fan that had the sheer luck of being in proximity to me, but your healing was useful enough to keep you around. I was considerate enough to spar with you in exchange for your aid abilities, and now that I’ve shown a base amount of concern you decide to throw it back in my face?” Neji was immediately on the offensive, wasting no time once Tenten was out of sight. And oh, his words cut deep. The feeling of shame covered your face, knowing that was all he thought of you. He was the person you admired the most, and now he said everything he knew could hurt you.

“Of course I’m grateful, Neji, but it doesn’t mean I deserve to be treated like this. Tenten doesn’t deserve it, either. And I…I never asked you to care about me, so let’s get that straight!” You balled your fists and dared make eye contact with him, only a few feet away from you. “I’ve always admired you, I’ve always watched you succeed, and for good reason! You are a genius, and you know it! But even if I did, I’ve never asked anything of you that you shouldn’t have already done!”

Neji’s face gawked at you for a moment before blinking, thoroughly insulted. He must have imagined you were chastising him.

“No, you know you would never have gotten anything out of training with me, but yet you still…” You bit your lip. “You still asked me to come. Even if it’s just as shallow as not wanting me to die, that’s enough for me. I don’t want anything from you. I don’t! Have I ever asked? Have I ever demanded your attention, your time, or your concern?! I’m never going to do that, Neji! That’s not how I want to treat anyone, let alone someone I admire!” You breathed, still in disbelief that you were letting loose like this for the second time in your life. “You’ve always improved so far ahead of everyone, and now you care about your teammates and it shows, because I completely admire you as a leader, too. But this… it’s not painful because of the insults. I…we both could sit here and take it all day. Honestly, I think we’re just… too used to it by now.” You averted your eyes, Neji’s face deadlocked on yours, remaining unresponsive and silent, his brows narrowing.

“It hurts only because I’m seeing you suffer in silence. And it matters to me that you know you have people that want to look out for you…the same way you look out for all of us. I’m…we’re all not going to force you to open up, we just want to know how we can be there for you.” As you finished you noticed your voice growing weaker, the deadpan and harsh stare from Neji intimidating you. For a few moments, he was silent. He didn’t blink. And then, suddenly, he spoke.

“Get out of my sight.”

You were shocked, the command so blunt as if he didn’t respond to anything you said. He wasn’t moving, but he expected you to. When you didn’t budge, still too overwhelmed in shock by his words, he stepped forward.

“Now.”

“No.” You said it, but you don’t know how in the world you managed, because when you did, Neji’s eyes widened in anger—the same sort of anger you saw during the exams, and you threw your hands up in front of you as though he were to attack. He didn’t move, but you saw his eyes flicker to your arms, and then you.

“I…you’re terrifying me right now, Neji…” Your voice shook, every fiber of your body telling you to get as far away from him as you could. Slowly, he advanced, posture straight, until he was uncomfortably close. You were deathly still, poised defensive.

He suddenly leaned forward, and your foot flew out behind you, moving you further away. He did so once more, and you followed suit. Until you couldn’t move anymore, your back pressed against a tree, and his imposing figure with the darkest white eyes staring down at you, lips curled in a snarl. His looming figure blocked out the sunlight, casting a shadow over you.

“Where’s that bravery you had a few minutes ago, (y/n)?” His voice was soft, but no less menacing. In fact, the quiet inflection in his voice only heightened your sense of danger. You swallowed in reply, never taking your terrified eyes off of him. You felt hot, though not in the romantic sense you always anticipated when you daydreamed of him being as close as this. This was far more sinister.

“...It went with the person I admired.”

Mild shock painted his face, and suddenly he paused, the malice in his expression ebbing from his face.

“...You’ve been caught in a childish daydream for far too long.” He gave a subtle shake of his head, never letting his eyes leave you. “I’m not going to train with a child. You’re on your own after today. Whatever Tenten does after training with me is up to her.” He rose from his position, face eerily calm. He didn’t move away. Suddenly, you realized he wasn’t going to. Wanting nothing more than to be out of that situation, you slowly inched to the side and gave him a wide berth, hurrying out of the training area, leaving him as a lonesome figure in the field.

[…]

You didn’t get a chance to speak with him until the exams, but you felt a sort of embarrassment as you stood near him in the lineup. The crowd had you feeling nervous, and the glare from your soon-to-be opponent was only succeeding in that you had already been feeling vulnerable even before you arrived. You had prepared something sufficient for him, but it was the following matches that had you concerned. Perhaps you would surrender when you could, after all.

You were the second match following Neji and the one orange jumpsuit kid from the previous exam. It was likely to be a quick match, knowing the kid was a two-rate failure that would perform to expectations.

Oh, you were wrong.

The match played out before your eyes in an unbelievable showdown. When Neji revealed his curse seal, you winced and clutched your hand over your heart from the combatant’s box. You had never seen it before but had heard of it in passing from Tenten and Lee. Hearing his past had all but wrenched your heart out, you never knew he suffered so much. This was the pain he had carried all his life. the reminder of how you both had last spoken, the awe you always had of his impassible skill, and the fantastic fight put up by the boy called Naruto.

All in the last few minutes of the match, when Neji had nearly been victorious…it all changed then. Naruto pulled a last-minute clever victory in an uproar, and Neji lay motionless on the ground. You found Tenten in the crowd who exchanged looks of shock with you, and she moved from her seat to go down to the medical wing. You couldn’t bear to do it yourself, though, and merely gave the Naruto a sideways glance as he returned to the competitor’s box.

Your own match was next.

You had concern racing through your mind when you led yourself down to the field. You weren’t sure what the crowd thought of you—perhaps you were another filler match to them until their long-awaited Uchiha/Sand-nin match.

“You sure you ain’t giving up right now? If not I’m sure they offer shared rooms so you can see your friend…”

“Match Two, Begin.”

When your eyes rose to meet him, the world didn’t matter. All that was ahead of you was a certain payback to one ninja that had bloodied your teammate.

“Yeah, now send my regards to both of yours.”

[…]

The ambush came on suddenly from the stands, and your remaining teammate managed to awaken you just in time to see Neji and Tenten rush out of the area behind Hyuga elders, the sand and sound-nin in full assault upon the remaining jounin stationed in the arena. Knowing your techniques, though still in their novice stage, could mean the difference between life and death for those in the surrounding area, you took a stealthy approach, utilizing your scalpel technique from hidden corners of the arena.

Your match had ended swiftly, the endurance training you had begun with Neji and continued with Tenten allowed you to counter your opponent’s close-range poison abilities. You were almost always out of range from his clouds of gas until you had lured him in close enough for a finishing blow. He began to laugh until you whipped around in the last moment and shoved a syringe into his artery.

You had prepared an antidote to his poison—one you administered directly to him, and as the antidote flooded his veins his poisonous gases were neutralized. It was only a matter of time before his actual sub-par Taijutsu was overpowered by your swift movements and precise attacks with the Chakra Scalpel technique. You shoved yourself to the ground to lash out at his Achilles tendon, and rolled to avoid his weight as it came crashing down. Standing over his hunched form with your hand primed with another scalpel just out of reach of the vertebrae on his neck, the match was officially over.

Now, the stray ninja that came after you shared the same fate. You worked to disable their mobility when you saw an opening, leaving the more experienced Jounin to finish them off.

As soon as it had happened, it seemed that the ambush was over. Only a few hours had passed, but those that were caught surrendered, those that were against retreated. Knowing you still had one teammate in your sight with minimal injury and another in the rehab wing of the hospital—he had inhaled far too much poison had needed recurring checkups on his lungs—your thought wandered to Neji and Tenten, hoping they were safe. You didn’t have much time to think as soon you were ambushed by multiple shinobi needing your assistance.

Even as a novice in the coming months, you were stretched thin by Konoha Crush’s aftermath. There were days without a break, and you dreamed of your bed often. On a few occasions, you had passed out from chakra exhaustion, only to stubbornly pick yourself up after a short period to gather what you could and continue. No one stopped you, knowing that your skillset was too valuable to protest.

Tenten came by now and then, and you sighed in relief when she told you that Neji was safe and sound—in fact, things had been apparently better since the attack. She told you of their meeting in the medical wing and you smiled warmly, happy she had been there for him.

She also mentioned that she heard of your match and had shared the story with Neji, and you burned red, nudging her in the side for putting you on the spot like that. She laughed in their characteristic way and let on that in her limited abilities to read of the Hyuga, she had never seen a look so close to ‘impressed’ cross his face as when he heard about it. Tenten gazed at you for a moment, acknowledging that even if he hadn’t come to see you since the exams, it was likely because he was embarrassed by his actions before. Not that he would admit it ever because it was Neji, but she advised that you should see him sometime.

Though your schedule was full enough that in the coming months that any hope you had of seeing your longtime crush and admired one fell to the wayside. In the distance, though, one day in the marketplace as you tiredly picked out ingredients for dinner, pearl-colored eyes caught sight of you through the crowd of people, tracing your every movement and expression with relaxed lids that spoke guilt. As soon as they did, though, they seemed to be self-aware enough to force themselves away, retreating to a familiar road home.

[…]

Sasuke had left the village, and Neji had been sent after. They were back now…in the hospital. This was the news that came to you as you returned your report to the desk.

You had been gone on your own mission. Otherwise, Shikamaru later told you, he considered your medical abilities as a valuable backup for the team. You couldn’t rebuke Shikamaru, seeing the look of defeat that he was barely holding back. You comforted him the best you could, but you couldn’t stop the question that spilled from your lips.

“Where’s…Neji?” You looked at Shikamaru, hopeful, only to see the broken expression of the man who looked at you with nothing but guilt hanging from the corners of his eyes. He bit his lip, knowing you wouldn’t like his response.

“He’s…in critical care. They’ve been working on him for the last few hours.”

Those words echoed like a shot through your heart, and you rushed off before Shikamaru could utter another word. The halls were a blur, your heart thrusting against your ribcage, threatening to make its way through your throat if upset further. You had been in the hospital many times before for supplemental training, and knew the intensive surgical room had a short observation deck above the area that was walled off with glass. It was utilized for students that sat in on procedures, but family members made their way above as well. This time, though, the area was barren and you held your breath.

‘Neji had a huge family, where were they? The room was still in use. Had they left already? Were they wrapping up the surgery? Had something gone wrong? Those rooms were only empty if it was done, or if..no, no, otherwise if they had…been led out…because of….’

Your hand went up to stifle the gasp as you saw the extent of his injuries. The nin were still working, but there were two large perforations in his torso, clean punctures through. That he hadn’t bled out by now was a miracle.

The seconds staring at his injuries were the longest of your life. Time would only resume as normal when a hand came upon your shoulder, and you saw the face of the new Hokage herself.

“Oh Good, I was wondering who I would need to assign to take care of this one when he leaves surgery.”

Tsunade let a sly grin slide onto her face, and at once your worries retreated back, though they hung off in the distance.

“Will he…?”

“Make a full recovery? You should know that these things are never a hundred percent certain.” Despite the partial warning, Tsunade didn’t retract her confident grin and chuckled. “…but it might raise a few percentage points or so if you keep an especially good eye on him after. I’ve heard you’re probably the only one who can, given how this one can get a bit of an attitude, right?”

You sighed in relief, and you felt Tsunade pat your back as she returned to her duties.

“In the meantime, it’ll benefit you to keep watch over the procedure. You might be doing it yourself, one day.”

When the surgery finally ended, you let out a breath that you may as well have held for the whole session. Tsunade had long since left, but you had been joined by Tenten, Lee, and your teammates. The observation room rejoiced, your cheers startling the doctors below for a moment until they smiled at the enthusiastic group above that had been waiting on their friend.

You hardly left his bedside for the days following, gently tending to some of his care when the nurses were swamped with duties. Changing bandages was now second nature to you, as were the rotations. The others occasionally came by, but none of his family came.

This went on for two days until a quiet presence made its way through the door. You had hardly slept, so you weren’t sure you had imagined it at first until a meek figure peeked out around the curtain. You recognized her immediately.

“Nii-san?”

“Not awake yet, but maybe your presence will do the trick.” You smiled at Hinata, knowing that her attendance meant they had indeed made reparations in the time since the exams.

She stayed for a while, and you made small-talk. Hinata was a sweet, kind-hearted girl. She was bashful even in person, but soon your conversation fell to the wayside when Neji began to stir. You both silenced immediately and Hinata waved her hands at you in flustered urgency, and you checked for his vitals. As soon as he had begun moving, he stopped, slipping back into unconsciousness. This began to worry you. You gave Hinata what reassurance you could, but she was obviously shaken by the event.

“I told you he’d stir! Now you just need to come back until he wakes up all the way!” You flashed a grin at her and she managed a meek smile in response, nodding gently before bowing and excusing herself out of the room.

You hoped she really would return, given that she was the only family to pay him a visit since.

That night, you told the nurses about his activity and they put him on watch for the night, closely monitoring for any additional activity or abnormalities. You begged to stay until they finally relented, warning you not to let the hospital head find out about your presence outside of normal visiting hours—you weren’t immediate kin or his actual teammate, after all. Still, it meant another nurse could divert her attention to other patients for the evening, and for that she was grateful.

You felt hopeful that evening, but as the night drew to its zenith and still no change in his condition, you began to get inside your own head. That lingering “what if…?” echoed louder than it had in the days before. You visibly shook your head, frustrated, planting your face in the bed near his arm as you leaned over in your chair, trying to focus on anything but your overwhelming anxiety about his condition. The prospect of losing him, though…wasn’t one you were sure an eternity could prepare you to grapple with. You had to keep hope.

At some point, you must have dozed off into a feverish rest, your head still tilted onto the bed. As you dreamed, you felt as though you were walking with a heavy weight upon your head. You kept attempting to shake it off, to move around in every way you could, but it wouldn’t leave. It was almost as though you had a headache, and suddenly the weight began to bounce on top of your head. A constant pounding of an invisible force shook you in your dreamlike state, until you realized you were no longer in a dream.

“…(y/n).”

Your groggy state let out a small groan as you attempted to move, your body stiff from being in an impractical position for so long.

“(y/n).”

That voice.

You shot up immediately, stumbling a bit as your body had yet to catch up with your consciousness and your eyes shot straight for the brilliant opal eyes of Neji, peering through half-opened lids at you, his hand resting on yours.

He was nearly feverish in this state, though he wasn’t flushed and you knew he had no temperature. Coming out of a coma was always a slow process, not a dramatic event that stories always made it seem. It dawned on you that the thumping had been his hand, still with limited mobility, trying to get your attention.

You cursed yourself that this of all times had to be the moment you fell asleep, and you quickly got to work with checking his vitals and going through routine questions. You had to repeat many of your questions and keep them as simple as possible—he still seemed to be in a state of semi-consciousness—and checking for any discomfort, pain, or sign of undetected ailments. Neji slowly answered and his voice grew stronger as you went along, until he was finally able to ask one of his own.

“Where…How long..?”

“Four days total since your mission. Well, if you include tonight.” You were testing his collarbone, noting how he winced at the lightest touch. Pulling loose the gown’s shirt for a better view, the area was still closed but had an ugly, dark bruise that extended from just below his collar, over past the top of his shoulder, and midway through his upper chest. You compared the length of the bruising around his shoulder to the measurements took previous. It was slow, but they appeared to be decreasing in size and lightening in color.

“Please tell me you didn’t stay…this whole time.” Neji swallowed dryly, flicking his eyes from your hands that examined his bruising and back to your face that was concentrated on your routines.

“I can’t lie very well, you know that.” You smiled at him, gently checking for his pulse and scanning the monitors for his brainwave activity. It was slow, but that was normal. Satisfied that he was in no more pain than expected, you poured him a small glass of water, doubling back over your shoulder to check his painkiller levels, and sat next to him. He needed some faint assistance raising his head to drink, but you kept your motions as gentle as possible. His hand reached up to cover yours as it gripped the glass, but you weren’t confident he could hold it just yet.

He groaned in pain, letting his head fall back on the bed in partial exhaustion. It was almost ironic how tired he was given that he had essentially slept for four days. Without thinking, you caressed the messy hair out of his face, and Neji, in his half-awake state, leaned into your touch, closing his eyes. Your face flushed instantly as you froze. With a confidence you didn’t know you possessed, you leaned forward to kiss his forehead and Neji blinked, looking back up at you with an expression you couldn’t read.

“I’m…just glad you’re safe. I didn’t know what to do when I found out, and…just…” You babbled, not even sure of what you were going to say, while he gazed back up at you, your thumb running over his cheek for a brief moment before you caught yourself and turned away, trying hard to contain the heavy feeling behind your eyes that attempted to spill out. You retracted, rubbing your face, taking a deep inhale before a weak hand covered yours as it rested on the bed.

“(y/n)…Thank you.”

[…]

Neji was a little stubborn when it came to medical care, only insofar as Guy’s teachings made him habitually push himself beyond his limits. While the hole in his chest and abdomen had closed, the soreness from those areas was ever present. One thing many did not understand about healing jutsu wasn’t that it was an instant cure unless you were someone like Tsunade. It was a forced regrowth of cells, and those cells were delicate until they took time to completely weave together. The deeper the wound, the longer it took for the cells to settle. It was as if you had only placed tightly-woven mesh made from thin fibers over the wound. The fragile new skin could reopen and tear if not cared for properly.

“You need to take care of yourself! For being a genius, you’re so…just…ugh, wreckless sometimes!” You finished tying the bandage on his shoulder around the same time you finished your lecture.

You weren’t really mad—and he knew, judging by your pouting face as you hurried your care of his arm—but you were very serious about him being careful. You caught a small smile from him as he sat in silence, letting you complete your work, admiring how talented you had become. As you got up and turned to put your things away, you heard him chuckle for a moment before he let out a small sigh.

“I’m not sure there’s anyone in this world that will care for me as you do.”

You paused at his words, your brows raising in confusion. “What do you mean by that?”

“What do you think?”

That statement had so many interpretations and all of them were just as ‘Neji’ as the last; you couldn’t figure where to begin. You turned away for a brief moment, your face contorting in many comical expressions of confusion as you sputtered out syllables in an attempt to fathom some reply. It wasn’t working, you needed to know more. You turned to question him, but his back was to you, silhouette suddenly much further than you remembered as he left without so much as a glance back. “Whe- Hey! Neji!” But despite your attempts, he was gone before you had even finished.

You clenched your fists and pouted. There he was again, leaving without even letting you respond. For being in recovery, he sure knew how to make a swift exit.

“Hey! Seriously! Quit walking off when you make statements like that!”

[…]

As soon as Sasuke left the village, it seemed not long after Naruto had as well. The village was relatively quiet for the next years, and once Neji recovered you made sure to not let your schedule get in the way of seeing him again.

He always seemed to play off your insistence at coming to see him, but you could tell by the way he didn’t protest he actively enjoyed your presence. One rare occasion you had to cancel training plans on him for a mission, you could have sworn his ensuing silence was actually his form of pouting, if Neji were ever capable of such a reaction. When you tested the waters and asked to reschedule for your return, he agreed far too quickly. This surprised you, and you teased him about it, much to his chagrin as he resorted to ‘stern and silent’ once more.

He had been more open in the last years, and you spent hours--made hours--to dwell in long conversation that became as natural as breathing. You didn’t know Neji could be so talkative, but while deep in a meaningful exchange you always were in awe at the thoughtfulness that came from him. Though you had grown up a bit, that admiration from you never completely subsided.

Neji also had brought new, more personal topics on his own accord with you when appropriate. Sometimes they caught you off guard, though you were incredibly attentive to him. In fact, sometime after he had recovered from the mission and knew that you weren’t obligated to stay around, he caught your attention with a strange request.

“Can we speak after training today?”

“I…ah…sure, is there something on your mind?” You tilted your head, now swimming with ideas about what it could be. The inner part of you was dancing with joy, shouting ‘Confession! Confession! Confession!’ but your clearly rational side rebuffed that idea as best it could, knowing that while Neji was occasionally considerate towards you, you didn’t get the ‘crush’ vibe from him. Then again, Neji was someone who knew how to hide secrets from you.

“Yes, you could say that. It’s a conversation far overdue.” He nodded courteously and you scrutinized every motion he made, trying to get a sense for what it was. No indicator of a confession. As he was back on the field and his focus diverted, you tilted your mouth to the side, crossing your arms and thinking as hard as you could.

By the end of training, you were ready to sprint a mile to run off the energy that had built from your anticipation. Leave it to Neji to make you impatient. As the others left, you stood around awkwardly, pretending to be occupied so they wouldn’t hang around too long out of suspicion. When you felt a familiar presence behind you, your heart kicked into overdrive as you spun around, nervous and fidgety.

“Are you alright?”

“Y-Yes! I’m fine! I just, uh…I just have no idea what it is!” You held your arms behind you and bouned on your heel for a moment, chastising yourself and telling you to focus. Neji eyed you in mild interest before he took a breath.

“I owe you an apology.”

Your movements stilled and you observed his features. He was straightforward as ever, his hands balled into fists, and his voice only speaking words he meant.

“You know you’ve never owed me anything.” You smiled at him, tilting your head. This was endearing and uplifting all at once. He really had changed for the better thanks to that fateful match, and you saw the progress before you. He had been gentler, his quick anger replaced with a serene maturity. Neji gazed at you for a moment before briefly closing his eyes to think as he returned his honest gaze to you.

“You’ve always said that, but I wonder…if you really know what support like yours is worth. What it meant…even if I don’t owe you anything, you deserve to be treated accordingly. Being the way that I was, saying those calloused things to you, knowing I didn’t truly mean them and I was lashing out, I was unfair to you. And you’ve always been patient with—” You held your finger up to your lips with a soft smile, and he silenced midsentence.

“You’ve changed for the better in such a short time, and believe me, I can tell in your actions that you mean every word and gesture. I don’t dwell on the past. Knowing you’re trying to change from the person that you were then…is enough of an apology for me. I forgive you, and…I want to see more of that person.”

You were beaming at him. Neji’s cheeks dusted the fainted shade of pink, betraying his forcefully placid expression. It was always so adorable to see him hold back when his feelings were strong. It was the rarest sight, but you committed every moment like this to memory.

“You know, Neji…my admiration of you still grows every day.” You confessed honestly, enjoying the fact that the shade on his face became slightly more prominent.

“What do you mean by that…?!” He nearly stuttered; something Neji never does, and your smile grew wider as you gracefully footed your way around him, making your way for the town.

“What do you think?” You teased as you called back in the distance, Neji startled and frozen at once as you disappeared off.

“Cheeky…” He grumbled with a tsk, moving ever so hurriedly—but calmly—after you.

[…]

It was nearly two years since the exams and you had spent your time building your strength, training, fulfilling missions, and if you were lucky, shadowing Tsunade when she allowed. You weren’t her formal student, but you took after Shizune, finding your strength in poisons and antidotes. Your skills had followed as well, shaping you into a much stronger shinobi than you once were, giving you a modest reputation.

The second wave of Chunin exams came and went, resulting in Neji’s promotion to Jounin and your own promotion to Chunin. When he told you, you couldn’t help but erupt in a bubbly cheer of joy and congratulations, throwing your arms around him and giving him an impulsive kiss on the cheek. Neji was never more flustered in his life, resembling Hinata more so than his usual self. He immediately went rigid and halted responding for a few moments after you broke away from your half-second action, and you waved your hand in front of his face to be sure he was still breathing. This all earned you a stern lecture when he maintained his composure, though as you grinned your way through it you could tell that his heart wasn’t really in it.

News of Naruto’s return and the Kazekage’s kidnapping hit the village all at once, and you were concerned when you realized Neji’s team had been called after the S-rank assailants. You bit your lip when he bid you goodbye, placing a reassuring hand on your shoulder before he went to meet his team. He was older now, and his face was well-defined with gentle angles that your eyes loved to trace, leading back to his beautiful, iridescent eyes. You couldn’t look at him right now though, only grumbling as you fidgeted with your medical pack.

“If you scare me again like that Sasuke mission, I swear…” You meant to warn him seriously, but the hope and confidence you always had in him won out over your fears.

A soft hand suddenly thumbed over your cheek and under your eye, giving you a gentle but unexpected reassurance. Your eyes met and you blushed. Neji was never openly…like this. And you both weren’t…you know.

“I’m coming back. On my feet, this time. I promise.” His hand left your face as soon as it had reached for it, and Neji blinked, the softest of smiles on his face.

You crossed your arms, pouting, but relenting.

“If you don’t and you break your promise, know that I know the most efficient poisons to keep you alive but moderately uncomfortable.” You huffed; your threat not serious in the slightest.

Neji chuckled, turning on his heel and bidding you goodbye, and so you began the long days of wait for his return, your heart slowly disappearing in the distance.

[…]

You settled next to him on the engawa, taking in for a moment the gracious view of his silhouette against the wooden walls and backdrop of the gardens, and the gentle, meditative look on his face. You made sure to leave an ample space between the two of you, not wanting to press on his boundaries, but no sooner had you sat down, he turned his head towards you. His eyes motioned you closer—how did he always do that with just a glace?—and you complied, containing your enthusiasm, scooting slightly closer to him before settling completely.

Neji observed you for a moment, and you could feel his eyes tracing out the contours of your face. You blushed a bit as you always did under his observation, and he let a soft smile. He secretly enjoyed that he could make you react this way.

You looked to a recent bandage on his shoulder, revealed only by the sleeveless kimono top he was wearing. You sat down almost reflexively to adjust it, keeping your eyes focused on rewrapping the cloth. ‘For all of his genius,’ you smiled to yourself, ‘he’s only somewhat proficient at appropriately wrapping injuries.’

Still, what weighed on the two of you was the news of the impending war that was coming. Squad assignments were being given, and very soon you would be in the fight for your lives. It made it difficult to enjoy the quiet moments like these, knowing that this would be a distant memory when you were on the battlefield. You were both tense. And for each of you, concern painted every move you made with one another.

“The war seems to be coming, soon.” You shifted the silence to calm conversation, knowing it was best to speak sincerely from the start. Neji lowered his eyes, the small smile on his face in gratitude that starting the hard conversations was always your strong suit.

“It seems that way.” Neji didn’t seem dismissive, though. On the other hand, his tone told you he received and reflected your own concerns.

“I’m… worried.” You confessed.

“I’m sure, war is never a joyous occasion.”

“No, I mean…I’m worried. For you.”

Neji blinked, seemingly lost in contemplation at your words.

“You always are, aren’t you?” It was less a question and more of a statement of realization, one that seemed to echo deeper within him.

The air was still, save for the soft fluttering of wings as two birds settled on the branch in front of you, letting forth the occasional chirp to remind you of their presence. Neji was reminded, too. Of a question that had hung in his heart for a long time, one he had always been afraid to ask. Was it fear, of the answer, though? Or fear that the answer could change everything?

Now, it was perhaps the only time to ask. He had to know.

“….Why have you always cared this much for me?”

You blinked once, wondering if you had imagined him saying it. When you turned your head to look at Neji, he wasn’t looking at you. His brow was furrowed and his gaze downcast, he seemed lost in thought. You put your hands down from the newly wrapped bandage, settling them on your lap as you blinked once, twice at him.

“Because… it’s you.”

“…That’s it?” He turned and blinked at you in surprise, his face turning to slight confusion, moving each syllable over his tongue as if he was more unsure with each word. “You’ve always cared because I’m…me?”

You couldn’t help but smile. It almost sounded like a shallow answer given your history, but as you reflected on it, it was succinct, simple, and honest.

“It’s all the reason I’ve ever needed.” You shyly looked away, keeping your head turned towards him. “I don’t think any honest affections for someone are solely based on what they do for you. I’ve never wanted, never needed anything from you. It was never about cost, or return, because those are woefully capricious and complicated things. This feeling is simple and constant. It is as it has always been.”

Your eyes returned to his, absorbed in yours, while the smile on your face grew of its own accord. “And you, just as you are, have always been enough for me.”

There wasn’t a word to describe the emotions that passed through his eyes, though his outer face was still. As if of their own accord and without his knowledge, the corners of his mouth twitched, curling up as he couldn’t hold back the soft joy that grew in his chest. Returning to his upright position and painfully aware of the slight tinge of pink on his own face, he returned his gaze forward and away from your searching eyes to avoid further embarrassment. His furthest knee drew up and he rested his elbow upon it, burying the lower half of his face in his palm. Though when he heard your quiet giggle, you saw a small smile return to his face and his eyes temporarily flickered towards yours before returning ahead.

“What about you, then?” You slid a little closer to him, thoroughly enjoying his bashful repose. And he knew it too, from the way you saw him sternly (but not seriously) quirk a brow at you. He lifted his head from where it had been covered by the hand.

“What do you mean?”

“When…?” You pouted a bit, halfway expecting his responding silence. You knew better than to force him to espouse his feelings before he was ready. “I never knew you cared this way…until recently. After the last time we had this chance alone. But it’s no wonder I was drawn to you, you’ve always been admirable in every sense. But I have to ask…with you, why…me?” You leaned forward, but he didn’t move, didn’t avert his gaze ahead. With a few moments of lingering stillness after your response, you turned your head forward in resignation, letting it be.

At least, you thought, you would enjoy the serenity of the garden with him, knowing that what had happened minutes before—the lack of rejection—was a confirmation in itself. The only sound came from the two birds you had seen earlier, both sitting upon the same branch, seemingly having a conversation of their own, a song shared between the two of them. You were almost in a meditative state until his unexpected answer broke through the silence.

“You’ve only ever been who you were.” You turned once more to him, giving him your full attention. His answer wasn’t what you expected, either, though it sounded similar to yours. He was oddly reminiscent about an answer that should have been in the present, until you realized that it all went further back than you knew.

“…Regardless of my actions towards you. And for my younger self, that was surely no small feat of strength.” He sighed, the tinge of guilt hanging in the air.

“Still, our world as shinobi is cold, and yet the warmth from you was constant. We are required to be cruel, but to me, you were ever kind. We must lie, but you’re forever honest with me…even when I was wrong. We must rescind all of our attachments, but you…refused to let me feel alone…” His voice trailed off, the last few words barely audible. His words were carefully chosen—as expected of the composed Hyuga. He gazed at the sky for a moment, lost in his thoughts, searching for those last words that echoed once, twice, so many times through all the memories of your past together.

“It is as you said. It’s always been just you, as you were. How could I…have fallen for anyone but you?”

A fluttering of wings took part of your response, as the two birds previously nestled in the tree in front of you took flight. In tandem, they soared. You heard this, but only part of it. As soon as your eyes locked once more, time spun forward, weaving you both finally as one.

In an action that Neji would later recount as perhaps uncharacteristic for him, he gently, tentatively, leaned down to place a chaste and unsure kiss upon your lips, lingering hesitantly to feel your response. As you pressed back, you felt a small hum or gasp—somewhere between—as if he didn’t expect that the person who had loved him all this time would wholeheartedly return it. No matter how new it was for both of you, the passion was ever apparent in the warmth of your lips that entwined deeper still, one hand lacing with his. Gentle movements of his thumb sweeping over your cheek and caused your heart to resound firmly in your chest as you clutched onto his shirt with your other.

It was surreal, feeling your lips move together in tentative caresses, letting the passions of the moment take precedence over the need for perfection. The motions of the kiss grew deeper in a turn that surprised both of you, and you felt his cheeks hot against yours. Both of you were embarrassed, but this felt so right, and clumsy as it was the closeness that you both desired but now finally had was intoxicating. His lips were soft and better than any of the hazy daydreams that you remembered from when you were young. As he drew away, his eyelashes barely covering his lidded eyes, you found yourself longing for them the moment they left.

Not content to let him leave, you pressed your nose against his in an affectionate gesture before he went too far. He flinched at the contact, but such was Neji and not the feelings he held. He leaned forward once more, resting his forehead against yours, enjoying your warm presence, taking a second to inhale and catch his breath from the romantic exchange. At some point his other arm came around you to press you flush against him. His motions were so slow and subtle you hadn’t realized he moved until you where there, in an embrace that felt heavenly.

“This close is really…” You mused, enjoying the contact along with the new opportunity to poke fun at the all-too-serious man that held your heart.

Of course, Neji was more likely to assume you meant otherwise and he pursed his lips in shock, relinquishing all contact immediately before you caught him, throwing both arms around his torso and snuggling up to his shoulder. He let out a small sound of surprise, his arms drawn halfway up in the air. “I’m teasing!” His eye twitched again before he chuckled at the genuinely adorable reaction from you, finally relaxing and resting his arms around you once more.

“You’re going to be the death of me.” He sighed, complaint as genuine as his half-hearted attempt at agitation. You winked and grinned at him. Neji merely hummed in reply, his hand gently caressing your back as his head rested on yours. You were the only part of the world that existed to him then, and it was all he longed for. It was a moment he knew he would never forget, finally letting himself truly feel the warmth of the one who had always been by his side.

#naruto imagines #Naruto Headcanons #naruto scenarios #Neji #neji hyuga #neji hyūga #Reader insert #the shinobi way #TheShinobiWay #I have another request incoming! It's about 50% complete!

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