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catflorist · 3 years

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Warm (ao3/ffn) catflorist written for the beginnings with sasusaku zine

Falling snow made Konoha quiet, but this corner of the village was always quiet. Sasuke exited the Uchiha compound with a travel pack hanging heavy on his shoulder. On this evening, with hours until the beginning of the new year, the emptiness of his clan’s district gnawed at him more than usual.

In a different life, he would be fire-jumping with his clan.

Before the new year, the Uchiha clan gathered and lit fires in the streets. They jumped together over the flames. With each leap, the fire fed on their sickness, weakness, and bad luck. It offered health and good luck in return.

Sasuke was not an animated child, but during this ceremony, he would jump high and wild like the others. There was a sense of invulnerability when arriving on the other side of the flame unscathed, then a burning drive to leap again. His feet were loud on the ground when he landed, because he didn't know yet how to move like a shinobi. Every year, he swore he would jump as high as Itachi, though he never could.

No fires were burning in the Uchiha district now, and no children were leaping. The gates to the compound creaked as Sasuke pulled them shut. He slipped into the tangle of Konoha’s winding streets.

Halfway to his apartment, pink hair flashed in the beam of a street lamp. Sakura turned the corner, arms crowded with grocery bags, and strode towards the crosswalk.

Sasuke halted. She hadn’t spotted him yet.

“Sakura ka…” he called. He could not say hello when he greeted her, only, Ah, it’s Sakura, like she was a phenomenon to remark upon.

Sakura turned her head.

“Sasuke-kun,” she replied, eyes brightening. As her gaze flicked to the bag over his shoulder, her smile faltered. “Are you going again?”

Sasuke frowned, pulling on the strap of the offending bag. He had only recently returned to the village. Did she think he was leaving so soon?

“I was visiting...” He turned his head in the direction of the old Uchiha district. “Gathering some things.”

“I see,” she murmured. “Then...do you have plans this evening? I’m going to make toshikoshi soba.” She shifted an arm, revealing the green onions and package of soba noodles peeking out of one grocery bag. “It’ll be too much for one person.” Her cheeks were pink, but maybe it was the cold.

Sasuke usually preferred to be alone. Since returning to the village in the fall, he had his routine. It was not very different from his routine while traveling. In the mornings he trained. He cooked meals in silence and gazed at the view of the forest. In the evenings he tried not to sleep too deeply, his protocol to stave off the nightmares.

The only difference was that if Naruto pounded on the door enough, he might be convinced to spar. If Sakura was around, she healed his injuries. “Try to be more careful next time,” she would say with a crinkle between her eyebrows, which is what happened when she wanted to say more, but didn't want to push him.

She wore that same look now, gripping her bags tighter in case he said yes, eyes already down in case he refused. Snowflakes rested and melted on her eyelashes.

After sorting through his father and Itachi’s belongings, on a night when the compound should have been alive with fire, being alone wasn’t as appealing as usual.

“All right,” he heard himself saying.

Sakura had barely seen Sasuke since he had returned to the village. Now he was seated in her kitchen, tasting the toshikoshi soba she had made following her mother’s recipe. If she wanted, she could bump her knee against his under her small table.

“Your apartment...” Sasuke began. His voice was quiet, the same timbre as the hum of her radiator.

“I don’t spend a lot of time here,” she interjected, palms itching. Her apartment was small and unadorned. She had cobbled furniture together courtesy of her parents, Ino, and a spare office in the Hokage tower. Half the time, she sneezed when she walked in the door, because she never found a moment to sweep the dust.

Sasuke’s shoulder rose and fell. “No, it’s not that.” He raised the bowl to his lips, taking a long sip. “It looks like it’s yours.”

Before she could wonder how he concluded this, Sasuke lowered the bowl to the table, a little too gently. Something about the movement told Sakura to pay attention.

“I was gathering clothes. Mine are worn from traveling.” He swirled noodles slowly in his broth. “I don’t have another way to wear our crest. What I found wasn’t in great condition.”

Sakura would never fully grasp the lonely responsibilities Sasuke bore as the last of his clan. If he did not wear the crest, there was no one else who would. He had to choose, every day, to be an Uchiha. Otherwise they would disappear.

“If you need…” Sakura swallowed. “I can help. I know how to sew.”

The sink dripped, once, twice. Sakura’s mouth opened, an apology bubbling to her lips, when Sasuke left the kitchen. He returned to his chair and spread the contents of his bag on the table: carefully folded articles of clothing, uchiwa fans decorating each item.

Sakura stroked a loose thread, where the fabric of the Uchiha crest was lifting away from the back of a dark haori. “They're not in bad condition,” she said. “They just need some attention.”

“This was my father’s,” Sasuke said, fingertips grazing a deep blue yukata. He nodded towards the article in Sakura’s hands. “Itachi’s.”

Sakura touched her knee to Sasuke’s, soft enough to pass as an accident. He could easily move away, if he wanted to. He didn’t.

“There was a certain stitch we used to sew on crests,” he said. “But I was young. I never learned.”

Sakura inspected the stitching pattern on the haori. It was not too different from a surgical stitch she knew. She unearthed her sewing materials from a kitchen drawer and started the careful work of re-attaching the crest.

When the task was done, Sakura lifted her head. Sasuke’s chair was empty, and the table was clear of dishes.

“Sasuke-kun?” she called.

A soft grunt sounded from behind. Sasuke was leaning over the counter, next to a clean sink and a neat stack of dishes. He set aside a bottle of oil.

She frowned. “What are you doing?”

Sasuke turned, gripping her old cast iron skillet. Its surface appeared to possess more luster, and less rust, than usual.

“Your cast iron was rusting,” he said in disapproval. “I’m re-seasoning it.” He lit the oven and placed the pan inside with a clank. “It’ll need an hour.”

“You’ve made yourself at home,” Sakura said.

A faint smile raised the corners of Sasuke’s lips.

Sakura smoothed over the mended crest of Itachi’s haori. “How is this?”

Sasuke reclaimed his seat and leaned in. Their shoulders brushed. After a beat, he nodded. “Good.”

Sakura’s cheeks warmed, unexpectedly. “Being a trained surgeon doesn’t hurt.”

The smile returned, closer to a smirk this time. He discovered her kettle, brewed tea, and set two cups on the table. Outside the window, night deepened, approaching midnight.

Sakura slipped back into concentration. Tomorrow she would start off the new year with an early shift at the hospital. Instead of going to bed, she added a yukata to her growing pile of mended clothing. Sasuke remained a quiet presence beside her, sipping tea, making no move to leave.

Maybe, she thought, looping thread through cloth, we’ll do this again.

Sasuke peered at her face. “What are you thinking about?”

“Hm? Oh...nothing. Smells bad.” The scent of oil pushed past its smoking point was filling her kitchen. “What are you thinking about?”

“The new year,” he said, tracing the lip of his teacup. “Old traditions.”

“Traditions?” she prompted.

Sasuke stood and slid his left hand into an oven mitt. “My clan...we used to do fire-jumping before the new year.”

“That seems very beautiful,” Sakura said, voice hushed. “I know fire is important to your clan.”

“Yes, it is.”

“Why is that?”

Sasuke removed the pan from the oven. A dark, glassy finish replaced rust and dullness, every imperfection transformed under the oven’s fire. His eyes lowered. “It’s cleansing.”

Sakura stared down at the image of the uchiwa, symbolically fanning the flames of the Uchiha clan. Halfway through a stitch, she had an idea.

Fire-jumping was an exchange of energy, mutual agreement between human and flame. Both the Uchiha and the flames entered the new year warmer and stronger than before.

It was a long time since Sasuke had done anything resembling tradition. He had not even celebrated his birthday since first leaving the village, out of the habit of prioritizing his quest for revenge over himself. Tradition was hard when only one person remained to keep it fed. And there was so much he didn’t know, that he had never thought to ask.

He wondered if he could manage to explain this to Sakura.

Sakura’s eyes were fierce. She finished a stitch, barely looking, and disappeared into her bedroom.

The scent of lavender filled the air. Sakura paused in the hallway with a lit candle.

“You can do it here, if you want,” she said, holding out the flame like an offering.

“Why aren’t you jumping, nii-san?” Sasuke asked, tugging once on Itachi’s sleeve.

The streets were crowded tonight, loud with chatter, music, and crackling flames. The main avenue of the Uchiha district was dotted with fires every few paces, so people could jump down the length of the entire street. Sasuke’s chest was swelling with pride. This year, he had used his ever-strengthening katon to help otou-san light the fires.

Itachi crouched to Sasuke’s eye level. His face was softer than normal in the starlight and the warmth of the flames. “Maybe later,” he said, with a small smile, and a customary two-fingered tap.

As Sasuke frowned in disappointment, Itachi peered down an unlit alley. “I don’t know if the fire will help this year. I might have too much for it to take away.”

His brother’s statement was odd––casual, yet tinged with something Sasuke couldn’t understand. But the strangeness slipped from his mind once he rejoined the rest of his clan, the excitement of the ceremony taking hold of again.

Sasuke spent the next new year alone.

Sasuke was fourteen, footsteps echoing through the corridors of Orochimaru’s lair. Time had little meaning this deep in the earth, but reading the dates on Kabuto’s newest specimens had recalibrated him. The new year was days away.

Dim torches lined the walls. The fire beckoned him. Sasuke reached out a hand, considering.

Itachi’s strange words, uttered a lifetime ago, rang in his mind. Sasuke understood what he meant, all of a sudden. The fire promised to cleanse him, to take the hurt away. But like Itachi, he was carrying too much.

He turned his back to the flickering torchlight and slunk into the cold dim of his chamber.

The day Sasuke returned to Konoha, the forest was under autumn’s spell. Between mossy tree trunks and golden leaves, he caught his first glimpse of the village, bright beneath departing clouds.

“Okaeri!” Naruto shouted, a speck in the distance bounding through Konoha’s wide gates. Beside him, Kakashi raised a hand in greeting.

Sasuke crossed the treeline, and the steps of his journey quietly ran out. He halted before his old mentor and teammate, the village walls high over his head.

“Taidama,” he said. “What day is it?”

“The equinox,” Kakashi answered.

Sasuke’s gaze swept across his surroundings. The village streets were damp with afternoon rain. Wet leaves clumped together beneath his sandals. No one else was waiting for him.

Kakashi and Naruto exchanged a look.

“Sakura’s in the middle of surgery,” Naruto said.

“Hm,” Sasuke replied.

It was a short walk to his old townhouse apartment. Kakashi presented him the key he had safeguarded, Naruto ordered him to come to dinner later that week, and then he was alone on the stoop. A stray cat emerged from beneath the stairs, interested in Sasuke’s appearance.

Sasuke palmed the key in his hand, facing the door. He was not sure what he would find in the apartment he had vacated when he was thirteen. Did he make the bed before he left? Would he find his old clothes still folded in the drawers?

There was a blur in the air like falling blossoms. Sakura was standing on the sidewalk, mouth parted, exhaling a deep breath. Her boots were splattered with mud and what looked like blood. She wore a sweater thrown on top of scrubs, a crumpled surgery cap in her fist.

“Sakura ka,” he said.

She straightened. “Okaeri, Sasuke-kun.”

He had wondered what it would be like to look at her again. Now he learned it was the same. The exact same.

Sasuke was seated in Sakura’s kitchen, his eyes unfocused. He saw a clan, together, jumping over fire to bring in the new year. His clan was gone, yet he was warm, and alive, and Sakura was looking at him over the candle’s fire.

He must have been silent for too long, because Sakura’s hand drifted down. “I’m sorry,” she said, voice wavering. “I know it’s not the same––it’s nothing at all how it should be…”

Sasuke rose to his feet and caught her hand. “It will work fine.”

It was not the same. But a flame was a flame. It promised to take his bad luck away, if he so allowed.

Sakura set the candle on the ground, casting the walls of her narrow hallway in a whirl of light and shadow.

Sasuke closed his eyes and leapt. He leapt again, over and over Sakura’s small candle. Light footed, he didn't make a sound.

When he opened his eyes, Sakura was leaning against the wall, head bowed.

“Sakura. Your turn.”

Sakura’s brow furrowed. “It’s not my tradition.”

“I want you to,” he said, moving aside to create space.

Sakura took a breath, preparing herself. She bounded over the candle, twirling and twisting freely in the air. Watching her, Sasuke turned over a thought in his mind that he no longer wanted to ignore.

With a final leap, she landed close to him. She leaned up on her toes, balanced perfectly between standing and falling, eyes shining from the joy of the movement. Sasuke steadied her elbow, even though she didn't need him to. It was a reflex, like dragging up a blanket in the middle of a cold night, or sighing after drinking water. He could not help but catch her.

It was not the same. There was the scent of lavender, a pile of clothing with freshly sewn Uchiha crests, and somehow, Sakura’s fingers wound together with his.

“You’re an Uchiha now,” he told her. Perhaps it was too blunt to say it this way, but it was true. Anyone who fire-jumped was an Uchiha. If he was the last, then he could shape his traditions, and choose who to do them with.

Besides, they always knew each other well. They only needed some time to know each other well again.

Sakura squeezed his hand, her calloused palm pressed to his. “We can do this again next year. Whatever you like.”

“I would like that,” he agreed.

The candle flickered. It was the start of another year without his clan. But he and Naruto would spar together tomorrow morning. He would feed the stray cats, oil the Uchiha gates, and wear the crest of his clan on his back. Sakura might reach for his hand again. Lately he wasn’t feeling so heavy.

As years passed, the tradition changed. It was not a celebration the way it used to be. It was a moment for mourning, remembering. It also felt like beginning.

One year, he leapt over the flame holding his daughter. She wasn’t yet a year old, but her eyes already reflected the fire, like the eyes of any Uchiha. Sakura followed close behind. Everywhere around them was the comfort of warmth and good luck.

Sasuke was no longer alone. He hadn’t been alone in a long time.

notes: the fire jumping tradition mentioned in this story is inspired by chaharshanbeh soori, an iranian tradition my family and i celebrate as part of norooz (our new year, which occurs in the spring). i was not with my family this year, so i also jumped over a candle in the hallway of my apartment. it's been a long year. i'm sending my love to all of you!

#sasusaku #sasusaku fanfiction #sasusaku fanfic #ss fic #ss #my ss #my fic #i literally forgot to post this here for months #warm

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lumisfiction · 3 years

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Just For Tonight Part 3

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters they belong to Kishimoto. Picture doesn’t belong to me.

Warning: Kakashi x Black Female Reader, Fluff

Y/n’s attention was focused on Sasuke’s gift and her conversation with him. It infuriated Naruto as he pestered her, desperately trying to pull her away so he could present his gift. It was then Kakashi knew that the boy would be the cause of his demise. Pulling and tugging at her free hand as he dragged her closer and closer.

All of time began to slow down, merely a few centimeters away her eyes finally drifting from Sasuke to Kakashi’s slightly quivering form. He couldn’t tell if he was getting sick or just cold from all the sweat. It didn’t help that his mind raced with explanation after explanation for his attendance and filthy attire.

Usually he was a confident man, his cool demeanor was always a saving grace in all matter of circumstances. Yet as he stood awkwardly fiddling his fingers nothing came to mind. His exposed pupil drifting everywhere but her beautiful face. Until finally when his eye had nowhere else to look, their eyes met.

She peeked through her long thick eyelashes with the light of the lanterns around them reflecting in her orbs. Her face dimly lit by its dancing flames. Highlighting the most elegant features of her face.

His lips pressed tightly together to prevent his mouth from opening and closing. If life had taught him any lesson it would be that love was impossible for a Shinobi. Besides what would his fallen peers and late father say if they saw him. With a look of sadness in his left eye he wandered off in thought so deeply that he hadn’t even noticed that she was observing him. Her keen eyes fixed on face and then the rest of his body. Drifting downward and then up again. When her eyes came back to eye level she smiled showing her pretty ivory teeth. Only when Naruto squeezed his way between them with a look of innocence and excitement on his face did Kakashi come back to the present.

“Y/n this is Kakashi sensei” Naruto looked back at Kakashi. “He doesn’t always look like that” Naruto whispered to y/n, his earlier look of mischief returned to his face. His gift would definitely top Sasuke’s he thought as his eyes wandered from Kakashi to y/n.

Kakashi was mortified, his face red with embarrassment. Staring at a clueless Naruto who feigned his innocence as he looked away coyly. “What in god's name is he trying to do” Kakashi wandered as he looked at Naruto again. Not only was he able to manipulate him into coming but somehow he was scheming their union?

The corners of his mouth pointed downward underneath his mask. His mind drifted to a darker place as he contemplated the best way to reprimand Naruto. “Maybe if I refused to train him for a month…” Kakashi’s eye ablaze with the savor of revenge as he imagined Naruto’s reaction. The mere thought of satisfaction filling him carrying his attention off again. Unaware of the goofy look he had on his face when suddenly he heard laughter.

Kakashi looked at y/n with a look confusion on his face. What could possibly have her so tickled. Then it hit him, the pains of his earlier thoughts arose to the surface again. The thought of what her first impressions of him were going to be. As if on cue every bit of grit and dampness ate at his skin. It was then he realized he resembled a wet dog.

Her cheekbones seemingly rose higher and her mouth slightly parted as she continued to laugh. “There's no need to be embarrassed you can come in and shower if you like” y/n failed to still her laughter as she pointed over her shoulder. Her eyes never leaving his and for all of ten seconds when her laughter finally faded they shared an intense stare.

Swallowing the lump in his throat his palm seemingly grew wetter by the minute. Something with fur poking his fingers, he traced the fuzzy petals with his thumb he remembered how he came by it. Remembering what Naruto told him and as smoothly as he could manage Kakashi lifted it up to her. “I was told it was your favorite, happy birthday” Kakashi placed the lotus in her hands as their eyes met again. The darkness hiding nothing from their lustful gaze as their fingers touched.

She knew at that moment, as she bashfully looked away she wanted him. To unlock the mystery that shrouded him, to complete him and somehow remove whatever darkness he hid away behind his black exposed eye.

Author's Notes: I greatly apologize for how long this chapter took and I also know that this was supposed to be the last and smutty chapter. I am a big perfectionist and for whatever reason I had the biggest case of writer's block. The next chapter will be coming soon and I promise it will definitely be the smutty chapter. Thank you for all of your support!

#naruto #black reader #black y/n #kakashi x poc reader #kakashi x reader #naruto x poc!reader #x black reader #black writers

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ssa25 · 4 years

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Awkward Misunderstandings - Sasuhina Month 2020 Day 2

Modern AU Sasuhina

Rating: T (for curse/swear words)

It was ridiculous!

What the hell was he doing anyway? In that dark movie theatre watching a God-awful paranormal movie, stuck with Kiba on one side and some stranger on the other?

This was not the plan he had agreed to. He was under the impression that he would be the one sitting beside Hinata, while she leaned into him frightfully to watch the whole movie. Instead Kiba fucking Inuzuka had parked his unwelcome ass right in the middle of the two of them, and he was even helping himself to the sweet (ugh!) popcorn, he had bought for his supposed movie date with Hyuuga Hinata! Heck, the last time he had peeked at her over Inuzuka’s head, she was totally hooked to the movie, without even an ounce of fear!

He had to admit it grudgingly. He was failing miserably on his second supposed date with Hyuuga Hinata. Just like he had on their first one.

Hinata Hyuuga was one of the newly hired temps in their firm. Now, he would usually never date his co-workers, because already he was inappropriately propositioned so often in his workplace that he did not want to encourage such behaviour between his female colleagues. But he was quite taken with this new temp. And,it wasn’t against the rules, so he decided to woo her.

He had given himself a solid month to get close to her before he asked the dark haired beauty out. What he had not anticipated was the woman’s close friend, another temp, Kiba Inuzuka being a deadweight to his barely-taken-off dating life.

That pointy teeth burly man was stuck to her side for most part of the day, with their desks next to each other. Whenever he tried to talk to her, Kiba was right beside her like her guard-dog, like he did not care about giving them even a shred of privacy. Sasuke didn’t understand what his deal was.

But he was an Uchiha, a little challenge never discouraged him.

Few weeks later, he had asked Hinata out to dinner at a newly opened eatery, with Kiba leaning right there on her desk while he did so. Sasuke had made some small talk first of course, and then he asked her casually.

“Hey, so one of my friends has opened a tapas bar, a few blocks down from here. How about we go there sometime for some dinner?”

She looked completely confounded at his suggestion. Probably because they weren’t close enough to share mealtimes, yet. But Sasuke did not want to wait any longer. He knew her pretty and soft persona had unwittingly engaged the attention of some of the other males at their workplace. He had to act on his instinct.

A few seconds of awkward silence later, she had looked at Kiba, as if she was wanting some silent approval, and then agreed with a pleasant smile.

They agreed to meet up after work on Friday later that week, because her weekend was already committed. It wasn’t ideal, he would have preferred to pick her up from her place, make it a bit more special and not a casual post-work dinner. But he wasn’t giving up this chance.

So, friday evening, he waited at his reserved table and found Hinata enter the bar premises-

In arm with Kiba.

To say that he was shocked, would be an understatement. He had no clue why Kiba had decided to intrude on their date or why Hinata had even allowed it without asking him about it first. But he did not want to make an issue out of it on their first date. He wasn’t going to be stingy or outrightly rude - as much as he wanted to be - just for the sake of Hinata. Maybe, she was uncomfortable hanging out with him alone and brought her friend along for support. Sasuke could not fathom her intention, but he had to respect her feelings and give her space.

They had a decent meal, and he had tried to keep his eyes focused on Hinata through most of the dinner. His responses to Kiba were curt and dry. He got to know from Hinata (and Kiba), that those two were childhood friends. He did not know whether to be relieved or worried by that piece of information.

At the end of the evening, it was just a pleasant dinner, definitely not a date. Because of Kiba third wheeling them for whatever reason.

So, he decided to give her more time to come around and feel comfortable in his solitary company. After all, good things come to those who wait.

He was pleasantly surprised, when two week later, she came up to him, sans Kiba, and asked him to join her for a movie she had extra tickets for. He had immediately agreed.

And like a broken tape recorder, he had yet again found both Hinata and Kiba -waiting for him this time - at the venue looking closer than ever.

“Am I missing something here?”

“Maybe she is into menages… She might be giving you a hint by showing up with that guy…”, Shikamaru Nara drawled as he leaned back in the chair in Sasuke’s office. He has admitted his dilemma to the only sane and reasonable guy he could trust. He could trust his best friend Naruto Uzumaki with his life, but not with his failed attempt at trying to woo a girl. That manchild knew nothing about keeping his mouth shut.

“No.”, Sasuke shook his head firmly at his friend’s suggestion. “No. Hinata is not that kind of girl.”

“You never know man. Some girls are into all that kinky shit.”

“Nara….She is the gentlest and most demure woman in this firm as far as I know, and that includes my fifty-six year old assistant and the geeky looking analyst who probably writes erotica as a pastime. Besides she did say that they were just friends, nothing more.”

Shikamaru smirked at him, “You look like you know a lot about women.”

“I can read a lot about most women just from looking at them. But nothing about this particular one. It’s frustrating to say the least.”

“Well, you could always find out more about her. Ask around, look her up on the internet.”

Sasuke looked mildly offended. “I refuse to come off as creepy.”

“You have passed her cubicle more times in the last few weeks than you have roamed through the office hallways in the last three years. I think you are already past that label.”, his observant friend commented nonchalantly.

Sasuke had decided to be direct. He will ask her out. If she agreed, he will tell her explicitly that it had to be just the two of them. And if she wasn’t up for it, then he would sulk away and avoid crossing paths with her for the rest of his life. Or less dramatically, for the duration of her contract with the firm.

Now, all he had to do was to come up with the most perfect romantic date, a woman like her could ever possibly want. But trust Hinata Hyuuga to toss all his plans in the bin, with a bat of her thick eyelashes over her striking grey eyes.

She had come up to him with no-prizes-for-guessing-who right behind her, when he was getting his lunch at the cafeteria.

“Sasuke~san, how are you?”, she asked him with her trademark genuinely sweet and shy smile that drew his eyes to her glossy perfectly shaped lips. He sighed inwardly, feeling dejected that he was nowhere close to getting a feel of those anytime soon.

“I’m good Hinata, how are you?”, he purposely avoided even looking or even acknowledging the man lurking behind her.

“I’m well, thank you…. Ah, this might seem too forward of me…. But I was hoping to invite you over to my home this Saturday for dinner.”, she ended her words with a questioning lilt in her voice.

Sasuke was quite surprised by her invitation. This was the second time she had come up to him to ask him for his time. Surely it meant that she was interested in him. Right?

“Dinner? At your place?”, he asked her again just to be sure he had heard her right.

She nodded eagerly and explained, “I make a mean lasagna… I was hoping to cook for us… The last two times we were out… umm.. it was a little awkward… Probably because we were out in the public… I’m quite shy that way too… So I wondered if a more private setting might help the situation…”

The situation. She had called it a situation. She definitely knew that he liked her, and dare he hope that she liked him back too. She was going to cook for him after all. While his heart was all too eager to agree with her plans, his mind tried to bring his attention back to the problem at hand. The problem that was, at that very moment, smirking gleefully at him standing right beside Hinata.

Sasuke gave Kiba the hardest of glare before looking over at Hinata and clearing his throat. “When you mean us, you mean it would just be the two of us… Right?”

She was wide eyed and speechless for a few seconds, before she asked him softly with a tell-tale blush, “W-Would you prefer it to be that way?”

“Yes.”, he wasted no time in speaking his mind.

She nodded slowly and then gave another one of her blinding smile that had him smirk back at her too.

“Okay. Sure. Let’s do it that way then. I will text you my address later today.”

Saturday night was upon them very soon. He stood outside her door with a gorgeous bouquet of flowers and a bottle of expensive rosè. It might be a cliched option, but it was safe and effective. Personalised gifts could be reserved for subsequent dates.

Dressed in all black smart casual, he knocked on her apartment door. Within seconds, he heard soft rushed footfalls before Hinata opened the door to him. She looked stunning in a pair of simple black skinny trousers and a cream silk bardot top, with her hair in a sleek low ponytail.

“Sasuke~san, please come in.”, she welcomed him.

Before he could come forward to hug her or kiss her cheek in greeting, she had turned around to get inside. He did not even get to give her the flowers or the wine. He brushed it off as her being timid as usual and followed her inside.

“You are right on time. The lasagna is almost about to come out of the oven.”, she informed him as she moved into the open plan kitchen.

But Sasuke’s steps faltered when he saw the now familiar figure of Kiba sitting regally on her sofa, as if he had every right to be there. Sasuke was aghast, angry and so very disappointed all at the same time. Before he could lash out at Kiba, Hinata stepped out from behind the kitchen counter.

“Everything is ready.”, she pointed out to the candle lit dinner table with flowers, an unopened wine bottle and a steaming tray of lasagna. “I will be out of your hair in a second. I have made plans of my own. Hope the lasagna is to both of your liking.”

Sasuke stood paralysed at what he was hearing. Was this some sort of prank? A joke?

He wanted to curse out loud but he kept his temper under control. “What the hell do you mean? And what the fuck is Kiba doing here??!”, he pointed the bouquet at the man.

Okay, so maybe his control wasn’t the best. And now, it was Hinata’s turn to look shocked at his outburst.

“W-What do you mean Sasuke~san?!”, she tried to pacify him. “He is here for your date with him. He arrived a little earlier and helped me with setting the table up for both of you.”

Sasuke pressed the bridge of his nose in pure agony at the clusterfuck of their situation.

“Why…. would you… EVER… think… that I would want to date Kiba?”, he asked her as he prayed inwardly for more patience.

Hinata frowned and explained, “Because I assumed that you liked him… You were trying to get close to him through me and-”

“Hinata”, he interrupted her. “I’m not gay. I don’t like men. And I certainly don’t like Kiba. No offense.”, he directed the last words to Kiba.

“None taken.”, Kiba replied smiling shamelessly from the couch as if he was amused at some private joke.

“B-but then…”, Hinata’s voice trailed off while her mind replayed their previous conversations. It took her a moment to gather her wits, before she began again, “But why would you ask us out then?”

“Because- ”

“Because he was asking you out Hinata.”, Kiba spoke over Sasuke to enlighten Hinata. “You just misunderstood him.”

Hinata gasped at the new revelation. She looked to Sasuke, and when he did not refute the claim, she looked back at Kiba accusingly. “Y-you knew??!!”

Kiba stretched his arms above his head leisurely, before he got up from the sofa. He was now openly laughing at them.

“Of course I knew Hinata… You were naively oblivious to his intentions… And I decided to play along with your gross misjudgement for a while… I have to say it was fun while it lasted… Thank you Mr. Uchiha for the dinners…”, he saluted to Sasuke before heading towards the door. “I will be out of your hair, now that it probably won’t be as amusing as it was before…”

Hinata was still digesting the crucial piece of information that she had completely misunderstood, as her friend deserted her with Sasuke. She looked at him and offered an apology.

“I’m sorry Sasuke~san… I had no clue-“

Sasuke lifted his hand to stop her from apologising. “No… Don’t… It’s as much my fault… Now that I think about it, none of our words were clear enough for the other person to understand. I should have said explicitly that I like you and that I wanted to take you out on a date.”

Hinata blushed and looked away from the gorgeous man standing in front of her. She liked him enough as a colleague. He was really smart and hardworking, and he treated her kindly every time they interacted. But she had never imagined that he harboured any feelings deeper than their professional relationship.

Seeing her not react adversely to his confession, he stepped closer to her. Unsurely he handed her the bouquet. “I got this for you. And some rosè.”

“Thank you.”, Hinata kept the bottle on the table and smelled the pretty flowers.

Sasuke sighed audibly. “I think I should head back?”, he asked gingerly hoping to get her to cancel her plans and stay with him. The lasagna smelled divine. She looked divine too. Even more so than usual.

“I’m such a fool…”, she shook her head repentantly. She might have agreed to his offer to take her out if she knew how he felt about her. “I should have never so easily believed office gossip…”

“Office gossip?!”, he asked. “You mean people at work think I’m gay??!!”

She nodded guilelessly.

“Hn.”, he grunted unsure if that was good or bad. Because now he realised that there had been fewer women blatantly hitting on him in the last few weeks. But, a few men, co-workers he did not really know, had tried to be friendly with him.

“But don’t worry, it was probably just speculation on Uzumaki~san’s behalf…”

“Uzumaki? Naruto Uzumaki??”, he said sinisterly.

Hinata grew a little nervous at the shift in his demeanour. “Umm…. Yeah… I… Kinda overheard him telling Ino~san and Sakura~san about how you liked men…”

She watched his eyes narrow into slits and tried to reverse any damage. “O-Or may be I misheard it….That’s possible too…”

“Hn. I will have a proper talk with Naruto about keeping his ideas and speculation to himself.”

Sasuke realised Naruto was trying to help him by keeping Ino and Sakura from openly flirting with him, while slyly gaining the two beauties’ attention upon himself. But he could have come up with a different tactic. His best friend will deservedly hear some of his choicest words as soon as he gets back home.

“Umm…. Would you like to stay over for dinner?”, Hinata’s sweet voice got his attention back.

“What about your night out plans?”

She shook her head with a shy smile. “I can cancel them. I was going to hang out with my cousin and his fiance anyway. Most likely third wheeling them.”

“You have to stop the third wheeling Hinata.”, he said with a mock serious face.

She giggled and nodded before inviting him over to the table.

#SasuHina #sasuhinamonth2020 #shmonth2020

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thekatthatbarks · 4 years

Text

The Cliff

Shikasaku Week 2020 @shikasaku-week

Day Six - like air in my lungs (i need you)

ao3

“What’s it like to be in love?”

Sakura snorted and looked down at the man lying beside her against a tree log with the fire at his feet. “What makes you think I know what that’s like?”

Shikamaru had his eyes closed with his arms behind his head but peeked an eye at her. “Haven’t you been in love? I vividly remember you fawning after Sasuke for about ten years. You even dated after the war.”

“Yeah, fawning.” Sakura leaned back against the log, her eyes watching the fire dance in front of them. “That wasn’t what being in love feels like. Just some puppy love. We quickly realized that after a month of dating.”

Shikamaru hummed and then shrugged, closing his eyes again. “Then, humor me, what do you think being in love feels like?”

Sakura held back a chuckle, glancing at him. Campfires during a mission had an odd way of bringing out the most personal conversations as well as the weirdest ones. They sometimes reminded her of what you would whisper to your friend in the middle of a night during a sleepover.

Still, she hadn’t expected that kind of question from Shikamaru.

Sakura thought about the kinds of loves she’d had over her life. Her childhood friendship with Ino that had shattered only to be put back together like kintsugi years later. Puppy love with Sasuke that grew into something that suited them so much more. It was similar to the bond she had with Naruto, but still different. Though they all considered each other best friends, she knew in her heart she was closer to Naruto, that they had something that ran a little deeper. He was probably the closest she’d ever been to being in love, but her heart had never felt the need to cross over that line between friendship and romance.

She thought about her parents, a thin bond because of how distant they were but still strong because at the end of the day, they loved each other even though they didn’t really talk. The respect and love she had for Tsunade that made her look up to her but also worry after her. The love she had for Kakashi because while he hadn’t been the best sensei to her, he had tried and she knew he cared deeply about her.

She thought about the man next to her; a friend she’d always had but hadn’t grown close to until her twenties.

“I think falling in love… feels like falling,” Sakura finally said in a soft but sure voice.

Shikamaru snorted next to her and she laughed. “No, wait, really. Hear me out.”

Her eyes followed the smoke climbing into the air only to disappear between the branches above them. “Back home, there’s this waterfall that Ino and I like to go to when it gets too hot or we finally both have a day off. We always climb to the top of it and jump into the water below. It must be about fifty feet up. It still scares me at times, but I always have a smile when my feet leave the edge.”

She could feel his eyes on her, but he didn’t say anything. Sakura shifted to lay down, resting her head against the log and clasping her hands on her stomach as she looked up to the stars between the leaves. “I think it feels like that. The seconds it takes your feet to leave the ground are so slow, so drawn out, so scary. But then you leap, and you fall. It has this weird way of feeling like it last forever but is also incredibly short. It makes you lose your breath and scream with joy, your veins pumping with adrenaline. Then, you hit the water and all you know is water. It’s all there is; the bubbles above you, the waves your body creates, the water rushing around you. Your body adjusts its temperature to suit it. Your lungs burn in their search for air. It’s incredible. And then you swim to the surface to break for air. And that breath, that first breath, it’s something. I don’t know what, but it’s something. And the water clings to your eyelashes and drips from your hair, your skin soaks in it. And… you look back up at the cliff and all you can think about is falling again.”

Sakura didn’t know what made words continue to spill from her lips, but something did, and she felt herself continue. She didn’t think she’d ever been in love, but in a weird way, she felt like she knew. She felt like she could describe the feeling, barely able to give it a name.

“I think being in love isn’t very different. It has the same tell signs a crush might, hearts racing and blushing cheeks. But I also think it has this content to it. Like falling into someone’s arms knowing they’ll always catch you. Coming home on a cold day to sit by the fire, wrapped up in a blanket. The sound of someone’s voice relaxing that tension in your shoulders you hadn’t even realized was there. Just the assurance of having someone at your back, someone to come home to. I think it feels like sitting by a fire. Warm, inviting, comforting. But if you’re not careful and you trip, it’ll consume you, leaving burns across your skin, a reminder you’ll always have.”

Sakura’s voice became softer near the end, the night almost stealing the words with how quiet she had spoken. But Shikamaru had been listening to her, his eyes on her lips as they moved, speaking feelings she didn’t even know she had into the cool air.

Shikamaru replied quietly a moment after she finished when he was sure she wouldn’t say any more. He cleared his throat, his voice low. “Yeah, I think it feels a lot like that.”

***

“Sakura, I think I’m falling in love with you.”

Sakura’s head shot up at the words, her lips parted, and tongue raised to reply but with no sound coming out.

Shikamaru was leaning against the door to her office as casually as if he was inviting her out to have lunch with him. His hands were in his pockets, a small smile on his face as he looked at her.

Sakura felt like they locked eyes for hours in the time it took her to remember how to think. A medic ran down the hall behind Shikamaru and the sound of her footsteps seemed to snap her out of it.

“You – you what?” Sakura asked him eloquently. She felt like she wasn’t even there, like she was watching someone else’s life play out.

Shikamaru sighed and leaned off the doorway but didn’t come any more into her office. He still had that smile on his lips, but instead of being nervous it almost looked relieved? “Sorry, probably should’ve started with a hello or something.” Smartass. “I said, I think I’m falling in love with you.”

Sakura couldn’t take her eyes off his, still completely taken aback. She didn’t think she’d ever felt her heart pounding so hard in her ears before, it was like she was going deaf. Where the hell is all this coming from?

“Where the hell is all this coming from?”

Shikamaru snorted and raised an eyebrow at her. Sakura shook her head and finally managed to look away from him, realizing how insensitive that sounded. “Sorry, it’s just…” Her eyes begged her to go back to his face and she obliged. Her voice felt so small yet so loud in her tiny office. “Are you sure?”

He nodded and she watched as something softened in his expression. “Yeah, I am.”

Sakura looked down to her hands on her desk, at chipped nail polish and pale scars. Why? Her mouth forced words to come out even if she had no idea what to say. “Well, I – but – “ Apparently, it didn’t matter if they made sense or not.

His warm chuckle brought her eyes back to him and he gave her a shrug. “You don’t have to say anything, Sakura. I came here to tell you because I thought you should know. Not because I wanted a reply.”

Sakura opened her mouth to reply anyway and he stepped back into the hallway with a small wave. “I’ll see you later.”

Sakura felt numb as she watched his ponytail disappear from sight. She let him go even though she felt like she shouldn’t. But she didn’t know what to say.

Shikamaru was falling in love with her?

***

He didn’t mention it again, acting completely normal the next time she saw him. Sakura tried her best to do the same, still having no idea what to think about the whole thing. But she was too self-conscious about everything and started to wonder if it was only her or if he was teasing her.

“Sakura-chan…?” Naruto’s voice dragged her back to their conversation and her head snapped back to him, having been distracted by Shikamaru taking out his ponytail to fix it up again.

“Yes?”

Naruto gave her an odd look and waved the scroll in front of her. He chuckled and raised an eyebrow. “You gonna take the scroll?”

Sakura blushed and grabbed the scroll, seeing Shikamaru hide a smile behind his hand out of the corner of her eye. “Right.”

She read over the scroll as she tried to get a handle on herself, but Naruto had already explained most of it. She looked back to him after a minute. “Well, then, I’m going to – “

“Sakura-chan, are you alright?”

It was Shikamaru’s voice and Sakura looked over at his easy smile. She fought back a glare and smiled back. “Yes, Shikamaru.”

“You sure?”

She hummed in reply and tore her eyes back to Naruto, who was looking at her like he was trying to figure something out. Before he could, she told him, “I’ll go gather my team and head out then.”

He nodded and Sakura escaped the room, feeling heat rise on her cheeks.

***

“I came here to tell you because I thought you should know. Not because I wanted a reply.”

Sakura groaned as his voice drifted through her head again and buried her face into her pillow, debating if a muffled scream would scare her neighbors.

“I thought you should know.”

Why?

Why should she know if he didn’t expect her to do anything about it? He hadn’t acted any differently either. He hadn’t asked her out on a date, hadn’t tried to kiss her, hadn’t even reminded her. He was being so unfair.

Sakura wouldn’t deny that there was an attraction there. She also wouldn’t deny that she’d already felt something for him before he came into her office with a love confession spilling from his lips like red wine on white tile. But he had thrown her off before she had even worked out her own feelings and now, they were a complete mess.

She took a deep breath and let it out as she turned on her back, looking out the window by her bed. The sky was clear, and she could already hear Shikamaru complaining about there being no clouds to look at through the windows of the Hokage office. It made her smile despite how annoyed she was at him.

She sighed and sat up in her bed, combing her fingers through her hair. She said she was annoyed at him, but she really wasn’t. She was just confused and a little terrified if she was being honest. She didn’t want to jump into anything if she didn’t have a firm enough grasp of her feelings, especially with Shikamaru being so sure of his own he’d already gone and told her. She knew he’d told her he hadn’t wanted a reply, because he wanted her to think about it and hadn’t wanted to pressure her. He’d just wanted to get that weight off his chest, and she couldn’t be mad at him about it when he was being so patient with her.

She thought about that night by the campfire, about the waterfall.

She was already at the edge of the cliff, she just had to decide whether to jump or not.

***

No one thought anything of it when Shikamaru came up behind her and pressed against her back to place a bottle of sake in front of her at the table. They looked just like friends and it was perfectly normal for him to buy her a drink on one of their nights out. But they didn’t think to pay attention to how he leaned in close to her ear, how her breath hitched in her chest as he spoke in a low voice, “You know I hadn’t expected you to turn into a blushing mess after I told you that.”

Sakura leaned back into him, catching his knowing smirk and narrowing her eyes at him. “I have not turned into a blushing mess.”

He chuckled and sat in the seat beside her, his knee knocked against hers at the crowded table. He poured her a cup as the rest of their friends shook with laughter at a story Kiba was telling. The loudness of the bar felt muffled to her as she raised the cup to her lips, her eyes on Shikamaru’s. They were dark, filled with emotions she didn’t have the time to decipher. But she could see that deep affection there and it tightened around her chest like a noose.

A part of her warned they probably shouldn’t have this conversation here, surrounded by people who knew them too well with keen hearing. But rational thought left her, and it seemed it did for Shikamaru too.

His voice was quiet as he propped an elbow on the table and leaned his head in his hand. “I also didn’t want you to start avoiding me.”

The hurt that slipped into his voice cut at her and she shook her head, her eyes picking a crack in the wooden table to stare at. “I haven’t been avoiding you. I just needed some space to think.”

“I didn’t ruin anything, did I?”

He sounded so small and Sakura’s eyes went back to him to see a nervous smile. She leaned towards him, a hand on his knee. “No. No, Shikamaru, you didn’t.”

He nodded, looking relieved and took a sip from his own drink, glancing away from her. Sakura swallowed thickly as she thought about how beautiful he looked under the warm light of the bar. He didn’t ask her what she had thought about, if she had decided anything.

Sakura felt the words tumble out of her mouth without her permission. “Have you been holding back?”

He looked back to her and raised an eyebrow. Sakura repeated the question, “Have you been holding yourself back all this time? Waiting for me?”

His lips parted to answer, and he hesitated before saying, “Sakura – “

“I don’t want you to hold back anymore.” Sakura was more aware of her hand still on his knee, her fingers curling into the fabric of his pants as her heart forgot to beat in a steady rhythm.

He laughed softly, shaking his head. His voice dropped an octave as he leaned closer to her so no one else could hear. “What’re you trying to say, Sakura? Do you want me to start seducing you or something?”

Pink dusted her cheeks and she watched as he smiled in response. She bit her lip and looked away from him, wrapping her fingers around her sake cup. “I… just don’t want you to hold yourself back.”

Her heart pounded in her chest in the seconds before he replied.

“I won’t.”

She felt his hand cover hers under the table and Sakura turned her hand up so he could lace his fingers through hers. His grip on her kept her steady at the same time it made her dizzy.

***

Sakura debated knocking on the door even as the guard eyed her curiously. It was lunch time, surely, he could step away for a moment…

She bit her lip and finally knocked on the door. Naruto’s voice called out a second later to come in. She took a steadying breath before turning the handle.

Naruto looked up at her with a smile as he marked over a scroll in front of him. “Hey, Sakura-chan.”

Sakura smiled back and walked over to him, reaching across the desk to straighten his hat that had gone askew. She raised an eyebrow at him. “Hey, Naruto-sama. Not overworking yourself, are you?”

He shrugged with a small grin. “Trying not to. Was there something you needed?”

Sakura leaned back and glanced at Shikamaru who’d been watching her with a quiet smile. “I was going to ask Shikamaru if he’d had lunch yet.”

Naruto chuckled and answered for him, something almost teasing in his voice. “He hasn’t.”

Sakura smiled and looked back to Naruto. “Mind if I steal him away then?”

Naruto waved a hand. “Go for it.”

Sakura looked over as Shikamaru stood up from his desk and came over to her with a smile. “Well, since it’s already been decided for me.”

She rolled her eyes at him, her heart skipping a beat as he slid his hand to her lower back. She waved to Naruto as they walked out of the office. “Later, Naruto!”

They were quiet as they strolled into the street and then, Shikamaru asked her, “Not that I’m complaining, but why the surprise visit?”

Sakura leaned into him, wrapping her arm around his and resting her head against his shoulder. “I just wanted to see you.” She closed her eyes as she thought about the surgery that had lasted four hours only to end with a sobbing widow in her arms. She let out a breath and opened her eyes again, telling him quietly, “I had a rough morning.”

He moved his arm to slip around her waist, holding her close to him. Sakura felt a kiss press into her hair. His voice was soft. “We can go to that sweet shop you like after we have lunch.”

Sakura laughed lightly, relaxing in his hold as she wrapped an arm around him. “Okay.”

***

Sakura hadn’t meant to start a fight in the middle of the street.

But she did.

“I hate when you do that!”

Shikamaru huffed, his hands in his pockets. “Sakura, it’s really not – “

“What? That big of a deal?” She crossed her arms over her chest, her voice rising as her eyebrow twitched angrily. “You are such an asshole! Is it too much to ask for you to come see me when you’re injured?”

“Sakura, I was fine.”

Sakura had a half a mind to hoist him up by his vest and throw him into a wall and see if he was fine then. She pointed a finger at him. “A long gash across your chest is not fine! I cannot believe you let Naruto be the one to tell me! And you just let some guard with zero medical training stitch it up for you, slap a bandage on it, and call it good. And didn’t even bother to tell me?”

“It wasn’t that – “

Sakura interrupted him, waving a hand angrily, her chest shaking. “No. I’m done. I don’t want to hear any more.”

She turned on her heel and started to walk away from him when she felt her muscles stop as she was about to take another step. Sakura’s jaw clenched as she looked down at her foot going back to the ground against her own will. “Shikamaru,” she warned.

He released her a second later and Sakura conceded, crossing her arms over her chest and remaining still. She knew he wasn’t going to let her walk away from him and guilt crawled up her throat that she’d let her anger push her to. He came up behind her, putting his hands on her arms. “Sakura, I’m sorry I didn’t tell you. I didn’t want you to worry.”

Sakura closed her eyes as she felt tears start to build up. She shook her head, feeling her shoulders start to shake. She hated how her voice cracked. “I was being stupid and thought you wouldn’t get hurt on a diplomatic mission. I… didn’t like the reminder.”

Shikamaru moved in front of her, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her to him. Sakura leaned her head against his chest, hugging him tightly. “You’re not an asshole either. I’m sorry.”

He chuckled and Sakura felt more tears run down her cheeks. She really should be used to this by now, she’d been a shinobi for over ten years and fought in a war. Shikamaru pinched her chin and brought her face up. He smiled at her as his thumb moved to wipe her tears away. “You’re going to ruin your makeup crying over me.”

Sakura glared at him without any heat and he leaned down to kiss the tears away on her cheekbone. Affection welled up in her chest and it was almost hard to breathe. Sakura moved to kiss his cheek and then buried her face into the crook of his neck, holding him close.

“I’ll tell you next time.”

“Thank you.”

She could finally breathe.

***

Sakura’s feet dragged her to her office, thinking about how much she couldn’t wait until she could take her coat off, go home, and sink into a warm bath. She sighed as she opened her door and then paused as she stepped into the small room.

Sakura’s chest felt tight, a smile tugging at her tired lips as she walked over to the bouquet of flowers on her desk. There was a card propped up next to it and Sakura grabbed it gently, recognizing the handwriting immediately – not that she’d had any doubt about who they was from.

Three simple words were scrawled across it.

“I love you.”

Sakura laughed lightly, setting the card against a photo frame of Tsunade and Shizune on her desk. She picked up the flowers and inhaled them, thinking back to the man that had leaned against her door months before telling her the same thing.

***

Sakura groaned as he took another one of her pieces. “Damn it.”

Shikamaru chuckled and consoled her, “You still have a chance to beat me. Don’t worry.”

“Oh, shut up.” Sakura narrowed her eyes at him, fighting back a smile. “I won’t let you psych me out.”

He snorted and Sakura leaned back after moving another piece. Her eyes went to Shikamaru’s face as he thought about his next move – well, his move in another dozen turns. She liked the concentration of his brow, how his lips twisted as he thought. She laid her leg out beside the table to knock her foot against his knee, smiling at the turn of his lips as he glanced at her. “And I won’t let you distract me, Sakura.”

Sakura laughed, her stomach twisting as he brought a hand down to wrap around her ankle, his thumb stroking the skin there.

They’d been doing this more, spending more time together in the comfort of their homes; cooking dinner, playing shoji, watching a movie. Sakura enjoyed it more than she expected to, selfishly wanting him to herself with no one else around to be sharing in the smiles he only gave her.

He finished the game in a few more moves and Sakura huffed pretending to be annoyed. She playfully glared at him and he leaned back on his hands with a smile. “You’ll beat me someday, Sakura-chan. You just need more practice.”

Sakura rolled her eyes, her heart racing in her chest at his beautiful smile, the dimple in his cheek. Without even thinking, she moved the shoji table out of the way and moved towards him. He raised an eyebrow at her but before he could say anything she had crawled into his lap, wrapping her arms around his neck and pressing her lips against his.

His arms wrapped around her to pull her impossibly closer as he kissed her back. Sakura sighed against him and moved a hand to his shoulder to push him down, chasing his lips as she did so. Shikamaru laughed and pulled her down with him to the floor.

***

“I thought I’d find you here.”

Sakura looked up at the sound of his voice, barely audible over the rushing waterfall. She smiled but didn’t move from her spot, her legs dangling over the edge of the cliff. “I was just thinking.”

“About me?” He teased with a raised eyebrow as he walked towards her.

Sakura chuckled and answered honestly, “Yes.”

His smile was almost nervous as he stopped beside her, looking over the clear water below them. She wondered if he was thinking about that night by the campfire. “Yeah? And what were you thinking about me, Sakura?”

Sakura smiled and looked out over the edge, almost able to see the tops of the trees from this high up.

Her chest felt light and she understood why Shikamaru had said it all those months ago.

“About how I’m falling in love with you.”

She could feel his eyes on her and looked up to see that warm smile of his. She stood up and he’d tugged her to him a second later, his lips welcoming against hers. She kissed him for a moment and then stepped out of his arms. She grabbed his hand and pulled him near the edge.

“Jump with me.”

She relished in the sound of his laugh as he looked at her in surprise. “Sakura, we’re fully clothed.”

“We don’t have to be.” She glanced at him with a teasing smile as she unzipped the side of her skirt.

He sighed but Sakura caught his smile as he slipped off his sandals.

She held her hand out to him a minute later and he laced their fingers together. She met his warm eyes, filled with a deeper affection than she’d seen that night in the bar. Her heart beat out of rhythm and she raised an eyebrow, excitement bubbling in her chest.

“On the count of three?”

He nodded and squeezed her hand as they stepped closer to the edge.

“One…”

“Two…”

“Three!”

#4.4k #shikasakuweek #shikasakuweek202 #shikasaku #kat writes #day six #i need you (like air in my lungs)#romance #getting together #fluff #i think this one is my favorite of the week next to tomorrows

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ravenandwritingdesks · 4 years

Text

Affinity Sneak Peek

Here’s a sneak peek at a future chapter in Affinity my AU anthology. The theme of this one is dark versus light.

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Illuminated

Where eternal daylight brushes against eternal night

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Warm air dances across the illuminated skin of outstretched arms, carrying the sound of festive music. The constant sunlight pools around a lithe body, bouncing off the radiant silver of the leaves. The girl in the tree could stay this way forever, basking in the warmth of her world. Everything is light, calming, uplifting, even the bark of the branch she lies upon is smooth.

“Sakura!” A voice calls.

Eyelids flutter open, gently, squinting at the bright world around her. Hanging high in the sky, the golden light of the sun rains down around her.

“I know your up there,” the voice teases, prompting her to peer down from her perch. She’s met with a blinding smile and brilliant blue eyes visible despite the great distance between where he stands and her height in the great tree.

“Very informal of you, Guardian Naruto,” Sakura responds, faking a pretentious tone. She sees her guardian’s body shake as he chuckles at her jest.

“My apologies,” he bends down in a mock bow, his shining blonde hair falling in his eyes “Princess.”

Rolling her eyes, Sakura returns her head to its previous position, staring up at the intricate network of white branches. A giggle escapes the content girl as a pleasant breeze makes the glowing leaves dance around her. The wispy fabric of her dress lifts around her body, creating a beautiful illusion of looking through a wedding veil.

“Come back to the festival, Sakura,” Naruto calls up. “It’s tradition for the royal princesses and their chosen guardians to share the last dance.”

“Celebrating the entrapment of our people does not appease me,” she responds, not looking back down at the man sworn to protect her. “Besides, you’re a horrible dancer.”

“Aw, no need to be rude,” his words sound hurt, but the princess of light knows that her young companion is just teasing. “And the establishment of the walls is not an entrapment, it’s a gift, allowing us to be protected from the beasts on the other side.”

She does not need a history lesson, she’s heard the story a million times. It begins with a past, so war torn and bloody that the creatures of light were forced to live in hiding. The fear was so great, her people could not even trust their shadows, for the enemy embodied them. So her ancestors did what they thought best and fled to the safety of the wall.

Sakura has never seen the monsters that inhabit the other side, but she’s heard of their imposing presence. The darkness clothes them, snuffing out the shine of her illuminated people. Their eyes glow red, as consequence of living in the shadows and along with the monsters they’ve trained to ravage their enemies, they are a force to be reckoned with. The drawings of such creatures within her dwelling’s ancient library gave the young princess nightmares for a week. Only the building of the barrier could spare her world from such horrors. Of course, that occurred long ago, sparing her from ever having to witness their much talked about enemy.

She stares up at the imposing wall directly beside her beloved tree. The shiny gold surface taunts her, practically begging her to peer over its great height. Perhaps that is why she loves this tree, it fuels her curiosity, bringing her almost close enough to see what’s on the other side. She’s been coming here almost everyday for as long as she can remember, climbing as high as she dare numerous times, but it’s never been quite high enough to peer into the other world. It’s not like she’s discontent with her current life, quite the opposite in fact. She loves this place she calls home, with its luminescent people, eternal sunlight, and constant warmth, however, something about the unknown has always tempted her to take a peak at the darkness.

“You can’t stay up there all night!” Naruto calls out to her once again.

Little did he know that she’s done it plenty of times before, he’s not the most observant guardian at times. However, the eagerness in his voice causes her to surrender her stubbornness and stand. Though the sun maintains its permanent place in the center of the sky, she knows that the day has been long, and her people will be retiring to their beds the moment the festivities have ceased. Taking a minute to fix her wind-ruffled hair, she gazes up at the tree one more time. As she begins to position herself to climb down though, something unusual catches her eye.

There, towards the very top of the looming vegetation is a branch that had never been there before. It’s longer than the other branches, protruding towards the wall. No, it doesn’t just reach towards the wall, but it is high enough that it surpasses it.

This is it, this is what she has always wanted, a glimpse at the unknown. Before her brain even processes what’s happening, she’s climbing. Higher and higher she goes, bare feet and fingers finding holds in the natural knots on the smooth white wood.

“Sakura, you’re going too high!” She hears her companion exclaim. Tuning him out, she continues her ascension. She’s so close she can almost feel it. The gold bangles around her wrists and ankles jangle with her rapid movements and the ground moves further and further away as the top of the wall comes into view.

Naruto, having caught on to what the young girl is planning, begins his own attempt at scrambling up the tree. “Sakura, stop!” he cries, but his sense of balance is not as good as hers. He struggles to heave himself up and missteps on a limb, causing him to tumble back to the beginning. “You don’t want to do this! It’s dangerous!” His panic at the situation prompts him to attempt the treacherous climb once again.

Being higher than she’s ever been before, the young princess should have some sense of fear as she reaches the mysterious branch, however, her sense of accomplishment is stronger and quells all other emotions. The branch is smooth and sturdy, reaching impossibly far. One golden foot passes in front of the other and soon enough, the top of the wall is underneath the princess. The top of the blockade is thicker than she thought possible, comparable to the size of the street the town’s market lies upon. The tree is so great though, the branch passes this expanse and more.

Sakura hesitates, if she takes one step further, she’ll be standing over the darkness, the unknown. Perhaps she should turn back, however, she considers this only a moment before her curiosity gets the better of her. A few more inches are all that stands between her and the biggest mystery of her life, what her ancestors so long ago wanted to hide from. She hears Naruto calling at her to turn around, but she can’t be bothered by his distraction, she’s so close.

Mind made up, she takes another step. However, as her foot comes down to land on the branch, it slips. Green eyes widen at the realization of what’s happening. Her guardian screams her name, but it’s drowned out by the rushing of wind as her glowing body plummets to the ground.

xxxxxxxxx

The traveler wraps the dark furs around his body as the cold wind whips brutally around him. Though he is thankful for the time away from the main village, Sasuke is looking forward to finishing his rounds and warming by the fire. Wanting time to himself, he had sent the rest of the party back that morning, claiming he could finish the inspection of this span of the wall on his own. After all, in his years of traveling the distance of the hulking barricade, nothing has ever changed.

Despite his large load, the dark-haired man moves silently over the snow. Survival instinct and the reliance on hunting for food forced him to hone skills such as this early on in his life. As he passes the expanse of solid grey stone, his head roves over the turmoil waiting for him back at the council. With the outskirt villages beginning to fight, everybody is on edge, though Sasuke can’t blame them for their desperate attempts; there is not much else to do when people start running out of food.

He begins to turn away from the wall, ready to start the four-day long journey back to his home when something strange catches his eye. There, peaking out from behind a snow drift is a hint of pink. Not entirely sure of what this could be, Sasuke moves cautiously around the mound of white.

What greets him on the other side surprises him, causing dark eyebrows to pitch up in confusion; a woman lying face up in the snow. However, she does not look like any of the villagers or tribesmen in the area. The source of the pink is the great lengths of hair that fan out around her face messily while a purple jewel rests between closed eyes. Though it is obvious the girl is unconscious, her body wracks with shivers unsurprisingly due to her thin clothing. Other than the flimsy wisps of white that rest from the top of her chest to just below her hip bones, the only items covering her skin are delicate golden chains that loop from her middle finger to her dainty wrists. However, the most striking feature that designates her as different is the way her skin glows, casting a golden light in the otherwise darkened world. He blinks, wondering if the long week in the outskirts is causing his brain to play tricks on him, but no, the illumination remains.

Glancing up, Sasuke wonders how this creature of light happened to tumble into the darkness, nobody has ever passed over the wall from either side. He would know, after all, a crucial part of his job is to inspect the wall for any possible means of penetration. Inspecting the stagnant smooth grey, he finds no break in the unforgiving stone. She must have fallen from the top, but how did she get up there?

Making a split decision, Sasuke gathers the shaking girl in his arms and begins walking, the council must know of her presence.

Xxxxxxx

Consciousness begins to slowly ebb at Sakura’s mind as her eyelashes flutter open. At least she thinks they flutter open… why is it still so dark. Trying to remember what had happened before she fell asleep, she cycles through the day: the festival, the tree, the wall… Her eyes widen as she remembers slipping.

Jolting upright she realizes she’s in a small canvas tent with some sort of softness covering her body.

No, no, no, no, she thinks to herself. This is impossible.

Starting to panic, she searches blindly for some sort of escape from the tiny structure and manages to find a slit making up a crude entryway. Bursting from the tent, she starts running, barely taking in her surroundings. Tall spiny trees, strange white stuff everywhere, the wall… where’s the wall? Adrenaline rushes through her veins as panic sets in her heart. She turns her body every which way until she finally locates an area where the endless trees grow thin. Running towards it, an expansive structure begins to take form.

Knees fall to the ground at what lies ahead. Confusion washes over Sakura as she takes in the sight of the wall made of dull grey stone. This isn’t right. Where is the gold? As her rush of energy leaves her, she notices her body shivering uncontrollably. What’s happening to her? What is this strange stuff on the ground? It resembles the soft down on young birds yet makes her legs tingle uncomfortably.

The feeling of a hand grasping her shoulder causes a renewed sense of panic to fill her body. Slowly she turns and is met with a tall creature, their distorted shape covered with dark fur. Her eyes travel up the strange being. It stands like a human, however, the sight of its face causes a small scream to irrupt from Sakura’s throat. Instead of a mouth or nose there is a great shadow of darkness and its eyes, oh its eyes, they practically glow a deep crimson.

“Stop that,” a muffled voice instructs, but her fear and her cries drown it out.

A hand comes up and removes what must have been some type of covering to reveal a perfectly normal mouth and nose. “I said stop yelling.”

Sakura silences, staring peculiarly up at her companion.

“What’s happening?” she gasps out, panic welling up within her. This isn’t right, this can’t be real.

Taking in her surroundings, she realizes there is so much more wrong with this world than she originally realized. Her hands grasp onto the strange feathers littering the ground. No, wait, it isn’t like feathers at all. It’s something that crunches when she moves her hand over it and causes her body to shiver. Her eyelids flutter upward only to be met with something she’s never witnessed before, darkness. The sky above her is discolored, not the typical light blue that reminds her of Naruto’s eyes, but a deep sapphire, so dark it appears black. The sun also looks different almost as if it’s sick. Rather than the golden color that usually shines down, it’s much less bright, dimmed by a pale pallor.

“Here,” the man, at least she believes he’s a man, removes the fur from his body and places it around her shoulders. The sight is discomforting, after all, she’s never seen the skin of another creature used as a covering. She doesn’t let it bother her too much though as the her body instantly stills the little convulsions as the delicious heat envelopes her.

Staring up at the strange person, she takes in his shocking appearance. Hair that matches the strange sky above them frames his face while the rest frays out behind him. His eyes are the same disconcerting red color, with strange symbols lazily spinning inside them, but what she finds most strange is his skin. It’s pale, as if the darkness of this world has prevented it the shine that adorns her own. It’s staggering and gives him a disconcerting aura, as if she has no business even being in his presence.

“How did you get here?” he asks gruffly, hoisting her up by the arm he still grasps in a gloved hand.

She hesitates. This man is so foreign to her and obvious not from the shining world of Konoha, the elders would not approve of her speaking to her. However, she feels as if there’s no choice, given her current situation.

“I fell.”

#my writings #sasusaku #sasusaku fanfiction #naruto fanfiction #affinity

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pain-somnia · 5 years

Text

halloweenanigans

Pairing(s)/Characters: SasoObi, ShiItaIzu, implied future SasuSaku, Ino, Kiba, and Naruto Rating: T Disclaimer Day’s Notes: written for the fabulous, oh-so-amazing, and extremely wonderful @thatshipcat to celebrate their birthday-week! This fic is set in the same modern au setting as Konoha TV Cryptid and can be seen as a sort of prequel. Here is a Halloween fic that I hope you all find funny and sweet.

AO3

Halloweenanigans

Sighing to himself, Sasori wiped off the makeup that had taken him a great deal of effort to apply. The painstakingly applied makeup had given him the appearance of one of the glassy eyed ventriloquist dummies from an old horror movie.

When he had first decided on his costume for Halloween he had expected to be dragged to parties by his boyfriend━parties he knew he would get bored of, but he could easily persuade Obito to duck out early.

What he hadn’t expected was to be stuck on babysitting duty.

Sasori was aware that his makeup was unnerving and would freak children out. If he had known that he would be around children at any point on Halloween he would have reconsidered his costume for the night.

If he had known.

Opening the door to the apartment, Sasori had expected to see his boyfriend not a gaggle of children. What soon followed was a high pitched shriek and then a swift kick to the shin from a blonde eight year old that came to the defense of her friend with peculiar hair coloring.

The same eight year old was sitting on one of his bar stools and swinging her little legs as she waited patiently for him and his supplies.

“So you just want whiskers?” Sasori asked her, setting up his multi-tiered makeup box.

“Please,” she pleaded bashfully, averting her gaze. She had apologized earlier for the attack and wouldn’t look him in the eye out of shame.

“Are you sure, Ino? He can make you a real snout.” Obito was currently reattaching one of the multiple tails to another blond brat’s costume. “He’s really good at it.”

“How did you get stuck on babysitting duty, again?”

“Stuck? I volunteered!”

“Of course you did,” Sasori muttered looking around his neat living room. At the moment Obito’s cousin and the tiny girl with rose gold hair were sitting calmly on his couch but the brown haired kid dressed like a dog was fidgeting as he looked around the room.

He better not break anything...

Looking down at Ino’s cat ears, Sasori took out a pot of gel eye liner and instructed the girl to close her eyes and tilt her chin up. There was a glimmer in her eyes when she saw the makeup kit and she sat still as a statue and did as asked.

“Can I get glitter too?” Ino asked━shame tossed completely out the window━as soon as Sasori was done lining her eyes to make them more cat like. The pale blue of her irises really worked with the cat costume.

Dusting the area around her eyes with more white face paint to give the texture of fur, he considered the placement of glitter on her faux cat markings. “Sure.”

Ino had barely slid off the barstool when the puppy kid had braced his hands on the seat of it and in one fluid motion, jumped up and seated himself.

“Can you make it look like I have a giant scar going across my face?”

“That’s not part of the theme, Kiba!” Ino stomped her foot, hands on her hips.

“Naruto has like nine tails on him and no one has said anything about that!”

The two of them began to bicker, but Sasori was sure he heard Obito’s cousin mutter “I definitely did.”

Getting through the makeup for all of the kids, it wasn’t hard to notice the animal theme the kids went for. Or in the smallest child’s case, a yokai. Obito had even joined them and had the adult version of his cousin’s wolf costume.

Using his skills as a makeup artist was at least more amusing than watching a bunch of grad students give themselves alcohol poisoning.

“A heads up would have been nice.”

“Aww,” Obito threw an arm around Sasori’s shoulders, “you can always go as Little Red. Ow!”

Leaving him with the kids in the living room, Sasori headed back to his bedroom. He was sure that he had a kid friendly costume in his closet.

Sasori narrowed his eyes at his boyfriend. Obito would sneak peeks at him as they walked, the corners of his mouth twitching upwards.

“Not a word,” Sasori hissed, the cat ears on his head twitching in sync with his right eye.

Unfortunately for him, he didn’t have anything that would have been quick to put together and the fox boy and puppy kid were already complaining about how the sun had set. He changed into some easy to move in street clothes and grabbed his brainwave cat ears.

Trick or treating wasn’t that bad, mostly a lot of walking. Whether it was the promise of candy or refusal to show any exhaustion, the primary school kids dragged him and Obito across several blocks.

“Isn’t this the cousin that hates candy?” Sasori asked, watching the little wolf throw something from his bag at the fox kid’s face.

“Sasuke? Yeah. He’ll probably end up giving most of that candy to Sakura.” Obito unwrapped a lollipop and stuck it in his mouth. “Usually he gives his candy to Itachi because no one gives it out to teenagers anymore but he’s pissed off at him right now.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah, I volunteered to take him, Kiba, and Naruto trick or treating because Itachi decided he wanted to go out with his friends this year.”

“And the bunny and cat?”

“Sakura goes where Sasuke goes and Ino goes where Sakura goes.”

And as if on cue, there was Sasuke offering a marshmallow treat to the bunny girl, right before Ino knocked him out of her way by bumping him with her hip and offering Sakura a chocolate bar from her own bag. Ino hooked her arm with Sakura’s and they skipped to the next house.

“She’s not going to make his life easy,” Obito snickered. The smile slid off of his face when the man at the next house pulled the bowl of candy away from Sasuke. “What the hell?”

“The kid is pretty tall for his age. He probably thinks that he’s a teen—and there he goes.”

Ino and Sakura came running back to him as they watched Obito give the older man a piece of his mind.

“Should we stop him?” Sakura asked him, tugging on the sleeve of his jacket.

“Obito’s fine.”

“Oh, not him.” Ino pointed in a different direction, a smile spreading across her face.

Sasori cocked his head to the side and observed the scene in front of them. Sasuke was now pinching the bridge of his nose in embarrassment. Obito was too busy arguing with the owner of the house to notice that Naruto had grabbed the giant jack o’ lantern from the front yard until it was too late.

He lifted it over his head and with more strength than Sasori would expect from a ten year old, Naruto threw it, smashing it against the garage door. Kiba let out a battle cry and copied his action with another pumpkin.

“Hey!” The house owner shouted. “I’m calling the cops, you brats.”

“Ha! You think that scares me?” Kiba mocked him as Obito scooped him up over his shoulder. “My mom is a cop.”

Sasori wrapped his arms around Ino and Sakura’s waists and lifted them up, carrying them under his arms as he followed Obito across the street and around the corner. The girls shrieked and giggled the whole way.

“Can I get a slushie?” Ino clasped her hands behind her back and batted her eyelashes up at Sasori. She nudged Sakura with her elbow and the girl mirrored her actions.

“You have enough sugar. You can get water.”

They found a convenience store to use the restroom and to find some supplies to fix Naruto’s costume again. He kept smacking everyone with his tails and Sasuke grew fed up with it and ripped the tails off.

“We’ll share the slushie,” Ino insisted.

Sasori crossed his arms in front of his chest, not falling for the cutesy act. “If I’m paying, you get water. If you want a slushie, you buy it.”

“Ugh, fine.” Ino pulled out a smartphone from her hoodie pocket and pulled out a credit card from the card pocket attached to the case.

What the hell? Sasori shook his head. He didn’t want to meet the parent that gave a ten year old an iPhone, let alone a credit card. He watched as Ino dragged Sakura behind an aisle and then immediately turned back, blue eyes wide.

“What happened?” Sasori demanded.

“N-nothing.” Both girls cheeks were flushed red.

I swear to God if it’s a flasher…

Sasori turned the corner around the aisle and stopped dead in his tracks. “Oh, you’ve gotta be kidding me. Oi!”

Obito’s other younger cousin blinked at him, pulling away from a brown haired girl and a curly haired boy that had his arms wrapped around his waist from behind.

“Really? At a 7-Eleven?” Sasori scrunched his face up in disgust. “Love yourself. Have some class.”

“Wait,” Itachi’s eyes widened in recognition, “if you’re here—“

“This is the prior engagement you had?” Obito snickered, his head poking out from over the shelves of chips. “If you wanted to go on a date, you could have just said so.”

Sasori snorted and crossed his arms in front of his chest. “I wouldn’t call this a date. Making out in front of the slushie machine, really? So classy.”

“Brings back memories huh, Sasori?” Sasori rubbed his brow with his index finger and thumb. “He gets hangry when he’s high. You guys don’t have the munchies do you?”

The three teenagers looked from Obito and then back down to Sasori━seriously, what was with the Uchiha family and being so tall?━eyes wide and stammering. Itachi blinked owlishly from behind his glasses but then looked around.

“You’re not high right now, are you Obito? You have my brother with you! You do have him with you, right?”

Obito blew a raspberry and then ducked down. There was a growling sound and a protest and then Sasuke was lifted up in the air above the shelves. “See? All in one piece.”

“Can you put me down now?”

“Aww, don’t you want to see your brother?” Obito asked, setting him back down.

“No, he’s a traitor,” Sasuke’s voice carried down the aisle as he stomped away.

Itachi at least had the decency to hang his head in defeat. Sasori rolled his eyes and went looking for his charges for the night. Ino was loud but she and Sakura were a lot easier to deal with than Kiba and Naruto. Speaking of, the two of them had been quiet for a while now…

There was a loud popping sound and then a pair of cackles. There was the sound of liquid splashing everywhere and one of the shop employees started shouting.

No. Nope, not dealing with that. Sasori turned in the opposite direction of the noise and grabbed Sakura and Ino’s hands. Sasuke jogged alongside them, following them right out of the store.

“Hey!” Ino whined. “I didn’t get my slushie!”

“That was Naruto wasn’t it?” Sakura asked, grabbing onto Sasuke’s hand to make sure he went around the corner with them as Sasori dragged them as far from the 7-Eleven as possible.

“The idiot said there wasn’t enough tricks happening tonight.”

“I’m choking him with his own tails later,” Sakura growled.

Well, alright then. Sasori did a double take, shocked that the threat had come from the child that had been the most quiet the whole night. The baby of the group is a lot darker than previously believed to be.

“We left Obito behind,” Sasuke informed him.

“Every man for himself.” Sasori chose not to remind him that he had also left behind his friends and his older brother.

He probably didn’t really care about his older brother and his “cousins” at the moment. Sasori was going to have to ask Obito how they were all related again. He knew that he and Sasuke were definitely related because Obito was a little more doting than was healthy and even had a collection of baby photos.

They were probably going to have to have a discussion about that as well if the relationship was going to go any further than the four months they already dated.

The ten year old smirked up at him, “you know what, you’re okay. I approve.”

“I wasn’t looking for your approval.” Sasuke simply shrugged.

“You got it anyway.”

Sasori made himself busy folding candy wrappers into different shapes for Sakura’s entertainment. She was clearly the only kid of the group worth wasting time on—Obito’s favoritism towards his baby cousin ignored of course.

He had only been in her presence for a few hours but it was obvious the little beauty queen had Obito’s cousin and Naruto wrapped around her little finger. It was something he had to respect just a bit.

“Okay, kiddos,” Obito addressed them all cheerily. “Where to next?”

“Don’t they have a curfew?”

“Nope!” Ino popped a bubble. Somehow all of the candy with gum ended up in her possession. “We’re all sleeping over at Sasuke’s.”

“What!?” Naruto shrieked. “Since when is Ino staying over?”

“Since Sakura asked.” Ino tossed her ponytail over her shoulder haughtily, fists balled at her hips.

“You got a problem, Naruto?” Sakura shook her little fist in his direction and the boy cowered, throwing his hands over his head.

“No, not at all.”

“God, you’re whipped,” Kiba snickered. His words though were directed to Sasuke who was sitting on the curb a little away from the rest of them.

“Shut up, Kiba.” Ino rolled her eyes. “There’s no such thing as being whipped.”

Kiba blew a raspberry at her. “It’s the whole reason we have an animal theme this year. ‘Cause someone gets cold easily and someone else went along with it.”

Oh. Sasori observed the way Sasuke’s ears turned a shade of red. His eyes shifted to Sakura who definitely was wearing the warmest costume, being the fluffy bunny and all.

“So how long are we going to be stuck with the kids?” Sasori asked Obito over the squawking of the children. As...cute...as they were, time with them was dragging on and he had plans for the way he wanted the night to end. “Kind of wanted to do some...things later.”

“Oh, really?” Obito gave him a cheeky grin. Wrapping an arm around his shoulders, he pulled Sasori closer, leaning in to—

“There are children present.” Sasori palmed Obito’s face and pushed him away.

“You’re just being a tease,” Obito whined. “Not like they would even notice.”

It was true. The kids weren’t even paying attention to them. The five of them were in their own little world, crowding Ino’s smartphone. Naruto lunged for the phone, exclaiming about something, but was pushed back by the other kids.

Sasori still couldn’t believe the stuff the brat had done in only a few hours. Bless his mother. Sasori could only imagine how difficult it was to deal with him 365 days of the year.

“This night has turned me off of kids.”

Obito scoffed and rolled his eyes. “You don’t mean that.”

“No, I’m serious. These kids are walking advertisements for birth control.”

Obito exhaled a laugh through his nose. “Love the kid, but I’m pretty sure Sasuke wasn’t planned.”

“Well, fortunately we won’t have that problem in the future. Can’t accidentally adopt a kid.”

Obito cradled his chin with his hand, his elbow propped on his knee. “Oh, we won’t will we?”

“Wipe that smirk off of your face.” Sasori pursed his lips and narrowed his eyes. He would have to deal with that cocky grin later. “I’ve tolerated you for four months already, who’s to say I won’t tolerate you for longer.”

“Tolerating me is what you’ve been doing, huh?” Obito snickered. “I feel so loved.”

“Oh, shut up.” This time Sasori only rolled his eyes as Obito wrapped an arm around his shoulder and pulled him closer.

At times it could be overwhelming, the intensity that Obito loved. It was a completely new experience and although it was nerve wracking the first few weeks of their courtship, the two had settled into an easy rhythm. It took Obito a week to leave his bed after their first night; Sasori should have taken that as a sign of how things would turn out for them.

“If you’re done flirting,” Ino approached them, features cooled into a business like appearance, “we want to go to the haunted house.”

“What? You haven’t committed enough minor criminal acts for one night?” Sasori eyed the shrimpy blond kid. “Vandalism and theft not enough, we have to add breaking and entering?”

“Hey! I bought those mints and that cola.” Naruto’s face scrunched up into an ugly pout before it finally dawned on him what Sasori had said. “There’s a real haunted house!?”

“Okay, down boy.” Ino grabbed Naruto by the scruff of his neck and kept him from tackling the adults in his excitement. “We’re not going to some abandoned house, we’re going much more commercial here. There’s a haunted house set up nearby that we technically can’t go to unless we have adults with us.”

“That doesn’t sound reassuring.”

“Sounds fun!” Obito stood up, pulling Sasori up with him. “Where is it?”

“Can I talk to you for a sec?” Sasori tugged on Obito’s hand until they were a far enough distance from the kids that they could speak in private while still keeping an eye on them. “Obito it’s late. We should be taking them back to your aunt’s house and then we should be going back to my apartment.”

“Come on,” Obito pleaded, “it will be fun! And it will be the last thing we do tonight with the kids. Besides, I’m sure that they’ll probably chicken out before we even go inside.”

“Last thing?”

“Yep!”

“And then we go home?”

“And we can do whatever you want.” Obito winked. “Come on. It will be quick and then we’ll be home before you know it.”

Obito was avoiding looking at him. Whenever they caught each other’s eyes he would grin sheepishly and rub the back of his neck and then go back to looking at the bars of the holding cell.

“Home before we know it, huh?” Sasori hissed from his seat on the bench. The cell was extremely full, but one look from him and the previous occupant had vacated the seat.

Obito wasn’t as lucky and was forced to stand in a corner. He used his position to keep an eye on the kids whom were sitting on a bench at the opposite side of the room.

“Let’s be fair. I’m not the reason we had the cops called on us.”

“But I’m not the reason we were in that stupid haunted house in the first place!” Sasori ran his hands down his face and sighed. He would gladly take idiot grad students and their keg stands right now.

The haunted house had been a stupid idea. It wasn’t as terrifying as Sasori had expected, but then again a group of ten year olds and one nine year old were probably going to be more afraid than he was considering he was used to more horrifying special effects and makeup. It came with his job.

The screaming he could handle. The hand holding wasn’t so bad. Sasori had spent most of the night holding hands with the little girls anyway. It was when a little hand had disappeared from his grasp that he had began to panic.

Sakura had screamed a moment later and Sasori found her being carried away by one of the performers. Which was how he and Obito now found themselves in a holding cell at the police station.

“What are you laughing at?” Sasori snapped. Obito had broken out into a peal of laughter. He pointed somewhere beyond where Sasori could see even standing up. “Really? I’m like a foot shorter than you, I can’t see shit.”

“Itachi and company are being brought in right now. I wonder what they did.”

“Okay, that’s kind of funny. What could your dorky cousin have done?”

“Oh, I can’t wait to see Uncle Fugaku’s face.” Obito continued to laugh. “It will make sitting here overnight worth it.”

“What? We’re not staying overnight.”

“Well, he’ll probably let you go but he’ll definitely keep me here as punishment for dragging Sasuke around past his bedtime and getting him caught up in this.” Sasori must have let his confusion slip on his face because Obito laughed even harder than earlier before finally explaining. “My uncle is the police captain.”

“Jesus Christ,” Sasori exhaled. “Is there any family member of yours I won’t be seeing tonight?”

“Hey, this would be a good chance to introduce you to him!”

“Obito. I’m not telling your uncle we’re dating while I’m sitting in a holding cell at his precinct.”

“It would be such a funny memory to tell our kids one day though,” Obito joked.

“I wasn’t kidding about those brats turning me off from having kids one day.” Sasori pinched the bridge of his nose. “Besides, it’s way too soon to even think about that.”

“You’ve tolerated me this long,” Obito mocked him using his words from earlier that night, “I’m sure we’ll get to that point some day.”

“Only if your family doesn’t put me into an early grave,” Sasori muttered.

“At least they’re not boring, right?”

Sasori would give him that. He hadn’t had a moment to rest the whole night, let alone a moment to relax enough to get bored. It didn’t mean he wanted a repeat though.

“Next Halloween, we’re staying in and watching movies.”

#HAPPY BIRTHDAY KITTY MWUAH #day!fics #uchiha family #SasoObi

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raendown · 6 years

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Pairing: MadaraTobirama Word count: 5000 Summary: Upon discovering a hidden habit Tobirama uses to relieve the stress of his very busy life, Madara's first instinct is to keep poking the beast. Things don't turn out well - until suddenly they do.

Follow the link or read it under the cut!

After The Smoke Clears

Madara would insist even years later that he’d known something was going to happen that day. When Tobirama stepped out of his office in the tower for ‘just a quick moment’ and then never returned, he had the feeling that something was up. Of course, he never in a hundred years could have guessed what it was.

Despite his suspicions he mostly figured that Hashirama would be the one who had to deal with whatever was going on so he didn’t think twice about accepting the invitation to eat dinner at his friend’s house that night. Not just for the entertainment value but also for the promise of good food. Mito and he had never exactly seen eye to eye but he would freely admit that her cooking was some of the best in Fire Country. If tonight was one of the rare nights she felt like cooking instead of her husband then Madara wasn’t going to turn down an invitation to partake in whatever marvel she whipped up this time.

The moment they arrived, however, dinner plans were put on a temporary hold. Hashirama stopped dead as soon as he spotted the back of a fluffy white head just peeping up over the edge of the couch, small rustling and crunching noises coming from that direction. Madara raised one eyebrow in question when his friend assumed a look of exasperated resignation, dragging one hand down his face before turning away to call loudly through the house.

“Mito! I thought we hid all the snacks?” He was met at the end of the hall by his wife, hands on her hips.

“I’d like to see you find a place we can hide them that he couldn’t sniff them out,” she snapped back.

Madara ignored them, creeping forward to peer over the couch and see what all the fuss was about. As he came in to sight, Tobirama looked up at him and it was immediately evident what they were all upset over. Despite the evidence before his eyes, however, Madara could hardly believe was he was seeing.

This close to the younger man he was able to pick up the heavy scent of some sort of herb off of him. The sclera of both eyes were as red as the irises, lids drooping down to half-mast and crinkled at the corners. His mouth was stretched in a wide lazy smile, teeth bared in the least threatening manner Madara had ever seen from him. As he caught sight of someone above him Tobirama retracted one hand from where it had been buried in a container of cookies to give a vague wave.

“Heyyyyy Mads,” he slurred, ending with a muffled giggle. Madara stared for a moment before standing straight again and calling down the hallway to his friend.

“Hashirama your brother is broken.”

“Don’t worry about him, he’s fine. This happens sometimes. I just…I thought I hid the snacks this time.”

“This happens sometimes?” Madara parroted, stunned.

Turning back to take another peek at the man slouched on the sofa, he watched Tobirama reach for the cookies again and nibble on one. His head was titled back to stare aimlessly at the ceiling and it didn’t really look like he had a lot of important things running through his mind – or much of anything, really. Clearly he was under the influence of something. Madara had never been the type to indulge in herbs or powders or any kind, more than aware of how addictive some of them could be. A clan Head could hardly afford to lose his mind to that kind of addiction.

Eventually Tobirama’s bloodshot eyes rolled to the side and locked on to his again. The hand that had been digging for a fresh cookie held its prize up above his head, weaving it through the air under Madara’s nose.

“You want one?” When he received no immediate answer he wriggled the treat enticingly. “Hey, hey Mads. Mads. You want – you want a cookie? You want a cookie? You–”

“Fine! Shut up!” Madara snatched the cookie and stalked away. Hashirama was still bickering with his spouse when he reached them and shoved his best friend’s shoulder none too gently. “He keeps calling me Mads. Explain.”

“Well he’s not exactly going to act like himself, Madara. He’s high.”

“You say that as if I’m just supposed to pass right over the fact that your tight-assed little brother is high without batting a fucking eyelash. Explain further, ass wipe.” Thankfully, his death glare was as effective as it ever was in making Hashirama sweat. His friend gulped and held up both hands in surrender.

“Brother just needs to relax sometimes, you know?” Hashirama frowned. “His mind is always running so fast and he can’t really turn it off. Sometimes he just needs to switch off for a while and take a break but he can’t do that on his own so he found this plant. He grows it in his lab and I think he inhales the smoke or something. I dunno, we never see him actually ingest it. He just shows up and starts eating me out of house and home, sits on the couch, maybe chats to someone if they’re there.”

Madara turned that over in his head and gave himself a moment to process, absently munching on the cookie he still held. Everyone in the village with working eyes could see how stressed Tobirama was on a daily basis. He’d already had his fair share of duties within his own clan; when the village had been created he’d more than doubled his own workload. That he needed a break was a common opinion.

This kind of ‘break’ was just a little unexpected.

“How often?” Madara asked eventually. Instead of Hashirama, Mito was the one who answered as she stepped out of the kitchen again, wiping her hands on a towel.

“More often, lately, as the work piles up. He used to put it off until he was nearing insomnia from all the stress, perhaps once every five or six months. Now he’s lucky if he makes it five weeks.” Handing the towel off to her husband, Mito raised her voice and called down the hall. “Dinner!”

From his spot on the couch Tobirama made a noise of interest. It still took him a moment to gain his feet though. Each movement looked as though he were under water, slow and appearing to take more effort than usual. Just walking to the kitchen seemed to take all of his concentration and Madara shook his head as the younger man trotted by him. It was sort of pathetic to watch.

Since Hashirama’s kitchen table only had four seats Madara was forced to sit next to the impaired Senju. The scent of the herbs he had used was terrible, putting Madara off his dinner, but it was almost worth sitting there just to watch how differently he acted. It was like someone had henged in to him and was doing a terrible impression.

Usually fastidious to the point of being fussy, Tobirama had them all rolling their eyes as he ate his entire meal with his fingers, loudly proclaiming over how smooth the noodles were and postulating about whether different types of noodles would have different levels of smoothness. The taste of the fried vegetables made him groan in near ecstasy as though they were the best thing he had ever been served in his life. Any other day he would have spent the entire meal glaring at Madara, probably in the hopes of making him uncomfortable enough to leave. Today he seemed to have forgotten their animosity, leaning in to the older man’s side, drawing him in to pointless speculation over how long a human male could hold their breath and then actually listening when he was told not to try it.

Probably the part where he actually listened was the part that freaked Madara out the most. He’d never seen Tobirama let anyone stop him on his quest to answer a scientific question, no matter how inane other people found it. If he found it interesting he was typically very single-minded about his research. It was actually one his more endearing qualities, although it would take some extreme torture for Madara to admit to that.

Through it all Tobirama smiled and Madara couldn’t seem to keep his eyes off of that simple change of expression. It transformed his entire face from dour to approachable just with a slight re-angling on his lips. Or maybe it had something to do with the happy glint in his eyes and the utter relaxation of his body, not a stiff spine in sight.

After dinner Hashirama encouraged his brother back to the couch and herded Madara down next to him. Tobirama dozed off rather quickly, dropping his head on to the shoulder beside him with a peaceful expression. A little uncomfortable, but not willing to disturb him, Madara glared at his friend to make sure he understood the retribution that he was owed. Hashirama looked appropriately worried for sure but he seemed too enamored with the scene before him to be all that scared. Mito, on the other hand, was taking only enjoyment from his situation.

It took ten minutes for him to squirm out from underneath the younger man and neither of his hosts were willing to help him, preferring to observe and giggle shamelessly. Madara left with his head held high and his tattered dignity trailing after him.

Several days passed before he saw Tobirama again, long enough for him to realize even before they crossed paths that the other was avoiding him. When he finally did spot a familiar head of white hair Tobirama had done the only thing that could possibly have still surprised him: he had blushed. It looked sort of like the red markings on his face were spreading out across his skin. Madara only had a moment or two to glimpse the effect before Tobirama spun on his heel and stormed back in to his own office, slamming the door behind himself.

His first instinct was, of course, to keep poking the beast. That had always been the nature of their relationship and he was hardly about to stop now that there was something so interesting at hand. Although this was hardly the first time he had focused his attention on Tobirama to rib him for something or other, it was the first time the younger man had responded with such new and intriguing reactions. He blushed. He left the room before Madara could try and speak to him. On one of the few occasions Madara managed to corner him for a brief moment he actually stuttered before making up some terrible excuse to free himself. It was more entertainment than Madara had ever had out of the man.

What he failed to take in to account while he was shamelessly taking his amusement at the other’s expense was how much he might be increasing Tobirama’s stress level beyond what it already was. It didn’t occur to him until he actually needed to speak to him for something regarding work. Nearly two hours went in to tracking him down, only to find him holed up in the basement of the library that almost no one visited, both hands pulling at his hair. The moment Madara walked in to the room his entire body coiled like an angry cat, ready to bound away at the first sign of trouble.

“There you are,” Madara growled without thinking. The younger man looked back at him with a suspicious gaze and gave no more reply than a grunt. “What in blazes are you doing down in this mausoleum?”

“Avoiding you!”

“I – oh.” He frowned, blinking slowly as he pondered how he should have expected that. “Well I need to talk to you so just sit still for five minutes, would you?”

He hardly expected Tobirama’s left eye to twitch or for the tension within him to suddenly explode.

“No! No you sit still and leave me the hell alone! Just one day, that’s all I’m asking, just go away and leave me in peace for one fucking day! I don’t need this! You’re just always there with your questions and the smirking and it’s driving me insane!” As he ranted, Tobirama seemed unaware of how wide both of his eyes were or how manic he looked with his arms waving around the way they were. “Do you know how much time I’m losing, running around trying to find some quiet without you there poking at me? Do you know how much work I’m getting done? None! I’m so behind I may actually have gone backwards in time and I swear to the shinigami I’m about two seconds away from taking your fucking head off if you don’t leave me the hell alone!”

Madara stood utterly still, unable to move, unable to breathe, entirely unable to do anything but stare with a gaping jaw. If seeing Tobirama under the influence of herbs was shocking, seeing him completely lose his cool like this was something he didn’t even have a word for. The poor man was panting and shaking in the aftermath of his outburst but he was standing more still than Madara had seen him in days, allowing the chance to see him more closely.

The rims of his eyes were as red as the markings on his cheeks, although there was no scent of smoke on him, belying the fact that he was likely getting next to no sleep. His hair was standing up at all sorts of odd angles and the tension in his shoulders was so tight it was a surprise they weren’t right up around his ears. Add in the disheveled clothing and it was like seeing another bad henge. It was hard to decide which one was most unlike him.

“It was just a question about the council meeting next Friday,” Madara was able to choke out eventually. Tobirama swallowed thickly, struggling obviously to draw breath.

“Go ask Hashirama,” he mumbled. “Leave me alone.” As a now-familiar blush slowly crawled its way on to his skin, Madara realized that the red hue of it had been covering up how gray he‘d become, hiding his fatigue each time Madara went to tease him again.

“Just a quick question, on my honor. I couldn’t find the minutes from the last meeting and you were the one who filed them.”

Tobirama shook his head and stepped to the side, inching around the older man towards the doorway. “I’ll have someone get them for you; I need to – I just need to go.”

Over the course of his career as a shinobi Madara had done innumerous despicable things that the gods might never forgive him for – and he was sure that he had never felt as guilty for any of it as he did for what he had done to Tobirama. The man was a wreck, clearly dancing on the edge of a breakdown, and it was all his fault. For some reason there was an extra layer of guilt to taking someone as strictly put together as Tobirama and reducing him to the feral coil of energy he had just watched explode in front of him.

He had to apologize. Just thinking of that concept nearly convinced him to check his own temperature but he knew it was the right thing to do. Although, perhaps it would be best if he gave the other some time to cool off first. If he went seeking Tobirama right now he would only make the younger man feel trapped and attacked again, possibly risking a second explosion before he could even get a word out.

Even though it chaffed like an untended wound, Madara managed to wait for another two hours before deciding that he could take it no longer and left to find where his best friend’s little brother had gone. The first place he looked was of course the Tower, searching the entire building from top to bottom before marching himself over to the Senju compound to knock on the man’s front door. No answer came and Madara marched away again with a frown. Peeking in to every training ground on the way, he made his way to the edge of the village where there had been a small compound set up for medical and scientific research. With Tobirama as one of the researchers explosions were bound to happen on occasion so no one had dared complain when they were built so far away from everything else.

As one of the most prolific – and dangerous – people that worked here, Tobirama’s office was its own small building close to the entrance of the compound. The moment Madara stepped in to it both hands flew up to cover his nose and, even though the man he was looking for wasn’t here, he suddenly knew exactly where to find him. The entire room absolutely reeked of herbs, which meant there was one place he would head for.

Neither Hashirama nor Mito appeared to be home but if they were they would have despaired over the loss of their recently replenished store of snacks. Tobirama sat huddled in to one corner of their couch, a half-eaten plate of rice crackers sitting on the table before him, a drying plum pit right next to it, and an open box of Pocky in his hands. Preoccupied with fishing out another delicious chocolate-covered stick of Pocky, he didn’t seem to realize that he had any company until Madara leaned heavily on the back of the couch and sighed, not bothering to be quiet about it.

“Huh?” He looked up slowly, eyes half-lidded. When he caught sight of Madara he groaned loudly and dropped his head back, whining, “Noooo. I thought you would go away!”

“I came to apologize.” There was little point in beating around the bush and he thought perhaps the other man would relax more if he threw up a white flag right away. As he’d thought, Tobirama seemed to melt back in to the cushions just a little bit more and offered him a tentative smile. Just four little words and he seemed amazingly willing to lay everything behind them.

“Never heard you apologize before,” he murmured. “That’s nice. You want a Pocky?”

“Uh, sure.”

Reaching for the offered treat, the kind he adored but very rarely indulged in, Madara was startled when it was snatched away again just before he could grasp it.

“Nuh-uh, you’re not doing it right!” Tobirama told him with a slow chortle.

“What could I possibly be doing wrong?”

“Haven’t you ever played the Pocky game?” Grinning widely, Tobirama stuck the candy between his teeth and tilted his face up towards Madara, speaking around it. “You’re supposed to take it from me like this!”

Madara reached out with his hand once more, intending to take it from the other’s mouth as asked. Tobirama shook his head and batted the hand away, pointing at Madara’s own mouth instead while waggling his pale eyebrows. It made him flush with embarrassment. Was he really expected to take the treat from Tobirama as though they were transferring a placebic kiss? He didn’t really want it all that badly to risk embarrassing himself as he was likely to do.

One more glance at his companion’s cheerful, hopeful face and he knew he was going to do it anyway. He had come here with the intention to apologize and lower the man’s stress level; Madara didn’t have the heart to deny him anything at the moment after knowing how badly he’d made him feel.

Very mindful of both their personal boundaries, Madara leaned forward over the couch and delicately took just the very tip of the stick between his teeth. A light tug did nothing to free it from Tobirama, who only grinned wider with delight and refused to relinquish his grip. Sighing, Madara leaned a bit closer and shifted his teeth just a little farther down the stick, uncomfortably aware of how close this brought their faces together.

There wasn’t much time for him to react when Tobirama suddenly moved, employing the speed he was famed for even in his current state. Before Madara could properly interpret the light in the younger man’s eye he had shifted, pushing upwards and snapping through the Pocky with his teeth only to press his lips against Madara’s in a lightning fast kiss. Then he had dropped back down in to the corner of the couch with a smugly satisfied expression, munching happily on his half of the candy while Madara was left staring down at him, frozen. His own half of the stick lay still and uneaten within his mouth as he blinked furiously, disoriented.

“Hmmm.” Tobirama hummed in lazy gratification, stretching languorously. “If we could just do that instead of fight all the time my stress levels would go waaaaaay down.”

“EH!?” Regrettably, the chocolate between his teeth fell out on to the couch as he opened his mouth to make a confused exclamation.

“You’re pretty,” the other informed him with an unrepentant smile.

“I – you – what?”

“Do you want another Pocky?”

“No!” Cheeks flushing more than they already had, Madara straightened up and fiddled with his clothing, brushing away imaginary specks of dust while he tried to gather his scattered wits.

“Oh.” Tobirama tilted his head curiously. “Do you want another kiss?”

Madara spluttered, trying to respond but not coming up with any actual words to say. Admittedly, he wasn’t even sure how he wanted to respond to the question. It hadn’t been a bad kiss. He wasn’t exactly opposed to a few nice kisses if they were being offered. But didn’t they hate each other? Since when did Tobirama think of him as pretty and offer kisses in such a casual tone?

Almost as though the other were reading his mind, Tobirama shrugged and reaching out a lazy hand to swat at some of Madara’s hair. “Always thought you were pretty. Wanted to kiss you for a while but you’re just always so grumpy, Mads.”

“Stop calling me ‘Mads’,” was all he could mumble as his brain frantically searched for how he wanted to answer.

“Fine then, Madara.”

A shiver ran through him, immediately and almost reluctantly intrigued by the way Tobirama purred his name. He didn’t realize he had closed his eyes until he felt a light tug and opened them again to see that the younger man had wrapped pale fingers in his hair, gently pulling on them to try and encourage him to bend down.

“What?” he croaked. Tobirama was grinning unrepentantly.

“You didn’t say no. I want to kiss you and you didn’t say no. C’mere.”

“It would be wildly inappropriate with you under the influence,” he pointed out. Unfortunately the words sounded twice as weak due to the way he was slowly following the direction of that subtle pull on his hair, allowing himself to be led inexorably downward.

“Don’t worry, I’d ask you sober too if I thought you’d say yes.”

To his relief, Madara was spared having to come up with an answer to that. He’d already been led far enough over the back of the couch that Tobirama could sit straight, tilt his face up as he had before, and draw him in to a second kiss that stole the breath right out of his lungs.

Maybe it was a strange thing to fixate on but the thing he noticed first and then couldn’t seem to stop noticing was how warm the other man was. Tobirama’s lips were comfortingly warm against his own and the hand that curled around his jaw felt as though it might leave a brand against his skin. For a single fleeting instant he thought that perhaps he wouldn’t mind wearing Tobirama’s brand for everyone to see. Then he felt a searing hot tongue drag boldly against his lips and gasped, giving his companion an open invitation to delve inside and wipe away all remaining thoughts in his head.

It felt like forever that he spent bent over the couch, lazily making out with a man he would generally be more predisposed to arguing with. And maybe this was why, he realized eventually, thoughts moving sluggishly around the fog filling his brain. Maybe the reason sparks flew every time they were in a room together was just the result of unresolved sexual tension that he had never bothered to properly admit to.

He would freely admit to it now. The only thing keeping him from hopping over to the other side of the couch and ravishing the other properly was the issue of consent. He couldn’t really accept Tobirama’s permission to do anything when he was high as a kite; it was this same thought which gave him the strength to pull away at last. Tobirama followed him with a displeased whine until he was too far away to catch then sank back down in to the cushions with a dazed look on his face.

“We should do that again,” he mumbled distractedly.

“Perhaps when you haven’t been inhaling questionable things that make you reek to the high heavens.” Madara was well aware that his snappy comeback didn’t have nearly the edge it should’ve, not when he sounded so breathless. He didn’t have it in him to care.

“I’ll be fine after a nap.” The lift of Tobirama’s brow was hopeful and it made him smile.

“A nap and a shower, maybe. As I said: you reek. Whatever it is you imbibe, the smell of it is absolutely wretched.”

Chuckling, though not bothering to deny it, Tobirama patted the spot next to him. It took a little coaxing but Madara eventually deigned to stray a little closer and settle himself on the other end of the sofa. Amusement and hesitant pleasure warred with each other when Tobirama huffed and scooted over to cuddle in to his side. He made sure to stay as still as possible while the younger man slowly fell asleep on his shoulder, beatific smile in place.

When Hashirama came home and found the two of them asleep a few hours later he woke them both up with his sobbing. Despite his obvious embarrassment concerning his behavior earlier, Tobirama refused to give up his spot curled up against Madara until he was convince to go home and wash off the smell of the herbs. Madara went home to clean up as well and met the other at his front door with an invitation to dinner that had both of their faces blushing red.

As it turned out, Tobirama had been correct. With the tension between the two of them resolved and the freedom to sneak in a kiss whenever he needed it, the amount of stress he suffered from declined exponentially. That wasn’t to say that he had no stress whatsoever or that his other duties suddenly lightened. He was still as busy as he had ever been with his hand often in too many projects at once. And of course there was nothing to be done about the fact that he simply couldn’t turn off his mind sometimes, when he felt so overwhelmed by everything that he required outside assistance relaxing himself, but the frequency of those occasions grew less as time went by.

Madara rather cheerfully took the credit for that. He had absolutely no complaints about the times when his partner would show up out of nowhere demanding a little stress relief. Over time they developed a number of methods to get rid of the stress and Madara was shameless enough to admit that his favorite was a quick hard round of sex across one of their desks.

If his second favorite was a quiet couple hours of cuddling at home, no one else had to know that.

He also wasn’t afraid to admit that he had never been so relaxed himself either; he hadn’t even noticed how much stress he carried from all of his duties with no release until suddenly his nights were filled with Tobirama and his days with goofy smiles. As annoying as it was, Hashirama’s new habit of bursting in to happy tears at the mere sight of him and Tobirama together also made him sort of smug. He had the strangest urge to puff himself out like a peacock and parade around the village so that everyone could see that Tobirama belonged to him now. Of course, he would never even try to do such a thing, but the urge to was still there.

Eight months passed, before he could even blink it seemed, and Madara was a little bemused to find himself one day standing in the living room of the house they shared, turning a silver ring over and over between his hands. He could hardly believe his life had changed so much in such a short time – and here he was about to change it even more. Well, hopefully. He hadn’t asked yet.

Rustling in the other room caught his attention and Madara took a deep breath in. Just over eight months ago he’d had a gut feeling that something was about to happen when Tobirama left the office and never came back. As he wiped his clammy hands on the sides of his trousers, he wondered if his partner had a similar feeling right now, if he could sense that their lives were about to take yet another step forward.

Clearing his throat, Madara clenched his fist around the ring and forced his feet to walk despite the fluttering in his belly. Although he never could have seen it coming, he was ready for this. He only hoped Tobirama was as well.

And also that his lover wouldn’t deck him one for slipping ‘I get high on your love’ in to his proposal speech.

#word count EXACTLY 5k that is so cool #puns for titles are my jam guys #rae writes #madatobi #madara #tobirama #fanfiction #naruto shippuden

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leafmedic · 7 years

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Sasuke slips out of the bathroom with a sigh. "No hair products will tame my hair." Spotting Sakura by their dresser, he slides his hands in his suit pockets and walks behind her. Peeking over her shoulder, he raises a brow. "I'm assuming those aren't just normal bracelets? What are they hiding?" Their mission tonight is take out a black market business man. It's rumored he'll be attending an important party tonight, and they happened to have an invitation as well.

@damnedflame || insp.

She hates mascara. It always looks so weird unless she has a full eye of makeup. Just a light dusting of shadow and a swipe of mascara and she looks like she’s sporting two black eyes. With pink hair and pink eyebrows, Sakura inherited pink eyelashes. Unfortunately, the number of cosmetic companies that made pink mascara was down to two, currently, and they only made bright fuchsia.

And that made her look like she had the weirdest case of pink eye anyone had seen.

So with foundation and contour and blush and highlighter and bronzer and eyeshadow and eyeliner and entirely too many makeup products scattered neatly over the dresser, she sets in to accomplish this feat she had learned after years and years of playing the with look of her face. Black mascara looked great against the green of her eyes when she sported a dark smoky look and a strong winged eyeliner. Thankfully, everyone else seemed to agree, too.

She’s sliding deep red lipstick to match her dress when Sasuke enters the room. A snort leaves her, the sight of his poor hair leaving a hilarious mental image of the struggle he’s had trying to tame it. At first, she’d been jealous of how thick and beautiful his hair was. After living with the consequences and watching him struggle, he could keep it.

The bangles dangle on her arms, a bit heavier than normal and she smirks. “Wasp spray.” She taps the small, disguised holes along the band. “They’ll buy me enough time to get to a weapon.”

Two blades hidden in her shoes and a gun strapped to her thigh were all convenient, but not accessible enough. Sometimes the fabric of her dress gave her more problems than anyone anticipated.

Finishing her lip stick and dropping the closed tube in her clutch, she finally turned to the sight she couldn’t help but focus on. Already, the back was revolting against the attempt at smoothing down his spikes, offering a few names she would certainly be able to use that night. Gently, she reached up and fingered through his hair, moving the gelled strands until they followed the natural growth of his hair.

“You might have some success with your hair if you let me play with it,” she teased, already knowing he wouldn’t. No matter how much she insisted the braids were Naruto’s idea – which they were – Sasuke seemed to believe she was still responsible. Something silly about Naruto not even knowing how to braid. Really, Sasuke had no reasoning for his long-standing boundary on his hair. “Here, see if this is any better.”

It wasn’t perfect, but at least his hair wasn’t fighting with itself anymore.

Her hands left his hair and slid down the collar of his suit naturally. Thumbing the crease as her nail flirted with the white shirt underneath, she remembered the last time she saw him dressed up like this. It was rare, to have missions that called for this but Sakura certainly enjoyed them when they happened.

The extra heigh on her heels made it easy to lean in and place her red lips at his ear. “You better save me a dance.”

#damnedflame #;;answered #;;v: a test of resolve (spy)#another ask that waited entirely too long #but i went back to check that picture again #and seriously can't understand how i didn't answer this sooner #it's so amazing i'm sad it sat so long!#thank you for sending!

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dimigex · 7 years

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Promt 32: ino x Genma fluff Promt 45: Karin x Suigetsu humour Promt 32: Temari x Hidan humour/fluff Promt 4: Asuma x Kurenai fluff Promt 18: Sakura x kakashi humour Promt 24: Sakura x sasuke angst (pretty obvious one, and don't do it if you feel like you'll get a lot of hate) Promt 36: Genma x raido humour

Still accepting requests (list here.)

So many requests. They’re all on my list but only the first one will get an answer since they’re all in one. But don’t worry, I intend to write all or most of the ones you asked for. Of course I picked angst first. XD Enjoy, and thanks for the request!

The humid, hospital air clung to Sasuke like a suffocating blanket, threatening to choke the breath from his lungs. Several shinobi cast him disapproving glances when they thought he wouldn't notice, their judgement hanging nearly as heavy as the atmosphere. He pretended not to see, occupying his time by staring out the window. With spring just around the corner, trees were beginning to bud, and the world had taken on a verdant hue. The calming scene relaxed some of his nervousness.

All the chairs surrounding Sasuke were empty. He preferred it that way. Both Naruto and Kakashi had offered to sit with him, Naruto with those hopeful, blue eyes, and Kakashi with his guarded, grey ones. Sasuke had refused, and none of the hospital staff spoke to him. His war crimes had branded him an outcast in Konoha, and no one wanted to risk dirtying their reputation by being seen with him.

Even being in the hospital made the Uchiha's chest tighten and his heart pound. He remembered waking up here, hoping the memory of death and blood had been a nightmare. Then, later, he'd recovered from Itachi's genjutsu and challenged Naruto on the roof, shortly before leaving the village for good. Nearly all of Sasuke's memories in Konoha were painful. He chuckled soundlessly. All of his memories were painful.

One of the women working behind the desk raised her head at the sound, brown eyes skimming over him nervously. That reaction was common enough that it no longer stung. Somewhere, just outside this wing perhaps, the rest of his acquaintances waited for news. He could go to them, force a smile, and act like the rest of the village didn't see a traitor when they looked at him, both for his Uchiha blood, and his status during the war. But he didn't feel up to facing that. Only Naruto had kept the judgment from the rest of their class at bay. Sakura had tried, for a while, but that had shifted in the past year. Sasuke didn't begrudge her the change of heart; he could never be what she needed.

The door to Sasuke's right swung open, and Tsunade stepped out, wiping her hands on a cloth. Sweat dappled the woman's forehead as she turned, honey brown eyes capturing his gaze. Her lips curved downward slightly, like she'd gotten a bad taste in her mouth. Shaking her head, the woman pushed the door wider. "You can go in."

Sasuke inclined his head and stood. The words he wanted to stay caught in his throat, so he didn't try to force them as he walked through the doors. The blaringly white room that he stepped into smelled of sweat, blood, and antiseptic. Sasuke drew a breath, silently reminding himself that he could do this. Steady beeps assaulted his ears as he pulled the cloak from his shoulders and threw it over a chair. His heart beat unnaturally loud as he reached for the curtain that surrounded the bed, pulling it back.

Sakura lay ensconced in pillows and blankets, hair pulled up in a messy bun that let damp tendrils escape to brush her flushed cheeks. Green eyes were rimmed with red, and sweat or tears clung to her eyelashes. A sheet covered her chest, but Sasuke noticed her bare shoulders peeking above the cloth. He exhaled her name like a prayer.

"You came." Exhaustion painted Sakura's voice, but she tried to make it sound more cheerful. Always sacrificing for me.

"Of course," Sasuke responded, ignoring the sharp ache in his chest that her words brought.

Shifting on the pillows, Sakura tugged the sheet down enough to reveal the baby. "You have a daughter," she said, lightly brushing her fingers over the perfectly round cheek.

Sasuke tried to find words to answer her, to thank her, but they refused to come. Raven dark hair covered the infant's head, curling softly on the edges, and equally inky eyes peered up at the two of them. The tilt of her nose and shape of her chin belonged to Sakura, however. "Her name's Sarada."

Uchiha Sarada. The last Uchiha. She'd never know her grandmother's gentle kindness, or the way Fugaku's stern face would ease into a smile when she did something right. She'd never sit on Itachi's shoulders and beg him to teach her his shuriken jutsu. Sasuke couldn't draw a breath. Konoha had been painted in shades of grey for him. Itachi deserved better; the Uchiha had deserved better.

"Do you want to hold her?" Sakura offered the tiny, pink-wrapped bundle, completely unaware of the dark thoughts plaguing the man beside her.

Sasuke could feel the weight of the entire village on his shoulders. Just on the other side of the wall, Sakura's friends waited to hear the news about the baby. But, in here, it was just them. She had arranged this haven from watchful eyes, but Sasuke couldn't escape hers, or the angry words they'd shared the last time they spoke. Sakura captured her bottom lip with her teeth and pulled the baby back against her chest. "I meant what I said, I don't want to live this way anymore."

"I know," Sasuke answered. "But, I can't be the person you want me to be." I can't stay here and constantly feel the stares and judgements. I can't face the memories of what happened and act like all is forgiven. I can't put a permanent shadow over my daughter just to make myself feel better.

"Are you really that selfish?" Sakura lost the last word in a soft sob that she stopped just short of actual tears.

This was the real reason that Sakura had stolen these moments for the three of them, rather than allowing her friends to be part of this. Sasuke had chosen to be alone for the same reason. "Sakura," he tried, but she cut him off.

"Tell me that you're going to try harder, that we'll find a way to make this work. That's what you're good at, isn't it?" Sakura gasped the words, exhaustion and years of hurt fueling her anger. "Go ahead, lie to me again."

Sasuke didn't draw the breath in like he'd been punched, but it felt that way. He bent down and kissed Sarada's forehead, then Sakura's. "I love you."

The sob that rattled Sakura's chest could have been hurt or anger, but Sasuke didn't stay to see which. He turned away, squeezing his eyes shut as he pushed through the double doors into the hallway. He couldn't give either of them all the things they deserved. Both of their lives would be better without him in them.

Sasuke paused at the door leading out of the delivery wing, knowing that Naruto, and the only bit of acceptance he'd ever find, waited just on the other side. He used shunshin to escape the hospital and made it as far as the forests surrounding Konoha before allowing the tears to roll down his cheeks.

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vannahfanfics · 4 years

Text

Correspondence

Category: Romantic Fluff

Fandom: Naruto

Characters: Shikamaru Nara, Temari

Hello, everyone! ^u^ This is my piece for Day 1 of ShikaTema Week for the prompt “Letters”! I’m not sure I can accomplish the entire week, but I had to at least attempt some stories for this beautiful couple! Enjoy~

Temari’s blue-green eyes trawled over the neatly inked rows of words stretching across the parchment she held above her face as she lay sprawled diagonally across her bed. The oceanic orbs absorbed every detail of the lettering, from the blobs of black ink indicative of careful consideration to the whooshing lines of excited haste. Her pink lips curled upwards into a giddy smile as she read the words contained within the letter, and when she finished, she hugged the piece of parchment to her chest. The paper crinkled under the force of her embrace; the noise was barely audible over her contented sigh. She pulled the bottom half of the letter to once more peek at the letter’s signature.

Shikamaru.

Just reading his name made a delighted grin spring to her features. Temari would never openly express her besottedness of the boy, but within the solitude of her bower, she afforded herself some small measure of freedom. She rolled onto her side, clutching the letter and smiling gleefully. The moonlight streamed in through the slightly open window with particles of sand that glowed like moondust. The hour was late; she had no business writing a reply. Nevertheless, she sprang from her bedsheets to hurry to her desk, scrambling for pen and parchment and words to say.

Ever since the incident in the Land of Shadow and Naruto’s wedding, she and Shikamaru had been communicating regularly. Maintaining a long-distance relationship was difficult, especially with the both of them so involved with the political realms of the respective villages. Still, they were determined to make it work. Correspondence was instrumental in sustaining their feelings for one another. Neither of them was particularly eloquent nor amorous, so typically, the contents of the letters were quite dull. However, Temari knew Shikamaru exceptionally well. She could hear the hints of affection bled into the inked pages, see his shy smirk before her waking eyes. Their wavelengths had aligned into a single pulsing wave, and thus, they knew intricacies about one another no one else ever could.

After about ten minutes of eagerly transcribing the recent events of her life onto the page, Temari paused to give her aching wrist a break. She rolled it casually to loosen the stiffening ligaments and glanced out of the window. Her white curtains ruffled in the night breeze like dancing skirts, silken and ethereal. The stars glimmered in the desert sky, joined only by faint wisps of gray clouds and a grinning crescent moon. She wondered if Shikamaru was awake at this hour and gazing upon the same night sky. Probably not, she thought in dry amusement, he’s either asleep, or has his nose in a shogi board. The image of him hunched over the game always made her chuckle. His brows furrowed in concentration while holding his chin thoughtfully… one might be fooled that he applied such enthusiasm to all his efforts.

He has grown, though, she admitted as she leaned back in her desk chair. Shikamaru did exert himself almost unnecessarily so in the Leaf Village’s political affairs. When Temari inquired about his zeal, he always groaned and insisted it was because Naruto wouldn’t know a mission report from toilet paper. Temari knew him, though; she knew that in truth, Shikamaru was investing in knowing all he could because Naruto was his best friend. His devotion to the plucky, blond-haired ninja was no less than admirable.

Temari laid her head on her left arm and resumed scratching letters onto the paper. Her eyes became lidded with serenity, and her lips reflected the joy blooming in her heart as she reported all the mundanity of the last week.

“I’ve always wondered how you looked when you were writing me back.”

Temari jerked out of her chair with a startled gasp, fumbling for the kunai pouch draped across the back of the furniture. Her uncoordinated movements slung the bag right off, sending kunai and shuriken scattering across the stone floor. Luckily, she didn’t really need them. Once she realized who was perching in her windowsill like some smug Casanova, she puffed out her cheeks and pouted.

“Shikamaru Nara! You scared me half to death!”

“You? Scared?” the boy replied arrogantly with raised eyebrows. Cheeks burning, she crossed her arms and looked away with a huff. Of all the…!

“What are you even doing here? At this time of night, on top of that?!” He shrugged nonchalantly and picked up the pen she had been using to click it repeatedly. The monotonous clacking grated her already annoyed mental state, and so she stalked over to snatch it from him. “Seriously! Don’t tell me you just snuck out of the Leaf Village for a leisurely jaunt?”

“And what if I did?”

Temari’s face turned beet-red, and she whirled on her heel to present her back to him while she gathered her composure. Grunting, she kicked one of the kunai across the room. Its blade scraped over the uneven stone floor before crashing into the wall with a metallic ring. She peeked out of her peripheral vision when she realized Shikamaru was cackling.

“What? What’s so funny?!”

“I’m just joking. I’m on a mission here. You should know that; didn’t Gaara inform you?” No! No, he didn’t! Temari fumed silently. As baby-faced and innocent as her little brother appeared, Kankuro could always tempt him into some deviousness. The puppet-master had likely concocted this low scheme to toy with Temari’s emotions and was perched somewhere with some binoculars enjoying the spectacle. Huffing, she plopped down on the end of her bed and regarded Shikamaru critically.

“Regardless, what on earth prompted you to drop in unannounced?” He shrugged again and slid out of the window, carefully avoiding the desk situated underneath to drop down into the room. Frowning, he slipped his hands into his pants pockets and looked at her snootily, chin upturned.

“I wanted to see you, dummy.” A hard lump formed in the base of Temari’s throat; she could not force it down, no matter how many times she swallowed. Her palms bloomed with sudden sweat, which she discharged by running her hands compulsively over her comforter. A fire burned within the roundness of her cheeks, blazing and hot. When she peeked up at him through her lashes, he was smiling kindly at her. “It’s just been a while.”

“Yes, it has.” She edged over on the bed and patted the space beside her. He crossed the room in a few strides and eased down beside her, stretching out his long legs and leaning back on his hands. “What’s the mission?”

“Oh, you know, the usual bullshit. Bandits and rogues and disgruntled merchant caravans,” he smirked as he looked at her amusedly. His sarcastic dispassion never ceased to make her laugh, because it was just so ridiculous how he could so effortlessly invalidate grave issues. His smirk widened as she giggled, covering her lips daintily with her hand. He suddenly caught her hand, gauging her reaction with glimmering black eyes as he brought it to his mouth to kiss along her fingertips. He was not romantic with his words, but every so often, he could beguile her with tender gestures. “I missed you, Temari,” he breathed against the pads of her fingers. His eyes smoldered beneath his dark lashes, stoking the fire within her own body.

“I missed you, too.” He tilted his head, lowering her hand to entwine their fingers together. Temari fluttered her eyelashes demurely and sucked in a breath, already anticipating his coming. His free hand threaded into her fluffy sand-colored hair, pausing to stroke along her cheekbone. He shifted on the bed, closer to her, and her eyes closed of their own accord. She exhaled exultantly when she finally felt his lips enveloping her own, and she hummed in satisfaction. She could feel him smirking against her mouth, the smug bastard, but then he pushed into her to deepen the kiss. His hand roamed her body- the length of her arm, the small of her back, the curve of her waist. She wrapped her arm around his neck to tangle her fingers in his coarse black hair, while their other two hands remained entwined between them.

Correspondence was instrumental in maintaining a long-distance relationship, but a surprise visit every once in a while certainly didn’t hurt…

Enjoy this oneshot? Feel free to peruse my Table of Contents!

Tag List: @shikatemaweek, @deliathedork, @searchfortheonepiece

#shikatemaweek #shikatema week #shikatemaweek2020 #shikatema #shikamaru x temari #temari x shikamaru #shikamaru nara #nara shikamaru #temari #temari of the sand #naruto #naruto shippuden #naruto fanfiction #naruto fanfic

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vannahfanfics · 4 years

Text

Broken

Category: Hurt and Comfort, Romantic Fluff

Fandom: Naruto

Characters: Shikamaru Nara, Sakura Haruno

Hello, everybody! This is my final story for ShikaSaku Week Hanami’s Day Seven Prompt, “We Are Ruins”! Due to participation in several other fandom days, I will not be doing the Bonus Day. I hope you all enjoyed my stories for this underappreciated ship! ^.^

Sakura’s eyes snapped open as a cold wave of adrenaline and fear crashed through her. Body pouring sweat, chest heaving with frantic breaths, and the stench of iron burning in her nostrils, it took her a few moments for her panic-clouded mind to register that she was not currently in a blood-soaked battlefield but lying in her bed. Her eyelashes fluttered repeatedly as the nightmarish images of mutilated bodies and bright red blood faded quickly from her vision. AS her wits returned to her, she groaned softly and curled her fingers into the soft sheets that were dampened with her perspiration. A dream… It was only a dream…

A ninja’s life was a hard one. Nightmares were almost certain, given their profession. Sakura had experienced many a nightmarish thing in her two decades on the planet, and naturally, those things haunted her dreams. Whether they be real-life failures or gruesome scenarios of her subconscious’ invention, they prowled in the deep dark of night indiscriminately. It was always a peculiar feeling, the pumping of her adrenaline-doped blood battling for dominance against her weary body; she felt like her entire body was just a low-pulsing drum, teetering just on the edge of sleep but unable to dive over the cliff.

With a small sigh, she rolled onto her other side to peer at the clock. The red neon numbers glared 3:49 a.m. Certainly not the time of morning that she should be out and about, but for some reason Sakura’s addled brain was screaming “go for a walk.” Resigning herself to her instincts, she slowly pushed herself up in the bed, comforter slipping from her shoulders to bunch up at her waist. She rolled her eye with the heel of one hand while the other fixed the strap of her tank top that had slipped down from her shoulder to hand loosely over her upper arm. She was trying to have a mental debate with herself as her body moved automatically to slip out of the bed and grab a light jacket from the bedpost and slip it on herself, but she was already walking down the hall before it could make a compelling argument. Almost as if she were moving on autopilot, she slipped into a pair of sandals and headed out of the house before her mind could even process it was moving.

It was summertime, so the air was only pleasantly chill though the world had been deprived of sunlight for a good long while. Her jacket kept her body from growing too cold while the chilled breeze moved over her bare legs. Dully, her mind told her that it was not a good idea to wander the streets in short pajama bottoms in the wee hours of the morning, but that compelling need for a stroll haughtily responded that she would punch anybody who dared hassle her. Her shuffling feet scraping the dirt road was the only sound that permeated the quiet of the sleeping village, save for the occasional chirp of a cricket or hoot of an owl. Moths slapped fruitlessly against the burning glass of the streetlamps above her head. Sakura felt like those moths. Prodding uselessly at the doorway to light only to be rejected again and again.

The buildings were all blurry dark masses to her hazed mind. Sakura remembered the way those buildings had been mangled into rubble and splinters the day that Pain had attacked, how she had kneeled amongst the ruins and howled Naruto’s name to the uncaring blue sky as she cried bitter tears of loss and fear. Those ruins were long gone now; Sakura was the only ruin left.

Well, not the only ruin.

Her feet had carried her there of their own volition. In the pale moonlight, the white garden gate glowed, veiling the dark silhouettes of bushes and flowers of the garden. The stone path caught the white rays at just the right angle to look like glowing moonstones had been deposited in the grass, white and shining and illuminating her way to the porch. The gate latch and hinges squeaked in protest as she entered the garden. Sakura skipped over the stones and up the porch steps, her footfalls quick but quiet. Once she was standing in front of the door, her mind briefly entertained the notion that it was about four in the morning and she had no business knocking on his door.

In the next second, her knuckles were rapping insistently on the wood.

There was a period of silence. Sakura debated both fleeing and knocking again. Her green eyes flickered to the window as the hallway light inside suddenly switched on. She saw the curtains flutter, but it was not enough for her to see who was actually peeking through the window, but it was plenty enough for the person to catch a good glance at her pajama-clad form standing awkwardly at the doorway. She looked at the porchlight as it flickered on as well, bright yellow lightbulb styled in the form of a small flame within a glass lantern. The moths sprang from the bushes to excitedly pummel themselves into the glass to try and reach it. Like the ruin Sakura, who was reaching out desperately for closure and meeting only resistance.

The door swung open.

“Sakura,” Shikamaru said in a low tone as he raised a hand to his mouth to stifle a yawn, “it’s four in the morning.”

“I was having nightmares again.”

She had said all that needed to be said. His eyebrows quirked for a second before he wordlessly extended his arms out for her to walk into his embrace, and that she did; she slipped out of her sandals as she crossed the threshold, kicking them near the pairs of shoes that were placed neatly next to where the floor began, and buried her face into Shikamaru’s chest. The cloth of his nightshirt was soft against her face, and she breathed in deeply to inhale the comfortable scent of him, coffee and pine forest with the hint of spicy medicinal herbs. His arms closed around her and his hands began rubbing comforting circles in her back, and he propped his chin on the top of her head with a small sigh.

Sakura was not sure what to call their arrangement. It had all started one night like this, when she had awoken in the deep of night sweating and scared and in need of comfort. One would’ve though that she would have gone to Naruto’s, or Ino’s, but her fogged mind had delivered her to Shikamaru’s home instead. To his credit, he hadn’t turned her away, only awkwardly embraced her crying form and pulled her into his house. She had ended up falling asleep in his futon. Shikamaru was the perfect gentleman, of course, and had migrated to his couch once she had crashed. He cooked her breakfast in the morning and she left. It had turned into an almost weekly ritual at this point. To the oblivious bystander, they could be easily perceived as intimate, but it was never like that.

They were just two broken beings that found comfort in each other’s brokenness.

When his hands gently patted the backs of her thighs, she obediently jumped up to wrap her legs around his hips so he could cart her off to his room. It was almost uncanny how well her knew her; without even saying anything, he had read that she had no strength to walk anymore. He kicked the door shut and slipped the lock before whirling on his heel and silently carried her to his room. The entire time, Sakura just kept her face pressed into his sternum. There was always something so soothing about how his chest rose and fell against her face with his calm, gentle breaths. At this point she always vaguely considered the fact that they were strangely intimate for supposed best friends, but just like always, it was quickly washed away by the sense of calm that washed over her and chased away all the pent-up energy and fear.

Her head flopped sleepily against him as he sat down cross-legged in the tousled blankets of his futon.

“Thank you,” she murmured against him. Tears prickled at the corners of her eyes, both of frustration at herself and gratefulness at his selfless care. That was usual for the entire routine, too. And every time, he said-

“You’re such a drag.” That playful hint in his tone never failed to alight a smile to her face. Her arms wound up around his neck to play with the hair that was for once freed from his high ponytail. Sakura would’ve never thought that Shikamaru had such soft hair, but he did. It always felt like silk beneath her fingertips as she gently wound it and rubbed it. It had become as much a compulsive gesture as everything else in the strange little sessions. Just like usual, Sakura’s eyes were beginning to droop as she settled back into a safe space. It never took her long to fall asleep once she was in Shikamaru’s arms.

Except this night was to be a little different.

“Sakura.”

“Nnh?” she responded blearily. It was surprising she even reacted to her name being called, as she was descending in that warm watery feeling of encroaching rest. Her head lolled as she looked up at him, green eyes only barely cracked open to peer into his face through her thick lashes. “What is it?” If she had been more able of mind, she would have registered the tautness in his jaw and the uncertainty pooling in his black irises. However, it remained lost to her as she only gazed sleepily into his angular face. Her eyebrows only jumped a little as his gaze fell to her mouth, which was gaping only slightly in her sleepy stupor. Her mind was a few paces behind her senses, because even though she didn’t perceive the fact his face was enclosing on hers, her lips adjusted to the inevitable fact that his were going to meet them.

A soft sigh bled off her tongue as they did, molding over her mouth deliciously like softened chocolate. It took a minute for it to click in her mind that Shikamaru was kissing her, but when it did, surprisingly, she did not react with surprise or reproach. Instead, it was like every cell in her body relaxed with a collective “Finally…” Although she was already slumped against him, she pushed her body further against him while her hands slipped into his strands of hair to cradle the back of his head, holding him in the sweet kiss. At first, he didn’t move, but after a few seconds he hesitantly began to slide his mouth over her own in repeated movements. Sakura relished the slow, sensual dance of their lips and the way he tasted, of the husky robustness of lightly sweetened coffee… That was probably a sign he ingested way too much of it, but it was such an intoxicating flavor that Sakura sure as hell wasn’t going to ever chide him for it. His hands found purchase in the soft flesh of her waist, fingers digging in slightly as he kissed her with more fervor. Slowly, he eased her onto her back against the futon, body resting between her legs that were still hugged around his hips. As he angled his head to kiss her more deeply and passionately, Sakura’s head began swimming. It was eerily reminiscent of that feeling she had woken up with, tired yet restless, weary yet livened, exhausted yet undeniably alive.

When he finally pulled back, she was panting quietly. She had been so drunk on the kiss that she hadn’t even realized her lungs were burning for oxygen. His face didn’t full back far; he paused to run the tip of his nose along her own before his eyes opened halfway to peer intensely down at her.

“I’m really glad you didn’t slap me for that little experiment,” he remarked. Of all the things he could’ve said after such a passionate moment, that certainly was a Shikamaru thing to say, and it made her giggle.

“Would’ve been a drag, huh?” she chuckled as she circled her arms tighter around his broad shoulders. His thumbs were peeking just under her tank top hem, rubbing little circles into her hips. Sakura had a lot of things she could ask- how long had he felt this way about her, what made him choose this moment over all others, to name a couple- but she didn’t. Those questions could come later. For now, she simply wanted to bask in the simplicity of it all.

They were just two individuals that had long been ruined, slowly piecing themselves back together. Of course a connection like that could easily turn into something more intimate. It made sense that Sakura had not reacted more strongly than she had. She was pulled out of her introspection as Shikamaru suddenly gave her a pouty look.

“Does this mean I don’t have to sleep on the couch?” he asked hopefully. When Sakura laughed and nodded her head, he sighed in relief and tipped to the side to flop down in the futon beside her. “Good, it kills my goddamn back.”

“You sound like such an old man.”

“I get that often,” he snorted but smirked at her. She rolled on her side to face him as he tugged the comforter over both their bodies, resting it just at the top of Sakura’s small shoulder. His hand fell down to cup her face and sweep away a strand of her short pink hair. “You’re so beautiful,” he whispered admiringly. The pure reverence in his usually unbothered tone made her flush the shade of her hair. She only smiled before snuggling up against him, face pressing into the crook of his neck to once again breathe in that intoxicating natural scent of his.

Needless to say, the remained of Sakura’s night was filled with only pleasant dreams.

Enjoy this oneshot? Feel free to peruse my Table of Contents!

Tag List: @deliathedork @searchfortheonepiece @shikasaku-week

#shikasaku week #shikasaku week hanami #shikasaku week 2020 #shikasaku #sakuraxshikamaru #sakura x shikamaru #shikamaruxsakura #shikamaru x sakura #shikamaru nara #nara shikamaru #sakura haruno #haruno sakura #naruto #naruto shippuden #naruto fanfiction #naruto fanfic

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vannahfanfics · 4 years

Text

Galaxia de Primavera

Category: Romantic Fluff

Fandom: Naruto

Characters: Shikamaru Nara, Sakura Haruno

Hi, everyone! Here’s the story for Day Two of ShikaSaku Week Hanami, prompt “Of Stardust and Galaxies!” Please enjoy~

If spring were a galaxy, it would exist in her eyes; the pale green of new life blooming into existence, planets of new leaf shoots and stardust of swirling white petals, cosmic waves of rippling grasses and starlight filtering in with beams of white… They were a universe of themselves, those spring-green irises of hers, and he always felt like a wayward astronaut spiraling further and further into their endless depths anytime they locked onto his own. They had so much gravity that he couldn’t help but be drawn in; she pulled him into orbit without even realizing it, into a spring galaxy of stardust green where he could spend his entire life in contentment. Such raw power did the eyes of Sakura Haruno hold.

Not that Shikamaru ever told her anything like that. It was all poetic and shit in theory, but he would make a bungle of things if he ever tried to formulate something like that into actual words. Instead, he just hovered just outside her solar system, a dying star in desperate need of gratification but too unwilling to do much of anything about it. How long had he been in love with her now? Since before the Great Ninja War, surely, and it was going on a year after that debacle. He could never bring himself to be honest with her about what he was feeling. Truthfully, he himself didn’t even know how to describe what exactly he was feeling; it hurt to look at her but he never wanted her out of his sight, he both feared and revered her insurmountable, goddess-like strength, the sweet smiles she tossed him on the street both made him feel like he was walking on air and like he had been stabbed right through the heart with a rusty serrated knife. He had always known women had been a drag, but he never would’ve thought that falling in love with one could be as massive a drag as this. Cheek leaned into the palm of his hand, he watched her through the barbecue joint window as she sat in a café across the street, munching on some sweet dango with more delicacy than would be thought of the tomboyish girl.

“Hey, Earth to Shikamaru.” He grimaced as Ino knocked on the side of his head, and his dark eyes flickered to meet her own baby-blue ones with a gruff “What?” “What do you mean, ‘what?’ If you want to go talk to Sakura, would you just do it already? Your pining really makes barbecue nights kind of a drag,” she sniffed haughtily as she crossed her slim arms over her chest. A blush bloomed from the base of his neck to the tops of his ears; he hadn’t even noticed he had been staring at Sakura this entire time.

“I’m not pining,” he muttered under his breath, tearing his face away from the window to instead stare down at the smoldering coals above which Choji was eagerly searing his cuts of steak. Shikamaru glanced up as the burly man’s chopsticks appeared in his line of vision to flip the half-cooked meat over.

“Shikamaru, it’s kinda obvious.” So, his best friend wouldn’t cut him any slack either. With a soft “mmmh!” Choji pushed a few juice-covered nibblets of meat into his mouth. “Y’know, you can’t wait around forever. Sooner or later she’ll be snatched up by somebody else, and how would you feel then? I’m sure you’d regret never saying anything.”

“He’s exactly right!” Ino shouted, banging her fist loudly on the table. The salt and pepper shakers jumped into the air at her assault, and Shikamaru reflexively reached out to grab them before they spilled their contents all over the place. Cleaning all that up would be a drag, and they gave the busboy enough trouble with all the plates and cups they always accumulated. Ino waggled her finger in his face as he set them down a safe distance away from her boisterousness. “Y’know what Sakura told me? She’s not even sure if she’s in love with Sasuke anymore! Now’s your perfect chance to slide in and make her yours!”

Despite himself, a tiny ember of hope flared to life in his chest. Sakura had been in love with Sasuke since they were little kids playing ninja in the Academy and had still loved him even after all the crap he had pulled. To hear that her feelings could be waning, even just a little, could mean that Shikamaru had a shot… But did Shikamaru really have a chance against Sasuke? Not that he put the guy up on a pedestal like everyone else did, but there was something to be said about how fiercely and unequivocally girls loved. It wasn’t as easy as sidling up to her and announcing “Hey, be in love with me instead of that jerk!” With a low groan, he slumped down in the booth and side-eyed his pretty teammate.

“Ino, I don’t think this is as easy as you make it out to be. It sounds like a massive drag to me.”

“Shikamaru, you need to be more of a go-getter! You’ll never be Naruto’s advisor if you can’t even work up the nerve to ask a girl out!” she scolded him hotly, and Shikamaru’s grimace deepened. Way for her to him it where it hurt. With a snort, she suddenly leaned her entire upper body over him to try and fiddle with the window.

“Hey! What the hell are you doing?!” he cried and shimmied further down the booth seat, so far that his back was pressed down against the seat, because Ino’s endowments were just bouncing all in his face. He tried to focus on her face, blush raging even fiercer than before, right as she unlatched the window and pushed it open. “There! Now, go get her, tiger!” she giggled.

Shikamaru released a sound somewhere between a choke and a squeak as she grabbed him by the collar of his issued uniform vest, wrenched him up the booth seat, and promptly threw him out of the window. Ino had a lot of force to back herself up too, but not nearly as much as Sakura; he coughed painfully as his stomach crashed down against the windowpane, digging harshly into his skin and making him feel nauseous. Before he could recover, her high-heeled foot met his backside and pushed him all the way through the window. He landed on the dusty ground in a crumpled heap, eye twitching excessively as he tried to refrain from jumping up and socking her, female or not. “What a drag,” he grumbled as he righted himself so he was sitting cross-legged under the window, rubbing the area of his neck that was now pulsing with a dull pain. By happenstance, he happened to glance across the street where Sakura was still sitting on the bench enjoying her dango, and froze.

Those spring green eyes of hers were closed, scrunched up with laughter that she was hiding with a hand lightly hovering in front of her mouth. The dango wobbled a little in her other hand from how hard her shoulders were shaking. Shikamaru smiled in embarrassment. Man, Ino just had to make him go and look so uncool… But, it was always good to make girls laugh, right? He craned his head back just in time to see the window click closed. Ino was serious. “What a drag,” he sighed once more before picking himself up and brushing himself off. Slipping his hands into his pants pockets, he strolled casually across the street to stand in front of Sakura.

“Hehehe,” she continued to giggle lightheartedly, “did you and Ino have a disagreement?”

“Something like that,” he answered with a lop-sided smirk. Her thick lashes parted, and those orbs of brilliant green peeked out at him like twin suns appearing over the horizon, and his heart instantly twisted in his chest. God, was it possible for eyes to be that gorgeous? With a thick swallow, he tugged at his wire-mesh undershirt, suddenly hot. “A-Anyway… It’s a little late for you to be out by yourself, don’t you think?” he stammered in a desperate attempt to keep the conversation at least a little natural. She cocked her head slightly as she bit down on the end of the dumplings, the soft flesh of it yielding to her teeth.

“I suppose it is. I lost track of time.” She plucked the last colored dumpling from the stick before tossing the sharp skewer into the pile she had accumulated beside her. “I was just thinking about things, y’know?” Her smile was so pure and innocent. It was hard to believe sometimes that it concealed such a cunning and clever mind. He liked that about her, though. He much preferred an intelligent, capable woman to a total airhead. His body stiffened slightly as she abruptly stood up to peer up at him, body curving and eyelashes fluttering with just the faintest sense of demure. “Care to walk a girl home?”

Those eyes again. Shining ethereally in the starlight, the stunning pale green of lichens clinging to hardy oaken trees accented by the emerald of its stubborn leaves. All it took was one simple glance and Shikmaru was locked into their gravity; no amount of attempting to pull away would yield his escape. He would simply have to suffer through her atmosphere and crash-land somewhere, though he knew not where yet. A blush sprinkled like stardust over his cheeks.

“Yeah… Sure.”

~~~~~~~~~~

The night was filled only by the scuffing of their sandals against the dirt road. Sakura strolled alongside him with her hands clasped behind her back, while Shikamaru’s were buried deep into his pockets. The silence was suspended between them like the crescent moon hanging low in the night sky; the tension strummed in tune with the twinkling of the thousands of stars, their brilliant light muted by the village lights. Shikamaru mused on whether or not if they were far away, in the wilderness where no man-made light could mask them, the stars above would even come close to the galaxy held within those eyes of hers. He figured not. Gradually, his gaze shifted from the path in front of him to her, those miraculously beautiful eyes and the way they caught the starlight just right to shine with springtime’s brilliance.

“So… I heard something interesting from Ino.”

“What’s that?” Her cherry-blossom hair bounced around her chin as she turned inquisitively toward him. He scowled and pawed at the back of his neck again. The question he was about to ask was so personal and awkward; did he really have the right to be prying? Then again, if he turned back up at the barbecue place empty-handed, Ino was liable to whale on him. It was simple self-preservation… right?

“Well, uh… She kinda mentioned that, uh… You didn’t have feelings for Sasuke anymore.”

“Oh.” A shiver crawled up his spine at the even tone of her voice. Was she gonna whale on him instead? Shikamaru didn’t know if he could take one of Sakura’s punches; it was only thanks to Naruto’s impossibly thick skull that he survived his frequent whackings. Sakura’s fists did not curl, nor did she make any indication that she was angry. She stopped walking, gaze falling to her feet, which shifted as her knees turned in a little. “I’ve been thinking about it… For a long time, but even more recently since he’s been gone for so very long,” she sighed wistfully. Those green irises danced around in the sea of white, but never trained on him. “I think it’s just finally sunk in, that’s all. That it was always just a childish, one-sided crush.” Shikamaru looked at her in concern. To hear her say it that way just sounded so sad, and even though she was smiling, that smile couldn’t mask how much pain she was obviously in. He didn’t know what to do though, because frankly, Shikamaru knew jack shit about girls, let alone comforting them. “Why do you mention it?” she asked with false cheer in her voice. She finally looked up at him. He jumped as those spring galaxies suddenly blazed against his own dark nebulas.

“Oh, uh, I was just, you know, wanting to make sure if you were okay about it. I mean, you’ve liked him for a really long time; it’s not easy for girls to get over stuff like that, right?” he laughed nervously. Man, if he kept rubbing his neck like that, he was liable to leave a mark. She blinked as her pale pink eyebrows crept up her forehead; then, she laughed, sweetly and with feeling. It sounded like shrine bells in a gentle breeze, melodic and invigorating.

“Oh. That’s sweet of you!” The silence drifted down between them again, like a curtain falling upon the closing act of a play. Shikamaru stood stiffly in the middle of the street, waiting for her to take up walking again, but she didn’t. The tension stretched thinner and thinner, threatening to snap any moment. It made him sweat a little. “Oh, um, this is my house,” she clarified with another anxious chuckle.

“Oh.” Duh, Shikamaru, he thought begrudgingly. He ought to bid her goodnight and leave her to her devices. His feet had other plans, rooting him to the spot and keeping him there like an idiot. He just stood there, fingers nervously kneading into the seams of his pockets, while those green eyes of hers watched her with an emotion he dare not name, lest everything come crashing down in an asteroid storm around them. It looked like leaves were dancing in cosmic tempest in her eyes with how intently she watched him, face drawn low in an unreadable expression.

“Shikamaru? What are you thinking right now?” Her face remained stony, indecipherable. Shikamaru had no idea what was running through her mind right now. Did he need to? There had to be a reason she was still goofing off with him outside in the middle of the night, right? Shikamaru was dense with girls, but even he still recognized that this was a good of a chance for him to be honest as he was ever going to get.

“I was thinking… that if spring were a galaxy, it would be in your eyes.” As soon as the words left his mouth, he turned red from head-to-toe and whirled around, bristling. His hands were clamped over his mouth to keep him from saying something else so incredibly stupid. That didn’t even make any sense! Oh, she was probably laughing at him right now, but the blood was roaring so loudly in his ears that he couldn’t hear the sniggers she was probably struggling to hold back. His ass should’ve just marched right on home. Why did he have to go and embarrass himself like this? He never should’ve have let Ino get to him. I’ve really done it now…

Every muscle in his body petrified as her hand landed on his shoulder. His hands dropped from his mouth and his arms flopped loosely in his arms in defeat; he knew he was still wildly blushing, but he simply couldn’t resist as her hand slowly trailed up to tug at his chin, beckoning for him to look at her. She was gonna be laughing, he just knew it. Compulsively, he squeezed his eyes shut…

And then he felt her lips, soft and light, brush over his own. It was a ghost of a comet trail at first, sprinkling of stardust to his nerves, but they soon sparked to life to spur his body into action. Drawn in by Sakura’s gravitational pull, he melded his lips to hers. They were so perfectly pliable under his own, and the faint aroma of strawberry lip gloss wafting up his nose sent him blasting off into the stars. His mouth merely rested over her own in a chaste kiss, but Heaven and Hell, it had Shikamaru’s head reeling. After a moment, he moved back, just barely. If he’d wanted to, he could kiss her again. His eyes snapped open at the realization of what had just transpired to see those eyes like a spring galaxy glimmering brighter than he had ever seen.

“Thanks for the compliment.” Her cute little purr of approval had the blush creeping back to Shikamaru’s ears again. God, did she know what she was doing to him? She totally did, because she stuck out the tip of her tongue at him with a teasing giggle. “Also, thanks for walking me home. See you around.” She gave him one last peck on the cheek before she was gone, hopping up the steps to unlock her front door and disappear inside. He saw just one last flash of those eyes of hers, and even long after she was gone they burned in his mind like two suns of green fire.

It took a long time for the pleasurable high to wear off him; when it did, he realized he had wandered back over towards the barbecue joint. Ino and Choji had seemingly grown bored of waiting for him and were just walking out of the building.

“There you are!” Ino called, and it was her voice that finally brought him out of his stupor. He ran a hand over his face, still lightly burning from flush, and wondered if what he had just witnessed was all but a fever dream. He then thought of those galactic springtime eyes and a smile tugged at the corners of his lips, where the faint scent of strawberry lingered.

No. Not a dream.

“Well, well?! What happened? Did you make your move?” she pestered as she scampered over to him to hug his arm and tug on it. “Tell me everything! Come on, come on!”

“Come on, Ino, don’t bug him so much,” Choji frowned from his other side. “He probably spent the whole time watchin’ the clouds.” Shikamaru tilted his head back to observe the thin, wispy gray clouds trawling over the night sky, blotting out the stars with their fluffy bodies. He smiled wryly.

“No… Not the clouds- the stars.”

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