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armorsleevedsinglehit · 3 years

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the huge shippuden music meta

no one asked for this but i’m gonna write it anyway. i’m going to focus primarily on the shippuden soundtrack here, but expect some references to the original series soundtrack as well. also before i begin i know approximately two (2) music so some of my terminology is probably going to be incorrect lol, it’s been a while since college. this is a general shippuden meta but it does focus on the uchiha clan, in particular sasuke and madara.

anyway, to start off, you can pretty easily divide the shippuden soundtrack into a few general categories:

traditional and/or acoustic

electric guitar tracks

some combination of these, plus orchestra hits aplenty

there are a few odd ducks here and there, but no worries, we’ll get to them. and then within these general categories we have a series of recurring character motifs (which can be a bit muddled, because certain themes are used for multiple characters. i assume that naruto (the show) isn’t necessarily scored the way a film would be, and so the directors just slapped whatever dramatic/sad/upbeat music they could find onto a scene, esp if it’s a filler ep, which definitely generates some confusion.) but characters and groups in shippuden DO sort of get their own motifs and themes, so here is my very basic list of those as well:

uzumaki clan and its descendants/allies: “emergence of talents/hyakkaryōran” has a very cool melody towards the end that comes back in “narukami/weeping god” and “shoryu/rising dragon”. we can basically call this the protagonist theme. naruto, sakura, kakashi, jiraiya, most of the konoha 11, and even minato get to claim this one. however, VERY interestingly, narukami is what plays when tobi (as madara) is telling sasuke about the glory days of the uchiha clan... possibly hinting at greater connections between the two clans???????????

akatsuki-related themes: i won’t link a ton of these because they’re super obvious. they’re often full of choir and organ (harkening back to orochimaru’s original series theme); they also tend to be slower. not always, though; look at crimson flames, a slapper if i ever heard one. prime example of akatsuki themes: girei, my FAVORITE bit of the shippuden soundtrack. UGH.

general shippuden themes: things like hurricane suite, heaven-shaking event, etc. most of the first ost goes in here. this category also contains the closest approximation to hashirama’s theme that i could find, experienced many battles and departure to the front lines, which both make me cry lol

there are other fun little motifs and bits and bobs that appear in this soundtrack that i won’t get into here for length (remind me to talk about the angelic herald of death sometime), but it’s a remarkably cohesive piece of work to the point where it gets repetitive sometimes; why are all the super interesting tracks unreleased!!!!??? anyway the purpose of this meta is to attempt to make sense of the way this soundtrack works. we’ll investigate sasuke primarily because i feel that he really ties the whole soundtrack together, and you can extrapolate a lot from the way his theme evolves.

sasuke’s theme (wandering/hyouhaku), yes the dramatic cowboy music theme, is this wonderfully atmospheric track that makes use of the kind of negative space between guitar strums to build up this aura, this Essence of Sasuke. this alone makes it stand apart from other mostly-acoustic pieces on the soundtrack, to me. the whole thing is just humming with this simmering frustration and melancholy and it really gives you a sense of sasuke as this tortured figure who has been severely wronged and experienced the world’s faults firsthand. notably, this version of sasuke’s theme lifts its opening notes (and structure, sorta) from sasuke’s original series theme, which i assume was on purpose. it shows that he’s grown jaded as he got older, i think.

anyway, as the inevitable battle between sasuke and itachi draws closer, we get our first variation on sasuke’s theme: black spot/kokuten. it has the same melody and structure as before, but features heavier guitars, more orchestration, and, in the final bars, notes that previously fell on 1 and 4 but now fall on 1 and 3, which bring a heightened sense of urgency to the whole thing. and more importantly, it ends without resolving itself? it leaves us hanging on this almost call-and-response bit with one wailing guitar after another, before winding the orchestration down and fizzling back down to the level of “wandering.” here we see a sasuke in progress, if you will, working towards a goal that some may find sinister, but he is determined if nothing else, and the instruments match his fervor. it’s roughly analogous to “crimson flames” in terms of intensity, but it’s very distinctly Sasuke.

there are several more variations of sasuke’s theme floating around, but the next one i want to talk about is this one called “sasuke’s ninja way,” apparently, never officially released but relentlessly employed by the anime directors. it takes a more subtle turn than “black spot,” but i don’t see it as a direct sequel to “wandering” for a few different reasons. i think it represents the dilemma sasuke found himself after finally killing itachi and learning the truth about him: the realization that this whole quest for power of his was never really about revenge on one specific person, but rather about reforming the shinobi world as a whole. it’s slower than “black spot,” yet darker, more ominous; it treads the same general path as “wandering” but with added electric guitar, and, notably, choir. recall that choir is often used for themes related to the akatsuki, which i think ties in neatly with sasuke’s motivations at this point. he, like nagato before him, wants to remake the world.

the final iteration of sasuke’s theme, “sasuke’s revolution/junkyousha,” brings it all together. the akatsuki is commonly represented through choir and organ, and this theme starts out with both of these cranked up to the max. this is (pardon the pun) sasuke’s rebirth, if you will. just combine the intensity of “girei,” the anger of “crimson flames,” and the determination of “emergence of talents” and you’re there. seriously: this culmination of sasuke’s character development basically pulls from every single facet of the soundtrack and produces this MASSIVELY rich piece full of anger and rage and hate and fury, while STILL managing to include the twangy guitar bits from “wandering” (which have gone back to 1 and 4!!). we also have someone going ham on a shamisen towards the end of the track, which calls to mind the shamisen solo from “emergence of talents” and other tracks. hinting at an eventual compromise with naruto, possibly?

anyway, i started out this meta trying to find a piece of the soundtrack that could serve as madara’s theme, but i wasn’t sure that one existed. i think the susano’o has a theme, and the uchiha clan has a theme, but....madara just doesn’t?? sure there are unreleased tracks like “legendary uchiha,” but i’d argue that doesn’t really go into his character as much as it just says “watch out for this fucking guy.”

but then i listened to hurricane suite one more time, and i was like HOLY SHIT THIS IS IT. for one thing, it’s long as fuck: this track is a whole journey. it really gives the impression of someone who has lived an impossibly long life and become jaded and cruel and hardened. i realize that the argument could be made that hurricane suite is sasuke’s theme, not madara’s, or that it’s a general shippuden theme and doesn’t represent one character in particular. and yes, i think both of these interpretations are correct. hurricane suite represents what sasuke could POTENTIALLY turn out to be, given his evolution from “wandering” to “black spot” to “sasuke’s ninja way” all the way to “sasuke’s revolution.” hurricane suite warns us that sasuke can (and very well may!) make the same mistakes madara did and end up destroying himself in the process. (the middle of “hurricane suite” GREATLY resembles “wandering.”) and recall that hurricane suite is used in the very first episode of shippuden: the episode where naruto encounters sasuke for the first time, AND- are you ready for this- when madara’s name is dropped for the first time in the series.

this is why i think that, along with it being a general shippuden theme, hurricane suite is also madara’s theme. shippuden as a whole is practically suffocating under the oppressive weight of madara’s presence, right from the very first episode. even before he’s introduced, he is VERY much there. so much of madara’s character is established before he even shows up. we hear so much about him from other characters (kurama, itachi, obito, hashirama), and as such our view of madara changes drastically over the course of the series. and guess what plays when itachi shows sasuke that genjutsu of madara stealing izuna’s eyes?

anyway, in my opinion and in my interpretation of the character, the music fits him perfectly. it starts out all low and choral with these slow ominous drums and deep strings, and this violin comes in that sounds like it’s weeping. we hear something like a heartbeat that grows darker over time, before the music comes to some sort of resolution, an inflection point, and the brass comes in heavy. NOW we’re dealing with the orchestra, three quarters of the way into the song, and we’ve got strings and drums set to a marching pace, more choral chanting, climbing strings and shamisen tumbling down the scales. it sounds like grief!!

and note that yes, this track is used in the very first episode of shippuden, during naruto and sasuke’s first encounter. but it is ALSO used during the scene in hashirama’s flashback when izuna is mortally wounded and madara makes the decision to abandon the clan on the battlefield to take care of him, despite his better judgment and hashirama’s offering of peace. the inflection point in the music represents a very real inflection point in madara’s life: the loss of his last brother. (it always comes back to that, doesn’t it.)

#meta #madara uchiha #sasuke uchiha #uchiha clan #almost 2000 words churned out in one evening. [stares at fic] [sighs]#long post

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keepyourpantsongohan · 4 years

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Voice of the Garden

The atmosphere felt like one of those ninja refuges you heard about in stories. (Konoha Hiden, Ch. 7) | Discord Spring Exchange for @ohayohimawari | AO3 |

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Tenzō is a very welcome eclipse, Kakashi decides, without opening his eyes.

The sunlight behind his eyelids isn’t totally gone, but he knows if he were to peer out at the world, he would find one tall, smiling man blocking out the sun's rays, smelling of honey, butter and wheat.

“You made something,” Kakashi accuses blithely, opening one eye. “We said no work today.”

“We did,” Tenzō agrees, sitting down. Kakashi’s gaze follows him as he sets aside a covered tray. “But you set up a picnic, so I thought we were even.”

Kakashi shakes his head, poking Tenzō in the knee. “I laid all of this out yesterday.”

“That’s cheating,” says Tenzō, laughing.

“Wasn’t your favourite phrase, ‘You can never be too cautious?’ Maybe I’ve finally taken your advice and prepared ahead of time.”

“It’s ‘knock on a stone bridge before crossing it,’” Tenzō corrects.

“So, the same thing, but for old men.” Kakashi teases, eyes falling shut again.

He feels Tenzō’s fingers touch his face, running gently from underneath his brow bone to the top of his cheek. Kakashi doesn’t have to look at him to know he’s pressing against the light lines in his skin. “I don’t see any young men around here.”

“That’s not nice,” Kakashi says, feigning offence in his voice. The ruse doesn’t quite reach his face.

“You started it,” Tenzō points out without remorse. Still, the press of his lips to Kakashi’s temple is a pleasing balm. “Don’t you want to see what I made?”

“Bread,” Kakashi observes, but he looks anyways. He takes the opportunity to stretch out on his side, joints popping in a way that does make him feel a little like an old man. “You smell like a bakery,” he adds.

For the first time that day, Kakashi takes a lingering glance at Tenzō. By his appearance, the bread only finished baking a short while ago. His sleeves are pushed up to the elbow, the neck of his shirt is tugged backward where an apron would be tied, and while there is no flour on his hands, there is the smallest hint of it clinging to a few strands of his hair.

Besides that, Kakashi’s face isn’t alone in starting to show lines. Tenzō’s face has one or two creases on it himself. It amuses Kakashi to think they will be a matching set, making each other’s faces wrinkle more and more with each smile. He isn’t disappointed to see his partner doing just that.

Tenzō chuckles. “I suppose it was a fool’s errand to try to surprise you.”

“I am surprised,” Kakashi concedes, tapping his fingers on Tenzō’s thigh. “I didn’t know the oven worked. I’ve been using katon to grill our fish.”

The other man takes this admission in good humour. “I thought it had a strange aftertaste,” Tenzō quips. “The first thing they teach you about mokuton is not to eat food made with your own chakra.”

��When I asked you if you could fix the bed, you said the first thing they teach about mokuton is that you shouldn’t sleep on structures made of your own chakra,” Kakashi says, making a face at him.

“You’re mistaken,” says Tenzō, lips twitching. “That’s the second thing.”

Clucking his tongue, Kakashi asks, “How do you keep track of all of these rules?”

“I keep a list.” Tenzō answers. His focus turns to the basket Kakashi has laid out at the head of their blanket. “May I?”

Kakashi gestures for him to go ahead. He hadn’t been joking when he said he had prepared in advance. The lid is flipped open, revealing a welcoming array of fruit, savoury pastries, pickled vegetables and whatever else he was able to gather. The attentiveness of the task doesn’t go unnoticed.

“Some of this looks more elaborate than a usual picnic,” Tenzō remarks, nodding at a glass bottle, glinting gold.

The bottle is tugged out of the spot where it has been nestled. Although Kakashi’s had it with him for some time now, it feels heavier in his hand today. The amber elixir is liquid gold in the sunlight. Tenzō’s eyes follow its twinkle curiously.

“Honey wine,” Kakashi tells him, passing it over.

Tenzō’s expression shifts, examining the bottle carefully. “When did you find this? It’s rare, these days.”

“When we passed through Sora-ku last month,” Kakashi says.

Tenzō raises his eyebrows. “The Senju clan used to make this in the old days, you know. For special occasions.”

“I see you’ve been talking to Kurenai too.” Kakashi says. A slight warmth floods his face, and he changes tack. “It’s a beekeeper who makes it now. I met them in a bamboo grove.”

A bamboo grove filled with a genjutsu fog, he doesn’t add. Kakashi’s own surprise being kept is a thing of chance; both that he been fortunate enough to have known his own mind, and that the beekeeper seemed to have an affinity for Konoha shinobi.

"I didn’t think there was much by way of people in that place,” admits the other man. “Other than the ones who stay with Sasuke’s cat friends. And I’m not sure that family isn’t half cat themselves. Was this beekeeper a shinobi?”

“Yes. I didn’t press, but it seemed clear to me that they had left their village.”

A thoughtful nod follows this revelation, followed by a slowly spreading smile. “Leaving shinobi life to tend to bees,” Tenzō muses. “Now, there’s a thought.”

“Thinking of a career change?” Kakashi asks, nudging his leg against Tenzō’s.

There’s a brief scuffle between their lower limbs, with them tangled up in both each other and the blanket. It is only by luck that none of their food topples over. With Kakashi far closer to him than before, Tenzō replies, “As Rokudaime Hokage, wouldn’t it constitute treason for me to tell you about plans to abandon Konoha?”

“Maybe,” Kakashi agrees. “What kind of crime would it be if I decided to leave?”

“Dereliction of duty,” Tenzō decides. He says it with all the seriousness he can muster. “ANBU would follow in a matter of hours.”

Kakashi grins. He’d like to see any of the current ANBU recruits try to catch them. “We’d have to find somewhere very remote to live. One of Kiri’s islands?”

“That would make it hard for Gai to visit,” Tenzō points out, catching on to Kakashi’s game. “What about Kumo? It’s more than a stone’s throw from Konoha, but still attached to the mainland.”

Cheerfully, Kakashi says, “I’m sure Killer Bee would let us stay with him until we found our footing,” At Tenzō’s look of alarm, he beams even wider.

“Bees,” says Tenzō suddenly. “I wouldn’t be able to keep bees in Kumo. The climate is too hot for that. We’d have to go to Iwa.”

It is far too easy for Kakashi to imagine Tenzō in a full body suit, with bees swirling around him. As it is, the ones in Konoha seem inordinately fond of him. “From what I could tell, Iwagakure is where the beekeeper came from in the first place. So maybe they’re looking for a new one.”

“And what would you do?”

Kakashi lets himself ponder on it. A jest comes to mind first, but he holds himself back. For several strange and delightful seconds, he imagines himself truly having found a life outside Konoha, with welcome company and without expectation.

“Obito once asked me if I was planning to be a chef,” Kakashi says, an unexpected sincerity rising up. He reaches for Tenzō’s hand, finding distraction in the lines of his palm. “I could try that. We could grow some vegetables in our garden.”

Tenzō lets himself be explored. “I have always liked your cooking,” he replies gently. His tone turns playful. “How would we keep the people of Iwa from recognizing you? You’ve got quite the reputation.”

“I’ll wear a hat.”

A free hand reaches up to play with Kakashi’s hair. “Don’t you already have one of those?” Tenzō asks. “The public still knows you when you wear it.”

Kakashi hums, contemplating. “I’ll get a bigger hat.”

The logic passes whatever metric Tenzō has decided to use, and he murmurs an agreement. His hand stays splayed at the base of Kakashi’s neck, “What if I don’t recognize you without the hair?”

Winking, Kakashi says, “I’ll take it off when I get home.”

It seems as though Tenzō has something to say to that, but any banter is cut short by a growl of his stomach. He sighs. “That’s enough roleplay for now. I think it’s time to eat.”

“That’s a shame,” Kakashi says, fingers at Tenzo’s waist. “The missing nin thing is kind of working for me.”

Tenzō doesn’t blush about these kind of things anymore, but he still laughs, his head ducking a little closer to the grass. “It’s things like this that make me worry I will one day have to testify against you.”

“They can’t do that, if you’re married,” Kakashi says lightly.

“Is that what marriage would mean to you?” Tenzō teases, rolling onto his back. “Legal immunity?”

Kakashi plays at indignation. “You think so little of me. I would also be in it for the couple’s discounts.”

“My mistake,” Tenzō replies. He reaches for one of the apples Kakashi set in their picnic basket, rolling it between his hands instead of eating it. “Of course, it would be for legal and budgeting reasons. I should know better than to underestimate you after so many years.”

“You should really think better of your future spouse, Tenzō,” Kakashi says. The admonition has far too much sentimentality in it to land. “We might as well give the honey wine to Kurenai, if things are so rocky before the wedding.”

“So you do know what it’s for,” his companion notes. A pinkness spreads over his cheeks. “I wondered.”

“It’s important to become familiar with your village’s traditions.” Kakashi says, his throat much dryer than before.

“I thought we were going to be missing nin?” Despite his words, Tenzō’s heart is plain on his face.

In response, Kakashi’s heart is even louder in his ears. He steadies it by leaning his head on Tenzō’s shoulder. “We can decide that after the wedding,” he compromises.

“If you keep bringing up weddings, one day I’ll have to marry you,” Tenzō warns, humoured; heartfelt; happy. He feels the shoulder where his head rests shift, but it is only for Tenzō’s cheek to press against his hair.

“I’m free tomorrow,” Kakashi offers.

“The licensing offices won’t be open for two more days,” is the reply. It is almost automatic; it takes a few seconds for Tenzō to catch up to their conversation, and when he does, he stills. The apple falls from his grasp.

Kakashi takes the opportunity to say, “I could make next week work.”

For a moment, they separate to look at each other. And then they both laugh, and keep laughing, until Tenzō does the sensible thing and finds a way to silence them both.

Tenzō’s kiss knocks Kakashi into the ground in its enthusiasm. Kakashi’s answering movements are no more coordinated. He barely manages to take down his mask before his lips are covered again. Kakashi is no stranger to kissing Tenzō, but there is a novelty in this, kissing for this reason, intoxicated by their own contentment.

They are grasping and grinning like they are somewhere far more private than a clearing with a sparse covering of trees. This time, they definitely knock something over, but they are much too busy to figure out what it is.

The one thing that does have Kakashi reluctantly pulling away is when he senses a spike in his companion’s chakra, and feels the earth beneath him shift, grass and soil alike moving beneath his back.

When Kakashi opens his eyes, he sees their clearing is not so empty anymore. Their new company is a field full of sunflowers, and the surprised look on Tenzō’s face tells him it hadn’t been intentional.

“I’m going to take that as a maybe,” Kakashi tells him, warm and pleased.

#ohayohimawari #kakayama #tenzashi #kakashi hatake #yamato tenzo #naruto series #mine #fanfiction #long post #discord #shinobi spring exchange #ayesha talks anime #hima i hope u know i was OVERJOYED to have this prompt #thank u for wanting all of the same things in a fic as i do jghgk #happy spring!!

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kusunogatari · 3 years

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[ ObiRyū October | Day Twenty-Five | Pent Up ] [ @abyssaldespair ] [ Uchiha Obito, Suigin Ryū, Nohara Rin, Hatake Kakashi ] [ Verse: Best Years of Your Life ] [ Vulgarity, blood ]

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Why, why, why is it so hard to keep ahold of his temper…?!

So much more seems to grate at his patience than it used to when he was younger. Sounds, touches, even smells can start chipping at his mood, making him more and more agitated until something has to give. It’s like his brain has turned into a ticking time bomb, randomly exploding when just the right criteria are met.

Needless to say...it’s made most people wary of him. And now that he’s starting his senior year back in the district he once hailed from, he’s especially wary of being labeled dangerous, unstable, a freak.

He’s already embarrassed himself once. The pool party, barbeque, whatever that Rin invited him to ended in disaster when he had one of his seizures. Right in front of everyone...they all just stared in horror as he seized up, plunging into the pool.

But then the girl who lived there had dragged him up, spurring the rest of them into action. The damage, however, had already been done. By now he’s sure everyone already knows about it before he even steps foot into the high school this morning.

...he just has to stay calm.

Finding his locker, he ignores the dubious looks he gets, the whispers that seem to follow him. Even at the reformative school he’d been transferred to after his accident had seen him an odd one out, mostly due to his appearance...but his breakdowns and spasms hadn’t helped, either. By now it’s all just white noise, fiddling with the combination lock on his locker door.

“Hey!”

Half a second late, Obito realizes he recognizes that voice, if only vaguely. A turn shows the girl from yesterday...Ryū? Admittedly he remembers almost nothing about her - only that she used to tag along with Rin when they were younger, and how much harder that made getting the other girl alone.

...of course that doesn’t matter now. Rin’s with Kakashi, for...some reason.

He just blinks at her, watching her approach with her books clutched to her chest.

In turn, she offers a smile. “So, you made it. How are you feeling today?”

The question earns a reflexive tick of annoyance. He gets really sick of people asking him that, but...there’s a genuine concern in her expression most people tend to lack. Usually they’re more exasperated than actually worried. “...I’m fine. Stiff, but it’ll pass.”

“Ah, good...that must have been so scary…”

“I’m used to it. It’s been happening for five years.”

Further sympathy wilts her brows. “...that must be really tough.”

He doesn’t have an answer, simply grunting and opening the door once the lock gives way.

“Well...if you need anything, let me know! Maybe I’ll see you in some classes?”

“I doubt it. Most of mine are pretty low ones compared to a lot of seniors.” And surely she’s not at his held-back level. She seems pretty smart, from what he can tell.

There’s a small awkward pause. “Oh...well, maybe a club…? I’ve been in the theater club since I was a freshman. It’s a lot of fun! But there’s a lot of others too, if you’re looking for something to do.”

Ugh, clubs...aren’t classes bad enough? “I’ll think about it.”

She seems to realize he’s getting annoyed. “Well...okay! I’ll, um...I’ll see you later, Obito. Have a good morning!”

He watches her go. Is she really one of those people that’s constantly peppy and good-natured? Isn’t that...exhausting? Well, whatever. He better get to first period. Last thing he needs is to be late on the first day. People are going to have enough reason to give him crap.

Thankfully he doesn’t have any confrontations on the way there, taking a back row seat and folding arms atop his desk to rest his chin. He’s barely been here ten minutes and he’s already sick of it.

...but he told his grandmother he’d try. She’s so eager to see him graduate from a proper school. All Obito can think is that he hopes she lives that long. She’s not exactly a spring chicken anymore. Out of everyone in his life right now...she’s his rock. The one person he never gets angry with, never gets upset by. Sachiko feels like the only reason he’s been keeping it together.

Even his old friends have clearly changed. Rin, while still friendly, seems a bit more...conscious about talking to him. Especially when Kakashi’s around. And Kakashi’s still quick to butt heads with him over practically nothing. Like yesterday with Rin’s invite to the party. It would have pissed him off...if Rin hadn’t rolled over for him so easily.

...he can’t expect them to be the same, but...he’ll admit, he’s not a fan of these changes. He knows things can’t be the same, but...even Rin no longer feels like a friend.

...maybe this whole ‘coming back’ thing was a mistake.

Morning classes pass in a bit of a fog, Obito in no way motivated to pay much attention. He just wants to check off this day from what will surely be a very long list of days until the year ends. The sooner that gets here, the happier he’ll be.

Come lunch, he’s realizing he’s now going to have to confront a few things. One being the crowds, and the noise. Another being trying to find a seat

Cuz he knows no one’s going to want to sit by -

“Obito!”

Jolting a bit with his tray in hand, he spots Ryū waving at him from a table. Nearby, both Kakashi and Rin seem to hesitate.

That narrows his eyes...but he decides to sit anyway. If they’re going to treat him like a stranger, he’ll just do the same. He doesn’t need them. He doesn’t need anyone. They want to distance themselves from him? Fine.

Instead, he sits next to Ryū.

“How were your classes?”

“Boring. But about what I expected.” He pointedly avoids looking at the other pair, working on getting his food arranged on his tray. “You?”

“I already have homework in two classes, but...hopefully it won’t be too bad.” There’s a mild silence, Ryū seeming to notice the awkward air between the three former friends. “...what about you guys? Any hard classes this morning?”

“I had three AP classes but that’s usual,” Kakashi replies, also obviously ignoring Obito. “Schedule’s pretty full, but it’ll be fine. Need them for my college apps.”

Across from him, Obito scowls at the casual bragging.

“Rin?” Ryū gives a bit of a strained smile.

“Nothing too, uh...bad. Pretty typical. One homework assignment so far. Also not sure what club I want to join...I liked gardening club last year but apparently the damage to the greenhouse from that storm over the Summer means it’s cancelled for this semester at least.” Rin’s mouth falls into a disappointed frown. “So I dunno if I should wait, or...join something else in the meantime. Cuz depending on repairs and stuff, it might not happen at all.”

“Aww! That really sucks...you could join theater!”

At that, Rin gives a short laugh. “I...don’t think so. Not really the acting type, and...it’d be weird being there just one semester or one year. You guys are a pretty close-knit group, right?”

“Well, yeah. But we welcome new freshmen every year!”

“Mm...I’ll think about it.”

“What about you, Obito?” Ryū asks, turning to him. “Want to join any clubs?”

“Or you could play a sport!”

“Not sure a sport is a good idea with my condition,” Obito replies, making Rin balk.

“O-oh...right. Sorry…”

“Well, doing some kind of extracurricular activity is good for your educational resume,” Kakashi offers nonchalantly.

“Not sure my educational resume is really going to impress anybody, given the circumstances,” Obito retorts, looking annoyed.

“Doesn’t mean you should just give up.”

“I’ll do whatever the hell I want.”

“Hey, guys, it’s fine,” Ryū cuts in, a placating hand rising. “Everybody does high school differently. APs or not, clubs or not, it’s whatever.”

“Yeah I only got into one AP this year,” Rin confirms with a nod before shooting Kakashi a look.

All the while, Obito tries to keep a hold on his temper. He can tell Kakashi is just trying to get a rise out of him. And while he already has pent up anger concerning the other boy, he doesn’t want to let it win.

So he instead focuses on deep, even breaths while the girls try to diffuse the situation. Now, if only it weren’t so loud in the cafeteria...it’s grating on his nerves.

“I’m gonna go get ready for class,” Kakashi eventually relents, standing and taking his half-empty tray with him.

“Kakashi -!” Looking a bit flabbergasted, Rin tries to call him back to no avail. “...I dunno what’s gotten into him today!”

“Just his typical asshole self,” Obito mutters. “Has to boss everyone else around, has to make himself look good when no one gives a shit.”

“I think he is worried about what you’re going to do after graduation,” Rin replies, looking a little nervous. “I mean...you’ve got an uphill battle ahead of you, given your...um...setbacks.”

Obito’s expression only sours, temper fraying further. “Well he doesn’t have to be such a shithead about it.”

“...it’s just...going to take some adjusting, y’know? Everyone...being back together. We’ve all changed, right?”

That does it. Appetite ruined, Obito stands without a word and dumps the rest of his food, tossing the tray into the wash pit.

Behind him, the girls both jolt in surprise. But only one gets up to follow him.

“Obito!”

He doesn’t stop, shoulders hunched and hands in his pockets as Ryū jogs to catch up.

“Don’t listen to Kakashi, he’s just -?”

“Just a massive prick and a pain in my ass,” Obito growls. He can feel the embers of his temper starting to flicker with flame.

“I’m sorry...you didn’t have to sit with them. I just figured -?”

“It wasn’t your fault. You -” You’ve been nothing but nice to me. “...Kakashi’s picked fights with me since we were kids. And...I’ve picked fights back. We’re just not meant to be around each other that much. Don’t worry about it.”

Managing to come around to his front, Ryū cuts off his path, expression guilty. “...still. I...should have read the room.”

“I didn’t have to sit there. It was my choice.”

“...well...tomorrow we’ll sit somewhere else, okay? That way it won’t happen again.”

Sighing, he stares at her. “...why are you being so nice to me?”

The question seems to take her aback. “W...why wouldn’t I?”

“Cuz no one else seems to want to.”

“Well everyone else are just a bunch of jerks. I know this is awkward...for everybody. And maybe Rin’s right, maybe things have changed, but…” She sighs. “...you still deserve to be treated kindly, and given a chance to meld back into things here. So I’m, at least, going to try to help you do that.”

It’s his turn to exhale, far more curtly than her. “...just pisses me off. Rin invited me yesterday, and then let Kakashi walk all over her. She just...abandoned me when she was the only reason I showed up! Then today she lets him say all that shit, and only stutters out excuses. She’s letting Kakashi blindside her.”

“...maybe she is. But...she might come around! You guys just...have to get reacquainted. And that’s not going to be easy. For now, I guess all you can do is...just try to be patient. See how things go. Maybe they’ll settle down, and...maybe they won’t. Only way to know is to try. In the meantime. I’m not going anywhere.”

For a moment he scoffs. She’s not going anywhere, is she? The person he knows the least out of this group? But...then again, maybe that’s a good thing. Whereas he has soured memories and expectations for Kakashi and Rin, Ryū is...a blank slate. Known only briefly. Vaguely.

And already making a good impression.

So despite his original intention to blow her off, he sighs. “...guess you’re right.”

“...I think for now, you guys should give each other some space. Kinda...ease into it, you know? I mean...five years apart is a long time. Trying to act like all that time didn’t pass will only make this more difficult. Take a little while for yourself. Get settled in overall, then you can worry about anything else.”

He considers that silently.

...that is until a pack of unruly freshmen make their way down the hall.

Loud, obnoxious, and clearly not yet learning any respect, they push through between the pair. Ryū, slighter in frame, stumbles back and slams into the wall, head knocking with a hollow thunk.

Something in Obito clenches.

“Watch it!” the ringleader taunts, pulling a face. That is, until Obito grabs him by the shirt front. “Whoa whoa whoa!”

“Apologize,” the Uchiha growls, ignoring the sudden attention they’re getting.

“Jesus man, you look like you got into a fight with a weed trimmer and lost! What the fuck is wrong with your face?”

Clutching her head, Ryū looks up with a wince before panicking.

“Funny, I was just going to ask you that. Cuz you look like a little prick that just got decked in the nose.”

“Wha-?”

With a crunch, Obito reels back and...does just that. The freshman falls to the floor hard, clutching at his face.

“What the fuck, man? What the fuck?!”

“You hurt my friend. Seems only fair you get a taste of your own medicine. And I’m really tempted to teach you a second lesson…!” His heartbeat is rushing in his ears, his whole body hot with anger. All he can focus on is the blood on this little asshole’s chin...and how much more he’d like to see.

“Obito, stop!” Ryū pulls at his arm, trying to waylay him.

“You’re gonna regret -!”

“Stop!” Desperate, Ryū instead steps right in his path, latching onto him tightly. Face in his chest, she clings arms around to his back.

He freezes.

“...don’t. It’s not worth it. He’s just some little punk. You’ve done enough!”

Blinking, Obito feels the heat receding. His tensed form slowly goes limp.

And all around him are staring eyes, whispering mouths, pointing fingers. But what tops it all off is seeing both Rin and Kakashi. The former stares in horror. The latter glowers.

A shaking seems to overcome him. It’s too much, he - he can’t -?

Urging Ryū aside, he flees.

Not one to give up so easily, she follows even as the warning bell rings.

Ironically, his hiding place is the storage room for theater club props.

“...Obito?” Navigating her way around the odds and ends, she finds him crouched in a corner of set pieces. “...hey…” Carefully, she takes a knee beside him. “You all right…?”

“N...no…”

She sighs before just...sitting beside him. “...this has been a really shitty first day, huh…? I’m sorry. How about we just...stay in here for a bit? Let things...settle down?”

“I’m gonna get in so much trouble…! First day back and I’ve already fucked it up! I just...I wanted…” To Obito’s frustration, his voice starts breaking and tears sting at his eyes despite rubbing at them with the backs of his hands. “...I wanted...to get through this. F-for my...for my grandma. She wants me to…”

At that, Ryū softens, laying a hand gently on his arm. “...it’s gonna be okay. I’ll tell the staff what happened. Because to be fair...I did get hurt…”

At her sheepish smile, he looks over, sniffling. “...you okay?”

“My head kinda hurts, but...I’ll be fine. Freshmen are just...brats. Punching them might not be the best way to get them to shape up, but...it is a way,” she admits with a hint of a giggle.

“...I got angry. I shouldn’t have done that, but...I’m just so…!” His hands lift, to bury into his hair, pulling at it in frustration. “...I get so mad! I dunno why!”

Wilting again, Ryū leans against him softly. “If...I had to guess, it probably has to do with your condition. Did you...have any cranial trauma?”

“...yeah…”

“That can really mess with your emotions, depending on where it happened. People even develop new addictions or behaviors after they get hurt like that. But...you can get therapy for it. Maybe...that’s something you could look into?”

“We can’t afford it,” Obito counters bitterly. “...it’s just me and my grandma. She can’t…”

The thought trails off, and Ryū hums in response. “...well...maybe something will come along. But it sounds to me like this anger isn’t entirely your fault. A lot of it probably comes from the trauma you went through during your...your accident. But I bet you can overcome it…! It’ll just take time, and the right resources.”

Obito, knowing he can’t really access the latter, just stays quiet.

“...how do you feel now…?”

“...tired. Frustrated. But I’m not angry anymore. Not for now,” he adds with a sigh.

“That’s good, though! Think you can go back to class…?”

Another sigh, arms folded atop his bent knees to rest his chin. “...I dunno.”

“Then we’ll just stay here a little longer.”

“But you need to get to class.”

“This is more important.”

Obito’s brow furrows, watching as she stands up. More important?

“I’m really excited for the plays this year...we’re going to do Beauty and the Beast this Winter, and then Grease in the Spring! I hope I get good parts, since it’s going to be my last year…” Ryū looks over props from past productions, a fond smile on her face. “...it’s been a lot of fun. I’m going to miss it…”

“...can you do it in college?”

“Maybe. I dunno if I’ll have time, but...I’d like to. If all goes well, I’d like to go into nursing, like Rin. But theater and choir have made me really happy, too. They’re just...not really stable careers,” she adds sheepishly.

“...but they make you happy.”

“...they do.”

Breaking his gaze from her, Obito looks over the props around him. “...did you guys...build these?”

“Mhm. Well...I didn’t. We have people who work on props, or the lighting, or music. It’s not just actors, after all. But we all have a lot of fun.” She looks to him thoughtfully. “...I’d still say you’d enjoy joining us, if you want. Gives you a creative outlet, and you can make some friends! You don’t have to be an actor if you don’t want to. Maybe...stop in a few times, see if you like it? You can always quit if you don’t.” Ryū smiles at him. “But...maybe an outlet would be good for you. Something to think about and look forward to. Something...new. And fun!”

He mulls that over, looking unsure.

“...well, just think about it. We don’t have our first meeting until Wednesday - last period is cancelled so people can look at the clubs and pick one. Maybe you’ll find another one you can do instead, too!”

Almost immediately, Obito pushes that notion aside. If he’s going to do a club...it would probably be this one...if only because he’d already know someone in it. “...okay.”

For a while, Ryū finds some memorable pieces in the room, showing them off and recounting memories about them. Obito finds himself enthralled, glad for something else to think about.

...but all good things have to come to an end.

A knock sounds on the door, the pair of them looking up as the school secretary comes in. Her arms fold. “There you are. You’re both quite tardy to your next classes. And you’re to come to the office about a fight that happened during lunch period.”

Ryū tenses. “Obito wasn’t -!”

The woman holds up a hand. “A few witnesses said the freshman started things when he pushed you and injured your head, and that it ended when mister Uchiha punched the assailant. Both he and the freshman will be serving detention after school today. Guardians have already been called.”

Behind Ryū, Obito’s face falls. So...Sachiko already knows.

“Obito has a medical condition the school needs to take into account,” Ryū retorts. “Ignoring that will be grounds for discrimination for his disability!”

“You can discuss that with the principal,” the secretary retorts. “To the office. Both of you.”

To Obito’s surprise, Ryū glowers the whole way down, arguing quite haughtily with staff once they arrive. Jiraiya has already shown up, listening quietly to his daughter’s arguments.

“Obito shouldn’t be punished, he needs help! Punishing him won’t address the real problem and leave the possibility it happens again!”

“The school is not responsible for mister Uchiha’s health or disabilities,” the principal retorts, waving a hand. “If he has issues, they’re to be handled on his own time to ensure he attends school properly without resorting to violence.”

“And if he doesn’t have the means?”

“It’s still not the school’s responsibility. Obito’s job while here at school is to attend his classes and pass them, and refrain from poor behavior. If he can’t do that, we’ll have to remove him.”

Ryū bristles, but pauses as Sachiko is ushered into the room. Worry tightens the old woman’s face.

Obito’s head bows in shame.

Suddenly feeling overwhelmed, Ryū looks pleadingly to her father.

Glancing between everyone present, Jiraiya heaves a heavy sigh. “...the way I see it, we have a student on our hands that lacks the resources to be able to attend school as he is. Which means we need to get those resources squared away, so he can use the school his granny’s tax dollars pay for, and that he should have the right to use.”

The principal perks a brow.

“If we get the kid into therapy and his behavior improves, he can stay, right?”

“...correct.”

Arms folding over his barrel chest, Jiraiya simply replies, “Then that’s what we’ll do.”

Ryū’s expression brightens, Obito’s slack in shock.

“Oh, sir...you don’t have to -?” Sachiko lifts her hands, looking hesitant.

“Nonsense. Any friend of my daughter’s is a friend of mine. Friends help each other. We’ll get this little snag taken care of, and then everything’ll be fine.” He gives a cool, pointed look to Obito. “...right?”

“R...right.”

Looking exasperated, the principal waves them away. “Just...make sure this doesn’t happen again.”

The four of them then leave the office, Jiraiya talking to Sachiko as the teens idle uncertainly.

“...is he serious?”

“Mhm,” Ryū replies, smiling. “Dad helps a lot with stuff at the school - admittedly he’s...made a good amount of money. So he tries to give back. The party yesterday? That’s one of his ideas. He’s been doing it since I started school. He takes a lot of pride in the community, and maintaining it. I think yesterday already made him realize you need some help.”

“...I don’t -?”

She cuts off Obito’s retort with a hand on his arm. “It’s not pity. It’s help. A tool you can use to succeed. Besides, I’m sure he’ll find a way for you to make it up if you want. I know he hates mowing the lawn, so...expect him to wrangle you into something.” Her expression softens. “...it’s gonna be fine.”

Still looking conflicted, Obito just sighs. He’s not...used to this. How is he supposed to react…?

“Well, you two better get back to class,” Jiraiya then offers. “Sachiko and I are gonna hash some things out. You’ve still got your detention Obito, but that should be it. Just try and keep a lid on that temper until we get something figured out.”

“...yes sir.”

“Then off you scoot!” He ushers them down the hall.

“Well...guess I’ll see you later,” Ryū offers. “Think you’ll be okay?”

“...I guess.”

“I can wait after if you -?”

“No,” he cuts in firmly. “You...you’ve done enough.”

“...okay. Well, I’ll see you after class, then.” She gives a little wave, branching off down another hallway.

Obito watches her go.

“...thank you.”

Oof, this is very late OTL Almost finished it last night but I just...had a really bad day and an even worse night so I call it quits. Came back with a fresher mind and got it done. Still not 100% sure about it, but it’s done kjdfgjkdhfg I always struggle with modern and this one felt really hard to write, idk why. I’m not very good at writing grumpy characters kjfdjdhfg but I tried :’D Anyway I’ve got irl stuff to do so idk if I’ll get more done tonight or not, but I’ll try. Thanks for reading~

#obiryū october #abyssaldespair #uchiha obito #suigin ryū #nohara rin #hatake kakashi #best years of your life [ au ]#vulgarity //#blood //

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raendown · 5 years

Text

Pairings with Canon Characters

Stories that are not cross-posted to AO3. Pairings that have several stories are lumped together and the rest are organized alphabetically by pairing.

MADARA/TOBIRAMA

After The Smoke Clears [Russian Translation] Translation by: @mailitt

Angsty Assassin Drabble - Rated T+ Word count: 410 Summary: Both of them are assassins but they both made the same mistake.

Blood Bender Drabble Part 1 - Rated T+ Word count: 1102 Summary: Tobirama is rather more protective of his older brother than most people would have expected. Madara notices.

Blood Bender Drabble Part 2 - Rated G Word count: 669 Summary: Madara rather enjoyed watching Tobirama and Hashirama noticed his enjoyment. His approval is conditional. - Rated G

Blood Bender Drabble Part 3 - Rated G Word count: 673 Summary: If the violence had happened before peace was made.

Blood Bender Drabble Part 4 - Rated T+ Word count: 1897 Summary: Set after Part 2, Madara makes an effort to woo Tobirama and the Uchiha clan quickly learn to fear him even more.

Butt Touching Drabble - Rated T+ Word count: 402 Summary: Madara gets a little bold.

Chance Meeting - Rated G Word count: 1010 Summary: Too exhausted to sense ahead of himself, Tobirama runs in to Madara in the forest - literally.

Dinner With Izuna Drabble - Rated T+ Word count: 847 Summary: Izuna invites Madara over to dinner to talk about Tobirama.

Domestic Fluff Drabble - Rated T+ Word count: 799 Summary: Domestic discussions about child rearing and responsibility.

Fear of Beards - Rated G Word count: 817 Summary: Everyone is afraid of something. Tobirama’s biggest fear just happens to be more unusual than others.

Fear of Beards Part 2 - Rated G Word count: 663 Summary: Madara did indeed convince Izuna to grow a beard. His plan has mixed results for the two of them.

Hogwarts Professors AU - Rated T+ Word count: 1028 Summary: Madara’s not sure what disaster Tobirama is trying to cause, breaking in to his rooms like this, but he’s damn sure it’s all Kagami’s fault.

Kitten Kisses - Rated T+ Word count: 995 Summary: Tobirama finds Madara in his living room with cat ears and a cat’s mind. He is both horrified and so very weak to the purring.

Lap Sitting Drabble - Rated G Word count: 438 Summary: Madara tries to follow Hashirama’s example with mixed results.

Less Is More - Rated T+ Word count: 1384 Summary: One quick change to his usual attire and it was like everyone else had lost their ability to be normal. Tobirama hated being confused.

Less Is More Part 2 - Rated T+ Word count: 1015 Summary: After the doctor’s examination Tobirama asks for a little clarification on what happened. Madara is mortified.

Less Is More Part 3 - Rated G Word count: 307 Summary: The origin story of how the crop top came to be.

Lightweight Tobirama - Rated T+ Word count: 558 Summary: Tobirama always thinks he can drink Madara under the table and Madara is always happy to prove him wrong.

Madara Likes Glasses Drabble - Rated T+ Word count: 711 Summary: Touka gets caught alone while weakened and signals her cousin for help. Turns out Tobirama helps more by being distracting than with violence.

Rabbit Tobirama Drabble - Rated T+ Word count: 1673 Summary: A drunken Madara compared Tobirama to a white rabbit and Tobirama does not take such comparisons gracefully.

The Adoption Drabble - Rated G Word count: 673 Summary: Tobirama and Madara discuss making certain things official

Virginity Drabble - Rated M Word count: 1055 Summary: They’re both virgins until Tobirama isn’t - and Madara wants to know how.

KAKASHI/SAKURA

Comfort and Home [Russian translation] Translation by: @tianshannn

Hurricane Shelter Ficlet - Rated G Word count: 805 Summary: Sakura arrives at the hurricane shelter and desperately searches for a familiar face

Icha Icha Drabble - Rated T+ Word count: 215 Summary: Sakura tries something new

Matching Soulmarks AU Drabble - Rated G Word count: 969 Summary: Sakura never bothered to check her mark when she got it.

The Cat’s Meow - Rated G Word count: 966 Summary: An unusual perspective.

MADARA/KAKASHI

Clan Marking Drabble - Rated G Word count: 468 Summary: Kakashi gets crafty. Madara pretends he doesn’t enjoy it.

Good Boy Drabble - Rated M Word count: 277 Summary: Kakashi has a kink that Madara is more than happy to indulge

The End Of The World Drabble - Rated T+ Word count: 1311 Summary: “You promised to meet me at the end of the world.”

The Sub Sandwich Drabble - Rated G Word count: 806 Summary: All he asked was that Madara try and eat a sub sandwich. This is exactly the kind of hilarity he was hoping for.

Vampire AU - Rated T+ Word count: 787 Summary: Kakashi picks up a man who catches his interest at a party and they both get a little (big) surprise.

OTHER PAIRINGS

Breaking The Fast - Rated T+ Pairing: Itachi/Deidara Word count: 780 Summary: This isn’t at all what Itachi thought working with the Akatsuki would be like. The day’s barely started but he doesn’t think he’s going to have any complaints at the end of it.

Sparring Drabble – Rated T+ Pairing: Kakashi/Hidan Word count: 182 Summary: During sparring sessions both of them can get a little distracted.

In My Head (And In My Heart) [Spanish Translation] Pairing: Kakashi/Iruka

Two’s A Crowd(ed Space) [Russian Translation] Pairing: Kakashi/Yamato

I Brought My Friends Too - Rated T+ Pairing: Madara/Kakashi/Tobirama Word count: 834 Summary: Kakashi goes back in to the past with Obito and Gai and they all make friends with the founders. Kakashi makes…more than friends.

At My Worst And At My Best – Rated G Pairing: Naruto/Sai Word count: 785 Summary: “At my worst I worry that you’ll realize you deserve better. At my best I worry that you won’t.”

Thankful Neji Drabble – Rated G Pairing: Neji/TenTen Word count: 544 Summary: Neji is thankful for many things in his life but his is most thankful for his wonderful wife.

Be You, For Me - Rated T+ Pairing: Obito/Kakashi Word count: 845 Summary: A werewolf au in which Obito calls him home.

Hello Drabble – Rated G Pairing: Obito/Sakura Word count: 321 Summary: Sometimes just a single word keeps you hanging on.

Assassin Au Drabble – Rated T+ Pairing: Obito/Sakura Word count: 890 Summary: Obito mastered the art of working and flirting at the same time a long time ago.

A Clean Start [Russian translation] Pairing: Shikamaru/Naruto Translation by: @tianshannn

Leave Me Here To Die Drabble – Rated T+ Pairing: Shisui/Obito Word count: 1327 Summary: “Are you just going to leave me here? To die as if I’m nothing?”

A Polite And Proper Thank You - Rated T+ Pairing: Suigetsu/Karin Word count: 1347 Summary: She just wanted to drink the night away but he had to go and ruin all the fun.

Parenthood - Rated G Pairing: Suigetsu/Karin Word count: 695 Summary: After the war they have a son name Mangetsu. He is a legacy of them both - and all the frustration that comes with that.

First Meeting Drabble – Rated T+ Pairing: Tayuya/Itachi Word count: 508 Summary: The first meeting between them sparks some interest.

Random Thoughts - Rated T+ Pairing: Tobirama/Itachi Word count: 262 Summary: Itachi shares what thoughts are floating through his head at the moment and Tobirama does the same.

Surprise Blowjob - Rated M Pairing: Tobirama/Izuna Word count: 384 Summary: Izuna swears up and down that it happened. Unless he hallucinated it. That’s possible too.

First Kiss Drabble – Rated G Pairing: Tobirama/Kagami Word count: 755 Summary: Tobirama’s favorite quote gets turned against him - and he doesn’t really mind.

Tattoo Soulmate AU Drabble - Rated G Pairing: Tobirama/Kagami Word count: 641 Summary: Kagami wakes up with new markings on his face on his 18th birthday.

How To Woo An Uchiha - Rated T+ Pairing: Can be read as Tobirama/Izuna or Madara/Tobirama Word count: 158 Summary: A Step-By-Step Guide From Senju Tobirama

Tsunade and Genma - Rated T+ Pairing: Tsunade/Genma Word count: 242 Summary: An arrangement begins.

A Window That Won’t Close - Rated T+ Pairing: Yamato/Shisui Word count: 554 Summary: Yamato attempts to use a pickup line his friends gave him.

Soulmate Story Collection [Chinese Translation] Pairing: Multiple

#rae writes #writing masterpost

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kiro-sveta · 5 years

Text

My gift for @sharkyissnarky, for the Secret Santa at Sloaners’ Disastrous AU Discord. I hadn't done an online Secret Santa before, and am not entirely confident in my storytelling skills. But this was very fun to do, and I sincerely hope you like it, Sharky! Happy holidays!

(This is long for tumblr, so it's going under a cut.)

we've had some times I wouldn't change for the world

Kakashi hid amongst the thick foliage of a tree and surveyed his surroundings. Craters littered the forest floor, and there were several downed trees and chopped branches; but everything was momentarily silent and still. Tenzō was not going to be happy about the mess they'd made, but it was comforting to know that the kids had learned from past mistakes. They were hiding and hopefully coming up with a new strategy.

This was their second try at the bell test, but they were already doing much better. He’d had to reveal his Sharingan a while ago, and was now breathing a little harder than usual. There was sweat on his brow and his uniform was a little singed. All three of his students were each so strong in their own ways, and it was heartening to see them grow. They just needed to work on their teamwork a little bit more. Communicate with each other, not at or past each other. They were going to be unstoppable one day.

Leaves rustled several yards away, and he turned his head to look. His breath caught in his throat. He'd expected to see one of his students, even if it was just a shadow clone or distraction. Instead he saw a shirtless man standing on a thick branch, with one hand resting on the trunk. A man with red eyes, wild white hair, and twisted malformed skin.

“Obito…?”

The apparition turned and walked behind the tree trunk. Kakashi was there in a second. “Obito, wait!” He reached out to where the man had just been, but felt nothing. Saw nothing. The forest was silent once again. He looked around helplessly; he still had so much he wanted to say.

“Hey, Kakashi-sensei!” Naruto’s voice called out. Kakashi tensed and turned around, ready to spar as Naruto rushed toward him. More shadow clones, maybe. The boy’s face was flushed, his hair sticking up in wild spikes. “There you are!” he proudly proclaimed. There was dirt on his nose and the sleeves of his uniform were torn. But his smile was blinding, and there was a small bell dangling from the fingers of one hand. When did he?

“I've been looking all over for you! Wake up!” There was a loud clap next to his ear.

Oh.

Kakashi slowly blinked his eyes open. Both eyes, with no draining tug on his chakra reserves. He wasn’t short of breath and there was no sweat on his brow. There wasn't a white shadow hiding in his periphery. He slowly released a breath and wearily rubbed his eyes.

“Are you okay, sensei?”

He opened his eyes again and gazed at a few clouds slowly drifting through the sky. There was rough bark behind him, and he clutched at the grass next to his body to ground himself further. Then he shifted his head a fraction, and looked over to see Naruto crouched nearby. There wasn’t any dirt on his nose, but his eyes were still brilliant.

“I'm fine.” He smiled.

“If you say so.” Naruto didn't look entirely convinced. “Why were you sleeping out here anyway?”

He shrugged. “It’s a good place for a nap.” The grass and trees smelled nice, the air was refreshing, and the sun was warm. It was a better alternative to the stacks of paperwork in his office. For just a moment at least. He'd needed a break. “Why were you looking for me, Naruto?”

“Sasuke came home last night, dattebayo!”

He raised an eyebrow at Naruto and smiled more genuinely. “I'm aware he's back. He gave me his report before going home last night.”

Naruto grinned. “We want to go out tonight to celebrate his return. It's been so long.”

It had only been a couple weeks. “And let me guess; you need a babysitter. Why me?”

“Iruka-sensei isn't feeling well, and Hinata and Karin haven't returned yet. I'm not sure if Yamato-taichou is back either. And the kids keep asking to see you and your ninken!” His grin was blinding.

Kakashi gazed up at the sky again. There was a small striped sparrowhawk gliding through the air. “Are Sai and Ino going as well?”

“Yeah, we're gonna meet up with them.”

Which meant he'd be watching over Inojin as well. He shouldn't say yes; not him alone with all of them. Even with the help of his ninken. But Naruto's entire being was so excited and hopeful. How could he say no. Dammit. “I'll be by in a couple hours. I need to finish a few things at the office first.” He waved listlessly at Naruto. “Go get ready for your night out.”

“Thanks, Kakashi-sensei!” Naruto rose from his crouch and pointed a stern finger at Kakashi. “You better not be late, ‘ttebayo!”

Kakashi made a lazy salute, and watched as his former student ran off.

What was he thinking? Babysitting three small hyperactive children and an infant? Why did he agree to this? He really shouldn't do this on his own. How did he keep letting them get him into situations like this?

In his mind he saw tears. Tantrums and words spoken in anger, frustration, and resentment. Ink and paint and stains everywhere. Spilled food. Glue in hair and broken things. His long suffering ninken dealing with sticky hands and hyperactive children. Pranks gone terribly wrong; but then there were also the pranks that had gone delightfully right. And messy explosions of color on parchment. Radiant smiles and laughter, smothering hugs. Overflowing pride in a job reasonably well done. He smiled.

It seemed ridiculous to think that he could care for children; he hadn't been entirely prepared to take on the role of teacher or role model back then, and his students had gone through so many hardships at such a young age. They had all deserved better. And yet they'd grown stronger and survived and were flourishing in this new age. Instructors, doctors, specialists, fathers and mothers, and were well on their ways to being leaders.

They all had needed to rebuild so much. They were still rebuilding, and making as many improvements as they could along the way. Time had altered the founding principles of Konoha and things hadn't functioned properly in a long time; change needed to happen. Some things were better already, and others were in the process of improving. And for the most part the Kages were on the same page; and hopefully would be for a long time.

Although it was hard to not wonder about what could have gone differently. About who might still be alive and well today if a number of past events had just gone slightly different. What could have gone worse and what could have gone better. Or if he could have made enough of a difference in the first place. So much time and potential had been wasted, and so many lives lost. But he needed to move past his heartaches and plow on to a brighter future. So many people were relying on him, and he couldn't risk failing any of them.

He dug his fingers into the ground and inhaled deeply, slowly. The greenery felt a touch warmer and smelled richer. The air was refreshing and cleared away his swirling thoughts. He opened his eyes and raised his gaze. Tenzō was standing next to him, a small rueful smile on his lips. “I hope you got enough rest, senpai. Come on. I'm sure there's a mountain of paperwork waiting for you.” Tenzō extended his hand.

Kakashi smiled at his partner. “Welcome back. Sasuke’s home, and Naruto talked me into babysitting the pups later today. Inojin as well. I'll bring the paperwork along and finish it while the pups all sleep.” If they slept. He decided to not think about that possibility.

Tenzō sighed, and let his hand drop to his side. “Try to keep the saplings away from them this time. Painting is fine, but not on official documents.” He was smiling though. “I'm glad the kids are taking some time to themselves; they need it.”

Kakashi nodded and rubbed a hand over his pouch. “Yeah, they do.” Amongst his weaponry he felt the hard outline of a book. He thought of an idea he had briefly pondered before, and looked away for a moment; cleared his throat. “Tenzō, I want to try something new for the pups.”

He remembered an old story written by an old friend; an inspiring tale that his Sensei had loved dearly. And he thought about trying something a little similar while caring for the pups. If they showed enough interest or wore themselves out enough to listen to a story. There were several potential stories to tell, but he wasn't ready for a few of them yet. He would be someday though, and possibly pass along a few mementos if the pups showed enough interest in these tales of days gone by. Truthfully he should start at the beginning, but--

“I want to tell them a story about a lonely boy, a son of powerful wind and water. He gradually built a large family around himself, and together they overcame many trials. They made their home a brighter place.” He turned his gaze from the sky and looked at his partner’s surprised face. “I might need some help though.”

Tenzō smiled warmly. “Come on, I have to turn in my report.” When he reached out again, Kakashi clasped his warm hand and stood. “We can also grab some blank paper and ink for sprout and the saplings to draw on. I'm sure they'll want to illustrate this story.”

Kakashi had already known what Tenzō’s answer would be--he always knew--but actually hearing some confirmation to his unspoken question lifted a weight from his shoulders. He could breathe easier. He wasn't in this alone. He was never truly alone, and the children were in good hands.

“Thank you, Tenzō.”

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kusunokihime-a · 6 years

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(What wears on them the most, the memory that plays on each of them so heavily? What does it do to them, how does it affect all their decisions and choices as they advance in life? Also, what part of the zoo is their favorite?)

[ @hyugainterior ]

[ Oooh, a good question! All the muses I play have rather heavy memories, though for some, picking just one might be hard…we’ll go under a cut because something tells me this’ll get long! We’ll keep to each of their default verses, as things change from verse to verse. ]

Ryū, of course, gets to go first. Like many of her generation, she lost family to the Third Shinobi war…along with the rest of her village, as part of a raid by Iwa toward the tail end of the conflict. One last hurrah by Tsuchi, if you will. Hers had been a civilian village, save for she and her mother, whose line were all traditionally medics. Shinobi weren’t exactly a common sight for them, and thus Ryū’s first impression of them was rather…unfavorable.

Losing a parent is always hard. Even more so when you’re taken from home and shipped off to a completely different village, with different people, different way of life, and different expectations. Though it’s not addressed specifically in canon (that I can recall), I’ve always gone off the assumption that children with kekkei genkai would be declared “unfit” for adoption to keep clan secrets from being leaked into families or clans they’re not a part of. Ryū, as the last of hers, was thus treated much like other “one of a kind” children like Naruto and Sasuke, and rather than being adopted, was made a ward of the village. Little was known about her line by most (sans two of the sannin, in a few headcanons of mine), so what little Konoha knew of her was that she had potential to be useful as a healer if given the proper training.

Ryū could have gone, I think, in two different directions after being brought to Konoha. She could have bowed to their whims and become a healer as her line was wont, and simply do as she’s asked, never questioning the village aloud, but always having doubts in the back of her mind due to her treatment. Or, she could have let that treatment build up into hatred for those that took her from home and groomed her into a useful tool.

In her canon, she sticks with the former. All she really cares about is being useful, and following her family’s traditions, even if it’s in a place like Konoha. She can’t very well go home and still be a medic, as a ruined village doesn’t have many residents to heal. But, I have plans to make a verse based on that second option…someday. I’m horrible with getting things done.

As for a zoo (which…does the Naruto world have a zoo? Besides that one strange circus-like place in one of the early movies?), I think she’d enjoy the arctic exhibit. Her home has ties to snowy mountains and she herself summons a snowy owl, so it would in part remind her of home. And snowy, barren climates are peaceful to her, for…whatever reason.

Next we’ll go with Itachi. A rather divisive character, from what I’ve seen during my time on Tumblr. One that, admittedly, I hated at first when he was written as nothing more than a jerk who killed his family on a whim, and thus corrupted another character (who I also disliked at first, but…we’ll get to him later).

But then, for whatever reason (I refuse to believe Kishi had much planning-ahead skill (see the Kaguya thin-air-pull for reference)), Itachi was given an exceedingly complex reason for his actions. Rather than just being a jerk, suddenly he was a martyr, attempting to stop a civil war and possibly global conflict, all at the ripe old age of twelve. His best friend committed suicide (supposedly, in mine’s case), his family was turning against him, a powerful underground power was putting pressure on him to deliver, and he was left with an unthinkable burden, of which he couldn’t tell a soul without risking everything he was trying to prevent.

Suddenly he wasn’t just a jerk anymore: he was complex, tragic, and self-sacrificing…all while still extremely flawed. I was hooked. I’ve written him in RP for almost seven years now, on and off, and he’s by far one of my favorites for just that reason. Some people hate him, some people love him, and they all have legitimate reasons why that I love to explore.

For my Itachi, his burden was, at first, something he shouldered willingly, and without regret. After all, he had no choice! Too many lives were on the other side of the scale from his clan. Purely from a numbers perspective, taking out the Uchiha was more logical than allowing civil, and then possibly global, war. Not for the boy who, despite being a loving, kind, and pacifistic soul, had to endure the horrors of war at so young an age. He couldn’t let that happen again, if he had the chance to undo it.

Over the years, however, this burden begins to wear on him. Seeing Sasuke again - seeing the damage he’d done to his brother - rattled him. Not enough to make him fully rescind his actions as necessary, but enough to question them…but to what end? You can’t undo the past. Then upon his death and subsequent resurrection (amid several revelations of what he left behind beyond his brother, in ALAS), Itachi realized that everything he’d done was partially out of ego. He’d not trusted his brother, his family, his best friend, more than he’d trusted his own “superior” intellect. His proclamation as genius had left him blinded to the notion that anyone else could possibly think of, or carry out, a better solution for the Uchiha’s planned coup. And in the end, it cost far more than he’d ever imagined.

Now in ALAS, he’s revived and given second life (nearly at the cost of another) in order to rectify his mistakes, rather than his brother simply swallowing genocide and going silent. So there’s a major difference there between canon!Itachi and mine. But during that second chance, he has to live with the guilt and the self-hatred of what he did, and it molds his character significantly. For example, upon Shisui’s return from his hiding (we’ll get to that later, too), Itachi just…loses it. There’s a huge (one-sided) screaming match, and he refuses to speak to anyone for days. Because if he had known that Shisui was alive? They might have stopped the coup. The Uchiha might have lived. And he might have avoided the single greatest mistake of his life, that will haunt him until the end of it.

As for a zoo exhibit, probably the raptors, if they have one. Not quite the same as his favorite corvids, but I think he enjoys birds overall.

Next, our dear boy Sasuke. Another extremely hot-or-cold character in this fandom, and one I admittedly couldn’t stand at first. But like his brother, he too turned out to be far more than he first seemed: that being a bratty, sob-story, one-dimensional foil to our protagonist.

Sasuke’s entire life is politicized. As a child, he’s part of a clan that (unbeknownst to him) is in political turmoil. Stigmatized, cut off from most of the village…and it only gets worse after the Kyūbi’s release by Obito, and the blame the Uchiha encounter after that. Which means he grew up never knowing a village that wasn’t suspicious of his family.

Like most clans, the Uchiha still have a hierarchy, and still prioritize strength overall. Like Hinata and her struggles with her father, Sasuke was largely abandoned by his until Itachi’s actions ousted him as heir, and Sasuke took the spotlight…which Sasuke seemed to realize. For a clan that’s all about love, so too are the Uchiha about power. Sasuke isn’t a fool: he knows he’s the backup.

And then he loses…literally everything. His family, his home, his brother…which was his most important bond. In a blink, he’s the last of his kind that hasn’t, apparently, lost their mind to a lust for power. And he still doesn’t realize the way the village views him, replaced instead by their whispers about his tragedy. He becomes little more than a relic and a subject for gossip, even by his peers. So? He shuts them all out. Gives himself a goal that he feels will best honor all he lost.

Rather than respect his determination to avenge such a loss, his “friends” insist on dragging him back to a place filled with nothing but bad memories…which only get worse after Obito gives him all of the context behind the massacre. And even once his “friends” know what Konoha did to him…they still ignore his thirst for justice (at that point, I refuse to call it revenge. The Uchiha massacre was something that needed justice), and in no way address the fact that Konoha killed the Uchiha…Itachi was just the weapon. In the end, they beat him into submission, and he’s forced back…in canon.

In ALAS, the massacre is addressed, brought to light…which brings them even more trouble. Sasuke struggles to accept a village and people that benefited from genocide, but in the end forges his own path to reconnecting with it, and ensuring such things never happen again.

His favorite spot in the zoo would probably be…either raptors, or reptiles. Most likely the latter, because I think he relates a lot to them, and not just because of Orochimaru.

Hinata. One I’ll admit I’m nervous to talk about, given that yours and mine are so different, but I guess that’s the point!

Hinata’s main struggle is, of course, with her family. Unlike Sasuke, who at least had his mother and brother for a time…Hinata eventually lost all of her “allies”. There’s no canon information about her mother. Her father has nothing but disdain for her. While the anime expanded slightly on her early bond with Hanabi, that’s not present in the manga: they’re shown only as rats in a cage vying for a position dangled over their heads. Neji hates her out of principle due to a barbaric practice put into place by her family. Hinata is left with no one to turn to…until she starts at the Academy.

There she finds inspiration in Naruto: someone who embodies a kind of confidence…though largely, I think, fake at first. Developed out of rebellion if nothing else, rather than actually believing in himself. But she starts to strive for that. To become someone that others will recognize.

She makes further progress when joining a team, but it’s clear she still struggles. A past like hers isn’t so easy to move on from: it left lasting impressions in her mannerisms, her speech patterns, and her confidence in herself as a shinobi.

Her growth is largely handled off-screen. We find she’s developed her own jutsu, but it’s not shown. Nor is her leap in self-assurance. She risks her life for the boy she believes she loves, only to be given no resolution to her confession. It’s completely disregarded by canon and Naruto. In the war, she’s given a few key moments, but is still overshadowed by others. And her main relationships are then patched over post-699. Suddenly she’s married to Naruto. Her relationship with her father is supposedly fixed, as with her sister. There’s nothing about her clan abolishing the Caged Bird seal…nothing. All of her problems are seemingly smoothed over, again off screen (unless you count the movie that attempted to patch the holes…but was largely inefficient, imo).

ALAS touches on the Caged Bird seal, what with Neji being a practice revival and returned favor from Ryū to Hinata. The practice is abolished, but can’t be reversed on those already branded. She does not retake her position as heiress, but instead focuses on helping guide her sister alongside Neji to better their clan. She no longer works on her progress for anyone but herself.

Hinata loves the penguins at the zoo. They’re cute, good swimmers, and adorably clumsy. They remind her of herself, in some ways.

Shisui…oh Shisui. Yet another character reduced to a convenient plot device. It must be why he and Mey’s Rin get along so well!

Shisui, as beloved as he is (surprising, given his extremely short amount of screen time in the manga (and doctoring up in the anime)), is a character we know practically nothing about beyond his being Itachi’s best friend. No information about his parents, any siblings, or any bonds at all beyond that with his cousin(s). His mother ended up being one I made a muse for: Uchiha Manami, elder sister to Mikoto and guardian of Ryū in the ALAS verse when friends and I collaborated the storyline together…though she was taken after the Kyūbi incident citing those new “bloodline adoption” laws Konoha so conveniently began to enforce.

But otherwise, Shisui was largely left as a rather blank slate beyond being used to further Itachi’s narrative and angst. Something I, as a narrative creator, took ahold of with my greedy hands. In canon, he has his fair share of horror. His attempts to bring peace foiled by a man determined to undermine him for his own goals: that being totalitarian-style “peace”…and hoarding Uchiha eyes. One of which he’d already stolen (supposedly) from his teammate, Kagami, and then another from Shisui. Assuming he was going to die, Shisui used that opportunity to help Itachi in the last few ways he could: to give him intel about Danzō, gift him another Sharingan, and help awaken Itachi’s Mangekyō by bringing the pain of his death.

…but I found that solution extremely lackluster. So I changed it. As I’m wont to do.

Given the ages Itachi and Sasuke were, supposedly, during the massacre, it happened sometime between Itachi’s thirteenth birthday (June ninth) and Sasuke’s eighth (July twenty-third). This means it was likely during the height of Summer, when rivers are often slow, and low in water levels. Something I’m sure Shisui would realize, so why leave his body’s fate to chance in a shallow river so close to Konoha, and thus his newest enemy?

Why, because he didn’t plan on dying there. If Itachi had any inkling Shisui would live, he would have done something about it, and missed out on his power upgrade. Shisui fakes his death to fool even his best friend, so that no one is left knowing he’s alive, and in a position to hopefully better dispose of himself. Staying meant exposing Danzō, and possibly igniting war anyway.

But ensuring your death is both clean and hidden while completely blind and suffering from blood loss? Not exactly easy. So instead he took to hiding…and ended up doing so for ten years. Which, as mentioned in Itachi’s piece, ended up with some rather mixed reactions when - after the massacre is revealed, and his life no longer means outing must-be-kept secrets - Shisui makes his way back to Konoha. And like Itachi, he too lives with a guilt about his actions and the subsequent consequences regarding his clan, the village, and Sasuke.

Shisui’s favorite zoo exhibit…I could say bats, which he learns sensory skills from during his time in hiding in ALAS, but my first thought was actually bears. Any kind of bear. Because they’re big and look cuddly, but can rip your head off. Which reminds him of himself, in a few ways. But maybe slightly less likely to rip off any heads.

WELP, that’s over 2500 words of bullhonkey. If anyone actually reads all this, I will be amazed. I almost had an existential crisis when Tumblr reloaded on me while doing Shisui’s part…that’s why you always save drafts often, kids. You never know when you’ll lose what you’ve written!

#i hope that answers your question [ mun replies ]#white hands of healing [ canon verse ]#a light amongst shadows [ canon verse ]#not so secret anymore [ headcanons ]#*throws all the main beans on here*#the shadowed light [ suigin ryū ]#the lightened shadow [ uchiha itachi ]#the wayward avenger [ uchiha sasuke ]#the kindest eyes [ hyūga hinata ]#the eternal protector [ uchiha shisui ]#long post

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mishamoonberry · 7 years

Text

Onmyouji AU

you would (always be by my side) CH. 1 - AO3/FFN

This AU is inspired by Shounen Onmyouji and some spirit AUs in the Naruto fandom.

This is also written for the Kakasaku Month 2017 Week One – Myth/Fairytale AU (and can touch the yukata prompt too tbh bc feudal eraaaaaa). Please do check out other KS Month works by other people on tumblr and AO3/FFN (they're tagged usually so it's easier to find them!) and give them the feedback they deserve! Make this month enjoyable for all of us KS shippers!

Okay, enjoy reading!

They say there exists a spirit that guards the town’s oldest and most beautiful cherry tree.

They say there exists a cherry tree spirit that watches over the people living in town, remembering their names and their deeds.

They say, the spirit is lonely.

XXX

“You have the demon’s eye,” is the first word she says to him, full of wonder and curiosity. The man blinks. Looking left and right and finding nothing, he looks up. On top of a large cherry blossom tree in the middle of the district, on the particularly sturdy branch, sits a woman wrapped in a white kimono with pink red floral patterns. Her hair is pink, reaching her waist and decorated with a simple sakura kanzashi. Her hair is parted in the middle, showing her forehead decorated with a strange purple diamond shaped tattoo.

If Kakashi doesn’t see the ethereal and mystical glow that seems to surround her, he’ll think of her as a random woman too bored with life that she decides to take tree climbing as a hobby.

But no, he recognizes that aura.

She’s a spirit.

And Kakashi is willing to bet his left ass cheek that she’s the spirit of the tree she’s currently sitting on. Spirits—the friendly ones anyway—don’t like to mess with other spirits’ territories after all.

Kakashi stares at her, left eye closed and expression blank, choosing not to answer her simple statement of his ‘demonic’ eye.

It’s not like she’s wrong.

He’s an Onmyouji, one of the practitioners of the Onmyoudo. Basically, he’s one of the specialists in magic, spells and divination. Onmyouji are known to be able to protect other people from evil spirits, and although not all of them may have the sixth sense, Onmyouji are trusted to protect the capital and the people inside it.

One of the largest clan known for their strong onmyouji is the Uchiha Clan. While the civilians simply think that they are blessed with a strong sixth sense, it is merely an excuse to hide the fact that they are cursed.

The tale—probably true or not, although many spirits claim it is true—said that it started with the ancestor, named Indra, who had an actual sixth sense and fucked up real bad during a quest in a mountain, angering the mountain God and thus him and his kin are forever cursed with the Sharingan, the red eyes that enable them to see and feel the spiritual world around them.

It’s perhaps a blessing for those who want to become an Onmyouji. But becoming an onmyouji requires both dedication and talent, not just an uncannily strong sixth sense.

Also it explains why civilian Uchihas are often very skittish when they are out of their warded homes. The spirits are everywhere, whether major or minor, tame or evil, little ones that like to prank or big ones that cause destructions, or ones that are simply bored.

Just like the spirit who is staring at him right now.

“Are you an onmyouji?” She asks, titling her head. “You don’t look like an Uchiha, their aura feels different. Why do you have the demon’s eye?”

“I,” Kakashi drawls, “have no reason to answer that.”

It is her turn to blink.

“Why not?” She presses on, then, “it’s not like I have anyone to tell anything to. You do realize I’m this tree’s spirit, right?”

“I have no interest to tell you anything,” the silver haired man continues pleasantly, smiling a sweet smile so fake his teeth will rot if he keeps it up much longer, “now if you would excuse me.”

“What?” Kakashi ignores her confusion, humming as loud as he can while he speed walks away. He doesn’t want to deal with a nosy spirit, no matter how pretty she is. “Hey!” The spirit calls, indignant. “Where are you going? I’m not finished talking to you!”

She is left ignored.

“You’re such a rude human.”

Kakashi jolts from his seat on the porch of the Onmyoudo’s dorm, turning around with frantic heartbeats to find the spirit from a few days before floating there, arms positioned on her hips in the typical scolding manner.

“Ha…” the Hatake breathes out, bewildered. “What are you doing here? Aren’t you bound to that tree?”

The spirit has the gall to roll her eyes and scoff. “Don’t mistake me for a cursed spirit, human, I am free to wander as long as I do not bother the Gods.”

“You are…” He trails off, gesturing with his hands, “…bothering me, you know.”

She raises an eyebrow.

“Are you a God?”

“…No…”

“Then I can bother you as much as I please,” she concludes pleasantly, lips quirking up in triumph. Though Kakashi can’t understand what is so very good about bothering a non-Uchiha with the Uchiha demon’s eye, the eye that—contrary to expectations—he did not want. If his best friend could rise back from the dead and take back his eye, Kakashi will give it back happily. The Hatake Clan has had members with sixth sense before, Kakashi included. He doesn’t really need the Sharingan other than that it makes his sense stronger than ever.

Seriously, though, what the hell. He doesn’t understand the spirit’s motivation for even one bit. What is it that she wants from him? She is, as she says so herself, a simple cherry blossom tree spirit; the kind of spirit that causes no prank or malice to other creatures, the kind of spirit that is free and probably loved by everyone.

There is absolutely no reason for her to bother him.

He says at much.

“Well, you can see me, so I have a reason to bother you, now!” She counters, her smile showing her teeth.

Kakashi twitches.

“Repel,” he says, muttering out strings of spells. The spirit jerks, then, looking panicked.

“No, wait!”

It’s too bad that Kakashi is having none of that.

The spirit is forcibly thrown out of the area, and all is peaceful for the Hatake once more.

“You,” comes a snarl from behind him, and Kakashi sighs behind his book, “are very rude.”

“The rude one is you, you know,” he doesn’t take his eye off of his book, “you’re the one who bother me.”

“But that doesn’t mean you can just repel me! I landed thirty kilometers away from my tree, you asshole! If I had landed on an unfriendly spirit’s territory, I’d be dead.”

“Oops,” he says, thoroughly unrepentant, and finds delight in how the spirit seems to try to withhold her furious shriek. Minutes seem to pass afterwards, with the spirit staring at him intently and Kakashi being very content in ignoring her existence altogether. Who knows, maybe she’ll disappear if he ignores her long enough.

Probably not.

“Why are you so against in talking to me anyway?” She says, then, “your life is so boring. You only study, train, read that porn of yours, and patrol. Isn’t it nice to have somebody talking to you?”

Kakashi doesn’t answer, simply flipping the page of his book—and it’s not porn, thank you very much! It’s romance, the spirit must be quite dumb not to recognize romance—and continues on ignoring her.

“Are you even listening to me?”

Junko is being very loud in this scene, he’s afraid Akiko next door will be able to listen in to their—er… nightly activities.

“Hey… Hey!”

…No matter what people says, he really is reading this for the romance.

“Hey, don’t ignore me! Hey!”

…Really. It’s the romance, not the porn.

“Ugh, you’re unbelievable! Hey! I just wanna talk!”

Well, the sex scenes are definitely a plus, he thinks, and also the insight about an onmyouji’s life is very detailed here. As much as he’d expect from the Legendary Traveling Onmyouji Jiraiya. Nevertheless, Junko is truly a beauty, although Jiraiya could have added more description about her face and expression rather than her bulbous—

“…If you don’t answer me, I’ll throw that book into the pond.”

Kakashi’s finger twitches.

She doesn’t seem to notice.

That’s good, because if she actually does according to her threat he’ll not only have her repelled, he’ll have her bound to the tree forever.

“…Hey, hey, come on. Talk to me? Please?”

…Where was he again? Oh, yes, Junko is really a beauty. He wonders if Jiraiya got this inspiration from somewhere. Not Tsunade, because she’s obviously the model for Akiko, whose description could fill in a whole page. Perhaps from some of the women he met on the streets? Or a spirit? Though the thought of seeing a spirit and using her as a romance novel material is a bit—

“Hey, I’m sorry if I was rude but it’s rare for people to be able to see me that are not the Uchiha and I just want to have someone to talk to, you know? The Uchihas have sticks up their butts and they are not good conversationalist, so I just thought you can be a nice person to chat with! That’s all, really! I don’t have any malicious intent, I promise.”

She could’ve talked to some other spirits, why is she so keen on talking to humans? And the Uchiha? Only a few of the Uchihas are as non-Uchiha as they can be; case in point, his dead best friend and a little bugger called Shisui who cracked his head a few days ago because he was lured to the cliff near Naka River by a mononoke called Danzo. It was a wonder he’s still alive.

Ah, why is he even focusing on what she’s saying? It’s better if he just go back to his book, truly.

“…Are you going to continue on ignoring me?”

Well it’s not like he ever wants to talk to her in the first place.

“…”

Has she left?

“I’m just…”

…Nope. Nevermind. If she’s going to ramble again, he’ll just go back to his book, easy peasy. He’s done this ignoring thing since Obito and Rin died, he can manage this, no matter if this is a spirit, not a human and certainly not Gai (although he can never seem to manage to ignore Gai, but he digresses).

And then, she says—

“…It’s lonely, you know?”

The whisper is like a fluttering wind, and probably is not meant to be heard by him. Despite himself, he can’t help but to be intrigued, and thus he finally looks up from his book to look at the spirit properly.

But she’s already gone, leaving the space she previously floated around somehow empty and achingly lonely.

XXX

For the next few days after that, there is no nosy cherry tree spirit trying to talk to him.

However, ‘nosy loud spirit’ seems to have upgraded into ‘nosy stalker spirit’ because she’s been following him around for days. The only places she leaves him alone are the Onmyoudo’s dorm and the Hatake Clan’s compound, in which it’s probably because the latter is warded against unfamiliar spirits.

He’s not even kidding. The pink haired spirit is always at least five meters away from him, peeking from behind the tree or wall or window or anything, looking at him with a pout and that sad kicked puppy look on her face…

…He likes puppies—has like eight of them but shhh—and that look on her face is just unfair.

And so, Kakashi finally relents. He sighs, staring balefully at the spirit that stares back at him with both hope and ferocity that could’ve made a lesser man melt, and motions her to get closer.

“What do you want from me?” He asks, because surely to be persistent, this spirit—however non malicious she may be—must want something from him. He’s had some spirits chasing after him so they can eat the Sharingan, and he wonders if such a pure spirit such as hers would also think of Sharingan as a delicious meal…

The spirit lands in front of him, an almost frown forming on her lips. “I just want to talk,” she says, and when Kakashi raises as a disbelieving eyebrow, she presses on. “I’m serious! The city has been boring for quite awhile and while I can wander, I can’t leave the city lest the tree dies and then I’ll die, talking to small spirits gets boring after a decade and, well, I miss talking to a human.”

Kakashi’s interest is piqued, and he asks, “you’ve talked to a human before?”

“A little boy, this little Uchiha tyke,” a soft and undeniably fond smile is present, and Kakashi figures the boy must have left quite the impression on her. For a spirit that says the Uchihas have sticks up their butts, she seems to be quite fond of this Uchiha. “I haven’t seen him for more than fifteen years, I presume; since he had to move to a neighboring city for Onmyoudo practices.” Then her eyes turn sad, as she whispers, “I think he’s dead.”

“Maa,” Kakashi drawls, “that’s mean of you to think so.” Very rarely Uchihas die out of town, mainly because they prefer doing jobs for this town that is already big enough as it is, other because when they’re taken to other towns, they’re more than capable to protect themselves.

Accidents can still happen though.

(That, or a reckless teammate that ultimately brings your demise).

(Kakashi restrains himself from touching his left eye).

“I’m serious!” She exclaims, sounding offended, “he didn’t go back with the rest of the group that left with him. And the Uchiha did a funeral afterwards; I can’t see the tombstone to make sure of it because the place is warded!” And then, softer, “he promised to come back. Obito never broke his promise.”

Kakashi very nearly bites his tongue off.

“What?” He almost demands, staring at her wide eyed.

“What?” She parrots, blinking. “I said he didn’t come back.”

“You said Obito,” he whispers, jaw trembling. It couldn’t be—

“Yes,” she confirms, “Uchiha Obito,” her expression clears and she lights up, looking hopeful. “You know him? Have you seen him anywhere? Is he well?”

Kakashi doesn’t answer. He isn’t able to. Here in front of him is a spirit who knew of Obito, his (dead dead deadeaddead—) best friend, the one who gave him this eye she seems to be interested in. She doesn’t seem to realize that the eye in his left eye socket belonged to Obito; or perhaps she unconsciously does, which explains her efforts in getting close to him.

Spirits are, after all, sensitive by nature and when they cling to something they deem precious, they will always cling onto it. The only reason she probably allowed Obito to leave the town is mostlikely that she’s not a malicious spirit and has quite the understanding of responsibilities an Onmyouji has.

She belongs to the oldest cherry tree in town; he’s not surprised if she knows some stuffs.

But—

But she doesn’t know of this. She doesn’t. Because Obito never returned and the Uchiha grounds are fucking warded from bottom to high ground and not even a non-malicious spirit can get close; only gods and their blessings may touch upon the Uchiha grounds. She has no way to know and she looks so excited, so happy and—

Has she been waiting for Obito this whole time?

The spirit, probably seeing his deafening silence, lets her excitement fall. She watches his expression, as he seemingly opens his mouth behind his mask and closes it again, at loss on how to reply.

Oh.

Her eyebrows furrow, and with a downcast expression, she asks the question she fears the answer of.

(But she knows the answer already, doesn’t she?)

(Because Obito never broke his promise).

(And Obito never returned despite his promise).

“He’s dead, isn’t she?” She whispers, eyes watching the silver haired Onmyouji’s every move, and when the man flinches as if struck, she knows her worst fear has come true—has been true for the past decade.

She closes her eyes.

(I’ll be back, Sakura, he said with a wide smile. He looked manlier than the scrawny little kid that long time ago scuffled toward her tree to ask her to be his friend).

(I heard the neighbor town has these pretty kanzashi on sale, so I’ll buy you one, he promised, a hand grasping her own. With a teasing smile, he said, and then you can finally replace the one I bought for you long ago).

(I’ll be back).

(I promise).

He never comes back.

XXX

Is that hints of past ObiSaku? It is. I am a multishipper, I ship Sakura with a lot of people.

I apologize for the lack of Kakasaku in this chapter, but it will happen next chapter, I promise!

This story will be short, probably only having three or four chapters before it’s completed. I hope you can enjoy the ride as much as I do.

Review please!

#kakasaku #hatake kakashi #haruno sakura #naruto #kakasaku month #misha writes #onmyouji au

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sasusakufestival · 7 years

Text

One Day at a Time

February 20

Day 7: The Past

Title: One Day at a Time

Author: manika-on-a-whim

Summary: The past is making Sasuke suffer too much and Sakura wants him to forget and move on…[this summary sucks, I know xD The story is good, I assure you.]

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Despite having a proper sleep the previous night, you woke-up with a slowly developing ache in your head. You turned to the other side and found out that the only other occupant of this bed was no more sleeping next to you. Frantically, you whipped your head in all the directions in hopes of catching the distinctive pink of her hair or even the mesmerising emeralds of her irises. But no, she was no longer inside the room. Faint sounds of cooing caught your ears and you realised that she must be feeding your little daughter of two down the stairs by now, which simply indicates that it is quite late in the morning for you to be lying around. A sense relief entered your form and you visibly relaxed at the thought of her still present at home as you don’t know what would life become without her bright presence in it. Also, never have you been so lazy in your life that you slept till late in the morning. Afterall, it is a daily routine of yours to wake-up during the wee hours of dawn, just to watch over the innocently sleeping woman next to you— the woman who has accepted you even after all the hell that you made her go through…

You placed a hand atop the searing Rinnegan and tried to take in deep breaths in order to calm the throbbing in your head that was now starting to become irritating. But when the ache didnot fade even the slightest, you gave up on trying and threw-away the satin sheets. There is no use in convincing your being when you know what exactly is the reason behind this headache. Sighing in a haggard manner, you tightened the knot of your sweatpants and pulled a black shirt over your naked chest, despite it being difficult to do so with a single arm.

Down the stairs, in the kitchen, you noticed your wife’s head of pink and saw her murmuring sweet words to the toddler in her arms. To your surprise, the little bundle was babbling her own incoherent responses to her mother and sucking on her pink tresses with joy. The woman giggled at the baby’s action and pried her hair strands out of the child’s mouth. It was then that she slightly craned her head to the side and took note of you standing in the doorway, staring intently at her. With the quirk of one of her thin, pink eyebrow, she expressed her unspoken query and you rudely turned away and left…

You left her confused at your behaviour and exited the newly-constructed, custom Uchiha Household, walking down the streets towards the training grounds. On days like these, you don’t want her to envision the miserable state that you are in. She’ll start worrying like she always does and that would be..annoying.

The thought of dragging along the sorry ass of that deadlast of a Hokage crossed your mind but you immediately pushed it aside because there is no way that the busy hokage will have time to join you for something as simple as a spar. Kicking the dirt on the path in frustration, you continued your stride towards the old, meeting spot of team 7.

As you landed punches and kicks to the trees in the surrounding and performed katas, you couldn’t help but reminisce about the past. The memories of the carefree days spent in the company of team 7 crashed the shore of your thoughts like a huge wave. And along with those cheerful memories, floated the bad ones as well. You recalled how you had introduced yourself and vowed to kill a certain man for the sake of bringing justice to all the dead souls of the Uchiha clan. Heh! What a pathetic vow you made! If only…if only you would’ve known about the torment that your brother went through while slaughtering his own kin then maybe..maybe you wouldn’t have been the sole-survivor of your prestigious clan today..maybe your brother would’ve been here, standing right next to you, patting your shoulders in assurance and smiling like the nice guy that he was.

But no..it didn’t happen that way! And sadly, this day…the 9th of June is an agonising reminder. Yes! Today is the birthday of your deceased elder brother, Itachi Uchiha— a man who had his whole life to live, a man who decided to sacrifice it for the sake of the consequences that he forced upon himself, a man..for whom your love and respect will never be lowered. You killed him! You killed him and then you learnt about the truth from Obito and..and…instead of acting like a mature young man, you jumped onto conclusions which were all just a product of your emotionally-shaken state of mind and blindly lusted for revenge from countless innocent civilians of the leaf village. How could you blame so many lives for a crime they didn’t even know about?

And above all..you hurt some of the only remaining precious people in your life. You tried to kill the girl who has come to love you genuinely for who you are..You tried to take away her life..take away the only speck of light in your dark life and drown into the shadows…You expressed your desire to kill your own teacher, the one who accepted you not just as a promising student but also as a son…You nearly killed your best friend twice, the last time resulting in the both of you losing an arm. An arm— it took the sacrifice of a complete arm for you to come back. Four years of pursuing and convincing you in the right manner didn’t work but losing an arm did. You laughed bitterly because sometimes you are such a child. If only someone had slapped you in the face and grounded you for your bratty behaviour at the right time then maybe..maybe you wouldn’t have turned out this way…

That evening when you returned home and silently ambled towards your room so as to evade your young wife, you actually ended-up bumping into her on the way. Her small frame didn’t help much and her head collided with your taut chest. You gulped..because there goes your chance of escaping her piercing emeralds that are always able to see through your façade, no matter how many layers of walls you erect around that guilty heart of yours. She rubbed her head in a manner you can’t describe anything less than cute and smiled apologetically. There were no hints of sadness or anger for your mean behaviour towards her this morning and this didn’t help you feel any better. If anything, it troubled you even more.

“You’re not angry?” You asked, slightly agitated at her because she deserves to be angry. She must be angry!

“No” she simply shook her head and smiled again.

With widened eyes, you sighed and quirked your brows. Why isn’t she mad at you? You blatantly ignored her this morning and left the house without so much as informing her about your destination and she is not the slightest bit of fazed?! Something is definitely wrong- either with you or with her.

But before you could delve deeper into your dark thoughts and create some twisted kind of reason behind her behaviour, she spoke again, gently, “How can I be angry at you when you looked so..lost…”

“Lost?” You mocked with a scoff.

“Yes Sasuke-kun, you were lost and you still are…” She admitted firmly.

At that you found yourself beyond confused at her choice of words. “I’m not…I’m just..a bit grief-struck.”

“Sasuke-kun, I..I don’t know what has been hurting you since this morning but you need to forget and move on…” She mumbled, never meeting your gaze and actually left you alone in the corridor.

There is nothing else left for you to do than sigh. But no..you won’t commit the same deed again. You’ve always hidden your past from her..never sharing anything about it. And you know that if you don’t open-up to her now then it will be too late..It will always be like this…You’ll keep hurting her at certain points in time if you keep your past concealed any longer…Thus, you took a step forward into the future that you have to spend with her and followed her trail towards the living room. You spotted little Sarada playing with her soft toys on the floor, next to whom sat your wife, face turned away from your direction.

“I’m sorry…” You muttered, expecting her to immediately yell at you. And yet she didn’t…

She simply craned her neck to stare at you and smiled gently. “It’s fine..It’s okay to think about your past once in a while.”

“Its not okay!” You know you must not but you shouted at her, making your little daughter shake in fright, “It is because of that past that I..that I hurt you so damn much! I..I pulled you..to the point where you would’ve snapped and broken..I hurt you so much because of that past. If..if only I could go back in time and trade some of my mistakes…”

“No Sasuke-kun”, she shook her head, “It is because of that past that you are here.. It is that tragic past that taught you so much. And now you are here…”

“I don’t know anymore..” You mumbled in frustration.

Passing a hand through those messy raven locks of yours, you sighed, “Sakura..I…its..today is Itachi’s birthday and dates like these always remind me of the sins that I have committed. And I..I don’t know if I can actually atone for them and truly make you happy…”

For some weird reason, she giggled at that. Shaking her head to negate your words, she picked-up the frightened little baby girl from the floor and walked to stand right before you. With an excited smile she spoke, “Look at this Sasuke-kun. This is our daughter. We made her..This little, innocent bundle of cuteness and mischief has been brought into this world by us! See? You did something good. You are already atoning for your sins…one day at a time..”

A minute later, she handed over the little toddler into your arms and patted her small head. “..you did kill Itachi but he doesn’t hate you for that. He wanted it. He wanted to die by the hands of his younger brother because he knew..he knew that only you could help him achieve salvation after committing that he was forced to. And that’s why..he is watching from up their…Always..”

“Always…” You repeated, nodding your head like a confused little kid.

“And Sasuke-kun…Itachi-san didn’t sacrifice his life for this. He doesn’t want you to sit around and mope for the loss of all your family members. Instead..he wants you to protect this new family that you have created…”

“Yes” you said, pulling her in with the same arm that you were using to hold Sarada and hugged the two girls who have now become a part of your family. Yes! Sakura is right. It is so unlike your elder brother to make you suffer. If anything, he’d want you to lighten-up and move forward. You nodded your head again, muttering more to yourself, “I am atoning for my sins…one day at a time…”

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I was listening to"Trade Mistakes" by Panic! At the Disco while writing this one. The song is beautiful and well-suited to SasuSaku. Do listen to it.

Check out my other entries:-

No Substitute

A Taste of Redemption

Washing the Regrets

And please reblog and share if you enjoyed reading this piece…:)

~Manika🌸

#ssfest17 #sasusaku #ssfanfiction #ssfestday7 #submission #ssfestentry

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