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sunshinecherryblossom · 7 months

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Illogical answer to justify Naruto's ending 💀💀😑😑🙄

And same old same old. Sakura always loved Sasuke, Hinata always loved Naruto... oh really?

You know what these arguments are, besides "lazy?" Sexist. On both the guys and gals. the women are defined by who their first loves are and NOTHING ELSE.! They must get with their first loves otherwise their involvement in the plot is pointless. They have no goals in life nor purpose in the story than to "walk down the isle to become Mrs. Uzumaki/Mrs. Uchiha". The men's feelings don't count or matter. Naruto always loved Sakura but I guess that doesn't matter because he must notice the shy girl that always held a torch for him even though she did NOTHING to ease his loneliness and being hated by the village. Sasuke did not love Sakura until she wore him down to give her a baby. CHAPTER 693 CONFIRMS THIS. Now, anyone until today, for some weird reason, here sees Sasuke's lines in that chapter as "I love her so I must keep her out of my life, I don't deserve her?" I guess pro-enders see it that way. What I saw was "Why does she even love me? She is deluding herself with some fairy tale." But ok... just make a sense and i'm a salty fan

Ok, let's go:

The the whole "oh Naruto and Sakura are just friends argument. Again, "lazy". And so what if they are friends? That is WAY MORE that either of them can even claim to be with their TRUE LOVES. Well, let's see: Naruto ignores Hinata and never spends time with her after "knocking her up", so their relationship was like it has always been which is her only being in the back of his mind until it calls to his attention that she exists. Sasuke left Sakura to fend for herself and his daughter for over a decade and never bothered to visit or check up on them. Again this relationship is exactly how it how it was before the ending and when he last left to go with Orochimaru, him giving for this woman throwing herself at his feet. These are seriously the romances that these pro-ending fans were always imagining? The spouses just tolerate and acknowledge their marriages because there are bound by it? No romance anymore, no intimate communication at all, and the fathers not even bothering to bond with their kids unless the plot "demands it"?. Ok

I seriously would love to ask these defenders of this just friends argument "okay so you always had only platonic feelings for your opposite sex friends? You were never attracted to any of them and only see them as a brother or sister? So why are some of you SOOO INFURIATED by this thing called "friend zoning" that you project on to these fictional characters? Friend zoning was never even a thing then, because you can never be attracted to a friend nor will EVER move past friendship. So Sasuke sees Sakura as a friend so he was never attracted to her, right? And Naruto sees Hinata as a friend and was never attracted to her either, yes? Neither guy indicates that they were love struck with their respective ladies early on did they, so are they friends or are they strangers? Ultimately, either stop using "just friends" as an excuse for when it conveniences you or acknowledge that "just friends" works "both ways", so YOUR PREFERENCE OF SHIPPING is also a fallacy. Naruto and Sakura may be friends but HEY do you see Hinata supporting Naruto's dream? Does she ever encourage Naruto's Dream of becoming Hokage or offer her support of Bringing Sasuke back or does she just tell herself what a hunky man-candy Naruto is because of his showing inner strength and determination that she vicariously wants due to her OWN LACK OF A SPINE? Does Hinata ever encourage Naruto when he is down or depressed? Does she show to to improve herself in any way because Naruto inspires her and makes her self stronger as a person (like typical love interests do in this scenario)? Did Sasuke ever become a pillar of emotional support for Sakura? does he ever consider her happiness and puts it above his own? Sure he protected her in the forest of death but so did Rock Lee and Naruto also saved her from being killed here and there so that means nothing.

So in short, do these canon couples have any EMOTIONAL CONNECTION to each other? I don't see it. Do you? Naruto and Sakura showed that plenty of times during the manga's run but never with the two that they are supposed to be "in love with". and it is always Emotional connection that is the foundation of a romantic relationship. Even if you are just physically attracted to someone and it works out, if there is no emotional connection the relationship is pointless. And Again I see none of that with the so called Planned form the beginning NaruHina and definitely not with SasukSaku. NaruSaku on the other hand has evidence spread across the entire run of the series

#narusaku #naruto uzumaki #sakura haruno #naruto x sakura #pro narusaku #anti naruto ending #anti ss #anti nh #anti sasusaku fandom #anti naruhina fandom #antinaruhina #anti naruto fandom #anti sasusaku

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kzeeel · 1 year

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"New Beginnings"

According to Heraclitus, change is the only constant. There are a lot of different circumstances that may transform our lives whether we want it or not. This may be good or bad, yet we do not have a choice but to tackle it head-on. In the life of a simple senior high school student, there are a lot of situations that were put into that made me a product of change. The biggest event that changed his whole life was when he experienced being into a pandemic.

As the majority say, the third year or ninth grade is the most challenging year in high school yet, it is also the most memorable. This was witnessed by a student named Kurt Axzel C. Arcellano. Even before the kid's classes started, he knew it would be a blast by just seeing the list of his classmates. A lot of familiar and close names can be found on that list that made him think that it is too good to be true. Given his best friend, there are also a lot of familiar names who he knows he would have a good bond with. As Kurt traveled his journey towards his ninth grade year, he interacted with his other classmates and built a good connection with a number of people. He wished that his third year at high school would not end. But due to an unexpected happening, Kurt was not aware of the big change he would encounter. He never knew that the end of his ninth grade year was the beginning of a new turning point in his life. The year 2020, the Coronavirus or also known as Covid-19 spread throughout the whole world. This sickness became the cause of death of a lot of people wherein a total lockdown was done by countries around the world.

On the first day, Kurt has no idea on what to do being stuck in the house. Of course, his mind is focused on the things he planned to do for the upcoming summer. Yet, due to ECQ or Enhanced Community Quarantine, his list of plans were canceled. Basketball is the first thing that comes to his mind when summer approaches. But due to not being able to go outside, Kurt decided to make his body fit to still play basketball. He started his quarantine lifting weights and doing cardiovascular exercises. Kurt was unhabituated doing exercise, specifically lifting weights. But he knows that struggling is the first phase when you lift. So that’s when he decided to pursue it until progress shows on what he does. But Kurt is still unsatisfied with just lifting weights especially when he is unsure on how long he would stay locked up inside of his house. That is when he recalled an old habit he used to do, watching anime. Before starting to do so, Kurt saw an announcement on the news that the lockdown would be extended and that is when he wholeheartedly decided to start watching again. He has tons of anime series to begin with, but his first choice is what is considered as one of the best anime, Naruto and Naruto Shippuden. That was a long series for him but he loved watching it because of the story line and his favorite character, Uchiha Itachi. A lot of other anime series were watched by Kurt such as ‘Haikyuu!!’, ‘Fire Force’, ‘Black Clover’, ‘Jujutsu Kaisen’ etc. But he did not just stop by watching anime. He also read manga of the anime that is not finished being animated yet. ‘Tokyo Revengers’ was the manga that became his favorite because of the characters and the amazing plot. This was the reason why he did not notice how much time passed by since the beginning of the lockdown.

Five weeks of being locked down in the enhanced community quarantine has passed. A lot of things change for Kurt, both physically and mentally. He saw the development of his body. His biceps grew larger, the outline on his ab began to show up, and his shoulders became more broad. While his physical body changed positively, his mental health started to experience a downfall. Being stuck in the house made him miss a lot of things. His friends, attending school, and playing basketball. On top of all of that, the event that gave him a hard time is going through a break up. A lot of sleepless nights and tears have been shredded by the boy. Yet, he knows to himself that the most needed person to be able to move on is only himself. With this, he uses the pain he is experiencing to open up a lot of other things that are never experienced by him. He added extra work in exercising, he started trying out meditation, and learned how to improve himself in interacting with others. Time passed by and he completely healed and accepted the situation. Along this is he was able to improve himself and improved interacting with others.

In the month of July, Kurt watched the news about the re-opening of classes. He was so confused about the new learning system that would be applied, and that is the Online Learning System or also known as Online Classes. He chose to attend his first online learning at his old school, Colegio San Agustin Biñan and graduated here and was one of the awardees. Before Kurt choose what school he would attend in senior high school, he first considered all the factors that would be practical on attending his school since this is the first time he would experience attending online classes. His first choice was still his old school, Colegio San Agustin Biñan. But due to the tuition fee and the first year he experienced online class, he was able to say that it would be not practical. This is the same reason why he chose not to attend his second choice which is De La Salle University Dasmariñas. But after asking help from his friends, he considered studying in his current school, University of Perpetual Help System Laguna.

Kurt’s first year at Perpetual was a little bit of a struggle. He has no idea who his classmates are, the way of teaching, and the environment he will experience. Before attending school, he decided to only focus on his studies only and not expect to be close with his classmates. But as the school year started, he saw that his classmates were also fun to be and easy to get along with. Until now, Kurt is able to get along with his classmates well. Although, now, he is not able to focus well on his studies.

Kurt Axzel C. Arcellano has gone through many situations in his life. He has a lot of regrets and shortcomings he was not able to handle well. But Kurt never looked back on the past and learned how to move forward in his life. Because of the pandemic, he was able to reflect and choose to be better everyday in the life he is living and this is by not worrying about the past. Instead, taking the right action on how to lead himself for a better future.

#CreativeNonfiction #KabataanWordEssay

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nejibaby · 3 years

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Memories

Pairing: Neji x Fem!Uchiha Reader

Summary: There are a lot of terrible things that have happened to you as an Uchiha that you wanted to forget. But with Neji’s help, you’re able to move on and move along. Things have started getting better for you, however, once the Fourth Shinobi War was declared, time seemed to start running out.

Word Count: 2.1k

Memories - Part 1 | Deja Vu - Part 2

A/N: I didn’t exactly follow the plot and somehow it turned so angsty 🙈 Please let me know your thoughts~

There are memories you hold so dear that you refuse to have them tainted no matter what. Most of those memories are of the times you spent playing or training with your brother Shishui, his best friend Itachi, and Itachi’s brother Sasuke. Those times were the golden days for you; the best of the best, if you may.

Conversely, there are also memories that you just wish would disappear. They’re the memories of incidents you wish didn’t happen at all. They’re the type of memories that you push at the back of your mind, because you believe that if you think about it or even spare a single second for it, then it’ll be more real. Because you’re in denial. You’re in denial not only about the death of Shisui, but also of the Uchiha clan.

But then there’s a single memory you have that always stands out. It’s a memory that you both want to forget and remember.

The tragedy of the Uchiha clan had changed the only survivors — you and Sasuke. You had already started changing a little because you had to deal with your brother’s death, but seeing the horrible scene in the clan’s district had been the icing on top.

Your drastic change had been evident on the day you came back to the Academy after you were discharged at the hospital. What once was a girl full of life had become an empty shell.

The moment you sat down entered the room, people had started talking. Mostly it’s just about asking someone else if you were an Uchiha or if they know about the clan’s misfortune. They were meaningless chatters so you easily drowned them out.

But there was a comment that had reached your ears. “Why is it such a big deal? People die anyway, it just so happened her clan died on the same day.”

The comment kept ringing inside your head but then someone beside you spoke up, “Don’t you have anything else better to do than talk about someone else’s life?”

He was met with silence so he continued saying, “People die everyday, it’s a fact. Some die because of illnesses, some because of old age, some because of poverty, accidents, or murder. As shinobi, we can die in the line of duty. But that doesn’t make death any less painful to the one left behind.

“If your family is alive, then good, but maybe use that brain of yours because logic says not everyone gets to be as lucky as you.”

Naturally, you want to forget about the unsolicited comment of your classmate, but you want to remember that among the students inside the room, one boy had stood up for you. Quite frankly, you needed his saving that day. Otherwise, you would’ve beaten yourself up for mourning too long.

And when you realized who that boy was, his words weighed even more. Because Hyuga Neji was a boy notoriously known for thinking that everyone’s fate is predetermined from birth and that luck plays absolutely no part in it.

“Not everyone gets to be as lucky as you.”

And for a hot minute he had abandoned his belief as he stood up for you.

It sounds hypocritical if you think about it.

But maybe just as he had saved you, you had opened his eyes just a little bit and helped him see that his beliefs were skewed too. In a way, you had helped each other, at least you hoped.

It’s because of that day, that memory, that you find yourself gravitating towards Neji.

It isn’t attraction at all at first, more like genuine curiosity about him and his life. But you didn’t get to know him further until the Chunin exams where he had disclosed the way of their clan. It’s at that time where you understood why he acts the way he acts.

You can’t help but wonder about how two clans with almost similar circumstances— both with kekkei genkai, both living in Konoha, both considered to be one of the strongest clans in the shinobi world— could have completely different ways of living. One clan is almost completely annihilated, while the other has slaves of their own blood. And if you’re being completely honest, you aren’t exactly sure which is better.

You have gotten the urge to talk to him after hearing his story, although you really didn’t know what to say. But then the chance never came up because of the chaos orchestrated by Orochimaru.

After the Chunin exams and the attack of Orochimaru, you hadn’t heard of Neji for a while since you’ve been tasked to help with the repairs of the village. And when you did hear about him, it was terrible, terrible news.

Sasuke left the village to seek power from the very person who just wrecked havoc in Konoha. His leaving alone left you in despair. What Itachi was to Shisui is exactly what Sasuke means to you, and him doing such a thing without even letting you know makes you feel like a failure both as a friend and as a family.

The news didn’t end there, however. Apparently the squad that Shikamaru had led to retrieve Sasuke had been severely injured and were on the brink of death — one of them being Neji.

You remember feeling guilt and regret burning your skin. You remember the shame of not being able to save Sasuke from the darkness and not being able to help the retrieval squad in any way. You blame yourself for the horrible things that happened.

Since then, you have made it a point to visit the squad in the hospital every day, making sure you apologize and thank them for their service. But admittedly, it’s Neji that you always stay with longer.

It’s not that you aren’t comfortable with the others, they’re really nice and easy to get along with. But they always have other visitors with them, mostly their team members and relatives. Neji, on the other hand, didn’t get as many visits since his other teammate, Rock Lee, was also injured because of his fight with Gaara. So Tenten and Guy sensei would switch visits between the two every other day.

Besides that, his clan members rarely ever visited. And you didn’t want him to be alone in such trying moments, especially when you didn’t get to do anything to prevent this from happening.

As closed off as Neji is, because of your constant visits, you have found a way to worm yourself into the walls he put up. And by the time he’s discharged from the hospital, you somehow became close friends.

From that moment on, you find yourself coming to Neji on times that you’re in despair and in doubt. You trust him enough to tell him your stories, worries, and fears because he doesn’t judge you. And he does the same with you.

Neji listens when you want him to listen, and talks when you need him to talk. He’s quite level headed and very much rational, and because of that he gives the best advice.

With him, you find yourself healing and growing. With you, he finds himself learning to forgive.

Neji easily makes you see things in a different way; a different light; a different perspective, and helps you become a better shinobi and a better person in general.

For you, Neji has such a comforting aura. While he’s sometimes cold and stoic around others, with you, he softens up. With you, he’s gentle; careful even. And it’s because of this that you find yourself admiring him more and more.

But before anything could happen — before you could even confess — the Fourth Shinobi War was declared.

Just like that, time seemed to start running out. And you have lost all hopes of being together with Neji as a lover rather than a friend.

The war is awful. Quite frankly, it overwhelmed you too much, too easily. The bodies lying on the floor with dried out blood reminded you of the massacre of the Uchiha clan. But the only person who’s able to calm you down and help you move along is Neji.

The both of you fight side by side, always nearby Hinata in case she would need help. When the night comes and the enemies cease their attack, it’s your turn to talk Neji into relaxing a bit because he’s started straining his eyes from too much use. And because it’s you who asked and it’s you who’s there with him, he knows he and the rest of the Allied Forces are safe, so he rests.

But somehow chaos ensues and in the middle of it, you both get separated. You’re worried deeply, but you trust his skills and his strength, and you know you’ll be reuniting with him again.

And reunited with him you did. But when you have found him once again, he’s blocking out the Ten Tails’ attack with... his body.

With desperation, you transported to his side as quickly as you can. Summoning your last bits of chakra, you use Susanoo to protect him, Hinata, and Naruto. The last thing you remember is the look of relief on Neji’s face, but before it could morph into worry, you have already blacked out.

By the time you have woken up, you’re in Konoha’s hospital. The first thing you see is Neji resting his head on the side of your bed, peacefully sleeping, looking as angelic as ever.

Your body aches with every breath you take, even more so with little movement. But you didn’t let that deter you from weaving your fingers along the Hyuga’s hair. He stirs almost immediately and then he opens his pretty eyes. He sits up upon seeing you.

“I’m sorry, did I wake you up?” You softly ask.

He doesn’t respond to your question. “You’re awake,” he sighs in relief. “You’re finally awake. Let me go call Lady Tsunade and Sakura.” He stands up.

But before he can even take a step, you grab his wrist. “Stay,” you mumble.

Neji looks at you, reading your face. But then he nods and sits.

“Is it over?” You ask.

“Yes, the war’s over.”

“What happened after?”

“It’s a long story… but tell me, how are you feeling?”

“I’m feeling fine. My body aches, but it’s not a big deal.”

“What do you mean it’s not a big deal?!” Neji looks upset that it takes you by surprise. “Do you remember what happened? Didn’t you know you almost died?! You almost used up all your chakra to use Susanoo! That’s so stupid and reckless!”

His aggressive tone effectively gets you angry. “I did it for you!” You snap. “Of course I remember what happened! Even if I want to forget, the memory is branded in my mind! You fucking wanted to use your body to shield Naruto from that attack, didn’t you? How is that not stupid and reckless? Huh?”

Neji’s chakra flares up as he clenches his jaw. Yet, he doesn’t speak.

You breathe out, trying to calm down. You rarely ever fought with Neji and he’s never really raised his voice to you. With your body still tired and aching from the war, you didn’t want this conversation to escalate further so you try to diffuse the situation before it blows even more out of proportion.

In a low voice, you speak, “I was so scared, Neji. I didn’t want to lose you. I’ve lost everyone I’ve ever loved.”

A tear falls down from your eye and Neji’s heart breaks at your forlorn state. “I don’t want to lose you too. I can’t…” you squeak. “I love you so much, I can’t lose you.”

Neji’s breath hitches at your declaration. He could hear his heart drumming against his chest.

You love him?

He doesn’t know if he heard you right or if his mind is just playing tricks on him. It happened before. He’s loved you for so long… and there have been plenty of days he dreamt of hearing you say you love him too. And right now he isn’t sure if this is the reality or just another one of his dreams.

As if you’ve read his mind — like you always seem to be able to do — you repeat your words. “I love you, Neji.”

It’s the confirmation that he needs. And hearing your words knocked the wind out of him. “I… I…” he starts saying.

But you’ve taken his stuttering and his pale, panic-stricken face as a sign of an incoming rejection, so you look down instantly and say, “It’s fine if you don’t like me the same way. I just hope we can still be friends after—”

“No, I… I love you too,” he breathlessly confesses before you even finish your rambling.

Your head whips up after the words left his lips. You stare at him, unbelieving.

And just as you did a while ago, he repeats his words with conviction, “I love you too.”

A smile makes its way to your face, and when he smiles back, you immediately know this is a memory you won’t ever forget.

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gayninjas · 3 years

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(1/2) Okay so I'm still new to Naruto so feel free to correct me if I'm wrong. Also, this is long. I'm sorry. I'll split it.😅

Out of the K12 kids, Naruto, Sasuke and Neji were fucked over by Konoha (either by their clans, the old man hokage or the villagers). I'd include Rock Lee but I think he was just bullied as a small kid for being... weird? or not having chakra?? And he worked super hard and that didn't last long.

Anyway, I've read plenty of reviews about how the series ended poorly and how messages like "you can change your fate" were disregarded. That the the Naruto franchise would've done better staying an actiony, ninja shonen that focused more on changing the shinobi system instead of turning into the forced romantic shojo that it became. I agree with all of that.

And I said that to say this, I really am disgusted with how things went for Naruto, Sasuke and Neji. Naruto doesn't receive any apologies from those who should give him one (like the villagers! I think the old hokage bastard died so.. no apology there I guess). Like, I know Iruka apologizes to him and I don't know why. I know Iruka was Naruto's first bond, what'd he and only him have to apologize for.

Not only that but Naruto just accepts everyone and then hides the fact that those in charge of Konoha planned the Uchiha massacre!!! (Does Sasuke know he's doing that?) It's ridiculous to just hide the genocide committed by the state (because he's patriotic? Wants to stick to the status quo as much as possible while trying to change things??). And it's somehow worse to hide it when you have this intensely close relationship with the lone survivor of that genocide.

Like, why write Naruto like that? To receive no actual closure (imo) on how he grew up in Konoha and tp make him a top tier bootlicker

included the second part of the ask

(2/2) With Sasuke, that genocide happened and he was just left to his own devices on the outskirts. And he's treated as a villian for justifiably wanting to "destroy" Konoha and wanting a revolution. It gets under my skin how much the K12 kids don't give a fuck about stuff like this. (I like all of them (except for 2) and stuff like this sours my opinion on them)

Not only is he treated as a villain, it appears that no one pay's for the Uchiha massacre (except for Itachi?) which is bullshit. It's just swept under the rug. And THEN Sasuke is written to become another Konoha bootlicker??! He has to go off on his own to atone for his sins? What!

And finally Neji. He died as he knew he would, for the main house family. I will hate that forever and always. His destiny didn't change. Little!Neji in the chunin exams exposing how fucked up the Hyuuga clan is, no one (except Naruto?) cares. He gave Hinata a chance to back out before he killed her, which was allowed, she didn't, he was about to end it and then 4 teachers(?) jump in to save her because, special treatment. Can't let the (former) Hyuuga heir die, she means more than the other kids.

And he was treated as an antagonist for being rightfully pissed off. But no, he just gets over it I guess after befriending Naruto, the Hyuuga clan continues with its slavery bullshit and he dies sacrificing himself for Hinata. What a way to go.

And I know they don't address the slavery Neji wanted to abolish in Boruto. They just ignore it and act like everything's fine and dandy. Naruto isn't one of those series where things just happen offscreen and we know it's cool, right? They can't just expect ppl to think the Hyuuga clan changed right? They don't even focus on them, Neji died and so did any relevance to the Hyuugas because Hinata doesn't do anything.

(Had Neji lived I know he also would've been turned into a major bootlicker too)

In conclusion I can't stand how these 3 boys were screwed over by the village in many ways and then screwed over by bad writing. It's irritating. I love Naruto but there's so many problems with it.

i tried to be concise, hope i covered everything!

I agree that if the Naruto franchise didn’t end off with lackluster romance plots and instead gave closure for all the things they left open ended after the end of the war it would have made a much better ending to the series.

Kishimoto had even admitted he had trouble writing romance in as he hadn’t ever planned on it. He never considered it that relevant so when they did include it, the whole thing felt so forced and awkward it was even kinda ooc for Naruto and Sasuke (scenes like narutos flat ‘im not in touch with my emotions’ reaction to hinatas confession that butchered his character were an absolute pain to sit through)

Nejis death being an awful plot devise to develop NH was a terrible move, like neji sacrificed himself for someone who moments later held narutos hand and went "his hands are warm"??

Don’t even wanna list anything I dislike about ss cause their marriage is so lifeless i feel dead thinking about it.

As for the villagers, they were happy to alienate a poor kid who couldn’t fend for himself and let him believe he was a demon and was deserving of it all but then started licking his boots when they realized they had the equivalent of a nuclear weapon desperate to protect them, and even then they weren’t remorseful of their actions, its all very sickening really,

I think the whole end of Naruto was handled in a way that went against the characters values? like I can easily imagine Naruto being rightfully enraged at the people who issued the massacre of hundreds of innocents, and he wouldn’t ever think of hiding anything like that, especially from the victim who was also his friend??.

How they wrote sasuke as someone who now fucking bows down and becomes a soldier for a village that destroyed him and has done nothing for him is just absolute bs. Although with sasuke, even if one argues his loyalty was for Naruto, the patriotic lines are just too much.

As for the rest, I don’t have much to say cause they never tried to understand why sasuke was doing what he did, they only saw a power hungry uchiha who was seeking revenge.

And yes nejis end was tragic for all the wrong reasons, i was more pissed than sad watching it. He was treated as a tool for nh and his anger at the hyuga clan and their issues was brushed off without much thought because the series never delved into it or resolved it.

And yes we got no real closure for the uchiha massacre, all the messed up things in the hyuga clan and the way Naruto was mistreated his whole life etc. Its aggravating how they expect us to believe its all fixed and fine now

I really do love the pre shippuden arcs like the zabuza and haku arc especially though. They were the peak naruto experience for me and are always the scenes I reminisce and often get nostalgic over.

#thanks for the ask anon #sharing my opinions and interpretations

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phoenixyfriend · 3 years

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The IzuTobi Prequel

Prequel to this post, which I’ve taken to calling the “Red Eyes = Spouse Material” AU.

WARNING: contains a reference to worries/fears of sexual coercion.

Like, okay, they did not know that Tobirama had red eyes at first. They weren't close enough on the river for Izuna to see, since he didn't have Sharingan yet, while Tajima and Madara were looking at their respective opponents, not Tobirama.

Then, once they were in their early teens, and Izuna already had his Sharingan, they met on the battlefield for the first time, and Izuna saw Tobirama's eyes. Sure, Tobirama wouldn't meet his gaze, but Izuna could still see him.

And Izuna, as is only natural, went to Madara to ask 'hey uhhhhhhhhh one of our enemies is actually Amaterasu-blessed, what do.'

And Madara's just like '!!!!!' because hey actually this is great news everybody knows that the first step upon meeting an unmarried stranger with red eyes is to figure out who the best person to court them is, they can get a marriage alliance out of this to end the bloodshed and child death! Even the Elders can't argue against having a clan marriage to an Amaterasu-blessed indivi--

They object.

Well, Tajima objects.

Madara and Izuna bring the issue to him, both pretty excited about doing the whole "arranged engagement in the early teens, actual marriage at twenty or so" thing as a way to stop killing kids but Nope! For a variety of reasons, most of which boil down on Tajima's side to "the Senju have killed three of my children, I have no interest in taking in one of their own," the plan is shot down.

Madara and Izuna are naturally devastated but keep an eye out for like. A chance. To slip the info to Tobirama or Hashirama so they're at least aware of the possibility for when Tajima dies, in case Butsuma is more open to it?

I can't decide if they actually manage to set up a Secret Meeting prior to their dads' deaths, but I'm leaning towards 'no.'

(In this plot, Izuna is still wary of the Senju, but much more open to the idea of peace on account of Auspicious Omens Are Here.)

Anyway, Tajima dies first, I think, and Madara's first act as Clan Head is to send Hashirama a request by hawk for a private meeting. Hashirama is still only heir, not Clan Head, but Butsuma is ill (infected wound, I think), so Hashirama has the option of accepting this.

They meet, and Madara explains that he can sway most of the clan into an alliance--not just an armistice, but an actual alliance, possibly even establish that village they talked about as kids--if they can marry Tobirama into the Uchiha.

"Does it have to be Tobirama?" Hashirama asks, because he's not the best brother, but he's good enough to know that Tobirama hates the idea of getting married.

"Yes," Madara says, and then explains that it's all in the eyes, that this is a deeply spiritual thing to the clan and while some of the more militant elders may object, most of the clan will take the red eyes as a sign that this is intended to happen.

And Hashirama is quiet, and then asks if a marriage would require Tobirama to sire any children.

"We're not going to try to steal a kekkei genkai."

"That's not it."

"...wait, does he prefer men? We can--we can make that happen. If it's... hell, in that case it might work better, he could marry me or Izuna, direct connection to the main house, skip the issue of heirs and--"

"No, that's not... not it. But it makes me feel better to know that. I'll have to run it past him."

Tobirama is VERY ace and Hashirama had strict plans to respect that so he's trying to feel out if consummation would be required, or if a kiss for the wedding and then cohabitation would be enough.

Internal logic is "I want peace but not at the expense of handing my brother over for coerced marital rape where he thinks he can't say no without restarting the war."

He manages to get the agreement that the Uchiha weren't looking to pressure Tobirama into any sex-related things, though Madara still thinks it's a matter of Bloodline Protection and that Hashirama is worried about, like, someone trying to steal surplus semen or something.

Hashirama goes home and outlines it to Tobirama, who is very ??? about the whole thing but willing to at least consider it after Hashirama explains the basic requirements and how he confirmed that sexual relations aren't necessary. Hashirama floats it past Butsuma as a Theoretical Exercise, and is shot down.

So, Hashirama sends Madara a letter to the effect of "Our esteemed Clan Head says no, but we'll keep it in mind [insert veiled implication that Butsuma's dying anyway here]."

Madara and Hashirama have always kinda held back against each other, but now Tobirama and Izuna are also holding back the teensiest bit, just enough that nobody can be sure (and tell Butsuma or and Elder about it).

Well, Touka notices, but her first resort is "ask Tobirama to his face" and second resort is "bother Hashirama about it" so she gets the rundown on how Madara and Izuna are angling to get a political marriage with Tobirama since his eyes are Apparently a spiritual matter to the Uchiha as a whole.

Obviously, Butsuma dies, and Hashirama then immediately sends Madara a letter like "HEY so I'm Clan Head now, here's a nice inn located in neutral territory, bring your brother and an advisor, I'll do the same, let's hammer out a contract ASAP."

So it's Hashirama, Tobirama, and Touka on one side, Madara, Izuna, and Hikaku on the other.

Tobirama explains that he refuses to engage in sexual relations with anyone he marries (internally he's thinking that he might eventually take interest if he gets comfortable enough, but overall the entire concept is a little disgusting to him, and he doesn't want anyone to think they can convince him to do it, so he takes a hardline stance during the marriage contract negotiation process), but is open to his marriage partner engaging in an extramarital affair for a period of time in order to secure an heir.

"I promise we're not trying to steal your--" "Madara. Look at me. I do not like sex, and have never had any intention to engage in the activity with anyone, Uchiha or Senju or any clan at all. I had no plans for marriage, ever. The only reason I am opening myself to this one is because I value the opportunity for peace." "...oh."

So, you know, that's out in the open now, but it actually makes it easier to negotiate because they now know why he's uncomfortable with the idea of marriage, so other things (like the cohabitation and dowry and whatnot) can be discussed without people getting resentful about the other party not trusting them with genetic material. Hashirama and Madara get really excited about the whole village idea again, in part because Hashirama wants his brother to be able to visit Really Easily.

At one point they ask Tobirama who he wants to marry, if there's anyone he's interested in? Male or female? What ages is he comfortable with? Main line would be most politically expedient, but--

And he's just like "I know Izuna best, as my rival, and I've taken note of enough recently to know he's not a terrible person, at least as far as any shinobi can be 'good.' If Izuna is open to it, then I would like to discuss what cohabitation would look like between us. Should our expectations of daily life line up well enough, then I imagine that would be optimal."

Izuna's torn, because Amaterasu-blessed, but also he'd kind of been hoping for a Real Marriage with Affection and Children. Touka loudly suggests they take a recess and let Tobirama and Izuna talk in private for a bit.

Izuna manages to get across his personal worries, and Tobirama laughs and says that he actually loves children and was planning to take on plenty of students. "If you don't like the option of the extramarital affair for a child, we could always adopt. As for affection... I've been told I cling like an eel in my sleep, if that suggests anything."

"So if I grew enough feelings that I wanted, like... a good morning kiss or something..." "Quite frankly, my feelings on kissing in general are pretty neutral. It's a little strange, but I could engage with it, once a rapport is built. Heavy petting is distasteful, however, and anything past that..."

And Izuna listens to all that like "Oh. Okay, I will be able to Acquire Cuddles."

Then they discuss the whole 'what do we anticipate out of cohabitation' thing, like pets and cleanliness standards and what spare rooms are for and what goes on in the basement and allergies. It matches up... not perfectly, really, but close enough that they can make it work. They shake hands like the nerds they are and call their families back in and say they've decided it'll work so let's get that paperwork drawn up and start planning a wedding.

Aaaaaaaaaaand then Zetsu kills Izuna and convinces Madara that it was Tobirama's fault so he loses the plot (or, well, finds the canon plot, really).

I'm happy to imagine Tobirama and Izuna on a couch in their house, Izuna halfway asleep and leaning his head on Tobirama's shoulder, while Tobirama's got on a pair of glasses and is reading a book.

Just. Really domestic.

Cutesy.

IDK I feel like they just end up as pleasant roommates who don't necessarily ignore each other, but are well aware of the fact that they entered into this arrangement with non-romance expectations, and they're both okay with that.

They take dinner together, talk shop, try to engage with each other's hobbies, go to events as each other's default plus-one...

It’s Nice

#IzuTobi #Uchiha Izuna #Senju Tobirama #Izuna Uchiha #Tobirama Senju #Uchiha Madara #Senju Hashirama #Senju Touka #Naruto #Naruto Oldies #Founders Era #Phoenix Posts

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trash-writings · 4 years

Text

Itachi x Reader: AU

A wonderful commission! If you’re interested in commissioning me, just shoot me a message!

Plot: AU where the Uchiha’s were never massacred, Minato never died and remained Hokage, and Itachi isn’t miserable. Pure unadulterated fluff.

You were skeptical, that much was certain. Itachi had confided in you for years, even before his time in the Anbu, so when he came to you distraught at just thirteen it was hard to believe. He was quiet now, sitting in your family garden with you. The moon was nearly full, only a few more days before it’d create that beautiful full glow that he loved to come share with you. If something didn’t change, you’d never see a full moon again with him.

“Itachi?” You finally spoke up. Itachi slowly turned his head to face you. He looked completely calm, something about it felt unreal. He should have been freaking out more, you thought.

“Hmm?” His little hum of acknowledgement always brought comfort to you. The warm tone he possessed even now at a young age was something else about him that you knew you wanted to hear for the rest of your life.

“What if Shisui’s plan doesn’t work and… What if you have to…” You couldn’t bring yourself to finish your sentences despite the urgency you felt. His eyes looked sad for only a moment. It disappeared quicker than the flash of lightening before the following crack of thunder hits.

He said nothing. Instead he simply laid his head on your shoulder. His hair tickled your neck slightly, but you enjoyed the feeling of his dark strands on your skin. “Let’s not worry about that right now. Let’s enjoy this evening.”

You figured he needed the silent company more than anything. He had only a few days left of this if nothing changed and it hurt deep inside of you. The ache in your heart you felt for Itachi would only grow if the worse happened. You would be fine, you knew that. Your family had no relation to the Uchiha’s; in fact, you lived on the other side of the village since they were forced to the outskirts. For once in your life you prayed for help. You prayed that Shisui would handle this and you could keep Itachi in your life for as long as possible.

The day it was supposed to happen you felt ill. You knew you were not sick, but how could you not feel anxiously sick waiting to find out if anything tragic happened to the boy you had loved since you first met him in the academy? You sat at your desk for most of that day, staring out the window. How lucky is it that your window happened to be in the direction of the Uchiha clan?

All day you sat, waiting. You never heard or saw anything out of the ordinary. That night your mother called for you to come downstairs. Your legs ached from the position you’d sat in so long, but you eventually made it down the stairs.

Itachi’s black eyes met yours and you ran towards him jumping into his arms.

10 Years later

The day started as normal. You woke up and did your few steps to get ready for your shift in Konohagakure at the gates. Since becoming a Jonin you expected more intense missions, but since there were fewer children becoming Ninja you had yet been assigned a squad to lead. So, you were left doing the job of a Chunin, but it was not too bad. Honestly, it gave you lots of time to relax or train on your own.

Ever since the Ordinance of Peace passed due to the Fourth Hokage, Minato, and the elders who had secretly conspired against the Uchiha had been banished there was rarely a need for intensive missions. The missions that were more dangerous were left to the elite, and sadly for you, that meant Itachi was gone a lot. This morning was no exception. However, as you were making your lunch you noticed a few things were out of place. He must have come home early this morning then left again.

Since moving to the Uchiha clan’s sector of the village your walks were long but pleasant. On the way to the front gates you passed many of the friends you made in the academy and beyond. You laughed as a group of young Genin ran in front of you while chasing a cat. They must be on a mission; you think watching them go. Memories of chasing after Shisui and Itachi flood your mind making you miss your husband even more. If he was back in the village, he should at least have let you know.

“-----!” Sai’s familiar voice and figure comes towards you from the guard station. One of his animated drawings disappears as he approaches you closer. You knew Sai vaguely, mostly through Itachi’s younger brother.

“What is it?” You ask stopping. You cross your arms in front of you, the lunch you carried dangles to your side.

“Sasuke said he was looking for you, I just wanted to let you know.” He says matter-of-factly.

“I have a shift… I can’t just run around trying to find him.” You tell him.

“He asked me to cover for you, it’s fine. He was at Lord Fourths office the last I saw him.” He tells you pointing in the general direction.

“Thank you, Sai. Here, you can have this!” You uncross your arms and toss him the bento box. He thanks you after catching it. He waves at you as you turn to run off towards the office. Luckily not many people are out and about yet since it’s still rather early into the afternoon.

You make it to outside the office, looking around the building you don’t see Sasuke anywhere, so you go back up the stairs. The hallways are also empty, making you feel uneasy. It’s rare that the Hokage’s building would be this empty.

“-----!” Your name being called from your brother in law. How was everyone seeing you before you saw them?

“Hey, Sasuke,” you greet him politely. “Sai said you needed me. What’s this about?”

“Yeah. Here,” Sasuke hands you a small letter then turns to leave.

“What is this about?” You call after him.

“I don’t know. He told me to give it to you.” With that he disappears quickly. You peel open the seal on the letter and find a few lines.

-----,

Meet me where I proposed. I have big news for us.

Itachi

You smile down at the note as you reread it a few times. Itachi propped outside the village, just a few kilometers south at this gorgeous lake. You know it will take some time to get there, so you head out quickly. You shove the note into your pocket then jump out from one of the building windows to start your journey outside the village. Each time your foot pushes off another tree you feel your heart beat faster with anticipation.

The wind hitting your cheeks adds to your flush as you near the location. You can see the trees starting to clear so you instinctively slow down. As you jump down from a tree you take notice of your surroundings. A few feet from where the lake ends you see a blanket spread out with a few pillows atop the blanket. No one seems to be around though, which confuses you as you sit down on the blanket.

As you begin to remove your gear so that you’re more comfortable you notice a flash of black hair and a green Jonin outfit. Itachi.

“Why are you hiding from me?” You call out. You can sense him near you, but placing his exact location is difficult. Within a few seconds he’s by your side.

“Hi, darling. I missed you.” His hand slowly caresses your face before his lips meet yours. His lips are soft. They move against yours as if they were made just for you to kiss. Emotion overwhelms you as you melt into his kiss. It had been days since you as much as caught a glimpse of your husband, but now he was here in your arms.

You break away from the kiss, just a few millimeters from his lips. “I missed you too,” you tell him before kissing his lips once more. He smiles down at you when you break away. You notice the dark circles under his eyes look deeper than normal. He’s clearly tired.

“Do you like this?” He asks gesturing to the picnic blanket he has places. At that moment you notice the picnic basket holding one corner of the blanket down.

“I love it,” you smile leaning into him. Your head rests against his shoulder and his head softly rests against yours. “Have you been sleeping while you’re gone?”

“Some. When I can,” he tells you. You move from his shoulders, so you are facing him. You frown dramatically to show your displeasure.

“You need to sleep more.”

“-----, baby, I try. Without you it’s harder,” he moves your hair from your forehead and kisses it softly.

“Being sweet won’t get you out of this!” You point at him continuing to furrow your brows. He laughs looking at your expression. A genuinely happy chuckle that you can feel radiate the warmth of the sun from him. You can’t help but laugh along with him. “Why did you ask me to meet you here? I had to skip out on work. I really hope Lord Fourth doesn’t hear about this…” you continue to babble on, and he just listens with a sweet gently smile.

“I doubt Minato will mind.” He says casually before lying on his back to face the sky.

“You really shouldn’t address him so casually,” you tell him laying down on his chest. You use one elbow to prop yourself up beside him. Your hair falls around your shoulder enveloping you both in it.

“I don’t think he minds.” He tells you closing his eyes. “Besides, rumor has it he will be passing on the Kage position to someone new. Apparently, he wants to spend time with his grandchildren.” You think of the fourth’s family.

You knew Naruto pretty well considering he’s considerably outgoing. He has two children, both quite adorable. You wouldn’t want to miss out on their growing up either if you were in that position. However, you did find it quite funny that you were older than them and you and Itachi hadn’t discussed children yet. One day, but for now all you wanted was to take up as much as Itachi’s attention as possible.

“Oh, where did you hear this rumor?” You lean closer to Itachi. He opens his eyes and you see a glean of a childish nature flash through them. Itachi is incredibly strong, soon he has you pinned to the ground, gently of course, to keep you under him. His hair has come undone from his low ponytail, so it tickles your face. You’ve never gotten over how soft his hair always feels against your skin.

“Who wants to know?” He teases. “How do I know you’re not a spy for another village? Hmmm?” The tone he uses is stern, but the silly smile he has from above you contradict his every word.

“You caught me! I’m truly a spy for the village hidden in the soft black hair.” You use what little movement you have from below him to pull him down to kiss your lips. “It’s a wonderful village, not a split-end to be found.”

He chuckles at your joke before freeing you. He lays out the basket he had packed this morning before you awoke. Itachi was a surprisingly great cook, and he always prepared good lunches for you when you had the time to eat together.

“So, tell me… Who is going to be the next Hokage?” You ask before taking a bite from your rice ball.

“Why are you so intrigued?” He asks with a mischievous smile.

“Maybe because I want to know who’s ugly face, I’ll have to see each morning I walk through the village?” You joke and he laughs.

“That’s a real shame since it’ll be my face. You’ll suffer inside and outside our home apparently…” the smile on his lips suddenly lacks the mischievous look and is sincere and soft. “I’ll be the Fifth.”

#commisionwork #commission #commissions #itachi uchiha #itachi x reader #itachi uchiha x reader #naruto headcanons #naruto requests

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mira--mira · 3 years

Note

What's your opinion on the Ame Orphans? (Nagato, Yahiko & Konan)

Konan

See this sister post for a shorter but more positive take. I love Konan, but I cannot physically express how much rage I have for her place in the narrative. This will tie into Nagato and Yahiko as well but as I'm mostly focused on Konan I'll put it here in her section. Her backstory was ignored in favor of the boys'. She was pushed off to the side and god it makes me furious. Her powers were incredibly versatile and unique and she was knee-capped at every opportunity to show her true potential. I 100% believe she should have fought Jiraiya with Pain. (Also, their backstory and how fucking creepy he was to her when he acknowledged her at all? Disgusting.) Even after she died (which I hate izanagi very specifically bc of that fight. I love the Uchiha but for gods sake izanagi and izanami are some of the most distilled deus ex machinas that are just insufferable to watch) she was erased from the story. Did she get resurrected with the other Akatsuki? Did anyone mention her again after she died? Was she remembered? Given the same level of Important Legacy as Nagato or Yahiko? Of course not. I think it's easy to point to characters like Sakura to say "Kishimoto doesn't know how to write women" and that's true because we saw Sakura's character throughout the entire run of the series but characters like Konan are pure condensed versions of that to me. She couldn't be a love interest and she didn't fall on the angry/shy duality of Naruto women so, just like Tenten, she was forgotten. I don't usually like speculating about authors bc a single piece of media can't really encompass a whole person and their beliefs but god "I don't know how to write women" is the most sexist bullshit excuse I've ever heard in my life. That's why you read narratives about women written by women. That's why you ask the women you know. That's why you recognize you don't have the lived experience of being a woman and you do the bare minimum of research and so you can realize half the human population are in fact, guess what, human and they don't fall into limited one-note angry/shy/love interest categories.

Nagato

I have no problem with the character of Nagato, all of my issues come directly from the child of prophecy plot point. I despise this plot point. It adds nothing and actively detracts from Naruto's themes about taking control of your own destiny. I also have issues with how the Pain arc wrapped up. I don't mind in the end that Naruto talked Pain down, but I don't like how he did it. Acknowledging he still hated Pain for killing Jiraiya and destroying Konoha was good but...Naruto didn't address the root of Pain's philosophy which arose from the great nations using Ame, a smaller weaker nation, as their personal battleground. Naruto promises to do better but he doesn't explain how he'll do that, how if he becomes Hokage he'll negotiate or threaten the other great nations to leave the small nations alone. Instead, he just quoted Jiraiya’s book and suddenly that makes everything ok again. I would have taken anything more concrete than ‘I won’t give up bc this wouldn’t be my story if I did!’ It just feels like a non-answer in the end, relying too much on Jiraiya nostalgia to work. That Nagato accepted it (without fucking talking to Konan first I might add) irritated me. I wanted him to press back and force Naruto to give an actual answer because this was his people's futures and lives on the line. The last issue I have with Nagato is that he didn't get Konan's input on anything and didn't consider how it would affect her. She went through the exact same thing he and Yahiko did, but was even a second spared on how she felt? No. Nagato decided to go rogue, upset their decade-long plan and killed himself to help Naruto and did he once ask Konan what she thought or consider how his death would affect her? No. And then of course she bears no resentment against Naruto, of course not. And she’s willing to give up on the Akatsuki just like that because Nagato believed in Naruto and she will too despite not having the connection to Jiraiya’s book and logically no reason to flip so late without previous concern/hesitation established. She just will. God.

Yahiko

I don't have much to say about Yahiko, I liked him and his role in the story, I get some Hashirama & Madara vibes from what he, Nagato, and Konan were trying to do, and looking at it from that lens is pretty interesting. Hashirama and Madara wanted to build a village and put an end to the senseless war that killed children, but they were from two of the strongest shinobi clans. The Ame orphans came from nothing and their enemies were the great nations that used their home as a battleground and made them orphans.

#naruto #ask #anon #konan #yahiko #nagato #rant #long post #hopefully this is understandable lol #i tried to organize my thoughts but the more I thought about konan the angrier i got

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inrainprose · 2 years

Note

I want to write a Role Swap AU that Naruto and Sasuke switch places but I don't know how to make some plot points happen like, Naruto did not become a renegade because he had Iruka, Teuchi, Ayame and Hiruzen in his life while Sasuke become a renegade revenger because of his clan being murdered by his brother by Danzo's orders. How can I put Iruka, Ayame, Teuchi and Hiruzen outta Naruto's life and how can I do not make the Uchiha planing a coup in order to the massacre do not happen?

Not sure I'm the best to give advice on that considering I wrote 400k on this premise already. I don't have that many ideas in store lol. I went with Iruka dying when exposing Danzo because it triggered both at the same time - Naruto's isolation and the Uchiha problem coming to light. I guess it could be something else along those lines, or it doesn't have to be that defined. One thing that would work would be to have a confrontation between Danzo and Hiruzen that ends up with both of them out of commission, preferably dead to get this out of the way. The rest of the shinobi would focus on stabilizing the village, with the Uchiha a driving force, and Naruto would be forgotten in the process or dealt with in a different way than the Sandaime did, which would isolate him further.

Good luck with your writing!

#ask #ask inrain #now that i think about it that's not a bad idea lol #idk who would replace the third maybe no one at first #there would be some sort of interim while they look for the best candidate #and a bit of chaos in the meantime #and they wouldn't want to bother with the added threat of the kyuubi so #they could be much less lenient with Naruto #anyway i'm not gonna think about that more i have my own mess to deal with lol

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pl-panda · 4 years

Text

Damienette arranged marriage: part 24

Credits: Miraculous Ladybug team for the elements I take from MLB show. DC for their characters, @ozmav for the AU, @maribat-archive for giving me access to so many different stories to have take inspirations from, @thyladyanput for idea for Chat Damian and me for the plot.

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8

Part 9 Part 10 Part 11 Part 12 Part 13 part 14 part 15

part 16 Part 17 Part 18 Part 19 Part 20 Part 21

Part 22

Part 23

Damienette arranged marriage: part 24

----------------------

“Papa will help us on this one. And maybe we should call the cavalry from Gotham?”

“Relax Angel. We have two to one number advantage. We can deal with them.” Damian reassured her.

‘Fine. We two weeks until we leave. It is decided then. In one week, we storm the Agreste Manor.”

--------------------

The week passed by faster than anyone wanted. Marinette especially felt like it was all in such rush. It was overwhelming. After over two years of fighting hawkmoth they were finally about to put an end to his reign. That is if Tim’s assumptions were correct. It was still just a theory. Really solid one, but theory nonetheless. They did know Adrien was Chat Noir. This was without doubt. Nobody else could be him if what Tim gathered was correct. It’s amazing what you can figure in two months with good logic skills and enough hacking skill to have White House Coffee machine prepare a frappuccino with your face on it for a week. ‘Batboys’ had weirdest truth or dare in the whole world, Marinette decided.

The raid was supposed to happen on saturday. This way they were sure that Adrien would be home and there would be little interruptions. Precisely on 10:20 A.M., the time when Adrien should be practicing his piano, Ladybug, Pink Tigress, Ryuko and Viperion walked to the front gate of the Agreste Manor. Marinette did ask her father to use Ox miraculous and help them, but he politely declined. Tom felt like the hero gig was not really for him. It was okay. Not everyone need to be on the front line.

A camera eye popped out of the wall as soon as Ladybug pressed the bell.

“Hi. I have an urgent matter with Mousier Agreste. It’s about his son.” She spoke. It was risky, but if he didn’t allow them to enter, he would only raise suspicion. It was a perfect trap. Small crowd already gathered in here and got curious. Rejecting Paris’ beloved heroes would be bad for image and much too suspicious.

There was no answer, but the gate opened, letting the group in. As they walked, Ladybug and the others indeed noticed several automated defence turrets, now half-burried underground while disabled. They were probably loaded with rubber bullets, but how did this not violate gun regulations anyway was a surprise.

Doors to the manor were opened by Gorilla, who then stepped aside and let them in. Nobody noticed three shadows jumping over the front yard. Gabriel was already waiting for them with Natalie by his side.

“Ladybug. What a surprising visit. Is something wrong?” He asked in a worried tone.

“Yes. But I would prefer if we talked in somewhere more private.” Ladybug said, nudging her head toward atelier.

“Of course. Nathalie. Go check on Adrien in the meantime.” The man motioned to his secretary and let group of colorful heroes to his private study. As the doors closed he turned to the heroes. “Now. What is this urgent matter you need to discuss.”

“Like I mentioned, it’s about your son Mousier.”

“Adrien?” Gabriel grasped. “Did something happen to him? Is he in trouble?!” If Ladybug didn’t know the man as Marinette and didn’t suspect him of being hawkmoth she would actually think he cared about his son.

“Yes. He is in big big trouble.” Pink Tigress practically growled. Marinette wondered if it was the mask or was her mother always like that but she didn’t show it.

“Tigress. Control your emotions.” Ryuko scolded the newest heroine, but it was obvious she was having hard time herself.

“Ladybug. What is this all about?!” Gabriel shouted. “I demand an explanation.” He recomposed himself and fixed his tie.

“Well… Your son… He… You see…” Suddenly, the confidence Ladybug usually showed disappeared.

“What our Bug is trying to say is that we believe your son is Chat Noir.” Viperion offered some help to the distressed heroine.

“And how is that bad? If what you say is true I am proud of my son and his accomplishments in defending Paris. His mother would surely be proud.” The designer defended his son while acting confused. Except Ladybug saw right through the scene. It was too much out of character for Gabriel Agreste to be real. This confirmed it. He was Hawkmoth.

“Except Chat Noir switched sides. He is a traitor. That is why Tigress reacted like that. For some time, he is working with Hawkmoth.” Ladybug straightened up and looked in the eyes of man before her.

“What?! Perpeterous! My son would never do such thing. He was always loyal to those he considered family.”

“If you could please call him in here, I would be happy to discuss some things with him in your presence if that’s okay.” The girl in red gave a weak smile and nodded toward the intercom.

Gabriel reluctantly walked to it and pressed a button. “Nathalie. Could you please bring Adrien in here?”

It wasn’t long before the secretary and prodigal son entered the room.

“You wished to see me father?” Adrien started, but then he noticed several heroes standing in there. “Oh! Ladybug? I am honored to meet you again.” In the back, Ryuko was stopping Pink Tigress from attacking by holding hand in front of her. Viperion was doing the same for Dragon-themed hero.

“Adrien Agreste.” Ladybug started in stern tone. “As the Great Guardian of Miraculous I hereby renounce your right to the Ring of Black Cat. You are no longer a hero of Paris or part of the team.” She grabbed his hand and was about to pull the ring when he chuckled.

“So that’s it my lady? After all this time together you would end it just like that?” There was something dark in his face. “Plagg! Darkclaws out!”

Suddenly a black Kwami was sucked out of his pocket and entered the ring. In a flash of green light he was now Chat Noir, except instead his bell was now silver and his face was twisted. His features were more catlike and when he smiled he had fangs. Hearing the commotion, Gorilla barged into the room through other doors. He looked confused at the situation. He didn’t even mother with the fact that the entrance was locked and he kept holding the doorknob

“Guess there is no more hiding it Father.” Adrien said. It could very well refer to him being Chat Noir, but Gabriel understood the suggestion.

“Indeed son. Nooroo! Darkwings rise!” There was another flash of light and Hawkmoth joined the fray.

“Duusu! Spread my feathers!” Nathalie was transformed into Mayura with the help of her booch. Only no longer it was damaged so she was now able to fight in full strength.

Hawkmoth hit the floor with his cane, opening a small hole from which flew a white butterfly. “You’ve made a mistake Ladybug. Engaging me in my own home was a stupid strategy.” He then charged new Akuma and sent it at the Gorilla, who was still holding the doorknob. It entered the damaged object and transformed him into smaller version of gorizilla. “Now the chances are more fair, don’t you think?” He grinned maliciously at her.

“No. I think they will be equal about… now!” She shouted and tossed her Yo-Yo. It zoomed right past surprised Hawkmoth and Shattered the window. Through it jumped Spoiler, Red Robin and Robin, all already in battle stance.

“Ah. I see you called different help from the states. I guess I should be worried now?” The mocking tone from the villain was never that good. Suddenly, the floor on the right side lowered slightly making a ramp. From there, walked a lines of robots. “You like it? I got it from my own friend in America.” He gloated. This was not good. They needed new plan.

“Spoiler, Robin, Red Robin! I need you to take care of the robots. Tigress! Get Mayura. Ryuko. You will go after hawkmoth. Viperion! Take the Akuma out and then help Ryuko!” Ladybug started shouting new battle plans.

“What about you?”

“I will take care of Chat Noir.” She stated and lunged at the irritating cat, who just stood there the whole time with a grin on his face.

Ladybug used her Yo-Yo to attach to the roof before smashing into Chat Noir leg-first. The cat was pushed back and she proceeded with continous assault, switching between Tossing her weapon at him and using some of the moves she learned from maman over the years.

This was like a spark. Immediately after Ladybug’s charge, other heroes also attacked. The battle has begun. At least until there was an ear-piercing cry of pain that got everyone’s attention.

——————————————————————————————————–

Taglist (sorry if I missed you)@pheonixashtree @sassakitty @unabashedbookworm @vixen-uchiha @maggiecc12 @actualdisasterwoman @tired-butterfly @shizukiryuu @floralfi @imanerddealwith @northernbluetongue @krispydefendorpolice @toodaloo-kangaroo @dast218 @bluesoulblueheart @theatreandcomicfreak @disneyfoxuniverse @mindfulmagics @alwaysnumberonetruth @nyaabinch @jardimazul @lenamau @rosep16 @dramatic-squirrel @sonif50 @daminett4life @lulutheawkwardess @weird-pale-blonde-person @mooshoon @jeminiikrystal @mochegato @moonlightstar64 @dragonflyswing @silverwhiteraven @shamefullove @magic-miraculous @valeks-princess @heaven428 @mlbchaosqueen @winter-gardenflower @spicybelladonna @emo-elaine13 @vetilora @karukofox21 @my-name-is-michell @sturchling @lokiifriggasonn @redscarlet95 @melicmusicmagic @interobanginyourmom @the-fusionist @razzledazzle247 @miss-mysterys-blog @darkthunder1589 @i-is-mysterious @catthhay @the-one-woman-army @zestyzealot @dahjokester @write-for-your-life2 @mermaidreject @peachedpocky @sassakitty @dahjokester @crazylittlemunchkin @novicevoice @justafanwarrior @eliza-bitch @schrodingers25 @tired-butterfly @toodaloo-kangaroo @redscarlet95 @miukiiu @sassakitty @corabeth11 @vixen-uchiha

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icouldrun · 4 years

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Rewriting the Uchiha Massacre and Itachi’s Story

First, I just want to say that Itachi is one of my favorite characters of all time and I was actually very sad when he died. I think the plot twist where he was actually good all along made sense… to a point. There were some weaknesses to it that made it fall a little flat and the build up was kind of there but had to be reexplained later which made the story a little weaker. There are a few ways I think Kishimoto could have done it to make it a little more consistent and a stronger plot line.

1) Up until Sasuke killed Itachi, most of the Uchiha Massacre was shown only from Sasuke’s pov, and given his age and trauma of the event, it made him somewhat of an unreliable narrator. This is great from a storytelling perspective, because it gave flexibility to the story when going to other points of view, such as Itachi’s of that night and leading up to it. Sasuke’s memory of his family is as the second son to a prestigious clan that is somewhat cold (mostly Fugaku) but still a superior clan of Konoha.

Sasuke is understandably partial to remembering it as a good place that Itachi destroyed that night. He’s romanticized his family life, and this was done further in filler episodes later in the series. The Uchiha were understandably upset with their treatment by Konoha, but like the Hyuga clan’s treatment of the lower branch family members, the Uchiha likely had skeletons in their closet. Sasuke hasn’t looked underneath the underneath, as Kakashi might have urged him to (nobody has really, regarding the massacre) and like others, believes Itachi simply snapped one day and killed their entire family. Sasuke had some clues sprinkled in front of him leading up to the massacre, but no definitive or solid reasoning to believe Itachi was anything but a psychopath.

2) One of the major problems with the Naruto universe is its use of child soldiers put into situations where it’s kill or be killed. Rather than try to change this or address it as a major problem, villages are proud of prodigies who excel at combat and mastery of jutsu. The narrative presents child solders as the norm throughout the series, but with some hints that perhaps it is a cruel and very wrong practice. Haku and Zabuza, the first major arc of the series end with Zabuza confirming that shinobi are weapons, but the flaw in their design is humanity.

Itachi, according to the narrative was a kind child who was at his heart a pacifist. The problem was that he

1) Was a prodigy from a young age

2) Was born into a clan that valued this superiority of combat

There was never any question about Itachi maybe not becoming a shinobi. There was no choice for him in this, and he was rushed through the academy and graduated way too young. One thing that pisses me off about both the Japanese and English voice work for Itachi is that the voice actors sound way to mature in Sasuke’s flashbacks. He was 13 but sounded like a full-grown adult and it throws off the scenes to me. Just my opinion.

His introduction in the manga he appears very young, and like Sasuke but very tired and even colder.

3) There were very corrupt people in charge of Konoha and who, as far as we know, were never held accountable in canon for their involvement with the Uchiha Massacre. Danzo and the 3rd Hokage died, but Koharu, and Homura are not held accountable for their involvement with the Uchiha, and whatever else they’ve been involved in.

Itachi continued to help these people even though he owed them nothing. People use this to justify Itachi as noble, but it comes off as a little weak in the narrative. Especially since it doesn’t appear that he really fed much information to Jiraiya or any other confident. It makes his time in that Akatsuki seem less as a double agent and more just hanging out until the narrative needed Sasuke to have a purpose after killing Itachi.

4) Itachi should never have been a hero, and probably not a villain either. Rather, he should be an example of the major problems in the shinobi system. We should have been able to look at Itachi and the other examples as further emphasis on how deeply flawed the villages and shinobi really are. Itachi had a major following from the beginning and served as a major antagonist with a lot of depth and mystery surrounding him from his first introduction in Part 1.

Rewriting the Uchiha Massacre

Itachi doesn’t want to be a shinobi, but there’s not really any choice for him in the matter. Show the struggle, show him wondering what a regular life might be like during his early years, but squashing that down by the time he makes Anbu.

There’s discontent between the Uchiha and village, but Itachi’s not really involved at the start. He doesn’t want to be, and his family wants him to focus on reaching his full potential.

Shisui is very committed to the Uchiha cause and becomes Fugaku’s right hand in many ways and tries to get Itachi into the fold. They’ve always been close but there’s a rift between them when it’s clear Itachi doesn’t support the coup or doubts its ability to succeed.

Anbu is brutal and its methods and practices demand absolute compliance from members. Itachi struggles but eventually cracks under the teachings. He’s a machine, more or less.

On a mission though, some of his humanity shines through and he fails to carry out an order right away. He’s immediately put into reconditioning and even faces punishment at home for insubordination. At some point, he starts crying and either Fugaku or somebody in Anbu calls it pathetic.

The Uchiha are putting the final touches on the coup plot when Shisui is taken by Anbu for questioning on what’s going on. He manages to escape, but Itachi (fresh from reconditioning) is ordered to kill Shisui before he can return to the compound and tell the others that Konoha is on to the plot.

Itachi kills Shisui and it’s framed as a suicide, but the work is sloppy *hint hint.

Hiruzen and the others decide to stop the Uchiha but can’t just slaughter one of their most famous clans without reasons. They call Itachi in and order him to go through with the massacre. Still recovering from reconditioning (and maybe a little brainwashing from the Anbu) he shows almost no reaction and goes to carry out his mission.

He goes through it without much trouble, until he gets to his parents. That’s when it starts to dawn on him what he’s just done and how he obeyed orders without a second thought. The perfect shinobi but at the cost of everybody from his clan.

I’d keep a similar death of Mikoto and Fugaku as in canon, as it makes sense that they’d rather die with the clan than live having failed to stop their son or the truth of the coup come out.

Sasuke comes in, and Itachi falters again and realizes he can’t kill Sasuke even if it’s a part of his orders. He struggles with it for a minute and considers taking Sasuke and running away before Sasuke realizes Itachi is the killer and begins to freak out.

Itachi knows they’d be hunted if they left together, and that Sasuke can rebuild the clan stronger and better than before. To do that, he’s got to become stronger than Itachi, which is why he tells Sasuke to hate him and become better.

Itachi’s use of the Mangekyou Sharingan on Sasuke during the massacre was really fucked up even in canon and doesn’t really get explained in a satisfying way. Since the Mangekyou is a rare form of the Sharingan and a mystery outside the clan, he might have used it to traumatize Sasuke so deeply that the elders in the village were satisfied that Sasuke wouldn’t be a threat to them. He hates Itachi and not Konoha at this point. They’re not on his radar and that should be enough to satisfy them to let Sasuke live and rebuild a prestigious clan down the line. Any love or questions he might have had about the massacre are wiped away because of his reliving of the massacre over and over.

Itachi leaves, slowly feeling the weight of what he’s done. He’s about to go to the Hokage office to report, when he’s stopped by Madara. Rather than go to his own execution, he’s offered a chance to improve the world and end the current and failing shinobi system.

Itachi joins the Akatsuki. I honestly think he’d be a little suicidal in the first few months after the massacre but would slowly begin to accept life as missing nin. It’s somewhat liberating for somebody who’s been held down his whole life.

Understanding liberation, he wouldn’t interfere with Sasuke’s choices or repress him in any ways, including stopping him from leaving the village.

At this point, Itachi is a villain, or an anti-villain depending on how you look at it, but I think it would give a little more weight to his decisions and overall storyline.

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ramenandchill · 4 years

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Character criticism

Today’s criticism: The entirety of the show Boruto

Hood day/night my children. How are you all? I hope you all are eating your veggies and drinking your water. I hope you all are taking care of yourselves to the best of your abilities and that your all doing well back home, wherever home may be.

Today, we’re going to be tackling the mess that is essentially the anime,Boruto. Basically why it’s not as good as it could be, and why it has potential. I even have an alternative plot for Boruto, and I thought I would share that with you all, my loves.

So first, let’s summarize what Boruto is;

Boruto:next generations is a spin-off show to the Naruto series. A series that once followed the life of Naruto Uzumaki and his fellow friends as growing shinobi, now follows his son Boruto Uzumaki and his friends, who are the next generation of ninja growing up in the shinobi world.

In depth: the setting takes place in a now peaceful shinobi world, where the 5 great nations are no longer at war or no longer have bad blood anymore. Naruto Uzumaki is now the 7th Hokage of Konoha, and Sasuke Uchiha serves as the shadow Hokage, protecting Konoha from the outside. Most of the Konoha 11 have children. These children are learning to be ninja, and are growing up to become extremely powerful each day.

Though this plot sounds very entertaining, it is far from that and the lazy writing shows through many parts of the Anime. Here are some problems I’ve encountered with the plot and characters itself.

1. The children are extremely overpowered- for one, the children in Boruto are too overpowered. One thing that was interesting about Naruto was that we got to grow with the kids and see them develop their powers. Though some were prodigies at a very young age, we got to see them develop even more and we realized that they weren’t too ultra powerful and that they could be beaten. Once we as the audience realized that our beloved Naruto characters were only kids who weren’t all prodigies, the suspense was amped up quite a lot. The chunin exams is a great example. In the forest of death, many of the genin weren’t too powerful, and we saw a lot of genin groups die in the forest of death. We even saw a Sannin, Orochimaru, sneak into the exams and bite Sasuke, which caused the main plot to kick off. A lot of the times, we weren’t sure that our faves would make it out of their life or death situations. But In Boruto, the suspense is not there. We know that most of the kids, especially the 3 main characters, Boruto, Sarada, and Mitsuki are all powerful. There’s no “if” they are gonna make it out. We also don’t get to see much hit or misses from the children. We don’t get to see their trial and error with learning their parents jutsus and developing their own so it’s hard to grow with them. Their powers ensure that they get out of most situations, and it takes away from the hard work their parents did to reach the level they are at. Their powers look rather more genetic (which I’m sure they mostly are), than actual hard work.

2. The next generation-another problem is that the kids are essentially carbon copies of their parents personalities. They aren’t their own selves, which very much annoys me. I rather see the kids be their own person, rather than adapt ALL parts of their parents personalities. I don’t mind the children having small parts of their parents incorporated into them, but Boruto really takes it to new heights. The personalities are more copy paste. Most of them act exactly how their parents do or once did. One of the few characters this probably doesn’t go for is Mitsuki, as he’s rather pleasant compared to his father, orochimaru.

3. The lack of screen time- this is a minor issue to me, but I don’t appreciate how a lot of the interesting characters like Sarada are glazed over. The other teams besides Team Konohamaru are usually not shown progressing as much, and are given the much shorter end of the stick than the main characters, which is rather annoying.

4. The Konoha 11- the Konoha 11 have been greased so badly. Their powers seem heavily downgraded, and their character designs look awful. A lot of them look like pedophiles and Shino looks like a can of bug spray. Their powers seem very light, compared to in the Naruto series. For example, Shino not being able to control his bugs and messing up, is a regular for the shows gag unfortunately. That’s so unnatural because we know Shino is very serious and calculated and careful, so that gag is not funny at all. Even Naruto, who’s a master at shadow clone jutsu, has reverted back to his childhood. His clones are ineffective but they do it as a gag, which is dumb. They have made some of the Konoha 11 a shell of there former selves, which frustrates me. They were so cool in shippuden and such, but now their once cool and mysterious powers are downgraded for laughs, which aren’t funny.

5. Naruto and sasuke- Naruto and Sasuke are horrible fathers. For people who should want to make the most of family because they never had any, they don’t even spend time with their kids, which is so dumb. Naruto does Hokage work, but nothing is stopping him from making shadow clones to do the work for him, so that he could spend time with his family. Sasuke is even worse to the point where seeing Sasuke triggers Saradas sharingan because of the overwhelming emotion she felt from seeing him for the first time in years(I also hate how Sarada just bonds with him after an episode. Their relationship would need mending and building considering how long sasukes been gone. He doesn’t know much about her, so he should learn steady over a period of time like how it is in real life). That’s awful. They could be there for their families but their not, which is so weird for characters of their backgrounds.

6. The plot itself- the plot itself drags on for very long and in my opinion isn’t interesting. The plot is constantly jumping. The Arcs aren’t that intruiging and follow benign story plots that could only possibly serve as filler. It takes so long to get to the main plot of Borutos story. Here’s a list of the 17(Yes,17) arcs that have occurred in Boruto so far;

I can tell you that a lot of these are pretty much anticlimactic and waste time. Some are cool to sit through, like the time travel arc or Kara Actuation, but some are like the War arc of shippuden. If something’s like the war arc of shippuden, I rather smell someone’s booty than watch that again. So please, you can even read the plots yourself, and find that they aren’t that captivating.

7.The Villains- last but not least, we have the very copy paste villains. Just recently we’ve gotten some newer villains with a new agenda but it won’t be a breath of fresh air for long. For example, we know that so many of the villains such as Momoshiki, have been just copy-pastes of Kaguya. Their a Naruto and Sasuke level threat which we know that both Naruto and Sasuke could beat them any time. I’m bored of seeing Naruto and Sasuke fight villains that we know they will beat anytime. And with the villains point- I bring to you why Boruto has potential. You see, the Kawaki arc(Kara arc) showed that Boruto could turn into a show about a rivalry, and we saw the clip of Kawaki and Boruto fighting at the very beginning of the series. This is cool that a character like Kawaki who is shown in the end to have a strong resentment towards the ninja world for making him what he is, eventually will try to go the mile to end the age of shinobi. We will have to wait for this, sadly and I wished they introduced this sooner.

Alt plot: my alt plot goes a bit like this. Let’s say that the peaceful world is not exactly completely peaceful. The 5 nations aren’t at war anymore but the smaller countries within them aren’t exactly that peaceful. There aren’t a lot of casualties at all, but some people are still a tad bit resentful.

Let’s say that some of the great nations have become docile. The New generation of kids no longer learn how to be ninjas. Instead they go to regular school and for those who would like to be ninjas, there is a fake kitty-program for them to take. It’s not serious enough for them, though. Jonin still go on message delivering missions. The Hokage is still there, all of that.

Now let’s say a character like Kawaki and an organization behind them, a small one, has been wronged by the shinobi world. They aren’t exactly like the Akatsuki, open with their deeds. However, they are internal threats like Danzo almost, who live within the village. Nobody suspects them because they pose as regular citizens in the lands that no longer practice the way of shinobi life as they once did.

Now let’s say this organization start taking out unsuspecting Jonin. One by one, 2 by 2, Jonin are turning up dead left and right. Nobody can really explain their deaths yet, but their deaths are really disturbing. Next, Anbus investigate, but some of them are even taken out too.

The Hokage and village are becoming restless once again. Then citizens start going missing and dying. This doesn’t just happen in Konoha though, this also happens in other nations. This can make a rift between the nations who think that the other nation is sabotaging them, which can influence bad blood again. These villains are tearing up the almost perfect world from the inside out. They bring back people like Kakashi, Yamato, Tsunade, Kurenai, Gai, basically everyone from the old days, and the Konoha 11 for their lines of defense.

People propose that the children should learn to be true shinobi. Some argue that they shouldn’t, but it is decided that the children should learn to protect themselves and their lands. So now, medical ninjitsu classes are taught, ninjitsu, chakra types, genjutsu. The ninja school is rehashed.

Sasuke comes back to the village and is asked if he’s seen anyone enter the village but the answer is no, which gives a clue.

Soon, the children graduate and learn important lessons about friendship and teamwork. We watch them work hard to learn and perfect their parents Jutsus. we watch the trial and error, but we watch them turn out great in the end. They can even have Boruto face off against this villain when he gets older.

They learn from the oldest Shinobis and earn their powers, instead of just having them materialize them and genetically master them.

(p.s honestly Temari and Shikamaru should’ve had twins, one boy and one girl, have them both be smart but have one learn shadow possession and one learn wind style. The boy is obvi Shikadai who learns shadow possenion cuz that’s already cannon, and the girl Tomoe, could learn wind style from Temari. She doesn’t have to be a carbon copy, but she could still learn her mother’s craft.)

Thank you for coming to my ted talk my loves, and I’ll see you on the next episode of Character Critisims.

#anime #naruto #boruto #analysis #ted talks

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jhaernyl · 4 years

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Kiri meta (and a little bit about Suna)

Me: I had an idea about Kiri and their death toll of shinobi.

(Which is, if you ask me, another piece of bs from Kishi that is actually an unsustainable practice in any kind of society)

@shetanshadowwolf: Absolutely

Me: So I was thinking that while literal deaths do happen, what usually happens is one of the various levels of 'death'.

Which can be a damnatio memoriae of traitors (Roman Empire practice were convicted criminals/traitors of the state were removed from all official documents and any likenesses of them were destroyed, effectively striking them out of existence by excising their memory) or it can be that by being beaten by someone else you ended up in the other person's position in the rankings or even at the bottom of the rankings (depending on the differences between two people's rankings and the kind of duel and the stipulations in place beforehand) and so the operative you were before 'dies' and the one who beat you takes on your title and job or it can be a way to terminate a specific identity and either go back to your life or start your life anew.

It can also be a death of the person that you were before and then you have to abandon all previous ties, friendships, favors owned, debts incurred, etc. and you have to start your life anew as a new person and the old you is considered dead to the world or you it can be the death of the person that you were and then not only you have to abandon all previous ties / friendships / favors owned / debts incurred / etc. but you also have given your life over to the one who won the spar / showed how much superior to you they are to do whatever they want to it (which fits with Zabuza taking in Haku as his Tool and it turns that sorta-adoption into a cultural Kiri practice).

So when a Kiri shinobi says that someone else 'died' it can mean a lot of things that depend on the context of the 'death' and while sometimes it is a literal cessation of life even within Kiri, usually the literal cessation of life part happens when dealing with enemies.

But it also makes a great fear-based propaganda tool to wave at outsiders, to make it sound like Kiri kills their own indiscriminately and without any kind of logical sense to it.

@shetanshadowwolf: The second one sounds a bit like what the. Fuck. Brain. The whole "I was the sole survivor of my team/ class" stuffs. Like. If they put four chuunin-ready teams to pit each other and one ones who make it out are down to just one or two operatives. If you really wanna strike fear you brag that the rest died

Maybe they didn't really- they could be broken down in ranks y made to wait longer, etc

But I always felt that kiri shouldn't have, in practicality, been literally chumming thru their genin

Me: Or you can always dump a whole class of graduates down to get re-taught because what the fuck was that, you are not even close to the standards we want you to meet, except you Zabuza, you did great.

And then you reward Zabuza with the 'Monster of the Mist' title because Zabuza should have been way the fuck scarier than he was in the manga/anime (but he was basically the first main antagonist and I know Kishi hadn't even planned or wanted to do that arc so I can see why Zabuza, and hell even Kakashi in that arc, doesn't hold up to other big antagonists in retrospective) and surely had a fuckton of promise and bloodthirst.

@shetanshadowwolf: Yuuup

And an "if you're gonna have a reputation, kid. Make one that makes your opponents flee the battlefield. Short of that, make them fight with fear in their hearts"

Tho admittedly I think a lot of the continuity issues / hey why are things keep getting worse" is just a bad mix of how long everything got and backfill on things end up twisting into mad BS

Me: Oh I absolutely agree on that point, I just have fun with filling in the plot holes and colouring the lines.

I also think that Kiri could have a communal society that is not structured the way the land villages are.

From the maps I've found online, Whirpool (if it's placed on a map at all) was probably costal to the Land of Fire but Mist is his own island surrounded by other islands.

So, to blow some dust off that old theory of mine about ninja making deals to get kekkei genkai, the Mist people probably made deals with water spirits/gods.

Which explains why so many of them have sharp, shark-like teeth and the Hozuki can turn into water and the Yuki clan was basically a cross between ice spirits and ninjas and it explains a lot about Kisame.

So this is the map I'm going off of (mostly because it has Whirpool in it in a position that makes sense to me) and the thing about Mist is that they could have easily not become a village, just remained a set of Clans with their own land, away from the mainland and the squabbles of the other newly founded villages, right? They are away from there, they have the sea in between them and the rest of it, why would they have banded together to form a village of their own?

And what my brain threw at me (which doesn't have to be in contrast with anyone else's idea, this is just my own headcanon) is "Trade and Fear of Raiding."

Hidden Mist is clearly self-sufficient, they can afford to survive in their islands, but they have to have some materials/production that nobody else has because what you find on the coast is not the same kind of things that you get from the deeper sea and so they have stuff that they can trade but that can also be taken by them and while I would headcanon that they had trade with Whirpool, the moment Whirlpool went into a marriage alliance with the newborn Leaf, who is a village of ninja clans that falls under the command of the Daimyo of the Land of Fire, the Mist Clans probably looked at each and went well, fuck.

Because now their trade partners not only are a smaller village full of badass seal masters who can pop chains out of their bodies but now they also have the support of the Clan of A Thousand Skills, aka the Senju, and the scariest motherfuckers around, aka the Uchiha, and they are collecting other powerful clans, like those noble assholes who were all cozy with the various Daimyo's and could see through most shit, aka the Hyuga, and the scary as fuck Nara and their merchant buddies the Akimichi and those scary rip-your-brain-out Yamanaka, as if they are prizes at a fair.

That's ... that's fucking scary is what it is.

@shetanshadowwolf: When presented that way, yes

Me: And then other Villages start to form, including Cloud at their north (which I headcanon other villages formed exactly because the newborn Konoha was a huge threat to all other Clans and also because some Clans were shafted because their rivals joined first and they weren't allowed to and what are they going to do, play sitting ducks for their enemy clans? Fuck no, let's talk with others and make our own village and that's how we get to rival villages) and okay, hold your fucking horses, do we all agree that we are sitting ducks here? I mean, we are the toughest, nastiest motherfuckers around, we have done our deals with the spirits of the wind and sea, we are strong, yes but we are also one isolated, large island with smaller islands around and no way to easily decamp, not that we would if we could. This is our land and fucks everyone else if they try to take it from us.

[For an example of 'potential a clan who wanted to join Konoha but was not allowed' see the wasp people who have a beef with the Aburame and who apparently had the first Tsuchikage as a clan member. Those two clans reciprocally look down on each other and are bitter enemies and it would come to no surprise to me if the Aburame joined as long as those assholes don't. Not everyone is Senju Hashirama and Uchiha Madara and is either mutually willing or mutually able to convince their clan to bury the feud and so of course they ran and so the other Clan Head went 'fuck you all, I'll make my own damn village and it will be better structured and truer to our ideals than yours could ever be' and that's how we get Iwa being founded.]

So, being faced with the various land Daimyo's getting their own militias and with the chakra-wielding Clans thinking they were faced with the threat of other Clans banding together and being able to overcome them and either assimilate them or steal their trade/islands/people the Mist Clans probably met together and a deal was made for a Hidden Mist Village to be founded (possibly with someone playing as a puppet Daimyo so they could argue for political sovereignty over their own territory and nobody could use a lack of Daimyo as an excuse to invade or 'bring them to heel' or whatever shitty propaganda reason would be found).

@shetanshadowwolf: ... Valid points. (And had not zoomed out to note that some of the country to country rivalries might be as strongly tied to the previously vicious clan rivalries)

Me: They are pretty isolated.

So what they know is that some time ago, how much time ago differs from person to person, the Senju and the Uchiha buried their differences and founded a village and other Clans joined them and then some more Clans formed their own villages and now every Daimyo has a village and here they are, isolated from everyone else, behind on information, surrounded by potential enemies, with probably some pretty good trades.

Kiri is the place the Seven Swordsmen hail from that means that they have to have figured out how to make the Seven Swords which means swordsmanship and swordsmithing and probably good smiths in general on top of precious, luxury materials like mother of pearl, pearls, corals, healing methods/productions that are based on either product of the sea or things they could grow on their island etc.

A bunch of Clans working with each other and making mixed Clan teams and teaching chakra-wielding civilians how to pull off techniques and working for their Daimyo? That's a fucking problem.

@shetanshadowwolf: Yuuuup

Me: Kiri's people were hard, to begin with, because life out at sea, even on a big island, is a pretty isolated and self-sufficiency-requiring kind of system and they were probably close-knit, to begin with, a community that supported each other and because they were comparatively small and had less access to the resources of the other Villages they made themselves harder still.

Balls to the wall, we are the scariest, nastiest motherfuckers you will ever meet and you have better leg it before I chop your legs off and sink my teeth into your throat.

(Which is not to say that Kiri is necessarily nice or soft or home to a lot of sane ninja. Ninja as a general bunch are pretty insane people and Kiri was hard, to begin with, and got harder as they made deals with ice spirits and sea spirits and got even harder as a Village but it's not the outright let's throw together a bunch of scary tropes without rhyme or reason because they look cool bs I got from the canon)

@shetanshadowwolf: Kiri is not soft

Me: Not at all.

They are pretty much feral whenever someone Not One Of Us is around and they are hard as hell but tight-knit too when it's Just Us.

At least until Madara came around and screw them up and over and fucked with the Clans by destroying them and basically did everything he could to stoke them into becoming the hell pit every outsider thought they were, pushing them into being what Obito had grown up hearing about.

@shetanshadowwolf: On the scale of "we are our element/affinity" sand and kiri are some the baddest bitches, per se

Sand with its puppetry and poisons and the desert WILL devour you

And Kiri with its mist and feralness

Me: And, I would argue, water as well.

Zabuza did a few water attacks on top of the swordsmanship as did Hoshigaki Kisame.

So Sand is puppetry and poisons and the desert WILL devour you and Kiri is mist and feralness and swordsmanship and the sea WILL swallow you up

@shetanshadowwolf: Yes. Desert dehydration and water's all-powerful consumption

Two different sides of a brutal coin

Me: And since Suna is considered one of the weaker villages, big enough to be one of the 'Big Powers' but also inferior to Konoha / Iwa / Kumo I would say that Suna, like Kiri, was a village founded in direct reaction to the Big Three founding themselves.

Desert is not welcoming, like Kiri it's an isolated kind of living and I could see their Clans initially being nomadic, except that with those encroaching powers (especially highly militaristic Iwa at the north with two unnamed regions between them on the left side of the map that do not seem to have enough importance to be labelled or have a village that could be crossed by the Iwa people to spill over Suna) they also felt they should pull together and form their own village.

Consolidate their territory, make sure they can support each other and defend themselves in the face of outsiders and probably under pressure from their own Daimyo, since we know that there is a Daimyo of Wind that was turning his back on Suna and outsourcing missions to Konoha in Naruto's time.

What politician would want to be the one of the Four Great Lands (Five once Kiri declared itself a sovereign territory of their own) without its own standing militia? Especially with an aggressively militarized neighbour at the North and someone in the East who can not only capture and hand out Bijus but has also managed to entice both of the all-seeing eyes clans and has the sealing masters on their side.

#Jhae's original material #words words words #9th April 2020 #Naruto meta #Naruto #Kirigakure meta #Sunagakure meta #my meta #world building meta #long post #long post without a cut #hello new tags

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365daysofsasuhina · 5 years

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[ 365 Days of SasuHina || Day Two Hundred Ninety-Eight: Ready for Anything ] [ Uchiha Sasuke, Hyūga Hinata, Uchiha Shisui, Uchiha Madara ] [ SasuHina ] [ Verse: Of Monsters and Men ] [ AO3 Link ]

Come the next night, Sasuke is the most anxious he’s ever been

Hinata, the descendent of the old miko lines - those tied to magic and witchcraft - is still sleeping in the bed tucked in the corner of her makeshift room. He’s honestly surprised she’s slept this long, but maybe the stress tuckered her out more than either of them assumed. And for now, she’s stuck here, awaiting the judgement of the vampiric Senator and Uchiha coven leader, Madara.

...how did it come to this...one little encounter has changed both of their lives irrevocably. And Sasuke still isn’t sure if that’s a good thing. One minute he was saving a human’s life...the next he realized she was a rare, thought-extinct breed of being neither human nor monster: a witch. The following months saw him keeping tabs on her, studying her, and...getting to know her. In time she ended up saving his life in turn, and from there...things got complicated.

Now his boss - arguably one of the most powerful people in Japan, and possibly the globe - has shown an interest in her and her powers: the ability to subdue and control their kinds. Sasuke tried to be careful, tried to keep her from Madara’s clutches...and yet, here they are. All he can do is hope he doesn’t have her killed as a potential threat...but using her as a weapon might be a crueler fate.

...but Sasuke, his brother, and his cousin have been plotting in the background for years. If push comes to shove...then maybe…

...for now, however, he tries to exert some kind of self control. He doubts Madara will actually kill her...surely he’s not that stupid. She’s surely nowhere near a threat to someone as old and experienced as the Senator. But on the other hand...he may find her useful.

And as they all know...being employed under Madara can be...well, unpleasant.

But at least she would be alive, and it will buy them some time. They’ve been patient this long, he can wait it out a little longer.

A knock eventually sounds, and Sasuke glances up from his perch along the side of Hinata’s bed: exactly where she left him in order to be able to sleep. Shisui peeks in, and offers, “...he’s almost ready to lay out a plan for her. Might want to wake her up and get her rolling.”

The younger Uchiha just nods curtly.

It's now or never.

A hand gently jostles her shoulder. “...oi, wake up.”

“Mm…” For a moment she seems to forget where she is, and why...but her sudden tensing reveals when she really wakes up. “...right.”

There’s no change of clothes for her, her outfit rather wrinkled after sleeping in it. It’ll have to do. As old as he is, Madara isn’t always the most patient. Sasuke adjusts her as best he can, offering, “Well...I guess if you live through this, maybe I can buy you breakfast.”

Recognizing his flat humor as a way to cope, Hinata just gives a flicker of a smile. “...guess we’ll f-find out.”

Out of the room they go, following Shisui back to the Senator’s office where they all met the night before.

“Itachi’s already in there - been so for hours, trying to get things as...simple as possible,” Shisui murmurs as they go. “He looks exhausted, but confident.”

“...we’ve always got our backup plan.”

“True...but it’s a last resort for a reason.”

“It’s going to happen someday, one way or another.”

“...just don’t let your feelings get in the way of what needs to be done, and when. Patience is key, Sasuke. Remember that.”

He only grunts in reply as they reach the door. One can never be too careful when dealing with one as sly and as cunning as their coven leader. After a knock and permission granted, they step into the room.

“I hope you slept well, Hyūga-san,” Madara offers as a greeting.

“...well enough,” she replies mildly.

“I suppose, all things considered, that’s quite a feat.” He leans back in his chair with a wolfish grin. “Now...as much as politics may be wordplay and speech padding, I’m in no such mood this morning. I will get straight to the point.

“The miko and their descendents - though bearing the same powers as those in other countries where Nightwalker wars were far bloodier - have rarely, if ever, been direct enemies of ours. Needless to say, our pasts are far more peaceful than many in the west, where witches were pitted against us before being turned on by their supposed allies. Miko were the bridge between men and what were thought to be gods and spirits. So...I cannot say for certain that you are in any way a threat...but the possibility is one I cannot completely ignore. That said...I have no intention to kill you. That, I feel, would be a waste.”

Though a partial relief washes over Sasuke at the declaration, the rest of Madara’s words are foreboding.

“Nor do I have any personal dealings with you, Hyūga-san. You owe me no debts, unless you count the courtesy of me letting you live.”

That gets the youngest vampire to grit his teeth, unable to help a hint of a snarl.

Madara, however, only looks mildly amused. “...so, I cannot claim any hold over you. Debt is our most potent currency...and you owe me none of it. But in the same breath...to simply let you walk free seems like such a squandering of an opportunity. Your powers are unique, and certainly rare. We have few reports of witches...and to let one slip through my fingers so easily seems...foolish. Therefore, I wish to make you an offer, Hyūga-san.”

Hinata stiffens. “An...an offer?”

“As you are so inexperienced and fragile, I cannot employ you as an Enforcer, as your friend Sasuke, his brother, and his cousin are. It takes many years of strict training to become one of the highest tier, and that’s for a Nightwalker like we vampires. So, instead...I offer you a...partial position. Should I come to have someone under my roof that needs a little...persuasion, I would ask that you lend me your powers to help get unruly guests to follow orders and give me what I want. I have a T and I team, of course...but your methods may, in some cases, prove more useful and efficient than other such means to an end.”

The miko hesitates. “But...but I have no training in my powers, and...you said it yourself: we are rare. Is there someone who can...t-teach me?”

“I believe we may have ways to work around that. And Itachi has a possible lead on another of your kind. A new friend of an...associate of ours. We shall see how things pan out. But given your use of your powers against Sasuke - as...unprepared as he was - shows that you have great promise. You need only to be trained to harness it fully. We can help you do so.”

“...I never wanted these powers...what reason do I have to agree?”

Madara’s lips lift. “...I believe you can guess. I am not a petty man, Hyūga-san. But I have been known to have a temper...and insatiable pride. That, I will assume, is answer enough.”

You bastard, backing her into a corner…!

“I will give you time to mull it over. And in the interim, you can hardly be kept here without someone noticing your absence. Therefore, I will allow you to return to your human lifestyle...but I expect an answer within a week. Any longer, and my saint-like patience may fray, Hyūga-san.”

“...I-I understand.”

“Brilliant. Sasuke will escort you home, and help you think of an alibi. And he shall serve as our contact to collect your response.” Madara gives a smile that makes her skin crawl. “I do hope you have a pleasant rest of your evening, Hyūga-san.”

She manages a shaky sigh before Sasuke leads her from the room, not speaking until they reach one of the coven’s fleet-like cars and pull from the building. She feels...oddly empty.

“...I don’t actually h-have any choice...do I?”

“...not really, no,” Sasuke replies, tone curt...but not at her. “I should have figured he’d give you no way out.”

“Would it...would it really be that bad?”

“...I don’t know. I have no idea what sort of training he has in mind. You’d have to be ready for anything. But at least it sounds like he’s not stupid enough to make you an Enforcer...no offense, but I’m not sure that would work.”

“None taken.”

“...he basically wants you as a tool to use when it’s convenient. Some kind of...leash to put Nightwalkers on when he needs it. Use your ability to control our kind to get what he wants. As if he doesn’t already resort to torture…”

That makes Hinata flinch. “Would...would there be any risk?”

“...I don’t know. He’d surely have you protected if he’s going to invest in you. The training might be. I can’t really be sure. But if he wants something from you...unless you prove too ‘expensive’, I doubt he’d take that chance. And it may not be all that often. Maybe some kind of...last resort.”

Hinata takes that quietly, remaining so until they reach her dorm. Sasuke powers down the engine, and they sit in the lot for quite some time.

“...I’m sorry, Hinata.”

“Don’t be. All things considered...I think the rest has been worth it. All of this aside...I’m still happy to have met you.” She turns to give him a soft smile. “...ask Madara, if you can, for more details about my training. If...if you think I can handle it, then...I’ll do it. Though...it’s not like I have much choice, do I?”

“...not really, no. But I’ll ask him.”

The pair lapse into another silence

“...thank you for doing so much to protect me. I guess it just...c-couldn’t last forever. But I think...I think this will be okay. Something in my gut just...tells me.”

“...well, if it isn’t...you know what I’m willing to do instead.”

She gives him a somber-eyed look. “...I don’t want you taking that risk for me.”

“It’s one I’ve wanted for a long time, now. Now...I just want it all the more. Don’t worry about me...I’m tougher than I look.”

Hinata manages a small smile. “...I better get inside. I have an idea for a cover story, so...I should be fine.”

“You sure?”

“Mhm...I’ll text -” She cuts off. “...oh, I guess my phone is gone…”

“I found it. It’s a little banged up, but still works.” Sasuke draws the mobile from his pocket, handing it over. “It’s how I figured out what had happened.”

“Oh...thank you.” She buffs at the cracked screen with a sleeve. “Well...I’ll see about getting it replaced. But it looks like it should work for now.” Another pause. “...well...I’ll talk to you later. Try to get some rest, o-okay?”

“I can’t make any promises, but...yeah, I’ll try.”

Eyes flickering over his face, Hinata then leans across the vehicle console, pressing lips gently to his brow. “...it’s going to be o-okay, Sasuke. I know it.”

Shocked for a moment, he nods, watching her get out of the car and not leaving until he sees her safely inside. Even then he lingers a long while before heading out of the lot and just...driving.

So much to consider...and so little time. His mind feels like a mess of tangled wires, having no idea where to start. By some miracle, he ends up at his apartment building, heading up and crashing atop his bed. It’s far too early for someone nocturnal to sleep, but...he promised he’d rest.

And for now...that’s all he can do. He has to be ready. For anything.

.oOo.

(This is a sequel to days 35, 44, 52, 80, 82, 105, 115, 133, 159, 162, 188, 193, and 289!) More Nightwalkers crossover! Well, we officially know that Hinata's not about to be offed for being a wee witchy woman, but...well, there's no yet telling what sort of struggles she'll have to face with this new arrangement with Madara. Sasuke seems ready to try something desperate, but Shisui isn't so sure now is the time. What will happen next? We'll just have to find out! For now though, it's very late and I'm tired xD So that'll be all for tonight - thanks for reading!

#sasuhina #uchiha sasuke #hyūga hinata #uchiha shisui #uchiha madara #of monsters and men [ au ]#365daysofsasuhina

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a-damson-in-distress · 5 years

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The Protégé 2

Pairing: MadaSaku

Plot: In search of a new cellist for his prestigious orchestra, an infamously feared maestro stumbles upon a young rising star.

Note: Some of my favourite composers are mentioned in this chapter, if you’re into modern classics, you should definitely check them out. Hint: Maybe take a closer look at Bergersen’s pieces, he may or may not pop up again sometime down the road, as a pretty central plot device, if I might add. Also, I am a MASSIVE Lord of the Rings fan, and I would literally kiss the ground Howard Shore’s feet walk upon, so naturally, I had to mention him as well. The White Tree is a piece he composed for Return of the King, and you can hear it while Pippin was trying to light the beacons of Minas Tirith. If you want to check it out, here’s a video. The really good part begins at 1:25. Enjoy.

Madara usually closed his eyes during auditions – not that this was one, at least not one she was aware of. He felt he could concentrate on the music better this way, listening to every subtle sound and picking up even the tiniest tremble. But he couldn’t help but watch her perform. The way she swayed with the music, as if almost allowing herself to be lifted out of her seat by the melody and carried away into that fantastic world she seemed to conjure up in her head whenever she played. The way her brows furrowed in thorough concentration, intense agony, and passionate ecstasy. The way her head would sway and bob and jerk, freeing tendrils of her striking pink hair from the confines of her strict, tight, and predictable chignon.

That’s what this entire concert was so far – predictable. Classic. Safe. Tsunade Senju was one of Japan’s most renowned conductors and her tour so far has been met with nothing but praise, and even though Madara had to admit that there were a handful of her orchestra’s musicians who seemed to possess something akin to talent, or at least satisfactory control over their instrument, he was bored. The only person worthy of his attention was her principal cellist.

Sakura Haruno was a child prodigy. Madara had been following her unprecedented, albeit short career for a while now, even toying with the idea of signing her on. Yet his orchestra had been in no need of a new cellist for a very long time, primarily because his principal cellist was a damn good musician himself, and Madara knew kicking him out simply because he wanted Ms Haruno, without him ever having done anything wrong, would not go well with his Music Director. Until he found out the tutoring sessions of Mr Nara had nothing to do with him improving his fellow cellist’s sforzando, but everything to do with him sticking his hands down her pants.

Which resulted in a vacant cellist spot in his orchestra and Madara flying to Sapporo to see Sakura play. Despite her outstanding performance, Tsunade’s safe and predictable pieces were smothering her true talent, and – having already suspected a boring programme – he had asked the conductor in advance to give her principal cellist an experimental solo piece.

Madara expected many things, one of Zoltán Kodály’s works perhaps, or a Gaspar Cassadó, maybe something with a hint of Jazz. What he absolutely did not expect, however, was Sakura Haruno plucking, bowing, and playing her instrument, the audience, and herself into a state of musical ecstasy with a cello rendition of AC/DC’s Thunderstruck.

He had watched countless breathtaking performances in his nearly twenty-year long career, conducted even more – but Madara honestly had to admit he had never once gotten goose bumps before. And yet four minutes of this delicate pink-haired fairy nearly massacring her cello was more than enough to regret every single second of not having her in his orchestra.

So he did the only logical thing and stole her.

“You know, my Music Director considers this stealing.”

Madara raised an eyebrow. Of course, he does.

“So do many others here at Kyoto Concert Hall. They all think you’re stealing from us.”

He couldn’t supress a smirk. Of course, they do, because of course he was. Though he would never call it stealing. Strategic relocation sounded much more like his modus operandi.

His widening grin only made Tsunade’s nostrils flare even more.

“You should consider yourself lucky that I have nothing left to teach her, otherwise I would fight you tooth and nail for that young lady.”

Madara lowered his amused gaze to the index finger threateningly pointed at his chest, before meeting Tsunade’s eyes. “My my, I think I should consider myself lucky to have witnessed the moment Tsunade Senju admits that I’m a better conductor than her.”

“That is not what I said, you daft bastard!”

If looks could kill, Madara would have probably died of spontaneous combustion right this second.

The raven-haired conductor resisted the urge to roll his eyes and levelled Tsunade with a deadpan expression. “There’s no need to go over this again. We’ve discussed all the details and necessary arrangements. She will be part of my orchestra, and there is nothing you can do about it. You said it yourself, she’s learned everything she can from you and now it’s time to move on to bigger and better things. I will be good for her.”

He watched her narrow her eyes in suspicion. Tsunade took another step to bridge the distance between them until she was so close her chest was almost touching his torso. Madara forced himself to supress the groan of annoyance threatening to escape his throat. He had always hated, and at the same time respected Tsunade’s in-your-face attitude.

The blonde conductor scrutinised him for another moment, before hissing, “But will you also be good to her?”

A careful knock on the door suddenly dissipated the tension in Tsunade’s office, and she turned towards the sound. She grabbed the handle of the door and opened it wider to allow the person in.

“Ms Haruno, come in.”

Madara watched the object of his musical desire hesitantly step into the office before Tsunade grabbed a hold of her shoulders and practically forced her inside. She leaned her cello case against the wall and nervously played with her hair. She seemed so skittish that, for a moment, Madara feared Tsunade had already told her that he was here today because of her.

“Ms Haruno, there’s somebody I would like you to meet.”

The raven-haired conductor could no longer keep still and raised his voice, “It is a pleasure to meet you, Ms Haruno.”

And then she turned around and fixed her wide doe-like eyes on him and a tiny, barely audible gasp escaped her lips. Her jade orbs widened in admiration, and Madara knew in that instant he had her.

“I’m Madara Uchiha.”

Hook, line, and sinker.

He allowed himself another moment to bask in her reverence so clearly mirrored in her expressive eyes, before offering his hand.

She blinked a few times, as if to shake herself out of her trance and her gaze jumped back and forth between his hand and his face. When she finally seemed to realise who was standing in front of her, she gingerly shook his hand and whispered, “It’s such an honour to meet you, Mr Uchiha. I’m – “

“Sakura Haruno, I know,” he interrupted while enjoying the feel of her warm tiny hand in his.

She abruptly let go and looked at him in wonder before stammering, “You – wait, how do… You know me?”

How adorable, Madara thought. She was a world-famous musician herself, rubbing elbows with international A-listers of the classical music scene, and yet she couldn’t wrap her pretty little head around the thought of a fellow countryman knowing her name.

He was just about to open his mouth to speak when he heard Tsunade sigh behind her.

“There’s no point in beating about the bush, Ms Haruno, so I’m just going to come out and say it. Mr Uchiha is looking for a new principal cellist in his orchestra and he has approached me with the idea of signing you on.”

Sakura’s gaze swept back and forth between her current maestro and the raven-haired man next to her, her lips opening and forming a bewildered little o. Both conductors looked at her expectantly and gave her a few seconds to process the information. After a few moments of silence, where Sakura vacantly looked at her cello case, deep in thought and seemingly boring holes into it, Madara fixed his questioning gaze on Tsunade. Sensing her hesitance, he took it upon himself to break the silence.

“Ms Haruno, this is the point where you say something,” he gently coaxed her.

Her head whipped to the right, surprised eyes meeting his expectant ones, like a deer caught in the headlights. Sakura closed her mouth, licked her lips, and shook her head as if to force herself to concentrate. Tugging a strand of hair behind her ear, she cleared her throat before turning to Tsunade and raising her voice.

“Is that why you gave me the solo in Sapporo? You’ve never given me one before, I thought it was strange.” Sakura’s head slowly turned to face him again, and she shyly peeked up at him through her eyelashes. “It was an audition. You were there, weren’t you?” she murmured.

Madara immediately recognised the look on her face. She wanted to know how she did.

“I wouldn’t call it an audition, really. Not when I decided to sign you on weeks ago. It was more of a formality.” The way her blush spread across her cheeks and her lips spread into a tiny, proud grin and her eyes sparkled with gratification told him that was exactly what she wanted to hear.

Their moment was interrupted when Madara heard Tsunade pointedly clear her throat.

“I know this might be sudden for you, Ms Haruno. But rest assured, you have a month to think about the offer. After all, we still have two concerts to play in the upcoming weeks and by the end of March, we will be done with our tour, which will also be the same time your contract with our orchestra will run out. If, by then, you choose to extend your contract with us, you’ll stay here, no questions asked.” Tsunade fixed her principal cellist with a determined gaze, no doubt silently imploring her to remain in Kyoto, Madara mused. She then let her annoyed eyes rest on him, staring daggers in his direction while hissing, “Should you chose to accept Mr Uchiha’s offer instead, we will do everything in our power to help you transition to Tokyo as smoothly as possible.”

The two conductors waged a silent war with their challenging and determined gazes, each trying to stare down the other, when they were suddenly interrupted by Sakura’s hesitant whisper.

“I don’t know what to say.”

Madara’s eyes landed on the young cellist in front of him and his expression immediately softened when he found her nervously chewing on her bottom lip, brows deeply furrowed in confusion. Her uncertain gaze swept back and forth between the two conductors as she spoke, “This such a huge offer, and thank you, by the way, Mr Uchiha, really. This is just… You have – I can’t even begin to describe how much this means to me. But at the same time,” her eyes landed on Tsunade, “my roots are in Kyoto, this is where I started my career and learned so much, and I really feel tied to this place, as well.” Sakura lowered her gaze and started pulling on the ends of her west, before letting out a long sigh. “This is a really life-changing opportunity for me. So I hope neither of you expected an immediate answer. I think I’m really going to need that month to think things through, if you don’t mind.”

Both conductors let their shoulders slump, releasing some of the tension they were feeling waiting for the cellist’s reaction. They both exchanged a knowing look before Tsunade stepped closer to the pinkette and gave her shoulders are reassuring squeeze. “Of course, Ms Haruno. Neither of us want to pressure you with this, so take your time. We both want you to be absolutely certain with this decision and we both want you to feel comfortable in whatever orchestra you choose.”

Sakura gave her current maestro a thankful smile. Tsunade released her shoulders and stepped in front of her, crossing her arms in front of her chest and pointed out, “Just keep in mind that I still expect you to bring your A-game for the last two concerts, so don’t allow your daydreaming about Mr Uchiha’s offer to tarnish your performance.” Another blush tainted Sakura’s cheeks. “Of course, Maestro.”

“I’ll send a copy of your contract to Mrs Senju, and she’ll forward it to you. You can take your time to read through it and get a feel for the things that I will require from you, rehearsal schedules, planned tour dates, a list of my rules, that sort of thing. I’m sure it’s not much different to the contract you signed with Kyoto Concert Hall, but I am known to be somewhat stricter than other conductors, so I want you to know exactly what you should expect before you make your decision.” Madara stared into her jade green eyes and expected to see uncertainty, maybe even a touch of apprehension. But he was again met with awe and reverence, as if she couldn’t believe he deemed her worthy enough to even cast a glance in her general direction. His entire orchestra and virtually every musician he had ever met stared at him the same way, so Madara was long since used to the awe-inspired looks and couldn’t care less about them.

But something about the way this young cellist peeked up at him, as if he were something out of every musician’s dream, a god among conductors, and the walking talking embodiment of musical perfection all wrapped in one with a ribbon on it gave Madara a massive, albeit unnecessary, ego boost. He realised then that Ms Haruno was the only person whose obvious adoration did not annoy him. He found himself enjoying it. Which was why the need to have her grew even stronger.

The raven-haired maestro swallowed the lump of unexpected excitement in his throat and gave Sakura a subtle, encouraging smile. “Give it your best for the last two concerts. And I promise I won’t be secretly attending anymore, so you don’t have to be nervous or anything. Take your time to think about everything, and once you’ve made up your mind, Mrs Senju will give you my email address and you can let me know directly. But you must be absolutely certain about this. I tend to be very possessive of my musicians, and I would have a hard time letting you go,” he drawled vaguely.

Madara didn’t think it was possible, but her blush deepened even more. Before allowing himself to keep teasing the cellist and to fall further down the rabbit hole, he forced himself to end the conversation and extend his hand, which she hesitantly took.

“Ms Haruno,” he murmured, his gaze lowering to her lips for the briefest moment before meeting her wide eyes again. He gave her one last long tempting look before letting go of her hand, nodding goodbye to Tsunade, and sauntering out of the office.

Sakura was on edge. They were currently in Osaka for the last concert of their tour, and even though Mr Uchiha promised not to attend and she believed him, she still felt incredibly nervous. Not so much because of the performance per se, she knew how well-prepared they all were and that the concert was going to be a success. She was nervous, because the one-month waiting time was almost over, and both Mr Uchiha and her maestro were going to expect an answer soon.

While the two violas she shared a hotel room with were busy in the bathroom putting on their makeup, Sakura was lying on her bed with her laptop in front of her, staring at the contract she got from her conductor for what felt like the millionth time.

Mr Uchiha had been right, it wasn’t all that different to her current contract. Though the rehearsal schedules were a bit more tightly packed than she was used to and the planned upcoming tour would take them to farther away places, her employment with the Tokyo New National Theatre essentially included the same responsibilities and requirements as her current work for Kyoto Concert Hall.

One aspect of Mr Uchiha’s offer that was incredibly appealing to her was the repertoire. The pieces he performed with his orchestra were completely different to what she had been playing so far under Maestro Senju’s lead. Though his programme did include the most important classical composers and his orchestra did occasionally play some of the most well-known and most popular pieces, he was more famous for his penchant for conducting modern classics. She had almost spat out her tea when she first read the names Brian Tyler, Thomas Bergersen, and Howard Shore. The thought of being on the same stage as Madara Uchiha and performing Howard Shore’s The White Tree made her insides tingle with excitement.

And the repertoire was almost enough to maker her agree. Were it not for his incredibly precise and incredibly strict list of incredibly precise and incredibly strict rules. While Sakura was used to high expectations and rigorous leadership form her time with Maestro Senju’s orchestra, nothing came even remotely close to Mr Uchiha’s demands.

As stated under section 1. Rights Granted and Territory and section 3. Delivery, the Musician is obliged to abide by the following set of rules set out below.

The Musician:

1. Acknowledges his/her role and responsibility as a person of public interest and shall henceforth be mindful of his/her public image and the way it reflects on the Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra. A respectable demeanour is expected at all times and measures shall be taken to avoid embodying unwanted characteristics, including but not limited to:

o Tardiness

o Discourteousness

o Vulgarity

o Promiscuity

o Intoxication

o Arrogance

2. Agrees to take meticulous care of his/her appearance, especially during concerts and other public engagements when representing the orchestra. The Musician shall wear whatever concert outfit the Conductor deems appropriate during concerts as well as appropriate formal clothing for other public appearances in accordance with either the Conductor or the orchestra’s publicist. In private, the Musician is free to dress however he/she chooses, with the following restrictions and requirements:

o No cleavage

o No skirts and dresses shorter than three (3) centimetres above the knee

o No shorts shorter than five (5) centimetres above the knee

o No torn clothing, pants or otherwise

o No visible underwear and/or bras

o No transparent clothing

o No clothing with provocative and/or controversial statements, logos, or pictures

o No exaggerated make-up, including but not limited to bright lipstick, bright eyeshadow, and bright blush

o No facial piercings

o No greasy and/or unkempt hair

3. Shall limit displays of affection when out in public with his/her significant other and keep them to a respectable minimum. Short kisses and pecks on the cheek as well as short hugs and holding hands are within the scope of acceptability. Prolonged physical contact as well inappropriate and/or intimate touching and gestures are not allowed.

4. Retains the right to keep his/her own social media profiles active if desired but transfers the management of said profiles to the orchestra’s publicist. The Musician shall refrain from posting any content online without the explicit approval of the publicist.

5. Shall refrain from pursuing any sort of intimate relationship, sexual or otherwise, with any active member of the Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra, including but not limited to the musicians, the tutors, the PR team, and the Conductor.

And that was only the first page. The list went on for another two pages, full of uncompromising rules dedicated to upholding the good name of the Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra while at the same time restricting its musicians freedom in many aspects. Sakura knew that especially in Japan’s classical music scene, image, reputation, and appearance were the non plus ultra, probably even more important than for other orchestras from different countries. And she was even used to a certain level of stuck-up and pernickety snootiness. Yet, Mr Uchiha’s supercilious demands blew all of that out of the water. Sakura wasn’t sure if she was ready to agree to some contract that would stipulate what sort of skirt she was allowed to wear (not that she wore promiscuous clothing, but this was a matter of principle) or for some publicist to tell her what she was and wasn’t allowed to say on the internet.

But every time she thought about whether or not she would be able to tolerate these restrictions, her mind went back to her first meeting with Mr Uchiha and the way he looked at her so intently, and all her inhibitions flew right out of the window. He admitted that he had decided to sign her on weeks before that, he said Sakura didn’t even need an audition. When the conductor had praised her and subtly told her how well she performed in Sapporo, the young cellist felt a rush of euphoria surge through her body the force of which she had never felt before when Maestro Senju would compliment her on her performance.

After weeks of poring over the contract and weighing the pros and cons of submitting herself to Mr Uchiha’s strict rules, it seemed to Sakura that in the end, her excitement over the possibility of working under the ingenious conductor always outweighed any inhibitions or hesitance.

Hearing a loud noise from the bathroom, Sakura was torn from her thoughts and lifted her gaze from her laptop to the two violas emerging from behind the door. “Sakura, come on, we’re supposed to be at the concert hall in half an hour. You need to get ready.”

She gave the contract one last thoughtful look before closing her laptop and climbing down from her bed. Stepping in front of the bathroom mirror, the cellist gave her appearance a scrutinising look, before grabbing her make-up pouch. This was the last concert of Tsunade Senju’s tour, and the conductor always liked to go out with a bang. So Sakura was going to look extra made-up tonight.

The girls grabbed their cases and left for the concert hall.

When Sakura entered the stage amidst roaring applause, she could feel the familiar rush of excitement run through her veins. The cellist took a seat, prepared herself, and played her heart out.

After Madara returned to his office from his meeting with his Music Director to discuss details for his orchestra’s upcoming tour, he wanted nothing more than to pour himself two fingers of his favourite Scotch, lay a bag of frozen peas on his neck, and proceed to throw the damn bastard of a Director out of his window. He did the first two but refrained from doing the latter. The supercilious oaf was the one signing his paycheck, after all. His Music Director was giving him hell on the best of days, but ever since they were short one principal cellist, Madara swore his ability to annoy him grew to exorbitant heights.

One glance at his watch had the conductor groan in defeat. 1:14 am. Even though he still had a mountain of work to do, he decided he wasn’t going to stay in his office any longer, not for all the tea in China.

Just as he was about to grab his coat, his laptop pinged with the notification of a new email.

“What the everloving fuck now?” he growled, stalking back to his desk and staring daggers at the too-bright screen.

His eyes widened a fraction when he read the name of the sender. Throwing his coat over his chair, the raven-haired conductor took a seat and opened the email.

Dear Mr Uchiha,

I would like to once again express my sincerest gratitude to you for considering me for the position of principal cellist in your orchestra. Again, I cannot put into words what an honour your offer is and how deeply I appreciate it. Therefore, after careful consideration, I have decided to accept your offer of joining the Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra.

I look forward to working under you.

Yours sincerely,

Sakura Haruno

PS: What do I do next?

All the tension and anger suddenly dissipated from Madara’s body, and he could even feel his lips spread into a victorious grin. Sighing contentedly, he leaned back in his chair and crossed his hands behind his head. As he skimmed through Ms Haruno’s email again, he couldn’t help but chuckle at her post scriptum. For some inexplicable reason, Madara found himself enjoying the way she was already looking to him for guidance, asking him what to do.

He was going to have way too much fun with her, the maestro thought with a wicked grin dangling from his lips.

Cracking his knuckles, Madara leaned forward again and started typing.

#naruto #naruto fanfiction #madasaku #madasaku fanfic #madara uchiha #madara uchiha fanfic #Sakura Haruno #sakura haruno fanfic

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ariannjs · 5 years

Text

HAPPY | A SasuSaku Short FanFic (1/4)

For Day 4 (City Lights) of SasuSaku Month 2019 - @sasuxsakumonth

This fic was inspired by the Filipino celebrity pair/loveteam called “AlDub” (based from their screen names: Alden & Yaya Dub) or “MaiChard” (their real names: Maine Mendoza & Richard Faulkerson, Jr.). The plot and content have nothing to do with the said actors, but I based the idea for this fic from the themes of Maine’s two most controversial blog posts.

Rating: K+

Summary: The truth was loud and clear, that the combination of pink and green wasn’t meant to be with black and blue – both professionally and realistically.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto and AlDub.

Warning: Get some tissues.

Enjoy reading!

...or not.

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[sakuraharunotes.com/official-blogs]

Hey, Blossoms! It’s been a while! I know I haven’t touched this blog since my open letter half a year ago, but I have important things to share with you – finally – as you read this.

First, I want to thank everyone who has been tweeting me or commenting on my posts to ask about how I am doing every now and then. I may not be able to reply but I’m really grateful to know that there are still some of you guys who care so much about me (despite the amount of fans-turned-to-bashers that came out since the last time I opened up through this blog).

To answer your queries – I’ve been very fine, really.

I’ve been a lot happier.

I’ve been a lot me.

It took some time, but when I posted that open letter about me feeling like I was losing myself within the whirlwind that is show business – because of all the overwhelming requests (demands) of our loveteam’s fandom – it helped me to be more genuine with myself.

For once, I’m living and working as I should, not as I’m told. And I’m doing things as Sakura, not as any other role.

So yes, I’ve been very fine even though you guys haven’t seen me much on social media. And I’ll always be grateful for all of you who have stayed, respecting me and caring for me as a person, and not just as a celebrity that you often see onscreen.

Second, I know there had been lots of speculations about this but I never answered yet because I know that there would be another uproar that could cause unnecessary hate to a special person in my life.

That’s what I want to avoid, honestly. I’ve already received tons of hate after I voiced out my thoughts through my open letter that eventually led to the needed separation of my former loveteam. And having a special person receiving hate as well – just because people prefer someone else as the one I should love – is something that I wouldn’t tolerate anymore.

But yes, I want the truth to come from me: I’m officially confirming that I’m happily dating Sasori Akasuna.

Since when? I’m not gonna tell.

How? I don’t think I’m required to divulge that.

Why? Wait a sec—are you kidding me? Cos my answer to that is: Why not?

Although I am deeply flattered with your love for me and my leading man for four years, I have already mentioned in my open letter that Sasuke and I are only friends and workmates in the industry. Up until now. And just because you’re supporting our loveteam, and you’re paying for our movies, or you’re managing fan accounts for us, doesn’t mean that you could dictate us about the matters of our hearts.

Even though we love you, we have our personal lives and individual decisions that need some respect too. After all, whatever you see onscreen doesn’t necessarily reflect our real lives.

So really, to ask me why I’m dating Sasori is as if you’re asking me why I’m making decisions for my own life.

To give you some sort of peace, Sasori makes me incredibly happy in ways I have never imagined. He cares for me even better than I care for myself. And my family adores him, probably even more than they adore me! Haha.

What I want to say is that (for my true supporters), you guys don’t have to worry if I have chosen the wrong guy. And (for my former supporters), I understand that there are things (or a person) that you think is the best for me but honestly, at the end of the day, the decision is still mine.

And now that the truth is out in the open, I truly can’t wait for everything else that is in store for us throughout this year. But what I can assure you all is this: I’m feeling a lot better than I’ve ever been since I’ve entered showbiz, and one of the reasons that contributed to this is my newly found freedom to finally be true to myself without being afraid of what people would say.

I hope all my fans would respect this.

So thank you, really. For sticking around. It really means a lot to me that you’re supporting not just the Sakura or other roles of me that you see onscreen, but also the real Sakura behind the scenes.

All the things that you’ve done for us as SasuSaku will always be a part of my sweetest memories. But I hope you would continue to support me, and Sasuke, despite going our separate endeavours as artists. I am pretty sure that he’s meant for greater things, even without me as his leading lady. And I can’t wait to see that from afar.

Til next time, Blossoms! Continue blooming where you’re planted!

— Sakura H.

He shut his macbook, albeit with a little more force, as his other hand pinched the bridge of his nose. He remembered reading another post from the same website months ago, and the way he felt after reading it wasn’t like this.

Back then, he felt proud of her. For standing up for herself in a world that tried to manipulate her just because she’s the best leading lady for Sasuke Uchiha, realizing that she has a life of her own and she wasn’t meant to please people even if the fans were basically the ones who made them the most sought-after loveteam of their generation. Amidst the sea of facade, she decided to choose to be real. That personality development that was vivid in her open letter posted six months prior was enough to make him so proud of her.

His head whipped around his bachelor pad, seeing black and blue here and there. His mind traced back to seeing a tinge of pink and green in this same place every once in a while, but as his gaze landed on his macbook once again, it hit him like a tsunami that seeing pink and green here will never happen again.

That’s why the feeling was different now.

The truth was loud and clear, that the combination of pink and green wasn’t meant to be with black and blue – both professionally and realistically.

A week after her open letter, they found themselves seated in front of their main manager, setting a new arrangement for the two of them so as to lessen the uproar of fans’ expectations on the world’s sensational loveteam SasuSaku – as their fans called them – with the projects that they were a part of.

The Music Show that they were hosting alongside another love team – NaruHina – had a drastic adjustment in terms of who would report on the field and in the studio. It wasn’t VJ Sasuke and VJ Sakura together in the studio or on the field anymore. But it was VJ Sasuke in the studio, and VJ Sakura on the field.

They also didn’t have commercials or magazine shoots together anymore, let alone movie projects even after their worldwide blockbuster hit movie entitled “The First,” which was ironically their last.

Although he was discreetly uncomfortable with the idea, considering the fact that this was totally new to their four-year status quo, Sasuke complied and adapted to the changes.

At first, he thought it was just the adjustments that made it difficult. But it suddenly dawned on him when he was offered a project with a new redhead leading lady that it wasn’t just about missing his old routines anymore.

He missed her.

Damn. He totally missed her.

There’s no more continuous chatter from his passenger seat on their way home after shoots.

No more pink strands on his shoulder during long flights.

No more lazy good mornings and good night hugs in their offsite tents.

No more Sakura.

It was on times that Sasuke was very worn out after coming from the gym or a commercial shoot that the reality of this sank further in his mind. Parked in front of his condo one night, he unconsciously glanced at his passenger seat and blinked as a blurred pink suddenly clouded his vision, or so he thought.

He drove her to her place like the usual, but tonight, he wasn’t able to stop himself from staring at her after turning off the engine of his car.

Gladly, she stared back as if it was the most normal thing to do at a time like that, which only urged him to slowly lean in, pausing slightly as if to ask her permission, before capturing her lips with his.

It wasn’t their first kiss. But it was their first without a number of cameras recording every angle of the contact.

And Sasuke liked it. He liked how slow and achingly beautiful the moment was, until they both pulled away, breathless and flushed.

A part of him wished this was how his every night ends and how his every morning starts. But for now, he could only continue to stare at those green pools that never failed to draw him in, whether it’s filmed or not.

As he lifted a hand to tuck a few strands of her hair behind her ear, she then chuckled. “That was one heck of a good practice for our next scene, huh?”

And just like that, he was suddenly out of his daze as if a blue electric current coursed through his veins.

“Thanks for the ride. Goodnight...Zeke.”

The next thing he knew, she was already out the door of his car, leaving him blinking once, twice, as his brain slowly processed what had happened. His hand then collided with the steering wheel. “Damn it!”

What he didn’t realize was that their little moment was quite similar to the one on their recent script.

Groaning, his face fell on his hands. Did she really think he was still on work mode?! He wasn’t being Zeke! He was being Sasuke!

That night, he went home without touching the said script even though he had some lines that he needed to memorize for the next day.

Just thinking about it now, he wished he didn’t become complacent. Heck, when he entered the show business he was already aware of the fact that nothing is constant in it. He had seen how the ones before him and even those that started alongside him didn’t really have careers that remained skyrocketing.

He was only one of the fortunate ones and it all began when an undeniable chemistry was seen between him and Sakura on a TV series that aired five years ago.

While he was still paired up with her, he realized he should’ve made the most out of the time they had. He should’ve told her that his feelings weren’t that of Landon’s, nor Zeke’s, nor Marq’s anymore.

Instead, his feelings were – are – of Sasuke’s.

But like what people always say, regret comes in the end.

And indeed, it came. Like a wildfire.

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(Happy - PART 2)

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This was done weeks ago but I posted it days late for Day 4 because a lot of things had happened lately, hahahuhu. Let me know what you guys think! This is my very first SS angst so I’d love to know your feedback on my writing! <3

Check out my other works here! It you like what I do, kindly consider supporting me on ko-fi or patreon. I’m also saving up for a special post-birthday trip this November so your support would mean a lot to me!♥️

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June 2019 | AriannJS

#SasuSaku #SSM19 #SSM19D4 #SasuSaku angst #Happy Part 1 #ariannjfics #SasuSaku Month 2019

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