#completely ignoring the fact that majority are uchihas | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

sleepysnk · 2 years

Text

a/n: another fluffy chapter! i loved making these because obito is such a sweetheart to me. i hope you all enjoy! 🤍

pairings: obito uchiha x fem!reader

warnings: modern au, fluff, mentions of sneaking out (?), wholesome content

The Beach: Chapter Twelve

Previous Chapter | Next Chapter | Masterlist

1:37 A.M.

Your eyes felt so heavy. You felt like you could honestly fall asleep at any moment, but you forced yourself to keep your eyes open for as long as you could.

God, you were going to regret this tomorrow morning. If only you took the time earlier in the day to study, but you completely forgot because of how exhausted you were from the previous night before.

It wasn’t weird for you to be staying up this late. You had pretty much stayed up all the time like this, and you always did it your freshman year. Sadly, you didn’t make up for that mistake since you’re doing it again now. You had to remind yourself to go and get hit by a bus if you do it again. You shouldn’t be doing it, but you just can’t help yourself.

Konan was already fast asleep in her bed. Her classes are earlier in the morning than yours, and she wasn’t as stressed with her midterms as you were. She was an English major after all.

You really wanted to call it a night, but there was so much information you needed to know before this test. If you didn’t learn it, then you wouldn’t get a good grade in the class. Curse your damn professor for making the test about things you learned early in the semester. It all sucked, and you wanted to skip this time of your life.

The stress of this semester was huge. You didn’t know it’d hit you this hard, but it’s not like you could slack. You only had one B, and you wanted to raise that grade.

You stared blankly at your notes. Each time you blinked, you could feel your eyes slowly closing and wanting to remain shut. You tried to make sure you didn’t pass out, and you would often shake yourself awake, but your body had different plans.

You let your eyelids fall shut. You were drifting slowly towards sleep. It was almost like you were falling, and you couldn’t stop yourself from going to sleep.

Ding!

Your eyes opened instantly, your heart beating quickly inside your chest. The notification from your phone startled you, and you practically almost flew out of your bed. You wondered who was texting you at this hour. Was Konan awake or something? Did she get woken up by you?

Reaching over to your bedside table, you grabbed your phone which was charging. The screen lit up instantly, displaying that only five minutes have gone by. It felt like time was dragging, and things were going by so slowly.

What surprised you the most, though, was the fact that Obito had texted you. You were surprised that he was up late, but you didn’t expect anything less from him. There were times he’d text you in the middle of the night while he played video games, or rambled about basketball. You’d honestly consider him to be a night owl.

Your tired eyes read the message over a few times.

Obito: you up?

You sighed, taking your phone off the charger. You didn’t want to ignore him. There was that chance he had something interesting to say, and you needed to stay awake. Obito was an entertaining person to say the least, and you enjoyed talking to him.

You: yep 😭, i’m up studying

Within seconds, he read the message and he began to text you back.

Obito: damnnn 😭 i was gonna ask you something if you’re up for it

This definitely piqued your interest. You hoped he didn’t want to hook up. You were exhausted, and any kind of sex would leave you sleeping at his place tonight. You hoped he had something good in mind instead of that.

You: okay, spill

For a couple of seconds, the text bubble kept disappearing and coming back. It was like he was backing up his words, or rephrasing the sentence or something. You just wanted to know before you went to sleep.

Obito: i was wondering if you wanted to go and get something to eat? i’m starving right now, and food relieves stress! so if you’re up for it, i can come pick you up

You stared at the message and began thinking about what to say. Would it be a good idea to go out right now?

It was really late, and you had school tomorrow. You might regret it and possibly miss your class, but then again, you hadn’t eaten much all day. The last time you had a good meal was when Obito brought you food a couple days prior. Plus, your stomach was rumbling as you thought about food.

You were tired, so maybe leaving for a bit would help you feel less stressed. You also would get some decent food while you’re at it.

You: sure! let me change really quick

He opened it as soon as you sent the message, and he started typing again.

Obito: cool! i’ll be on my way in a few :)

You clicked your phone off and removed the blankets off your lower half. You figured you’d wear something simple. You probably were going to get something quick, and Obito wasn’t the type to judge you either. He’s seen pretty much every part of you, so it didn’t matter.

You went to your dresser. You looked around the clothes you had. You decided to go with some shorts and a loose shirt. It was pretty warm during the evenings, so you’d rather be comfortable.

You tossed off your sleeping shirt and put on the one you picked out. You also decided to spray on some perfume while you were at it. You usually didn’t do this, but it was something you naturally did throughout the day. Plus, why miss an opportunity to wear perfume? Obito liked it, so why not?

You also decided to text Konan. You knew she wasn’t awake, but you didn’t want to wake her up. She’d probably claw at you like some bear, and you weren’t trying to anger her.

But, you didn’t want a repeat of what happened at the first party. She’d kill you if you did that again.

You took a second to look at yourself in the mirror. You looked like your usual self, but just a bit tired. Obito was probably going to make fun of you, but it was his nature. You’d probably make fun of yourself if you were being honest. Staying up late would make anyone raise an eyebrow.

Hearing your phone vibrate, you grabbed it off of your bedside table. The screen lit up your face, and you saw the text from Obito.

Obito: i’m here!

You shoved your phone in your back pocket. You made sure to turn your lamp off, and to leave the apartment as quiet as possible.

You opened the door to your room as slowly as you could. You poked your head out into the hallway to see if Konan was awake, but you could see that her room was dark and the door was shut. You hoped she wouldn’t wake up and question what you were doing.

You stepped out into the hallway, closing your bedroom door as softly as possible.

It was quiet in the apartment. The only sound that could be heard was the air conditioner blowing cool air around the rooms. You could practically hear a pin drop.

You tiptoed your way towards the front door. You grabbed your apartment key off of the key ring beside the door. You also took the moment to slip into your shoes.

Taking a deep breath, you turned to face the front door. You placed your hand on the cold knob, unlocking the handle. You also reached over to turn the other lock, so the door was now unlocked. You knew this would be somewhat difficult, considering your front door was kind of loud.

You could feel your heart racing, but you had to get out sooner or later. Obito would be waiting, and you didn’t want him thinking that you were ditching him or blowing him off.

You turned the doorknob and began to slowly pull it open. The door let out a squeak as you pulled it closer towards you. You cringed as the noise echoed inside your empty apartment. If that didn’t wake Konan, she’d definitely be able to sleep through the fire alarm.

There was just enough space for you to slip out. You quickly stepped out into the hallway, and pulled the door shut.

You let out a breath of relief. You couldn’t believe you got out that quickly. Next time, you’d have to do this during the day. You weren’t exactly an expert when it came to sneaking out.

You slid the key into the locks of your door. You made sure they were locked before walking away from your apartment. You hoped Obito wouldn’t be upset that you took a while. You’d feel bad if he felt like you didn’t want to hang out with him, or that you were stalling on purpose.

You walked to the exit of your apartment building. You could see Obito sitting in his black car. He looked like he was on his phone. He seemed interested in whatever he was looking at.

You pulled on the door handle which got his attention. You felt the click of the lock, and you pulled the door open.

You got into his car. The smell of his cologne was heavy around it. He must have gotten the same idea you did. There was always something about cologne and perfume that mixed well for you.

“Hey.. you ready to go?” he turned his head to look at you.

You shifted around in the seat to get comfortable. “Yeah! Let’s go,” you pulled the seatbelt from behind you.

Obito put his car into drive and began to drive away from your apartment building.

It was a very quiet and clear night. The air was warm, but it wasn’t very hot. It was comfortable, and you weren’t a sweating mess. There wasn’t a single cloud in the darkened sky, and the moon was in the shape of a crescent; showing that it was waxing at the moment.

With it being late, there weren’t many cars out on the road. It felt like it was just you and Obito out there on your own.

He cleared his throat, breaking the silence between you. “So, how has your studying been going?” he looked at you for a brief moment.

You played with the fabric of your shorts. “It’s been going okay.. I’m just tired all of the time,” you smiled softly at him.

Obito chuckled at your response. He couldn’t believe you took studying that seriously. He wasn’t underestimating you, but not many people your age took studying that serious. He couldn’t judge you though, because he was that kid at one point in his life.

“Well.. maybe this food will wake you up. I know when I eat, all of my energy comes back,” he looked towards the road in front of him.

You looked out the window, staring at the lights as you passed them. “I hope so.. I almost fell asleep when you texted me. If it wasn’t for you, I would have been knocked out right now,” you laughed, shaking your head.

Obito slowed down at the red light. He then turned his head to look at you. You did the same, and you stared at him.

The red glow on his skin made him look attractive. It looked like you two were in a room with those red LED lights Konan has. It was kind of hot, but you couldn’t let those thoughts get to you right now.

“Oh, yeah? You should be thanking me then,” he shrugged his shoulders.

You raised your eyebrow at his response. “Really? I should?” you nodded your head to the side.

He had this cocky look on his features. “Yeah, you should! I helped you stay awake and no drool on your notebooks,” he raised his hand to tap your cheek.

You rolled your eyes playfully. “I guess you have a point..” you crossed your arms over your chest.

Obito laughed through his nose before looking back at the road. He then continued driving, and the two of you sat in a comfortable silence.

As he drove, you wondered where he was taking you. He hadn’t really told you where he wanted to go to eat. You also knew that there weren’t any fast food restaurants around town that were still open, so what place was still open for people? You hoped he wasn’t taking you out for breakfast, because that idea made your stomach queasy.

You leaned your head against the window, looking outside of it again.

You then snapped your head up when you saw Obito turn into a parking lot. You saw him pull into this diner. There were a few cars parked around the lot, and you could faintly see a few people inside.

“A diner?” you said, “That’s where we’re going to eat?”

Obito looked at you as he pulled into the parking spot right outside the door. “Yeah, they have bomb food, so trust me when I tell you that it’s worth it,” he put the car in park.

You took off your seatbelt as Obito turned the car off. The two of you then got out. The warm air wrapping around your skin.

You came beside Obito on the walkway that led into the diner. You trailed behind him, and watched him open the door for you. It was a nice act of kindness, and at least he wasn’t a dick who made you open the door for him. You definitely considered him a gentleman in some ways.

Obito came to your side and nodded his head so you could follow him. He led you down this small walkway where you could sit. He plopped down in a booth beside the window, and you did the same.

You could smell the aroma of burgers and French fries around the diner. Your stomach grumbled, so you knew coming here was a good idea.

A waitress came over to the two of you. She placed two menus in front of you, and took out her notepad. “Hi guys! I’m Candy, could I get you guys started with anything to drink?” she looked between the two of you curiously.

You looked down at the menu. You figured you’d go with something simple. “Um, a Sprite would be great,” you smiled softly.

She wrote down your order, then looked at Obito. He looked up from his menu to respond. “I’ll go with a water,” he flipped his menu to look at the other side.

Candy smiled at the two of you. “Sounds great! I’ll be back with your drinks,” she smiled before walking away from your table.

You looked at Obito then down at your menu. You didn’t know what to get. There was a huge variety of food you could pick from, so you were unsure. Plus, you hadn’t been to this place before, so you didn’t know the food like Obito did.

You saw a variation of burgers, hot dogs, sandwiches, milkshakes, and you even saw a few breakfast items. It was also slightly cheap, which you’d expect from a diner.

You raised your head to look at the environment you were in. There were a couple of people sitting on the stools, or sitting in booths. There was a small jukebox near the far end of the walkway, and a LED sign was hanging near the window to display they were open for 24 hours.

It seemed like a nice and chill place for someone to grab a bite to eat. There weren’t many people, and it was quiet. It wasn’t too much for you.

“Have you decided what you want to eat?”

You snapped your head towards Obito. He had his eyebrows raised, and he was resting his cheek against his palm.

Your eyes flickered towards the menu on the table. “Honestly..” you laughed, “I don’t know what to get,”

He let out a laugh through his nose. He then pointed at the fries section of the menu. “You should get the small loaded fries. They’re small and they are bomb as fuck,” he looked at you as he spoke.

You thought about it for a second. You did have a soft spot for fries. They were practically your favorite food.

“Okay, yeah! I’ll get the fries,” you gave him a smile.

Obito leaned against the seat. He had this soft grin on his face that was kind of cute.

You took in his appearance while you could. He was wearing a white long sleeve shirt. You could faintly see the outline of his muscles through it if you squinted. He also had this bracelet that was wrapped around his wrist.

It was a black one. It was tied around a thread, and it honestly fit him really well. You hadn’t seen him wear it before, but you weren’t going to complain.

“See something you like?”

You blinked as your thoughts were broken up by Obito. He had this smirk on his face, and it made your cheeks burn.

“Sorry! I got lost in my thoughts,” you shook your head.

He sat up, leaning his elbows on the table. “Oh, really? You care to enlighten me on those thoughts?” he raised his eyebrows with curiosity in his eyes.

You could hear the seduction in his voice. You looked away from him as you felt flustered. “There’s nothing in my thoughts that interests you,” you rolled your eyes playfully.

Obito laughed, “You don’t gotta be so shy.. you can look at me when you talk,”

Your face turned hot once again. You weren’t being shy, it was just what he said made you feel butterflies. He had this way of talking to you that set your body ablaze. You couldn’t resist the way he talked to you.

You then turned your head to look at him. “Better?” you cocked your head to the side.

“A lot better.. I like seeing your pretty face,” he reached forward, brushing his fingertips against your cheek.

You felt those same tingles that came every time he touched you forming on your cheek. It made your body feel relaxed, and you were so enveloped into him.

Maybe.. this wasn’t so bad?

“Ugh.. God..”

You were groaning as you felt how full your stomach was. You didn’t think those fries would be very filling, but they were. You also underestimated how much you could eat. You practically ate the whole plate, and you were regretting it.

You could feel yourself wanting to explode. You couldn’t even think of food without getting nauseated.

Obito had slipped away to the bathroom. You were currently waiting for him to come back so he could drive you home. You hoped he would come back soon, because you wanted to fall asleep now. You were practically setting the scene for a food coma.

“Those fries. really got you, huh?”

You lifted your head to see Obito standing beside you. He had this curious look on his face.

“Yes! Can we go..?” you laid your head down on your arms.

He nodded, “Yep, c’mon,”

You took a deep breath before standing up. You were definitely going to pass out in the car before you got home. Maybe you’d plan a little sleepover with Obito sometime, just in case things like this happen again.

As you headed towards the door, you wondered how you were going to pay. You didn’t bring your card, and the waitress never came back to grab it. Was Obito walking out without paying? You hoped he didn’t forget, because you weren’t trying to be an asshole. Candy was very sweet to the two of you.

“Obito?”

Your voice caught his attention, causing him to turn around. “Yeah? Is something wrong? Don’t tell me you’re going to barf,” he looked alarmed for a second.

You laughed, shaking your head. “I’m not gonna barf, but I was going to ask,” you replied, “How are we paying?”

His face changed to a smile. “I slipped away and gave my card to the waitress. I’d never leave a restaurant without paying, (Y/N),” he chuckled.

You let out a sigh of relief. For a good minute, you thought you two were going to look like the worst people on the planet. After all, your parents taught you that you should always tip waitresses. Your mother was once one of those people.

“Oh, okay, good,” you laughed.

Obito pushed open the door to the restaurant. He held it open for you as you walked through it. You saw a few cars passing by on the road. A few were coming into the parking lot. It was already almost two thirty in the morning.

You saw Obito take his car keys out of his pocket. He pressed the button, causing his horn to beep. You couldn’t wait to get back home. You were so tired, and you needed to get some rest. Though, you’d probably only catch a few hours since you wake up fairly early.

You didn’t regret it though, because tonight was very worth it.

You pulled open the door to his car. You quickly got inside and shifted around to get comfortable. You watched Obito get in on the other side. His cologne was still lingering around the car.

“Thank you.. for tonight,” you looked over at him, breaking the silence.

Obito put the key into the ignition. “Of course, I needed to get out anyway,” he said, “And besides.. it was nice seeing you tonight,”

You smiled, he sounded so genuine with his words. It was something about Obito you liked. He always said things that made you feel.. comfortable? You never had to worry about if he was lying to you.

You had the realization that tonight was already almost over. You probably wouldn’t see him for another couple days because of your exams, and that feeling killed your mood. You didn’t want the night to end, but it wasn’t like the two of you had much choice. You both had class tomorrow, and skipping was not an option.

You just wished you could spend a little more time with him.

You turned to pull your seatbelt over your body. “Yeah.. it was nice seeing you too,” you looked at him as you clicked your seatbelt in.

Obito started the car, the engine rumbling as it started. He then looked at you. There was this look in his eyes that screamed that he wanted to make a move. It seemed like he was searching for the right one to make.

You locked eyes, that second you looked into his dark eyes made you feel something. It was different, it wasn’t something you’ve felt before.

He then leaned in, his lips brushed over yours, and within seconds they connected. A gentle kiss was shared between you. You faintly tasted the salt on his tongue, but it didn’t matter. The kiss you had made something spark inside of you.

You pulled away, looking at him through your lashes. “We should.. get going,” you giggled, running your fingers on his jaw.

Obito chuckled, he then pecked your lips one more time before adjusting himself in the driver's seat. “You have a point,” he put his seatbelt on, placing his hands on the wheel.

You looked down at your legs, then outside the window. You had this smile that wouldn’t disappear. It was contagious, and it made your cheeks hurt.

If only this night could last forever.

#summer speaks #the beach #naruto x you #naruto x y/n #naruto x reader #naruto fanfiction #obito uchiha #obito uchiha x reader #obito x y/n #obito x you #obito x reader #anime #naruto #anime fanfic

54 notes · View notes

cafeinthemoon · 4 years

Text

The Senju Brothers finding out their s/o is actually an Uchiha 🔥

This idea was requested by anon days ago (thank you anon, your idea is great, and sorry for the delay! 🙈) and I decided to do it like a list of hcs, but it’s kinda a scenario/narrative, so... it’s something between the two. I’ll be using the same “plot” for both Hashirama and Tobirama, but as you can easily imagine, their reactions will lead the story to different directions lol

Okay, let’s say that s/o deserted from the Uchiha for some serious sh*t or they just disagreed with some of their rules and went to live as an hermit and no one ever heard of them again. The Senjus met them during a mission by accident and they ended up helping each other during a fight, which led them to a friendship. S/o introduced themselves using a fake identity, of course, and told part of their story and the reasons why they were living in that region (like, they told the truth, but hiding names and places, so the Uchihas are never brought to conversation). Later, during a mission when they have to defend the Senjus, s/o shows their Sharingan and OH THE TENSION 🔥🔥🔥

PS: Dear anon, be warned that Tobirama’s part is friking long ok lol

Fandom: Naruto| Senju Brothers

Symbols: 💙 | ◻ | ▶▶

Hashirama

Sorry for this pic but this time we will have some DRAMA

It could be a big problem if the wrong people found out you were an Uchiha. You’ve been there for years, praying to be forgotten by your clan, but there was no way to be sure

This infuriated you more than anything, and it was one of the reasons why you deserted. You were tired of dealing with these battles, these rivalries. You just wanted to live in peace and to be seen as who you were, human. You wanted to be more than just a name

However, the longer you stayed isolated, the more you thought it was impossible. It only changed when you met Hashirama

He proved himself to be an honest man since the start, and to speak the truth you felt some sort of trust in him that you haven’t felt in a long time, even when you knew nothing but his name, Senju

You couldn’t tell if was because of his manners, his way to express himself or his motivations when he fought, but something in him made you believe everything was possible. He filled you with hope again

When you told him your story, he believed you

It was not the case you were lying, but you just couldn’t trust the first person who came to you. Your instinct of self preservation told you not to reveal all the names to a stranger, not until you knew more about him. Like, you sensed you were safe with him alone, but both of you couldn’t ignore the history between your clans

Still you felt bad for not telling everything to him

His mission in that place kept him there for a few days, during which you became good friends. But as time passed, he seemed to create excuses to not leave. At the same time, you got even closer, to the point that your connection couldn’t be called just a friendship anymore

It was when you realized you fell in love, and the feeling was mutual

One day, Hashirama came and said he couldn’t stay any longer. The village needed him, and he was missing his home. At the same time, he didn’t want to leave you. So he invited you to come to the village with him

Your heart was about to explode. You were alone, isolated and hopeless. Now you have not only hope, but love too. And this man wanted to offer you a home, a family and safety. It was too tempting, even for you. You accepted, and even under the risk of being recognized, you came back to your village

When you noticed you weren’t recognized, your fears diminished. You lived in peace by Hashirama’s side, and everything was good

Until that day when you went to a mission together, and during a fight you ran to defend him. You couldn’t control it; your instinct was too strong. Your eyes changed, and Hashirama saw your Sharingan

You saw surprise in his eyes, but also deception. You didn’t tell anything to him for all this time, and he wanted to know why. He had the right to know. He trusted you, he was like an open book to you, so why couldn’t you be the same to him?

When you came back home, it was even hard to breathe between those walls because of the tension. You knew what kind of conversation was waiting for you, and you couldn’t run away

Then you faced your biggest fear: you revealed everything, under the risk of losing the most precious things you had, Hashirama’s love and trust. You told your true name, your entire story and your reasons for deserting from the Uchiha. You told him you wanted to tell everything many times, but you were just terrified of his reaction and what could happen then

You even said he could send you away, or kill you or take you back to your clan’s elders for them to decide what to do with you, for anything was better than facing his hatred and despise

Hashirama remained in silence all the time you spoke. This lack of reaction caught your attention. When you looked at him, you saw he had tears in his eyes 💔

He was disappointed and angry, yes, but you saw in those eyes the willing to forgive you. This man just loved you so much. He couldn’t send you away or do any of the things you suggested. If he did, he wouldn’t forgive himself

So he asked for some time. He needed to process everything he just heard, to understand his own feelings, organize his thoughts and then decide what to do

When you talked again, you said you were going to work to regain his trust. It wasn’t going to be easy, but you were willing to do anything he demanded

When you asked if he was going to tell something to the Uchiha, however, Hashirama said no. Your life could be in danger if he did. Besides, you left them, you no longer shared their values and principles, you didn’t want to be associated with them, and he were going to respect this

Finally, you promise each other you would never let secrets stand between you again ❤

Tobirama

BRACE YOURSELF

You knew that, sooner or later, that was going to happen. When you first met Tobirama and understood of kind of person he was, there was no way for you to think differently. There you had a clever, observing man who would not be easily deceived

Though you met by accident, you managed to work well together, and that was why you managed to overcome your adversary. And he was paying attention to everything you were doing during the fight. Your manners, your fighting style, your experience as a ninja, nothing escaped his eyes

You were certainly a member of a clan, and an important one. Besides, there was your appearance: with your dark hair and your deep eyes, you resembled the majority of the Uchiha people and there was nothing you could do to disguise that. Not showing your Sharingan wouldn’t make a great difference

Plus: Tobirama being a Senju only meant he would recognize an Uchiha just by the way they smell

Right after you both acknowledge each other, he thanked you for helping him but didn’t seem to trust you until you gave him enough information about yourself and the place you lived, which sounded intrusive

Because of your circumstances, you had to be as suspicious as him. And he had his ways to make people talk, so you thought it was better to tell him what you felt safe to share. He listened to you but didn’t make it clear if he believed it or not

That irritated you a bit, but you remembered yourself that he was a shinobi just like you, and a shinobi needs to be perceptive. Besides, you were in fact not telling him everything. But, well, that was none of his business, right?

Tobirama told you he was going to stay in that region for a few days to complete his mission and then go back to his village, where his brother, the Hokage, and his partners were waiting for him. You agreed and you didn’t see each other for a while

Still, you didn’t know why, but you didn’t just forget about him as you did with other people you’ve helped in the past. Something in him caught your attention. Maybe it was the fact that he belonged to your old village, or anything else, you weren’t sure. This man was just… different

Later, you found out he has been gathering information about you with the local people: who you were, where you came from, when you came to live there, what kind of person you were to the people of that place, etc.

Next time you met, you ~casually asked how his mission was going, and if it was about seeking information for his village or for himself. It was so funny to see the blush taking over his face beyond the three red marks. Unable to hide his embarrassment, Tobirama confessed that the people who he talked to had nothing to tell him but the same things you’ve already told him

“Of course they don’t. I’ve told them the same story I’ve told to you”

In the end, Tobirama told you part of what was involved in his mission, and you said you had some information that could be useful. Turned out that you were the most helpful person he could find, and because of your skills and your knowledge (as well as your fighting abilities), his mission was finished half the time it would take

You didn’t understand exactly how or when you started dating. You just did. And when you least expected, you were back to your original village, married to him. It was strange that your life has changed so suddenly: first you were a hermit, away from your land and your clan, alone with a fake name; now you had a true home, loyal friends and a husband that loved and admired you. You used to think you didn’t deserve so much

The possibility of Tobirama finding out you were an Uchiha was always in the back of your mind, specially when you went on missions together

Of course, as time passed, you’ve come to learn to not depend too much on your dojutsu during fights, and your control over your Katon was clearly above the average. Besides, you were sensitive and passionate by nature, which resembled the Uchiha more than any other lineage. One day, Tobirama even said that you were an Uchiha from heart and soul, even more than he thought when he first met you. You didn’t know if it was a compliment, an insult or an invitation to tell the truth

So it wasn’t a great surprise for him when, during that mission, you had to defend him when he got injured and facing the possibility of losing the man you loved was too much for you to control, and your Sharingan appeared. At first you didn’t even think of it, but once you turned to Tobirama to see if he was ok and noticed the way he was looking at you, you realized what just happened

He didn’t talk to you for a long time after you came back home. You didn’t know if he was expecting you to start talking or if he was preparing himself to do so. Not knowing what was going on was killing yourself, so you decided to take the first step

It was the scariest thing you ever did in your life, but also the bravest. You came to him and said you were going to tell him everything. He nodded and waited, and you told him your entire story, since the day you left the clan until the moment you met. You told him your thoughts, your beliefs, your reasons, your feelings, everything. Nothing was kept hidden

When you finished, he didn’t speak for several minutes. You waited as long as you could, but then you decided to ask what he was going to do. You were sort of expecting an explosion of rage and frustration, but what came instead was worse

Through his tone, Tobirama made it clear how much he was disappointed with you, how much he despised your attitude, how disgusting it was for him to live with someone who didn’t have the courage to just come and tell the truth since the start, and that after all that he has seen, he was right to not blindly trust any Uchiha that appears on his way. Seeing him reduce you to the same flaws that led you to desert that clan was so offensive that it infuriated you, and you started a serious fight in the middle of that room

Your Katon and your Suiton almost destroyed your house

After almost killing each other becoming tired of this, you decided that for the best of you two, you had to leave. And if anyone asked, Tobirama could say the truth. At first, he tried to agree with this, but when you were about to pass the door, he held you tight and said he couldn’t just let you leave and carry on with his life as if nothing happened

You knew what was coming next: you crying in his arms > he saying nothing and leading you to your previous place > you making out and sleeping in the middle of the destruction room

In the end you didn’t leave, neither he revealed anything to the people of the village, including the Uchiha (who didn’t seem to remember you anyway). It took time until you restored your relationship, but you did it. In your case, love overcame history

PS: Hashirama came to visit you one day and was aware that a fight took place there, but he was too polite to say something

#naruto #naruto scenarios #naruto requests #hashirama headcanons #hashirama #tobirama #tobirama headcanons #senju #uchiha

222 notes · View notes

itachi-uchiha-deserved-better · 3 years

Text

There were seven of them gathered in the tent that was serving as the temporary council chamber while the leaf village was being rebuilt. Kakashi sat at the head of the circular table, looking uncomfortable in the position of authority that had been thrust upon him in Tsunade’s absence. Next to Kakashi on his left was Shikaku Nara, with Shikamaru seated next to his father. On Kakashi’s right side sat Gai, Yamato, Naruto and then finally there was Sakura, sitting opposite Kakashi, wondering when in the hell she had become important enough to warrant an explicit invitation to a council meeting.

The elders, Sakura noted, were not in attendance. Kakashi had placed both of them under guard since Danzo’s treachery at the five Kage summit came to light. It didn’t really come as much of a surprise to Sakura that the Jonin of the village were hesitant to trust them with matters of importance.

Kakashi fiddled with his pen, as he seemed to search for the best way to approach whatever it was that was important enough for him to call a council meeting in the first place. He kept shooting Yamato glances, which Yamato always answered with a quirked eyebrow or a shake of the head, like there was a silent discussion going on between them. Sakura watched the exchange with fascination as she doodled on the note pad in front of her.

“Fine.” Kakashi growled, ending whatever argument he and Yamato were apparently having, “I guess we ought to just get on with it.” He took a breath, put the pen down very carefully, so that it was sitting perfectly straight in front of him. He swept his gaze around the room, locking eyes with each person who sat at the table in turn.

“You know I’m not the type to do things as officially as they should be done. Were it not for the delicate nature of this matter, I’d have left it for Tsunade to deal with when she recovers. Unfortunately, this is a matter that won’t wait until our Hokage is back on her feet.”

The air in the room seemed to grow still and heavy with tension. Everyone seemed to pick up on the carefully chosen words Kakashi used. Our Hokage. Not him. He had no desire to lead them. When Tsunade wakes up. Because none of them wanted to consider the other outcome.

“As you know, Yamato and I were present for the majority of the 5 Kage summit. I believe everyone here has read our reports regarding the proceedings of the summit and Danzo’s attempt at treason. That is not what we are here to discuss. This meeting is in regards to what happened before our arrival at the summit location. About information intentionally withheld from the official reports.”

Sakura observed the room. A large part of her medical training had focused on sharpening her observational skills. Teaching her to pick up on subtle changes around her, so that she can make decisions with the most information possible. So her keen gaze immediately picks up on the way that Shikaku straightened up in his chair as Kakashi admits to withholding information from the official documentation of their mission. She notes how Shikamaru’s gaze snaps to Naruto’s face, then to hers, trying to read the situation the same way that she was. She can almost visualize tangible waves of tension rolling off of Yamato and the worried look that Gai is giving her Sensei. It seemed that he had at least some inkling of what was going on.

“Honestly, I wasn’t sure that this information should be shared with anyone. The source is questionable, but Yamato and I agree that given the potential ramifications for the village if the information we’ve been given is accurate, that at least the people in this room need to be aware of it.”

More glances shot around the table. Naruto at Sakura. Sakura at Yamato. Yamato and Gai at Kakashi. Shikaku and Shikamaru at all of them. The silence in the room swelled until Shikaku quietly prompted Kakashi, “please continue.”

“Itachi Uchiha.”

The name sent a shockwave through the room. White hot anger flared in Sakura. Itachi. Sasuke’s older brother. The shinobi who had murdered his entire clan in cold blood, who had tried to kidnap Naruto, who was directly involved with the organization that had killed Gaara, that had destroyed Konoha and caused so much pain to the person that she loved. Even if he didn’t love her back, Sakura could never forgive Itachi for the pain he inflicted on Sasuke.

Naruto was shrinking in his seat, like the name was a heavy weight descending on his shoulders. Shikaku and Shikamaru were both now sitting straight backed in their seats, giving Kakashi their undivided attention. Only Yamato and Gai remained impassive.

“What about the Uchiha?” Shikaku asked as the impact of the name started to settle.

“It seems that there is much more to Itachi’s actions than the village was initially lead to believe. Our information indicates that Itachi held no grudge against his clan. That his crimes, while heinous, were carried out under direct order from village leaders.”

Shikamaru laughed, the sound breaking through the tension like a paper bomb exploding in Sakura’s ears, “You must be joking. You can’t honestly believe that Lord Third would have allowed-“

Shikaku grabbed Shikamaru’s arm, and shooting him a sharp look to silence him.

Kakashi sighed, “I understand your skepticism. Like I said, Yamato and I don’t trust the source of our information, but given Danzo’s treachery and how long that was allowed to go on unnoticed, I don’t think we can dismiss anything outright. By the same token, none of this is to leave this tent. Until we are able to verify or disprove the claim, I want to keep this thing quiet.”

Shikamaru huffed, but Shikaku nodded thoughtfully, “Kakashi, you were his Anbu captain at one point. You probably know the most about Itachi of anyone present. Do you believe it’s possible that he was manipulated into massacring his clansmen?”

Sakura expected Kakashi to answer immediately. The entire thought of the village ordering a man to kill his entire clan was ludicrous.

Wasn’t it?

But Kakashi didn’t answer. One minute passed in silence and still Kakashi was sitting there, glaring down at his pen, unable to answer Shikaku’s question. It was Yamato who eventually spoke up.

“I served alongside Itachi on team Ro. Speaking frankly, I could never wrap my head around it. The Itachi I knew wasn’t capable of harboring that much hatred. Even with the proof right in front of our eyes, I couldn’t make sense of it.”

Sakura breathed in a sharp breath of surprise. Neither Kakashi or Yamato ever really spoke about their Anbu days, so she had been completely ignorant of the fact that they’d both been on a team with Itachi, much less been friends with him.

Did Sasuke know?

Kakashi nodded his head, “I agree with Yamato, Itachi Uchiha’s actions never made sense to me. I accepted that I must have missed the signs back then and once everything was said and done, I tried my best not to think about it. About him. He was my teammate, and I had failed him. But if this is true, then I failed him even worse than I ever could have believed.” Kakashi hung his head and Sakura could see how much this pained him. She could only imagine what he felt, having this ghost of his past being dragged back up to the surface, especially after so much recent pain and loss.

“Regardless of my and Yamato’s personal feelings about the man, there are other factors which lead us to believe that at least parts of the information we were given are true. Danzo did possess a number of Sharingan, including an eye that we can confirm belonged to Shisui Uchiha, who supposedly committed suicide by the Naka. Itachi was, at the time, suspected of murdering his cousin.”

Another pause, as Kakashi allowed the information to sink in. Shikaku was nodding his head in recognition of the name. Shikamaru was studying his father closely. Sakura could hear Naruto grinding his teeth in frustration.

“Alright,” Shikaku tapped his finger on the table, “Lets have it then. The whole story.”

Kakashi obliged, and slowly the story came out, with Yamato jumping in when it seemed that Kakashi was struggling to find the right words. About the plan for a coup d'etat that had been brewing within the Uchiha clan. The orders to spy on the Uchiha, to monitor them for signs of rebellion. Itachi’s assignment to team Ro, and his early promotion to captain under Danzo. About the death of a man named Shisui, who according to this had thrown himself off a cliff only after Danzo had stolen one of his eyes. The coup coming to a head, and Hiruzen asking Itachi to buy time to find a better solution than annihilation, and Itachi being approached later by Danzo, with a promise- that Itachi could ensure his little brother’s survival if he singlehandedly stopped the coup. The implication that if Itachi refused, Danzo would ensure the clan’s destruction, Sasuke and Itachi included.

The clan’s lives for Sasuke’s life. That was the deal that was put forth. And Itachi had accepted.

But it was the final bit of the story that chilled Sakura to her core.

“Hiruzen was aware of Itachi’s orders. While he may not have issued them himself, if our source is to be believed, he also made no effort to intervene. Its true that the Uchiha massacre solved the problem of the coup d'etat once and for all. But the only way it ended without anyone losing faith in Hiruzen was for Itachi to shoulder the blame. If he’d remained in the leaf village, Hiruzen would have been forced to punish him for the massacre. So instead, Hiruzen let Itachi leave the village, left the barrier jutsu formula intact so that Itachi could come and go as long as he remained hidden, and Itachi decided to join the Akatsuki. Not as a missing-nin, but as Konoha’s spy.”

Shikaku hummed, nodding his head, “I never was able to come up with a good reason why Hiruzen left the barrier jutsu formula alone. I assumed he believed that Itachi must not have any more reason to target the leaf, but even then when word came that Itachi had joined the Akatsuki, he ought to have changed it.”

“Right,” Kakashi was rubbing at his temple, probably fighting off a headache. He’d had a number of those since his brush with death at the hands of Pein.

“There are piece that add up. The barrier formula. The fact that the leaf village always had more intelligence on the Akatsuki and their movements than the other villages did. Danzo’s possession of the Uchiha eyes, Shisui’s eye especially. But there are also pieces I cant explain. Like why that bastard locked me in a seventy two hour genjutsu that almost killed me. And the only person who could confirm any of this, as far as I know, has been dead for three years.”

Gai said something in response to that, but Sakura had stopped listening, their voices fading to the background as something started to click in her head.

Konoha’s spy.

Had to stay hidden.

Could come and go as he pleased.

Her mind was spinning. Recalling strange orders issued by Tsunade. Treating a shinobi outside the hospital. Not allowed to use her healing chakra at all, only basic medical skills. The threat of being stripped of her rank as a shinobi if she disobeyed. A strange Anbu who never spoke. Who suppressed his chakra at all times. Who had eerily familiar eyes that always seemed to be filled with something she could never hope to understand.

“Sakura? Sakura are you alright?” Naruto’s hand was on her shoulder, shaking her gently. Tenzo and Kakashi were both watching her with concern, “You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

The name. Recognition like a bolt of lightning struck her and Sakura stood up so quickly that she sent her chair flying back with a crash.

She felt like she was going to explode. Every eye in the tent was on her, waiting for some kind of explanation for her sudden reaction. How on earth could she not have put it together earlier? Then again, she’d never been given any reason to suspect that Ghost, the strange anbu operative in the blank mask was Sasuke’s older brother.

Tsunade. Tsunade must have known. Her orders were to protect Ghost’s identity, because if Sakura had felt his chakra, even for an instant, she would have recognized the similarities to Sasuke’s, and there was only one other Uchiha left in the world. So many thoughts were crashing around inside Sakura’s mind. Anger. Anger at Ghost…Itachi…for lying to her, even if he had no other choice. It wasn’t like she would have ever helped him before if she knew who he was. She’d have been the first person to turn him in, no matter how much kindness he’d shown her. Anger at Tsunade, for allowing the farce to continue, despite knowing that Itachi had made the only choice he could have. Anger that Hiruzen, for failing to intervene and stop all the pain that the massacre caused. For Sasuke, and for Itachi.

Her eyes met Kakashi’s steady gaze. Her sensei, always so adept at reading what troubled her, waited patiently for her mouth to catch up to her mind.

“You knew?”

“No.” Not a lie. She hadn’t known, “But I’m pretty sure this is the truth. I…” gods above how did she even begin to explain it all? To explain about Ghost, his strange behavior, the bizarre connection they shared.

Tenzo was her saving grace. He seemed to have put some of the pieces together himself.

“The Anbu? The one you told me about?”

Sakura nodded and sank back down into her chair, hugging her arms into herself. The eyes of the group moved off of Sakura, looking to Tenzo for more information.

“Earlier this year, Sakura confided in me about a patient of hers. She wanted to know if I was aware of an Anbu agent whose mask was blank, no markings at all. She told me that Tsunade had asked her to treat him and that the arrangement came with some unusual orders which had her uncomfortable.”

Kakashi raised an eyebrow, “Are you referring to-“ Kakashi cut off, but Tenzo nodded, clearly understanding the question. Shikamaru grumbled.

“Care to explain for those of us who can’t read your mind?”

“Ghost,” Tenzo shot back, “It’s a…well for lack of better terms, it’s a ghost story that exists among the Anbu. A few years back a few genin claimed they were saved by an Anbu agent in a blank white mask, who slaughtered the enemy shinobi who were attacking them and then disappeared without a trace. No one believed them, but since then all kinds of stories about the faceless mask have popped up. Most of them are incredibly far fetched, but there are elements that remain consistent throughout. Black hair. Always alone. Never leaves any survivors except for leaf shinobi. Only fights with Kunai and a tanto, never jutsu. At least, none that anyone ever sees. I didn’t think anything of it, but when Sakura mentioned her patient to me, I did some digging. There is a file for an Anbu agent, codename Ghost, but there’s no serial number on the file, and everything in it was encoded.”

Kakashi sighed, “It’s not proof, but that seems pretty damning.” Apparently Kakashi didn’t have any better explanation that Sakura did.

“In that case, there are a few things to address. First and foremost, it is very likely that Sasuke has also been made aware of the fact that his brother acted under orders. I don’t think he knows about Itachi’s identity as an Anbu operative, but we need to be prepared because I’m not sure what kind of effect this information will have on him. The last I knew, Sasuke’s sole focus was on killing his brother for revenge. It’s quite possible that his desire for revenge will shift to target the village, or at least those he feels most responsible for Itachi’s actions.”

Everyone in the tent nodded their agreement.

“The second question is one of what to do about Itachi himself.”

This time no one nodded. It was a momentous question.

“Are you sure we need to do anything at all?” Shikaku asked, trying to be as gentle with the question as possible. Tenzo slammed his hand down on the table and looked like he wanted to throw himself at Shikaku.

“Of course we have to do something! He’s a leaf shinobi! He’s put his life in danger for the past nine years, alone, hated by everyone in order to protect the village. He deserves to know that he isn’t being held responsible for being forced to make an impossible choice when he was thirteen fucking years old!”

“Easy, Tenzo,” Kakashi seemed to be doing his best to keep his tone level, trying not to let his emotions get the better of him while they sorted things out, “You know that I want to see him again as much as you do, as a friend. But we need to consider what’s best for the village. At the least, I don’t think we need to come to a decision right now. Our first priority is to rebuild the village itself. When Tsunade wakes up, I’m sure she’ll have something to say on the matter.”

Sakura clenched her fist and felt her chakra start flowing into them out of instinct. You better believe that she’ll have something to say. I’ll make sure of it.

She pushed herself up from the table. She needed to hit something. Needed to break something. And if she didn’t leave now, she couldn’t be sure what exactly it was she was going to break. Better safe than sorry.

“Sakura? Going somewhere?”

“For a walk,” She hissed, daring anyone to try and stop her as she stormed out of the tent.

#Hey look guys #I found some muse #When did I start writing Sakura?#Actually I do like writing her POV #Ghost AU #Itachi #Itachi's secret is out!#Not sure if this will be divergent from my Ghost in the Leave Fic or if I'll include this as a chapter

16 notes · View notes

astoldbygingersnaps · 3 years

Text

#wip wednesday

it’s me, ya boy, back with Yet Another New Project!

this time, i bring you the beginnings of a oneshot dreamt up by alexa continuing to fan the flames of my shiita brainrot. enjoy!

There are very few moments in Itachi’s life that he can point to and say that he felt truly content. Many of them are from his childhood, small snatches of memory that involve his mother’s cooking or his brother’s laugh. One or two even contain his father, tiny blips of interaction where the man’s unbearable expectations and slavish dedication to duty had slipped away to reveal the human heart beating deep within him. But Itachi would be lying if he tried to claim that the majority of those moments did not include the friend that is currently sitting beside him.

This, however, is not one of those moments.

Currently they’re on the outskirts of Konoha’s vast forests, the coverage against the afternoon sun thinning as the leaves wither in the crisp, autumn air. A gentle breeze rolls through, not harsh enough to chill but the current rakes its way through Shisui’s hair, making it even more unkempt than usual. Itachi’s keenly aware of this fact, and of Shisui’s general presence, as the man has himself wedged close to Itachi, his head resting on Itachi’s knees as he prattles on about Itachi’s least favorite subject: his love life.

It’s a fascinating contrast, the image of Shisui thoughtlessly draped over Itachi as he drives the knife that is his sexual history deeper and deeper between Itachi’s ribs. But it’s not a wound that Itachi holds Shisui accountable for, not really. Painful though it may be, it’s not as if Shisui is thoughtless or intentionally cruel; it’s merely a side-effect of Itachi’s most closely guarded--and frankly most terrifying--secret.

Often, Itachi has considered telling Shisui the truth, fantasized about what the various outcomes of such an action would be. Still, each time he’s come close to confessing, the words sitting precariously on the very tip of his tongue, Itachi swallows them down like a bitter taste. After all, there’s just no neat and tidy way to say, “I’ve loved you since we were children.” So, Itachi says nothing at all, day after day, month after month, year after year.

“Are you even listening to me?” Shisui asks, in the whiny tone of voice he always gets when Itachi isn’t giving him his full attention. On any other person, it would be an annoying affectation, but Shisui has a way of making even his worst traits charming.

Yet another truth Itachi refuses to tell him. “I’m riveted,” he replies dryly, never taking his eyes off the book in his hand, fighting a smile as Shisui groans in frustration.

“You’re a terrible friend,” Shisui says, his faux-offended expression lingering on the edge of Itachi’s vision, and in response Itachi lifts his book to block out the sight of Shisui completely.

“The worst,” Itachi hums in agreement, finally giving into a laugh when Shisui grabs the novel he’s been only mildly interested in and chucks it out of Itachi’s reach. Raising an eyebrow, Itachi looks at the discarded tome, its pagings rustling in the breeze, before glancing back at Shisui. “A bit excessive, don’t you think?”

“How come we never have these conversations about your romantic woes?” Shisui retorts, and the question is so unexpected and uncomfortable Itachi feels the neutral mask of his features start to crack.

“What?”

Watching him critically, Shisui sits up, resting his cheek in his palm as he leans more of his weight across Itachi’s body. “I’m serious. All the times you’ve had to listen to me bitch and moan about this stuff, and not once have you ever chimed in with problems of your own. What gives?”

“Perhaps I don’t believe in kissing and telling,” Itachi replies, tone more clipped than he means it to be. Though he doesn’t resent Shisui for his curiosity, a part of him can’t help but be annoyed that somehow such a finely trained officer doesn’t realize he’s stepped on top of a massive landmine.

Rather than take a moment to read the metaphorical room, however, Shisui presses on with his typical single-minded focus. “Oh, come on,” he argues. “It’s just us, Itachi. You know you can tell me anything.”

Despite his best efforts, Itachi can feel his stomach clenching at the proclamation. For a moment, he weighs the pros and cons of what admitting the truth would be, and is displeased to discover what the best option is. “There’s nothing to tell,” he says, shrugging as if the words don’t mean a thing, and carefully keeps his eyes off Shisui’s face.

The funny thing about Shisui is that, for all his gifts with the Sharingan’s manipulations and illusions, he’s a shockingly open book outside of his profession. Surprise paints itself across his face, all wide eyes and an open mouth, and against his will Itachi feels a flush burning at the base of his throat. “Wait, seriously?” he asks, voice low as if they’re trading secrets of national security rather than engaging in petty gossip.

In response Itachi tugs his legs out from under Shisui, taking an unkind satisfaction in his friend’s grunt as he hits the ground. Still, the movement is, in Itachi’s mind, a tactical retreat; there’s no need to feel physically trapped when Shisui already has his metaphorically pinned down. “I’m gonna kick you.”

“Don’t,” Shisui mutters, whiny again, as he grabs Itachi’s leg with his trademark speed. The touch burns against the bare skin of his ankle, and Itachi shakes him off with a scowl. “I’m not being an asshole--”

“All evidence to the contrary,” Itachi cuts in, annoyed.

Graciously Shisui ignores that and continues, “It’s just surprising, you know? Because you’re… Well, you.”

Itachi feels his stomach twist. “What is that supposed to mean?”

Shisui looks at him, and absurdly Itachi feels like an opponent on the wrong side of Shisui’s kunai. “Nothing, I guess,” he eventually offers, quietly, and the statement is so outside of Shisui’s typical cheerful, confident persona that Itachi can’t help but feel profoundly unsettled.

The truth is he’s kept himself guarded in this fashion for a variety of reasons, some he can admit to Shisui and others he’d rather be disemboweled than confess to another living soul. Part of his reluctance stems from the plain fact that he’s simply too busy with other matters to commit to dating of all things. Between his obligation to his village, his devotion to his brother, and his own ambitions at eventually securing the Hokage’s chair, he doesn’t have time to waste on a frivolous matter like courtship.

He also knows that, somewhere down the line, his father will no doubt want to marry him off, eager to pass on the talent and promise of the esteemed Uchiha prodigy. Frankly, the man would have probably done it sooner if he hadn’t felt some gratitude towards his son for working with Shisui to end the feud between their clan and the village, thus granting the Uchiha a much higher standing in Konoha. But at twenty-three, Itachi knows he can’t count on his father’s good graces much longer, meaning the inevitable grows that much closer with each passing day.

The other issue is… a bit more delicate. Itachi’s far too pragmatic to invest in the concept of virginity as something sacred, something special to be shared with exactly the right person at exactly the right time. But it does strike him as unfair to go to bed with a person and offer them a lie instead of himself, knowing that for every moment spent together his thoughts will be firmly locked onto someone he can never have.

Rather than reveal any of that, however, Itachi simply says, “Sex has never been a very high priority of mine.”

“That’s kind of depressing,” Shisui replies. “You should get out there. Play the field, have fun.”

Itachi’s just irritated enough at his continued cross-examination of his personal life that he asks the unthinkable: “Why, are you offering?”

In hindsight, Itachi supposes that after carrying the burden of his feelings for so long such a slip-up was inevitable. But it feels less like an understandable mistake and more like a battlefield miscalculation, one dangerous enough to leave him wide-open to a counterstrike.

That in mind, perhaps it should come as no surprise when Shisui counters, ”Do you want me to?”

to be continued.

#my fic #this is uh. very different than what i usually write #so i'll be v interested in what the feedback will be when it's posted in full #until then!

17 notes · View notes

jacksgreysays · 3 years

Note

Hi yes mix-and-match anon so if you're still interested in the asofterworld version of the prompt when I said 31 I meant 31 off of your old asw promptlist which translates to asw 621. If not interested this is just a hi glad you're active on tumblr again! I still love your writing!

A/N: Hello, mix-and-match anon! :D

I’ll be honest, I’m kinda cheating here because I’ve been kinda wanting to write this particular fic (or some iteration of this particular fic) for a while but I didn’t quite know how to construct it. However your prompt finally launched me in a direction even though it’s definitely drifted away from the prompt itself so thank you! I hope you enjoy even though it’s still kinda rough and I’ll probably be editing it over the next couple of days to make it more coherent and less of a bloated run on mess.

meeting and incidents unraveled

Haruno Sakura is not oblivious to the blessings and advantages she has in life.

Caring and supportive parents, a stable home life with all of her needs and a majority of her wants met. Tuition at a good school with an intellect and self-discipline to make the most of it. Pretty enough looks to be, if not popular, then well liked among her peers.

She also is not oblivious to the sort of future all of that will give her.

Acceptance at whichever university she chooses, leading to a solid, successful career in whatever field she chooses. Kind and caring relationships paving their way to a kind and caring marriage. A caring, supportive, stable future just as caring, supportive, and stable as her past.

How boring.

But she doesn't have it in her to rebel and break away, grateful for those blessings and advantages for all that they keep her on a track. There's nothing wrong with success and stability. She's not oblivious to that, at least.

She just wishes for something a little bit... more.

---

I love the way your face lights up

when someone says,

"It might be dangerous."

(I am glad we are friends.)

---

(it could have gone like this)

"Do you think she's lost?" Sakura asks her classmates, bringing their attention to the window. Clean up duties after school are hardly fun, so any distraction is a welcome one.

There's a girl standing in the shadow of the tree in the courtyard. About their age, maybe, but the school uniform doesn't match theirs at all. Almost as if she feels Sakura's gaze, the girl meets her eyes and smiles--but surely that's not right. Sakura is up on the third floor.

"What are you talking about?" Tanaka-kun asks, looking out the window and somehow failing to see. Their other classmates on clean up duty also look, but none of them spot the girl either.

"Oh, nothing," Sakura says, dropping the matter immediately. She doesn't want to be known as the weirdo who sees things that aren't there. "I can't believe Honda-sensei assigned so much homework over the weekend!" She deflects and her classmates follow the prompt easily, the new topic of conversation out of her hands.

When Sakura looks back out the window, the girl in the shadow of the tree waves.

---

Magic is better with three.

This is what Sakura learns after discovering magic is real, after discovering that she herself has magic.

Magic is better with three and magic has different Aspects and the different Aspects of magic resonate with different people.

Sakura's magic, she learns, has Aspects of Earth and Healing and Growth. Those are powerful Aspects, she's been told, she can do a lot of good with that even on her own.

But young magicians are put in teams for a reason. Magic seeks balance. The consequences of misusing magic--of overreaching with magic--are extreme at best and horrifying at worst.

Some lessons are learned the hard way.

---

(it could have gone like this)

"Oh, that's Shikako," Ino answers when Sakura finally brings it up weeks after the fact. Ino's magic has the Aspects of Mind and Flora and Adaptation which resonates nicely with Sakura's--perhaps in another world, they might have ended up on the same team, but in this particular world, well. Naruto and Sasuke are powerful magicians, but they're not very good at answering her questions...

"Shikamaru is one of my teammates," Ino continues, easily, "Shikako is his twin sister." Then her voice drops, tone a little more serious, a little more secretive. "Her Aspects never manifested."

Sakura hasn't fully absorbed all the nuances of magical culture, but this at least she can understand: without Aspects, Shikako can never use active magic.

"But she's absolutely brilliant with the academic side and she already has some research projects from the council," Ino says, quick to balance her words, and that along with the thinly veiled guilt is enough for Sakura to put the matter aside, moving on to other questions.

Still, though, it haunts her; somehow, simultaneously, in two different ways:

Shikako had been the one to find her. The girl in the shadow of the tree following a prototype magic seeker and finding a different girl who had never heard of magic, would never have known of the magic within her. Without Shikako, would she still be that magic-less boring girl destined for that magic-less boring life?

Alternatively, if Shikako had manifested her Aspects, would there even be a space for Sakura in this world of magic?

---

Uzumaki Naruto's Aspects are Sun and Belief and Present. Uchiha Sasuke's Aspects are Moon and Ambition and Past.

There was no doubt that they would be put on the same team.

Frankly, the only question was who could possibly match?

---

(it should have gone like this)

"Do you think she's lost?" Sakura asks her classmates. There's a girl standing in the shadow of the tree in the courtyard; about their age, maybe, but the school uniform doesn't match theirs at all. Almost as if she feels Sakura's gaze, the girl meets her eyes and smiles.

When it seems like none of her classmates can spot the girl in the shadow of the tree, Sakura drops the matter immediately. She doesn't want to be known as the weirdo who sees things that aren't there. She deflects and the new topic of conversation swiftly moves out of her hands.

Sakura looks back out the window, the girl in the shadow of the tree waves. Sakura exits the building, the girl in the shadow of the tree looks at her expectantly.

Sakura could ignore her and keep going--she has homework, after all--but even if she doesn't want to be known as a weirdo amongst her classmates, that doesn't mean she wants nothing interesting to happen in her life ever.

She already knows what will happen if she keeps on walking, ignoring the girl in the shadow of the tree. Sakura will go home, maybe stopping by a store or a cafe on the way. She will do her homework and do her chores and take a bath and eat dinner and sleep and do absolutely nothing out of the ordinary because her life is predictable and that's just a synonym for boring.

So Sakura goes to the tree instead.

"Hello," Sakura says, because even if this girl is merely lost and not some guide to a more exciting world surely there's no harm in being polite. "Can I help you?"

"Maybe," says the girl in the shadow of the tree, lifting one hand palm up. Preemptively, she makes her hand glow with a pale, almost distant light. "Haruno Sakura, do you believe in magic?"

---

Nobody is born with fully manifested magic.

Active magic requires agency, will power and vision. Those are shaped by a magician's sense of self, their personality and convictions. Their Aspects.

There's more, of course. But sometimes more can lead to decisions a little riskier than predicted.

---

(it should have gone like this)

At first there is no team for Sakura which is a little disheartening but also, simultaneously, a relief. Almost all of the other magicians her age have been raised around magic, she already has so much to learn and catch up on that it's almost overwhelming! She can't possibly imagine what it would be like being introduced to a new world and then immediately thrown onto a team with strangers.

But her magical peers are supportive in their own way--most of them friendly, all of them definitely interesting. Their teams are well chosen, Aspects resonating beautifully, and whenever she has the free time in between diving headfirst into her magical studies and maintaining her grades at school she wonders what her teammates will be like. If they'll match her just as nicely. If she'll even have teammates.

"Don't worry," Shikako says with a smile, supportive and kind and definitely interesting. Behind her, her teammates bicker as ever--and while Sakura will admit, blushingly, that she was a little infatuated with Sasuke in the beginning, she would go mad if she had to put up with him and Naruto for too long--but Shikako appears as calm and as fond of them as ever.

"I found you didn't I?"

She did, yes. How she found the time in between her own magical research, high-octane team, and normal schoolwork of her own is baffling to Sakura. She's grateful, of course, but still. Sakura isn't even doing half as much and she's barely keeping up!

"Don't worry," Shikako says again, and if her tone turns a little vague, her gaze going beyond Sakura, well. Shikako is a very powerful magician...

"... you belong in this world. Magic seeks balance."

And Sakura nods, because that is one of the earlier lessons she was taught upon joining the magical world. For all the strangeness of Shikako's tone, it is reassuring. So Sakura nods and continues to voraciously consume all she can about this new world she belongs to so that when her teammates do appear she'll be prepared.

Shikako finds Yakumo first--her Aspects of Sky and Art and Acceptance--then comes Isaribi with the Aspects of Sea and Transformation and Trust. And Sakura finally feels like she actually belongs.

---

Magic is not completely a science, for all that there is cause and effect. It's not entirely an art, either, though some talented magicians make it seem that way. There are some parts of it that are understandable, quantifiable and predicable, but there is so much more that is beyond human comprehension. Even active magic which requires, in essence, humanity, can be beyond explanation.

Aspects are an attempt at doing so, but for all that they determine the futures of most magicians, they can't perfectly encompass the whole of a magician's power. Because magic exists beyond words and definitions. Even abstract concepts can fail. Trying to apply terminology to magic? Might as well punch a god in the face.

And so when a girl born to the magical world, even if her Aspects manifest a little late, if there already exists a place for her on a team where she resonates so powerfully, well.

Stars and Determination and Future are close enough...

... for a human, that is.

---

(but it actually went like this)

A few months after an ordinary day in which no interesting strangers showed up to derail Sakura's life, she is on her way home from school. She's thinking about maybe stopping by a store or a cafe on the way, but maybe not. She still has to do her homework and chores before she can take a bath and eat dinner and sleep and do absolutely nothing out of the ordinary because her life is predictable and that's just a synonym for boring.

A pair of boys--about her age, maybe, but in school uniforms different from hers--stop her. They've been looking for her, they say, and while the dark-haired one is handsome enough that she'd normally blush and think it romantic first words, his tone and the fact that his blonde friend is also there ruins that theory.

Also, they know her name and that's weird. She says as much, which causes them to start bickering, and in their distracted state she takes the opportunity to escape.

The next day, on her way home from school--along the same, predictable path, of course--she is stopped by a strange man. Both unfamiliar and unusual. Almost his entire face is covered and his hair is grey and he slouches as if in apology for his height. He asks her if she believes in magic.

She knows a creep when she sees one and runs in the opposite direction. She'll take the long way home.

The next few days she changes up her route going home because, yes, sometimes she's naïve but she's not completely oblivious. It still doesn't really help though, because this time its a trio of strangers--thankfully around her age--but still not great.

"Those idiots," the girl says, flicking her long blonde ponytail in fashionable irritation, "I can't believe they messed up this bad. What an awful first impression, she's already spooked."

One of the boys, dark hair and sleepy eyes, just shrugs and responds, "Well if she's really going to end up on their team, it's not like her second impression is going to be much better."

If they're talking about who she thinks she's talking about she's not exactly pleased with them either.

The other boy, reddish hair and round cheeks, looks her in the eye and gives a friendly smile. Despite the situation, something within Sakura relaxes a little. "Would you like to try out that cafe? Our treat," he says, and its not an entirely unwanted offer. She doesn't have too much work waiting for her at home and she deserves something nice.

"Okay," she says, and lets them pay for her anmitsu while they tell her about magic, the magical world, and how she fits into all of it.

---

Humans are not the only beings capable of magic.

---

(but it actually went like this)

Sakura is worried and overwhelmed and frustrated and she knows she shouldn't complain because she does honestly enjoy magic and the world its brought her into and she wouldn't dare go back to that ordinary, predictable, boring life.

But she wishes that her teammates weren't so abrasive and prickly, that her teacher were a little more engaged. It's been months already since she joined Naruto and Sasuke's team. She doesn't know why they're being so difficult when she hasn't even done anything wrong!

She's headed to the training grounds but in a wandering path, if she's honest. She's normally a punctual person, but Kakashi-sensei has never once been on time and she can just as easily not talk to her teammates here as she can at the training grounds.

The part of the city she's in isn't so urban as to have skyscrapers, but in this district the buildings are all at least several stories and practical, blocky metal and cement. The looming structure made of curving wood and stone looks more like a tree than anything else.

There is a girl standing in the shadow of the tree that isn’t. She meets Sakura's eyes, smiles, and waves.

Sakura has been studying the magical world. Knows about the dangers young magicians can face in a world that wants to eat them alive. Knows that nice exteriors don't necessarily mean kind hearts.

But she also knows, somehow, that if she walks away now she will never see this girl again.

"Hello," Sakura says, because there's no harm in being polite, "Can I help you?"

"Maybe," says the girl in the shadow of the tree that isn't. "Haruno Sakura, do you believe in destiny?"

---

Gelel: Light, Unity, Creation.

Jashin: Void, Suffering, Destruction.

Magic seeks balance.

Magic is better with three.

---

"If you could," the girl begins, a wistful sort of smile on her face, "tell them I said its not their fault. It was entirely on me. I overreached and had to face the consequences."

"What did you do?" Sakura asks before she can swallow down her curiosity

Shikako says, "Some lessons are learned the hard way..."

At first, Sakura thinks that's all she will say, a dismissive sort of answer, but then Shikako continues:

"...but perhaps not all of them. Hopefully you’ll learn from my mistakes," she says with a small bitter smile, gaze going beyond Sakura.

"I foresaw danger and thought I could prevent it,” Shikako says, almost a confession. “But the more magic I had, the more danger arose, until I found myself trying to make a deal with the Shinigami."

If any of the horror Sakura feels is showing on her face, Shikako doesn't let that deter her.

"Unsurprisingly, the Shinigami is very good at making deals and somewhat overworked." Shikako's smile is wider now, more real. "I asked him for the world where all of my friends and family lived. He said I should make it myself."

"So now I'm Death's apprentice," she shrugs, almost casual about it even though the very concept is giving Sakura a headache. "Shikabane-hime, the Lady Cosmos, the Space-Time Witch, whatever," she lists, rolling her eyes, impossibly blasé about her various titles.

"It's not so bad, I guess. But I do miss my friends and family."

Finally, something Sakura can wrap her brain around! "Do you want me to tell them that, too?"

Shikako blinks, almost surprised, before she tilts her head. "Maybe? I mostly meant that, well... I know in this timeline I’m just a stranger, but it's nice to see you again, Sakura. And just in case you had any doubts: you were always destined for greatness."

A/N: If you couldn’t tell from this mess, it was supposed to be more xxxholic/CLAMP than Madoka Magica (which I haven’t actually watched) but from what little I know of the latter, I wouldn’t blame anyone for getting that sort of vibe. Don’t worry, it’s kinda a good ending. I mean, Shikako literally made a deal with multiple gods in order to make it so.

edit: I have come up with a title/tag for this

“meeting and incidents unraveled”

#jacksgreyson #anonymous #prompt response #wrting #fanfiction #could should actually fic #a softer ask box #dreaming of sunshine #naruto #xxxholic #sakura haruno #shikako nara #meeting and incidents unraveled

52 notes · View notes

anerdinallherglory · 4 years

Text

Approaching Sun (27)

Author’s Note: I am SO sorry about how long this chapter took to update. Taking on master’s classes on top of work has been a rough transition. The majority of this chapter had been planned and typed a long time ago, but it just took me ages to organize it, detail it, clean it up, and fluff it with a fork. For those of you who have contacted recently, (and I probably have yet to respond) this chapter is for you. Without your encouragement, who knows how much longer this chapter would have taken.

Forgive me. Hope you enjoy.

Pairing: SasuSaku

Previous Chapters: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26

Chapter 27: Confirmation

Sakura had fully intended on eavesdropping on Sasuke’s conversation with Satou; in fact, it was the only reason that Sakura had allowed the interaction to transpire between her patient and her teammate. After Sasuke had closed the door firmly behind her, Sakura had walked heavily down the hallway so her footsteps could be heard. Her next step was to take the stairs, walk silently up two floors, and listen in by opening the window directly above Satou’s. Sakura had noted that Satou’s patient room window had been cracked open. Surely her ninja skills would be well-adapted to a simple eavesdropping.

But that’s not what happened. Instead, as Sakura walked down the hall, she noted that her breathing was becoming short. Her chest was tightening considerably, a feeling that she dismissed at first to anxiety at the current situation. When she paused to consider it, Sakura tried to swallow past her itchy throat. A terrifying realization came over Sakura has she glanced down at her hands that held the freshly pulverized Ashuwa.

Shit.

Sakura covered the mortar, sprinted down the remainder of the hallway, and took a right. She held tightly to the Ashuwa despite the situation; she couldn’t afford to sacrifice what they had acquired in her state of panic. Sakura tried her best to remember the hospital’s layout; there was a drug storage room on every level, so thankfully Sakura wouldn’t have to take stairs in her compromised situation. Turning another corner, Sakura was relieved to finally stumble up to the door marked “薬” for medication. Placing the mortar of Ashuwa on the ground, Sakura managed to focus through her shortness of breath and perform the sign of the ram to channel her chakra to her palm. Placing it on the center of the door, Sakura nearly stumbled as the door received her chakra signature and swung open to grant her access to the room.

Sakura’s vision began to blur as she shuffled through the drawers and cabinets. She could barely read the itemized labels of the stored items. Don’t panic. Don’t panic. She felt lethargic and her throat was swelling quickly. She should have taken Mako’s warning more seriously. He had told her of the drug’s disuse in the medical environment due to many allergic reactions to it. This was what she had been testing earlier when she picked a generous pinch of Ashu from the ground and placing it in her mouth; however, her and Mako both had gotten distracted by the issue of Satou.

Sakura cursed at herself for being careless but felt confident in her approach. If only she could find the medicine. She narrowed her focus to the vials on the top shelf and coughed violently as she reached for one. Stumbling into the shelf resulted in several of them busting onto the ground. After locating the blue tagged bottle labeled “adrenaline,” Sakura threw open cabinet after cabinet until she found the drawer of packaged syringes. She was choking now, a fish out of water and she aimed the needle into the top of the bottle; her hands shook as she waisted even more time trying to draw the medicine into the plunger.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Sasuke was trying to outwalk Mako, who was smiling kindly and attempting to make small talk as they quickly made their way down the hall from Satou’s room. Sasuke thought if he could just stride quickly enough, Mako might take the hint and part ways with him.

Sasuke frowned at Mako’s prattling of, “I have to admit. I was concerned with the whole genjutsu approach, but I think that it might be pretty effective. That was brilliant!”

Sasuke stopped his break-neck pace and narrowed his eyes at the medic, scrutinizing him carefully. “What do you want?”

“What do you mean?” asked Mako innocently, crossing his arms behind him.

Sasuke debated Mako for a second. Here was a skilled shinobi of medicine, an assistant to his friend, and Sakura addressed him casually. This trip was the first occasion that Sasuke had ever met him, yet Mako recognized Sasuke’s attempt at genjutsu before he had even performed it. Perhaps he was knowledgeable of the sharingan; many people were. It was Sasuke’s past of constantly being targeted that had the Uchiha wary. Was this the reason Sasuke was inclined to distrust him, or was it the fact that Sakura was involved?

Sasuke clarified. “I want to know who you are and what you want.”

Mako laughed and smiled nicely. “Well, I am a medic ninja here at the Suna hospital. I have been appointed to assist Sakura-san during her stay with us. Kankuro was pretty adamant about it.”

“Hn.” Sasuke responded before walking forward again. Mako sped to catch up.

“Honestly,” he continued, “Sunagakure owes a lot to Sakura-san. You have probably heard this before, but we have advanced due to her and the Leaf’s medical supervision and instruction. We are something in her debt.”

Sasuke didn’t respond. Perhaps that was all there was to it. Sasuke supposed it made sense that Gaara and Kankuro would assign the most ambitious learner and fellow medicinal expert as Sakura’s assistant. Sunagakure wanted to take advantage of every lesson and tip available. Sakura’s discipline and dedication to the medical practice made her share a common interest with the professionals here. Not everyone always had some double meaning to their actions like most ninja in the shinobi world.

As Sasuke and Mako rounded the corner to the left, they paused as several people ran past them in the opposite direction, back toward the center of the third floor. One man who bumped into Mako’s shoulder turned to look at him in recognition, jogging backwards. “Code 10. Haruno-san.”

“Shit!” Mako cursed, chasing after the man who spoke. Sasuke didn’t know what “Code 10” meant, but to see a panicked response in connection to the name “Haruno” had Sasuke quickly following.

“What is it?” he demanded, matching Mako’s stride this time.

“Anaphylaxis” Mako said breathlessly as they rounded the final corner and nearly collided with several attendants outside a small room in the hallway. Someone was kneeling just outside the door and Sasuke couldn’t make out the questions they were asking before until he began to make his way through with Mako right on his heels.

When he came in line with the entrance, Sasuke froze. Sakura was on her back, broken glass surrounding her on a messy floor. A medic was kneeling down beside her and removing a syringe from her hand. “We need to get her into one of the rooms. Now.” Sasuke’s heart was racing as someone wheeled a gurney past him. Mako began pulling him away from the entrance to which Sasuke almost shrugged off.

Sakura’s pink head was closest to the door so Sasuke couldn’t get a good look at her face until they began lifting her onto the gurney and wheeled her past him. To Sasuke’s great relief, his medic friend was fully alert despite the hives across her face and swelling lips. When making eye contact with him, she raised her hand and waved awkwardly.

“Hey.” She said past swollen lips.

“Hey?!” Sasuke responded, irritation quickly replacing his concern. Was she serious?! Mako let out a surprised laugh at her casual greeting. Sasuke ignored him completely and began tailing the gurney as it rolled away with her.

“What the hell happened?” he asked her with pointed annoyance. After failing to mumble past her tomato mouth, Sasuke shook his head. “Nevermind.”

“I’ll explain,” Mako said from the other side of the swiveling table. Sasuke spent the next several minutes listening to Mako explain a basic understanding of anaphylaxis and staring disbelievingly at Sakura as they unloaded her onto a bed. They began to hook her up to an IV and other machinery that would monitor her pulse and blood pressure.

Mako continued his explanation, “Antihistamines are what comes next. Luckily, she responded to the epinephrine and doesn’t need intubation. We’ll have to monitor her for a few hours just to make sure she doesn’t have another episode.”

Sakura was nodding her blistered head in agreement at everything he said. Sasuke just glared at her.

“Why did you eat a plant you knew was toxic?” he asked crossly. She shrugged her shoulders, the only response she could really make at the moment.

“I should have stopped you, Haruno-san.�� Mako bowed. “It is all my fault.”

Sakura began shaking her head to dismiss Mako’s apology. Then she began to gesture for Sasuke to come over to her bedside. When he was close enough, Sakura pointed toward his hand.

“What?” he asked, looking down at it. My hand? What about it? He sure wasn’t going to hold her hand if that was what she was implying. Especially not in front of anyone.

A word made it past her lips but Sasuke didn’t understand it. “Hn?”

“Rath,” she repeated, still pointing. “Da ya hath a rath?”

“Oh,” Mako exclaimed. “You were handling the Ashuwa earlier, Sasuke. Do you have a rash on your hand?”

Ah. Sasuke’s hand was partially gloved except for his fingertips, which were unmarred. It had been approximately 30-45 minutes since Sasuke had even touched the plant. Sakura had sampled the herb 10 minutes before that, so it was too early to tell if Sasuke would have a similar reaction. He didn’t have a rash on his fingertips though.

Another physician handed Mako a familiar mortar and removed his disposable gloves after touching it. Mako immediately pinched a piece out of it and offered it to the Uchiha.

Sasuke responded with a glare as Mako continued to hold it out. “You’re not suggesting I eat that?”

“We need to make sure that you don’t develop a similar reaction, especially if you plan on using the chakra pills that Sakura is making.”

Sakura was mutely nodding in agreement and Sasuke annoyingly spat out toward her, “Why? You want me to end up looking like you?” Her nodding turned to shaking.

She followed with, “He’th ight. Eat wow you ah here.” Sasuke scoffed and blinked in disbelief at her communication efforts. How was she even talking?!

This was an absolute lunatic idea. She wanted the BOTH of them in hospital beds in this village while Gaara was away handling potential psychos that were after them? It was already a concern that she was incapacitated; Sasuke sure as hell wasn’t going into anaphylaxis too by choice.

“I’ll wait until you’re better,” he answered, shooing Mako’s hand away from his face. As he did so, Sasuke pointed at the door, ordering Mako to just go and check on Satou’s kid. Mako blinked at him in confusion before taking the hint and exiting with that same excuse.

When the silence grew thick between them, Sasuke took a casual stance against the wall next to Sakura’s bedside.

“Ya are wathing time,” Sakura began, looking guilty despite her swollen mouth as she tucked her hands beneath the covers and looked around at nonexistent people in the room; anywhere but at him. She was right. He was wasting time, and Sasuke mentally shook himself as he realized his indifference to that. He was trying to remind himself of his goal but in that moment, Sasuke’s feelings were outweighing that purpose.

He turned his back and peered out the small window at the darkening sky. He glanced back at her briefly before turning back to the window. “Are you okay?”

There wasn’t a reply which had the Uchiha worried and he turned to see her wide-eyed expression at his question. The face Sakura was making looked as if Sasuke had grown two heads. “I mean,” he added quickly, “with a mouth like that, it looks difficult to breath.”

She immediately covered her mouth and frowned at him, obviously embarrassed at his words. “I ah fine!” she shouted in embarrassment into her fingers and turned her head. Sasuke resisted the urge to smirk.

. . . . . . . . . . . . .

After the administration of the antihistamine, Sakura didn’t wait long before she began removing her own IV. She felt bad for the time that had been wasted today when she was supposed to be making the food pills. Sakura was just relieved that the Ashu had been tested before she gave Sasuke a drug that could potentially kill him.

“What are you doing?” Sasuke asked as she removed the monitor and turned off the flatlining machine before anyone came in at the sound. “They said it would be best to stay the night.”

“I’m ah do-ter” she told him. Yes, Sakura would have advised the same thing to her patients, but she was out of danger now and she felt anxious despite her drowsiness. She was troubling Sasuke enough by accompanying him on his mission. She didn’t want to get in his way; she was supposed to be making things easier.

Sasuke scoffed at her dismissive, mumbled declaration as she stood from the bed. She blinked heavily and managed to stand upright. It would still take a little bit of time for her to completely pass out from the side effects, so Sakura figured the time she had left awake could be spent productively.

The medic immediately went over to the cabinets and pulled out disposable gloves and a mask from the drawer. The mask would serve two purposes: 1) protect her from inhaling the Ashuwa as she worked and 2) hide her ridiculous “tomato” mouth as Sasuke referred to it. Ugh. Sakura could die from embarrassment.

“What are you doing now?” Sasuke grumbled irritably, following her as she moved. She immediately headed over to the mortar on the cabinet and pinched some of the yellow herb, skin protected from the substance thanks to the gloves.

“Eat.” She stated plainly. They couldn’t proceed further if Sasuke was likely to have a similar allergic reaction. Sakura would have to scrap their entire progress by disposing of the food pill batch. She would be back to square one and they would have to start all over by finding a new foundational herb with the correct properties to achieve the correct results.

“Forget it,” the Uchiha deadpanned before making to head for the door. Sakura caught hold of his hand, stumbling in the process and taking a hard fall on her knee. She winced visibly. That would bruise later. Sasuke immediately turned and helped her up and Sakura thanked her mask for hiding her blushing cheeks as well.

With the same hand Sasuke had offered, Sakura turned his palm up and placed the Ashuwa in his cupped fingers. “No time.”

Sasuke glared at her for what seemed like several minutes before reluctantly dumping it down his throat. They both knew he had to for his own sake.

Sakura nodded before trashing her gloves and retrieving a new pair. She couldn’t risk leaving traces around the hospital and anyone else coming into contact with the pollen if it was responsible for anaphylaxis. Mako had said that it was such a common reaction that they had stopped using it altogether.

Sakura halted in her steps, considered her plan, and decided to grab the entire box of disposable gloves. She handed Sasuke the mortar.

Sasuke gave her an expression that radiated annoyance but somehow was miraculously completely blank. If she could speak clearly in this moment, Sakura would have asked him how he managed that.

“Fowwo” she murmured through her mask-covered lips, pairing the word with a beckoning wave. “We’ll tesh your weaction why we wait.” She was shuffling out the door before Sasuke had the chance to say anything more.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Sasuke trailed his teammate from the room, carrying the mortar of Ashuwa he had ground up earlier that day. This was one of the few times in his life that Sasuke somewhat regretted his decision to refuse the artificial limb that Tsunade had made for he and Naruto. Sakura was walking with one arm against the wall for support and Sasuke’s one and only hand was currently occupied.

It was well after dark now and many of the staff members were busy attending overnight patients, so they weren’t stopped by anyone as Sakura found her way back to the medicine room, which was now cleaned of broken glass and everything back in its space. She reached up and grabbed several bottles of adrenaline and then dug through the drawer for syringes.

“Sakura,” Sasuke began as she dropped some of the things she was holding onto the floor. “You need rest. We can finish this later.”

“We hafe to wait for weaction anyway. Might as well make the pills.”

“I feel fine.” Sasuke reassured her. It was true. Time had passed enough for his fingertips to develop a rash if there was going to be a topical reaction. He had yet to show signs from consumption.

Sakura strode past him again, this time walking backwards to face him. He could make out a smile beneath her mask which somewhat irked the Uchiha. She seemed awfully cheery despite nearly dying from anaphylaxis. Sasuke concluded that it had to be the medicine making her drowsy.

“Turn around before you fall,” he grumbled. She laughed as she began to walk slowly up the stairs. He hurried up behind her and offered her his elbow which she took thankfully despite his huffed “So annoying.” Her laugh was her only response.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Sakura was practically nodding off as she watched Sasuke mix and prepare the batch of ingredients for the food pills. She felt relieved at finally seeing headway as Sasuke rolled the batter into 1-inch circular doses according to her instructions and placed them in the hospital’s oven. Sakura had tried to do so herself, but Sasuke had insisted she sit down to avoid screwing them up and risking their progress. Sakura allowed him to take the reins, praying desperately that the food pills would turn out and serve their purpose after such a hassle.

“Sasuke,” she whispered, immediately touching her lips behind the mask as she noticed the decrease in swelling. The ice Sakura had retrieved from icebox was doing its job.

“Hm?” he answered, trashing the latex glove he used to protect his skin and replacing his own. He turned to her then in the dim light, but Sakura couldn’t make out his expression because the only light in the room was a lamp over the counter workspace behind him. There was a shadow concealing his features and Sakura was too tired to try to make them out.

A lot easier now that her lips were shrinking, Sakura asked, “How are you? Any shortness of breath?”

“I’m fine,” he stated simply.

“Good,” she replied, thanking that ridiculous Uchiha blood of his for not reacting to the Ashuwa like her’s had. How ironic, Sakura thought, that even Sasuke’s genetics seemed to be working for him even in this circumstance. How superior he must feel.

Reclined across the small seating bench in the corner, Sakura placed her chin on her chest and inhaled the gentle night breeze that was coming from the opened window. It seemed to be the first night that the sand wasn’t trying to shatter the glass; to be honest, Sakura was surprised that the hospital windows even opened. Perhaps they were high enough on the fourth story to avoid the sand barrage.

Sasuke came to stand before her and Sakura blinked sleepily up at him in an antihistamine induced haze.

“Sleep,” the Uchiha before her ordered. “I’ll wake you when they’re done.”

Sakura wanted to argue that she could manage to stay awake for another 20 minutes while the chakra pills roasted, but she wasn’t that confident in her ability to do so. At most, she could manage maybe 5 more minutes if she concentrated hard enough. She wanted to ask Sasuke about the conversation he had with Satou.

“Sit with me,” she said, but it sounded more like a question. There was a minute of silence as Sasuke observed her. The bench wasn’t roomy, but Sakura was too drowsy to be apprehensive about their proximity. Sasuke must have not been either, because he sat and exhaled when he did so. Perhaps he was tired too.

. . . . . . . . . . .

Sasuke tried not to lean away from her as she settled into his side. He cursed her medicated self for such confidence in a small, darkened space. He counted down the time in his head; he would only have to stay seated here for 17 more minutes. For some reason, that time seemed both entirely too long and entirely too short.

“Satou,” Sakura began, reaching up to take off the medical mask on her face. Sasuke tried not to smirk at the lips that were still puckered despite having minimized in size. He blinked past the image to focus on her words.

“Hn,” he responded sourly, thinking of the man whose name had just been dropped between them like a heavy, unwanted stone. Sasuke didn’t particularly feel like talking about that man. He had, had enough of Satou for one day.

“How did it go?” his teammate probed politely despite being nosey.

“Fine,” he replied shortly, not wanting Sakura to find out about too many details. How would she react if she knew he had used his Sharingan on him? Probably not well. Sakura would continue to dig for more specifics if Sasuke didn’t bring an end to the topic promptly. “His son needs to be sent to Konoha.”

Sakura nodded, not seeming too surprised at Sasuke assessment. Perhaps she had been thinking similarly. “Thank you for talking to him.”

It wasn’t much of a talk, but Sasuke wasn’t going to tell her that, so he just responded again with a finalizing “Hn.”

Sasuke couldn’t help but jump when Sakura’s fingers touched his right hand. “Sasuke,” she began, almost in sleepy inquiry as she brushed his palm with her thumb and index. There was hopefulness in her voice and Sasuke cursed her medication again for her damn self-assurance.

“I..” she began, but Sasuke cut her off before she continued. Sasuke was almost absolutely certain that he knew which words would come next.

“Shh,” he replied, leaning comfortably into her side as his answer to her unspoken confession. “Just sleep.”

After a few breaths, and when Sakura’s head nodded onto his shoulder, Sasuke scooped up her hand into his, finding the courage to splay her fingers with his own and fasten them into place. Even when he would let her go in 15 minutes, Sasuke would lock the moment into his heart to last him the rest of his life.

. . . . . . . . . . . .

When he counted down to the last second in his mind, Sasuke counted a few extra seconds. And then a few more. He thought about letting the doses of chakra pills burn to a crisp in the oven, but he decided against it, reluctantly releasing Sakura’s hand and pulling away from her heavy head.

Making sure that Sakura wouldn’t wake, Sasuke silently rose, turned off the oven and retrieved the pills from inside. He placed them on the counter quietly and turned to lean against the counter. He watched Sakura’s sleeping form for a few minutes, considering if he should wake her as he promised or let her sleep longer. What was the possibility of sitting beside her and stealing a few moments more?

Sasuke knew he was playing a dangerous game. Tomorrow, the Uchiha would test the chakra pill nearby and he and Sakura both were aware of what would happen after that. With the issue of his chakra reserves addressed, he would return to the desert to attempt cross-connecting dimensions again. They both realized Sasuke couldn’t waste any more time.

And with that thought, Sasuke’s stern resolve slipped. He would distance himself later, he thought. He would put the space back between them tomorrow. Tonight, Sasuke wanted to be next to Sakura.

He sat back down beside her and softly took up her hand again. Just for a little while longer.

. . . . . . . . . . . .

Sakura woke in the middle of the night from the pain in her arched neck. She blinked past sleep and realized that she was folded into Sasuke’s side with her knees tucked and Sasuke’s head leaning against hers. Not only that, but Sakura froze as she realized her hand was entwined with Sasuke’s between them. The moment was fragile, and Sakura almost cried of joy and then heartbreak as it shattered when Sasuke responded to her shifting.

The weight of his head on hers lifted and Sakura tried not to grab desperately at him to keep him from moving. Instead, Sakura pivoted her eyes to his as his sleep faded and realization appeared on his face.

Sasuke released her hand and stood hurriedly, saying nothing despite how Sakura’s heart wanted answers. She wanted to know if this moment was genuine or if she had been the one to hold onto him in her sleep. Sakura wanted to believe desperately that Sasuke had allowed himself to be transparent for just a moment and had secretly revealed his true feelings for her by holding her as she slept. Had that been the case? Was she being too optimistic? This wouldn’t be the first time their hands had touched. Had he been supporting her as a friend, or did he feel something more? She had to know.

“Sasuke,” she began, but he cut her off for the second time that night.

“Good. You’re awake. Let’s go.” He declared, hastily placing the finished chakra pills in an open travel container on the counter.

Sakura stood then, heart racing and adrenaline pumping as she worked up the courage to come up behind him as he worked. She wasn’t going to confess this time. She was going to ask Sasuke if he had been confessing to her while she slept?

“Do you… love me?”

Sakura was almost certain that he stopped breathing altogether as he paused his task. The Uchiha took a minute to compose himself before exhaling. “When are you going to stop that?”

The statement was meant to be cold, but the fact that it came out so desperately low gave Sakura a rare feeling of hope despite the words. “When are you?” she responded calmly in a whisper.

“What?” he asked incredulously, finally turning to her.

She gradually took the last few steps between them and stood carefully in front of him. “When are you going to stop pretending that you have no feelings for me?”

Sakura expected a scoff, a ridicule, but what she got in return was painful fear in Sasuke’s usually expression-less eyes.

It was true, she realized. Sasuke did have feelings for her. There had been so many signs, but Sakura had been unsure about all of them until this very moment. But what had just passed between them was confirmation. Sakura almost lost her breath at the realization.

“You’re mistaken,” finally came the blunt retort, but it was too late.

Sakura was already closing the inches between them. Her fingers were already brushing his cheeks as she brought his face to hers. She hesitated. Just for a second. Just long enough for him to pull away from her. But Sasuke barely took a breath before Sakura touched her lips to his.

#approaching sun #sasusaku #sasuke and sakura #sasukeshinden #sakura hiden #Sasuke Uchiha #Sakura Haruno #ssfanfiction #sasusakufanfiction #blank period #naruto #naruto fanfiction

104 notes · View notes

ssa25 · 4 years

Text

Scorched - Dancing with the Devil - Sasuhina Month 2020 - Day 3

Rating: Rating T

Warning: Morally grey Sasuke; Not a romantic story

“If you dance with the devil, then you haven’t got a clue, for you think you’ll change the devil, but the devil changes you.” ― J.M. Smith, If You Dance with the Devil...

Her tired grey eyes disinterestedly drifted over the faint cracks in the wall, over and over again. She had turned her body away from her deskmate, who until a few minutes back, was trying to make small talk with her. Small talk that she didn't have the patience to indulge in today.

She looked at the occupied benches ahead of her, and found mostly everyone chatting, wiling away their time until Prof. Hatake deemed fit to grace them with his presence. He was notorious for being late to classes while not tolerating tardiness in his pupils. The clock on the wall showed that it was already 15 minutes past 11.

"Hey… um... Are you hurt??", she heard Ren, her deskmate speak to her.

She glanced down her hand to find the long sleeves of her black top had rolled up a little to show her pale wrists. In all its undecorated splendour, except for the harsh red chafing marks on them. She chose not to answer the guy and pulled the sleeves down to her palms to hide the proof of the night before.

She had seen this guy only a few times before. He was supposedly new (because he naively sat beside her), and probably smart (judging by his attendance in an advanced lit class).

“I’m sorry.. I didn’t mean to be nosy…”, he said apologetically. He paused for a few seconds before he began again, “I’ve noticed that you always sit by yourself, so I thought of accompa-“

The doors slid open with a loud band against the frame, interrupting the new guy. The whole classroom got quieter too. Those were enough clues for her to know that it was not the Professor. In spite of her racing heart, her eyes looked up to find Uchiha Sasuke staring at her with a less than pleased expression. Her hands grew clammy as she turned her head away from him quickly.

Everyone stared at Sasuke as he climbed up the steps towards her. He was the only person in the whole university that could make the highest authorities quake in their boots. Sole heir to a massive multinational empire, no one could tell him what to do. His story was tragic, his family buried six feet under. Some sympathized with him, others were wary of him. He attended classes whenever he liked, he also walked out of them on a whim. No one could stop or reprimand him. Especially when the Uchiha made the biggest donation to the University every year. His circle of friends included the most dangerous, most loyal and fearless youngsters that roamed the streets of Tokyo.

He stopped right in front of her deskmate. “You’re new here.”, he stated instead of questioning.

The new guy gave a nervous laugh and nodded. His eyes trailed over his inked arm. “I am. I just transferred here a few weeks back! Name’s Ren.”

Sasuke tilted his head and said calmly, “Get the f*ck out of my seat Ren.”

“Y-your seat? But I have never seen you in this class before today?!”, Ren replied with as much guts as he could muster.

Sasuke did not bother replying but fixed him with a glare that made the guy break into a sweat.

Ren turned to Hinata, but she pretended to be unaffected by the exchange that the whole room witnessed.

Afraid to meddle any further with him, Ren quickly picked his books and moved away. Sasuke slid into the seat and sat close to Hinata. He glowered at the onlookers, making them turn away from the couple.

“I thought I asked you to stay put in my room…”, he commented gravely. “Why don’t you ever listen to me?”

Hinata gritted her teeth but refused to look his way. When she spoke, her voice was low but firm, “And I told you yesterday that I did not want to do this anymore.. That I don’t wish to be your girlfriend anymore… But you didn’t listen to me either.”

Sasuke did not even respond to her complaint, but simply pulled her forearm and bared her wrists to see the damage. He tutted disapprovingly, “You struggled too much.”

Hinata was not even surprised to see him blatantly ignore the fact that he was the one who tied her up to his bedpost after their argument.

He never abused her physically, but the emotional turmoil she went through in the last three months of being his girlfriend was getting to her. He was excessively controlling and possessive, and gave her very little leeway to make her own life decisions. He was dark, dangerous and brooding with the most complex temperament.

Few days back, when she overheard Suigetsu talking to Karin about Sasuke picking out a ring to propose, she grew pale with worry. It was too soon and she was not ready for any commitments, not when she had been having serious doubts about their relationship.

She gathered courage to break up with him, before the situation grew out of control. But he had dismissed her idea, and instead informed her that he planned to marry her, soon after their graduation which was in a few months. She tried to plead him to see reason. But he was firm in his decision and he restrained her when she tried to get away from him.

“Ah, I must inform you… I have fired your dear old Mrs. Sato.”, his voice broke her from her reverie.

Hinata was shocked by his admission. The kind widow was Sasuke’s housekeeper and her saviour that morning. She had taken a huge risk and helped Hinata out of her bindings while Sasuke was taking a shower. Hinata felt guilty because she pleaded with the woman to help her when she came into the room unannounced.

“Why? She did nothing wrong!!”, Hinata said with tears in her eyes. The poor woman probably had nowhere to go.

“Because I detest it when my own people betray my trust…”, he said with zero emotion. “Besides, don’t act like you didn’t know the consequences of your action… You knew it would make me angry, but you still did it… You still wanted her to free you, despite knowing that she would be collateral damage… Hinata, you are more similar to me than you think…”

Hinata was quiet and unable to deny his accusation. She did know that Sasuke would be enraged at Mrs. Sato, but she had never expected him to dismiss her completely.

“I’m the one who should face the consequences, not her.”, she said regretfully.

“People have to be held accountable for their actions… That is what I believe in.”

“Then push me away too… Why do you insist on keeping me?”, she asked him bitterly.

“You are the only exception to the rule, my dear. I plan to keep you by my side, until one of us is on our last breath.”

His words, that sounded like a promise, sent a chill down her spine. She feared not for her life, but for her sanity.

Calling their relationship toxic would be an understatement. And she was fast losing hope of ever getting even a shred of normalcy back in her life.

Prof. Hatake entered leisurely into the classroom right then, and commanded attention from the students.

“Ah, who do we have here?”, the professor looked in their direction and smiled from behind his mask.

Sasuke appeared unperturbed by the mocking glint in the professor’s eyes. That man was his legal guardian until he turned 18, but he was quick to sever relations with him once he became an adult.

“I never knew Uchiha Sasuke had changed his major from Economics to English Lit!!”, Kakashi commented on a lighter note, but his words had an edge that no one missed.

“Mind your own business Kakashi.”, Sasuke sneered at him.

The students gasped at his incivility, but Kakashi only laughed, as if he was used to insolency from the resident bad boy. Hinata bowed her head to be inconspicuous.

As Professor Hatake started his lesson, Hinata despaired for her bleak future. But she could not blame anyone but herself.

What had she been thinking, she wondered. Why had she ever agreed to go out with him? Why did she let his constant persuasion in the past, bend her will to stay away from him? Had she been so weak to his charms that she had outrightly ignored the alarming rumours about him?

Was it some form of misguided sympathy for him? Or was it some foolish notion in her mind that she could change him? She had been naive and clueless. Because in the end, it was she who had changed.

Hinata swallowed uneasily. She had to get away from Tokyo, because the whole city was his playground. She absolutely had to run away from the devil in disguise. For now, she was only scorched, but she had to save herself from being completely incinerated.

a/n: Was that too much? I really wanted to write something like this, but I feel like I didn’t do it justice.

#SasuHina #sasuhinamonth2020 #shmonth2020

53 notes · View notes

isolavirtuosa · 4 years

Text

Starting Over (For Real?) 49-50 (complete)

[fanfiction] NaruSasu

Read the previous parts here. This is it, thanks for reading!

- 49 -

“Okay, well that’s a God Tree,” Sai observed, looking up at the huge tree looming over us that had grown up through the kazekage’s office.

I picked up Naruto’s forehead protector from the ground. Rather, my old forehead protector. My sharingan flashed, looking around everywhere.

He wasn’t here.

“I’ve seen you before.”

Orochimaru’s brother was.

Sai took a defensive position.

Kamenosuke floated down to the ground in front of us. “I think we’re here for the same purpose.”

This man was still an anomaly. I knew that he was half-noble and half-ninja, and that Orochimaru had forced him to eat the chakra fruit against his will as part of an experiment. He seemed to want to destroy the God Trees and those who allowed them to flourish, and that was probably what we were here to do as well. “That depends.”

“Then maybe I should take care of you,” he said, raising his finger.

“We’re here to destroy that,” Sai interjected, pointing to the God Tree.

Kamenosuke looked us both over slowly, like he was a man who had nothing to fear from two known assassins staring him down. “Very well.”

There were several pods dangling from the tree. “I’m cutting them down,” I said, nodding my head towards them. I felt like I was asking permission, which pissed me off to no end.

“I’ll take out the seed,” he said.

“Okay then,” I said.

We looked at each other, then we both moved off to our tasks.

“Uchiha, what is a seed?” Sai whispered.

“I have no fucking idea,” I whispered back, cutting down the first pod.

“I thought Orochimaru told you everything.”

“Orochimaru told me everything that was convenient for him to tell me.”

“You’re not whispering as quietly as you think you are,” Kamenosuke said, suddenly right behind us.

“We don’t have any secrets to keep,” I said, continuing on to the next branch and cutting down another pod.

“You’re talking about the man I’m going to kill like you’re awfully intimate,” he said, not moving any closer but following me with his eyes.

“I’m the only person who has ever almost killed Orochimaru, so…” I trailed off, cutting down the last of the pods.

“So you’re Uchiha Sasuke.”

I dropped down to the ground and sheathed my sword. “Correct.”

“You know what he’s doing, then?” he asked. “Creating these God Trees? Sowing chaos for the sake of his experiments?”

“I do.”

“And you are… opposed to it?”

“I am.”

Kamenosuke dropped to the ground and approached the trunk of the tree. Then he smashed his fist through the wood and pulled out a… person…? “I’m not sure that I believe you.”

Sai shifted beside me. His face was blank, but I could feel the slight increase in his pulse.

“Did he send you here to find me?” Kamenosuke asked.

“Not explicitly, but seeing as how we’re meeting here right after I spoke with him, it’s probably not a coincidence,” I said evenly.

“And what did you talk about with my sicko brother?”

“He told me his plans for world domination and tried to steal my body for his vessel as per usual,” I said with a shrug. I hoped my sociopathic honesty was winning him over.

“And what did he say about me?”

“That you were an experiment in how consuming a chakra fruit would affect a person of noble and ninja blood.”

“And…?”

I looked him in the eye. “That’s all.”

Kamenosuke pushed his fist into the shriveled white body’s chest cavity and pulled out… a chakra fruit? “Maybe you should think a little more carefully about who you spend your time with.”

I continued to meet his gaze.

“This is how he makes the God Trees,” he said, throwing the body at me.

I dodged it, landing on one of the branches of the withering tree.

“I won’t be next,” he informed me, swallowing the chakra fruit whole and then disappearing.

Sai breathed out heavily.

“Were you scared?” I teased him.

“Fucking yes I was scared,” he growled. “Did you feel his power? I spend all day around you and Naruto’s monstrous chakra, and you two are nothing compared to him.”

“No need to exaggerate,” I said, dropping down beside him.

Sai looked at me.

He wasn’t exaggerating.

I inspected the ‘seed’ that Kamenosuke had thrown at me. There was no life left in what had once been a man’s body. “Let’s finish this and find Naruto,” I said, cutting open the first pod. Not that I was worried about what I would find inside.

It was the Council.

“Looks like you really can’t trust the enemy of your enemy,” Sai commented as he opened the last one. “We can just leave them here, right?”

“Obviously,” I said.

“So we don’t need to…?” he said, drawing a finger across his neck.

“They’ll die of old age soon enough,” I said.

Sai smiled at that, wide and genuine.

I wasn’t sure if he liked the joke or he liked the fact that we’d both agreed not to assassinate our enemies. “This way,” I said, nodding my head in the direction where I could feel Naruto’s chakra.

Suna, one of the last bastions of civilization, was a mess. The God Tree had wreaked havoc on the buildings nearby, and there had clearly been another bombing attack since the one before we left.

And then there was the battle raging outside of the walls.

Non-ninjas, armed with muskets, bow and fire arrows, and explosives were trying to fight an army of ninjas. They were holding their own more than I would like to admit.

“Fucking normals,” I muttered, throwing up Susanoo.

Sai flew along beside me. “It’s very convenient when looking for your boyfriend that he glows like a Christmas tree,” he commented.

“It is very convenient,” I agreed, watching my glowing boyfriend leading the charge.

“Are you going to turn away from genocidal rage and not raze those hapless mortals?” Sai asked. “We’re following the path of non-violence?”

“Oh, no, we’re very violent,” I said. “We don’t need to kill the morons, though. Just rough them up a bit.”

“And what exactly brought about this beneficent change of attitude?”

I ignored him and plowed into battle.

It wasn’t what I expected.

“It’s a coalition,” Temari said, riding up beside me on her weird weasel-looking summon. “The daimyo’s of the Five Countries roused up anti-ninja sentiment and built an army.”

“So they’re blaming us for the destruction from the God Tree?”

“Yes.”

“The famine?”

“Definitely.”

“Anything else?”

“They seem to think that we’re the ones subjugating them into their peasant lifestyles.”

“Certainly not the lavishly-living daimyos.”

“Certainly not.”

“Okay then,” I said, diving back into the fray.

They were better equipped and holding up better against our jutsu than I expected, but as soon as Naruto was next to me, our fingers linked, it was all over.

We put every single one of them to sleep.

Hopefully.

“It worked, right?” Naruto said, tilting his head to the side nervously.

“They’re still breathing,” Ino called up to us.

“It worked!” Naruto said, turning to me happily.

“Of course it worked,” I said, like an untested mass jutsu would surely never fail.

“Hi,” he said, bumping my forehead with his.

“Hi,” I said, almost smiling. “You dropped this,” I added, pulling out his forehead protector and smacking him with it.

“I was fleeing a God Tree,” he protested, taking it and sheepishly tying it back on.

“So what are we supposed to do with them?” Shikamaru called, gesturing to the hundreds of passed out people.

“Uhh, we didn’t get that far,” Naruto offered with a shrug. “And they’re probably going to be awake in less than five minutes.”

There was a scramble to collect their weapons, then we went back behind the wall and locked the gate.

“Just let me talk to them and I’ll make them understand,” Naruto said.

“No,” I said flatly. “We need to get out of here.”

“But I mean, if we can end this nonsense with one of Naruto’s stupid speeches…” Temari interjected.

“They’re not stupid!” Naruto cried, aghast.

Everyone looked away.

“Dammit, I have speechified all of you to a better life, and this is what I get in return?!”

“We need to go,” I repeated.

“But everything here is… and they’re out there all confused and…” Naruto said, looking around frantically.

“You did what you could,” I said. “This isn’t your mess anymore.”

It took more persuading than I thought was necessary, but it was finally decided that Temari would go meet with the Council and officially break ties with Suna, and we would all set out for…

We didn’t really know where we were going. All we knew was that we weren’t going to be a part of the hidden villages anymore.

“You know that army is still out there,” Ino pointed out as we moved towards the gate.

“Okay, but they don’t have any weapons so what can they even do?” I scoffed.

“I’ll make them understand that we’re not enemies, that we’re on the same side!” Naruto said determinedly.

About thirty seconds into his attempt to win over the non-ninjas, they started throwing sand in our eyes.

Various animals were summoned, transport jutsus were performed, and we all left Suna behind in a cloud of dust.

“My speech failed…” Naruto muttered, lost in a fog of depression as we set up our tent for a night of camping in the desert.

“They weren’t ready to hear it,” I offered.

He gave me a pathetic look.

I chucked him in the arm. “Man up. You’re the leader now.”

“It’s very manly to make speeches and express your emotions openly.”

I looked at him. “Fine,” I said, which was as close as I was getting to agreeing to that kind of statement.

“Naruto-san, can you help us with this?” some ninja I’d never seen before called out.

“Sure,” he said, smiling easily and going over to him.

I looked around the camp that we had set up. There was well over a hundred ninjas here, from all the major villages.

Revolution.

I put the word out of my head and climbed into the tent, rolling out our sleeping bags.

Naruto came back after a while, yawning and rubbing the back of his neck.

I was running on empty, already curled up in my sleeping bag and half-asleep.

Naruto settled in beside me, then held his arm out, looking hopeful.

I grumbled and rolled into him.

He sighed contentedly as he snuggled me close.

“So what happened?” I asked, eyes closed as I listened to the steady thumping of his heart.

“Exactly what you think happened,” he said ruefully.

“The Council let the normals in to make those attacks against us, then the normals turned on them and planted a God Tree in the middle of the fucking kazekage’s office?”

“Yep.”

“But you stayed and helped them calm the chaos of the mess they made for themselves?”

“You could put it that way.”

I was quiet, splaying my hand over his chest. Everywhere we touched felt like an anchor.

He brushed my bangs away from my forehead and pressed a lingering kiss there. “This is the right thing to do.”

“Wow, you’ve just decided it’s the right thing without second-guessing it every five seconds?” I teased.

“Yep, I’m a confident man sure in his convictions,” he informed me, tucking my head under his chin.

“So even though we have an army of ninjas with no food and nowhere to go…?”

“We’ll figure it out.”

“And the daimyos have convinced all the normals that ninjas are a danger to society?”

“We can change their minds.”

“And all the establishment ninjas want us dead…?”

“We’re stronger than them.”

I shifted to look up at him, unable to hide my smile. “You seem different.”

“Good different?” he asked, smiling back.

“Good different,” I agreed. “You’re in control,” I said, letting my hand slide up to cup his cheek.

He smiled back at me, covering my hand with his own. “I know what’s right and I know what’s wrong, so I’m just going to keep doing the right thing no matter what it costs.”

Fuck, I loved this man and it was destroying me.

“What’s this?” he asked, poking at the wrinkle in my brow.

I looked at him. “And what if…?”

He waited.

“What if I’m what’s wrong?”

He didn’t even hesitate. “Then I’ll make you right.”

I let my head drop back to his chest. “You seem confident that you could actually do that.”

“Of course I could,” he said.

“I have to tell you something.”

“Tell me.”

I wished he wouldn’t answer me so readily. I needed time to think, to gather my thoughts.

Or maybe I just didn’t need to think at all.

I told him what happened at Orochimaru’s. Every last detail of it.

“I think I might want that,” I said quietly. “I might want to take a chakra fruit from him, no matter what I have to pay him in return. I want that power. I hate knowing that there is someone out there who’s stronger than me, I hate it. I…”

Naruto sat up suddenly, taking me with him. He wrapped himself around me and it felt like he was sheltering me from the world. “We’ll figure it out,” he promised gently.

“I’m toxic, Naruto,” I whispered to him. “I’m your Achilles heel. I’ll destroy everything you’ve worked so hard to build just for more power.”

“We’ll figure it out,” he repeated more firmly. He didn’t deny anything I’d said, but it seemed like he really thought that we could overcome it, that we could overcome anything.

“You can’t trust me,” I whispered, feeling small and fragile.

“Of course I can,” he said, holding me tighter. “You don’t keep things from me anymore.”

I swallowed. Didn’t I keep things from him? Didn’t I lie to him?

But if I really thought about it, he was right. I didn’t do that anymore. If he asked me anything right now, I’d answer him as truthfully as I could. I’d always have my pride and I might not express myself clearly, but I wouldn’t lie. Not to Naruto.

I realized that I trusted him. Completely.

I’d chosen to trust him.

I’d chosen him, I’d chosen this life, and for better or for worse I was going to see it through.

“Okay,” I said.

He rubbed his hand up and down my back, firm but soothing. “Okay, what, love?”

“Just okay,” I said.

He sighed and agreed, “Okay.”

And then I cried.

Naruto got us settled back into our sleeping bags, keeping me close and murmuring soothing nonsense at me.

I wanted to stop. I didn’t want to reveal my last card to him. That I was a broken a little boy who was nothing but weak and useless. That every last part of me was calculated to hide what I really was. That I was scared. That I was fragile. That one word from someone I loved could destroy me.

But Naruto already knew.

Maybe in some ways, he was the same.

But he’d figured it out. He’d made it his strength.

I was exhausted.

“Hey, Sasuke?” he said quietly.

“Mm?” I asked, almost asleep.

“I know where we’re going to go.”

And somehow it seemed like as long as Naruto had a plan, everything would be all right.

- 50 -

“Why does it always have to be a fucking boat?” I muttered, watching as our merry band of misfits boarded the ship we’d found on the coast of Hot Water.

“How else do we get to an island?” Sai asked cheerfully.

“I’m with Uchiha, fuck boats,” Ino said, draping her arm over my shoulder.

I glared at the offending appendage. We were definitely not close enough for physical proximity.

She just grinned at me.

Sakura came up on my other side, slinging her arm around me as well. “Let’s get a move on.”

Why weren’t girls scared of me anymore? It was so irritating.

We boarded the crowded boat, and I took up my usual position beside Naruto.

He flashed me a grin before climbing onto the rails and turning to address the crowd. “Hey, everyone!”

Voices slowly quieted as everyone turned their attention to him.

“So I just wanted to thank you all for your patience and your commitment,” he said. “It hasn’t been easy the last few months, moving from village to village, being constantly hunted. It would be easy to give up. It would be easy to just give in to the status quo and go back to mindlessly following the orders of the kages and the daimyos.”

“Fuck Hyuuga!” someone yelled, and I couldn’t hold back my smirk. Hyuuga Hiashi had to be the shittiest hokage that Konoha had ever chosen, and they had chosen some pretty shitty hokages.

“So,” Naruto continued, shooting me a look, “I just want you to know that your sacrifices haven’t gone unnoticed. And I can’t promise you that it will be all good times from here. But we have a home now. Temari and her team have been working tirelessly to make sure we have food and shelter when we arrive there. This isn’t going to be easy, and anyone who wants to leave needs to know that they can, at anytime, with no repercussions. What we’re building here is a village where everyone can live freely. It’s about choices. It’s about transparency. It’s about doing the right thing. If you think that’s what the future of the world should be, then let’s set sail!”

I rolled my eyes at his corniness and offered him my hand to jump back down to the deck.

He grinned at me.

“Uzukage!” someone called out, and it quickly became a chant that the entire crowd took up. “Uzukage! Uzukage!”

“Guys, cut it out!” Naruto protested, embarrassed. “No more kages, right?”

“No more shitty kages!” someone offered, which was met with a chorus of laughter.

Naruto turned his head away, looking out to the open sea.

I could see the tears pricking at his eyelids.

He swallowed them back, and turned to face the crowd again. “This is the start of something new, okay? To the Land of Whirlpools!”

“To the Land of Whirlpools!” the crowd echoed, and the boat started to move.

Naruto rested his arms on the railing, watched the horizon.

“So we’re finally doing this,” I said.

“Yeah,” he said softly, his eyes faraway.

I pressed my side to his subtly.

He pressed back, his expression softening. “Thank you,” he said quietly. “This wouldn’t be happening without you.”

“It wouldn’t be happening without you,” I said, rolling my eyes.

“I guess we come in set.”

I shook my head and tried to not be embarrassed by his lameness.

“Hey, bromos, what are you doing?” Sai asked, inserting himself between us.

“Having a nice moment, ruined by you,” Naruto said, elbowing Sai in the side.

“What?” Sai said with fake shock. “But Best Friend Naruto, how could any moment be ruined by the inclusion of a trusted friend and confidant?”

“Really, Sai?” Naruto asked exasperatedly. “Because if I have to tell you again how incredibly wrong your insistence on calling us your ‘bromos’ is…”

“Sasuke, you are needed below deck,” Juugo said as he approached.

“What is it?” I asked.

“Suigetsu and Karin have gotten into another… altercation.”

I frowned. “I thought you could handle them.”

He gave me a pained look. “I’ve done my best.”

“I know,” I said, taking pity on him. “Okay, let’s go.”

He nodded, leading the way to my obnoxious team.

Everything wasn’t perfect, but I’d never felt more sure that this was the life I was supposed to be living. It was the life I had chosen.

It was the dream that I had chosen.

I glanced over my shoulder before descending below deck. The moon had risen early, a jagged white rock in the sky with no traces of the Infinite Tsukuyomi.

I knew there wouldn’t be, because I didn’t want there to be.

This was my dream now.

#narusasu #isola start #hot off the presses literally just finished editing

6 notes · View notes

365daysofsasuhina · 4 years

Text

[ 365 Days of SasuHina || Day Three Hundred Eight: Servitude ] [ Uchiha Sasuke, Hyūga Hinata ] [ SasuHina ] [ Verse: A Light Amongst Shadows ] [ AO3 Link ]

When you’re young, some established norms in your life that - to anyone else - may appear strange or even wrong can be hard to realize yourself. You grow up in an environment that’s all you know. Has always been the way you know it. And only by taking in outside stimuli and opinions can you start to form your own beyond what you’ve always known.

For Hinata...her suspicions began earlier than most that something was very, very wrong with her clan.

Neji, her dear cousin and playmate when very young, took a sudden turn for the worse after her third birthday. Hinata, so new to the world, had difficulty understanding precisely why. But the next time she saw him, the strange mark upon his brow was a stark difference...as well as the cold, hollow look in his eye.

“This is the legacy of the Hyūga, Hinata,” Hiashi had told her, a hand on her shoulder as she peered to him in question. “This seal is what has protected our bloodline and its secrets for centuries. The branch clan will always serve the main house...to keep us safe.”

Young and impressionable, Hinata hadn’t wholly questioned it...but nor has she fully understood it. The house hierarchy was something her young mind had yet to comprehend.

And yet...even then, part of her knew that anything to bring such an expression to Neji’s face was something she did not like.

As she grew, Hinata began to notice more and more things about the Hyūga that struck her as odd at best...and horrifying at worst. In the Academy, no one knew what she meant by branch house. The other clan children assured her there was no such thing in their bloodline. When Hinata asked how they kept their kekkei genkai or secrets safe, none had an answer...but nor did any admit to having such a stark line drawn through their clans.

The first time she saw Hiashi use the Caged Bird seal against Neji...she almost threw up. Seeing him suddenly so helpless, so pained, so eager for death to make it stop...her horror was only outweighed by her shock. Only once he deemed his nephew properly subdued did Hiashi release the technique, Neji left drooling and twitching on the dojo floor before being hauled away to his room to recover by other branch clan Hyūga.

She didn’t sleep for over a week after that, haunted by the contorted misery in her cousin’s face.

...no wonder he hated them.

Years passed, and the servitude expected of the branch clan Hyūga began to disgust her. While there was no punishment so long as one was obedient - and most of them seemed to know their place - the fact that they could be treated so poorly was bad enough...let alone that they were literally servants to other members of their own clan…!

Bringing her concerns to Hiashi, however...did more harm than good.

“You dare to question our ways…?” he’d retorted, tone dangerously quiet and foretelling of punishment. “The Hyūga have relied on that seal to keep our eyes safe for generations! Without it, the Byakugan and its secrets would be known across the continent!”

“B-but...the punishment -?”

“Is meant to keep those of lower, thinner blood in their place,” Hiashi had cut in, eyes narrowing. “To maintain order...force must often be used. Remember, Hinata...you are of the purest Hyūga breeding. This makes you fortunate...and there are those within our clan who would take that fortune from you if given the chance.”

She didn’t believe it.

Not once had she ever felt animosity from her clan save for her cousin’s thinly-veiled hatred of the main house. All she’d ever felt was a tired, somber acceptance. If any of the other Hyūga truly wished to take her place, to usurp the main house...they hid it well.

Early on, Hinata had secretly, silently promised herself one thing: that, when she became head of the Hyūga clan...the seal would be discontinued, no matter what lengths she had to go to.

...but her hesitation about the seal wasn’t the only weakness her father saw in her. Before even becoming a genin, Hinata was stripped of her title, which was given instead to her younger sister.

Every dream she’d had about ridding the clan of the seal was stolen that day...and could only be regained by reclaiming that title.

And though it was a major factor, it wasn’t the only thing that saw her determined to get stronger. Naruto, her idol, would quickly grow to outmatch her, getting further and further ahead once they became genin. And the longer he kept his back to her...the more Hinata realized...he would never see her as she saw him.

But her determination remained. She would get stronger…! If not for Naruto, if not for her title...then for herself. And someday...she would confront her clan, even if she never regained her position as heiress. Because she had made up her mind after Neji nearly killed her with the fires of his hate:

Enough was enough.

The gap between Naruto’s departure and return saw her train with her cousin nearly every day, even on the days when she would also have sessions to work with her team. Once-dainty hands became calloused from Jūken strikes against the wooden training logs. Baby fat slowly stripped away until her round face became more heart shaped. Though her build remained rounded, it was accented with muscle. Her Byakugan range reached ten kilometers. She pushed her limits of the Hakke. And after the Uzumaki’s return, she created and mastered her own technique, Jūho Sōshiken.

In those few years, under Neji’s tutelage - the genius of the branch clan - Hinata flourished...and edged closer to her goal.

...which made his death all the more heart shattering.

She’d made her choice. Even if Naruto couldn’t see her...he was too precious to lose. Both for her personally, and for the sake of their world. Hinata was ready to die for him. And yet, despite his fate being told to him as a boy...Neji embraced it not out of duty, but of a genuine will to protect his cousin when he took those mokuton shards through the chest, and died in the village hero’s arms.

...like father, like son.

Though she was exhausted, and in pain, and grieving more than words could say...Hinata pressed on with a lioness’ ferocity, helping to tear through the enemy until they overwhelmed her...and she was lost in her dream.

And then...the war was over.

But her fight had just begun.

Hanabi was still heiress. In truth, Hinata no longer wanted the position. The war had changed her perspective so drastically...she felt without direction. Save for one thing: to change her clan, for good...for the better.

But it wouldn’t be easy.

The aid of an old friend saw Neji revived, seal conquered. Hiashi, attempting to better himself, embraced his nephew fully, and agreed to help him and his daughters begin fighting back against the seal’s implementation.

At last...the branch clan’s future began to brighten.

And she felt...at peace.

...in part.

For Hinata, there was still something...missing. She had accepted the shape of Naruto’s heart, so different from her own. It would take time to do so fully...but no longer would she chase him as she had. What it meant to be a shinobi, however...she was no longer sure. Their entire world was shifting...and she had no idea how to keep up.

...but she found that in the last place she expected.

Uchiha Sasuke was, in many ways, a mystery...and yet, in others, she understood him better than most given their almost eerie parallels. It was that, coupled with her heightened understanding, that made her the champion among their year to welcome him back and do so without hesitation or wariness. In many ways, she knew his struggles, if only in a different light.

So when he, too, fought for change...she helped him, arranging for the Hyūga to ally themselves with the last Uchiha, and bring the massacre to light at long last.

And then, he repaid her...though he really had no intention to with what he’d done.

Reviving the police force with the Hyūga clan’s help was meant to help ensure that such shadows would never again choke their village. And as Sasuke explained his plan, wanting to earn her approval, Hinata felt his meaning in her bones: to work within their village to keep peace, connect with the villagers, and help keep darkness at bay.

It called to her...and so she joined: a public servant to the people. Fitting, she thought. Shinobi and their place were changing. And her doubts about her role only made her all the more sure that this would be the path to take. And alongside another champion of an oppressed clan, she would serve her village proudly.

Of course...her new career and friendship led to something else completely unexpected, getting closer to Sasuke in a way she’d never thought to. But sometimes, things just...fit.

Her road was long, and difficult...but in the end, it brought her right where she needed to be.

.oOo.

First let me say that if this is a lil...off, that's my bad. It's very late and I had to deal with some severe tooth pain, so I'm a liiil bit out of it compared to my usual self, so...this might be a little...well, off, lol - hence why it's more introspective than actually...narrative. idk, I'm very tired and really just ready to crash. One thing I despise about the canon ending is the complete lack of address given to certain issues. Foremost is the Uchiha massacre just being...swept under the rug despite ALL of team seven knowing the truth. But a close second is the Hyūga clan and their abuse of the branch house being COMPLETELY ignored, even after Neji's (unnecessary) sacrifice, and Naruto's promise to change them. We even see Hiashi - Mr. Abandon-his-daughter-and-abuse-his-nephew - supposedly embrace his half-blood grandkids, who would NORMALLY be given the seal. But otherwise, to my knowledge...nothin'. I'm disappointed, Naruto. So, in my lil version of things (which I'm currently overhauling, so...bear with me lol), Hinata puts her heckin' foot down cuz THAT AIN'T GONNA FLY with her around. So...yeah, lol Anywho, I'm...on the verge of passing out, so that's it from me. Thanks for reading!

#sasuhina #uchiha sasuke #hyūga hinata #a light amongst shadows [ canon verse ]#365daysofsasuhina

13 notes · View notes

kusunokihime · 4 years

Text

::: DO NOT REBLOG. Anyone who does will be hardblocked :::

[ While little attention is given to Mikoto’s feelings about the coup in canon, I headcanon her thoughts concerning it to be...complex.

First, concerning the clan’s history:

It’s made clear that, since the founding of Konoha, the Uchiha have been - at times slightly, at times majorly - ostracized by other parts of the village. The lingering distrust between them and the Senju - who, for as long as Konoha has existed, have maintained major power while the Uchiha have had near to none - meant that any chance of things ever completely settling were nearly nonexistent. All Hokage have either been of Senju blood, or had Senju teachings. Hashirama, Tobirama, and Tsunade belong to the clan. Hiruzen was taught by Tobirama, Minato taught by Hiruzen’s student Jiraiya, Kakashi taught by Minato, and Naruto taught by Kakashi (and fathered by Minato). The bias is...extremely evident.

While Hashirama had every intention of bettering the relationship between the clans, his rather early demise shattered that dream...and it only got worse when Tobirama was named Nidaime. Lacking his brother’s idealism and optimism, he tried a more hands-off approach to the Uchiha: he made them the village’s police...while keeping both their district and their new station tucked away in the rear of the village: a physical reminder of how they were very much the ‘others’ when it came to the clans of Konoha. They were also barred from positions of power: they were disallowed from becoming ANBU, the most trusted and highly-skilled warriors of the Hokage seat. Nor were they allowed to hold positions within the council of elders.

This was all in spite of the fact that not a single Uchiha defected to follow Madara in his rebellion against Konoha and Hashirama, choosing instead to remain loyal to the village. Tobirama’s trust could still not be earned.

Hiruzen, also tied to the Senju line as a student of Tobirama’s, was not nearly as anti-Uchiha as his teacher was...but his nevertheless slight bias was still present. Things remained mostly unchanged for the Uchiha for much of his time as Hokage...until the Kyūbi incident. When Obito attacked the birthing team assisting Kushina in delivering Naruto and unleashed Kurama, there was no doubt in anyone’s mind that an Uchiha had to have been involved. And while that was technically true, Obito acted of his own volition, and had no support or knowledge concerning his clan. They hadn’t even known he was still alive.

At the time, most KMPF officers - rather than confront the Kyūbi directly as the shinobi did - instead tasked themselves with the evacuation of the civilians, whom they were most responsible for as the village’s police. This left near to no shinobi witnesses outside the clan that could account for their whereabouts during the attack. Even as Mikoto’s sister Manami lost her leg protecting a family from the beast, and both Mikoto and her husband Fugaku assured Hiruzen that they had nothing to do with the attack, suspicion remained...and conditions for the Uchiha got worse.

Rights - slowly but surely - were squeezed and narrowed for them. A curfew was enacted for the entire clan, their communications outside the village were subject to search, and intelligence was kept from them. Talk began stirring within the Uchiha of a coup, and nearly the entire clan was for it from the beginning. Outliers included Manami - Mikoto’s older sister - and her son Shisui, as well as a few others (including Itachi, unspokenly)...but not nearly enough to halt the talks of rebellion.

Itachi, having shown great promise, was the clan’s first and only ANBU officer ever fully instated. (Canon says that Shisui, too, was ANBU...but he is never shown in their garb. And given Fugaku’s later suspicion of Itachi stemming from his position as ANBU, him asking Shisui of all people - as another ANBU officer - to keep an eye on him makes no sense. Therefore, this blog sees him reach tokubetsu jōnin rank only, not ANBU). This was done purposefully by Hiruzen as a means to offer an olive branch to the clan...but Fugaku immediately used it as a weapon, demanding his son become a double agent, which he agreed to...but in truth, he was a triple agent, working for the village over the clan.

Fugaku, up until that point, had been negotiating on and off with the village - more so in recent months - since the attack by Obito to try and stem the backlash from the village. But every offer and compromise he brought forward was shot down.

This was seen, at the time, as the continued prejudice against the Uchiha, and only served to stoke their fires of rebellion further the more time went on. In truth, nearly all of the extremism present in the proceedings from the attack onward came from Shimura Danzō, who - more than anyone, and at odds with Hiruzen - adopted Tobirama’s anti-Uchiha sentiments.

Those feelings were also coupled with greed over their eyes, having been making secret arrangements with Orochimaru to allow them to continue their research in return for any advancements deemed useful for the councilman, which would later revolve around Hashirama’s cells, and Uchiha eyes. His continued hardlining against the clan was in part due to his bias and belief they were a genuine threat...and a want to take their power for himself. By having the clan killed, he would both eliminate their threat, and receive their eyes for his own personal use. The massacre, from the beginning, was his idea, and his alone. The rest of the council - more partial to Tobirama as well, and therefore often siding with him over Hiruzen - were easily manipulated into following his lead, not knowing the true extent of his motives.

With all of this in mind, Mikoto’s feelings therefore mostly concerned three main factors: the overall well-being of her clan; the safety of her sons; and the circumstances surrounding her friend Kushina’s death.

For the clan, she knew that - given the unrelenting refusal from the village - if they were to have their freedom and their due respect, war was almost inevitable. If Konoha would not listen to reason and continue to treat them like second class citizens in a village they helped found, defend, and remained loyal to even when Madara himself turned his back...then they would resort to force.

On the other hand, she had seen the effect the last war had had on her eldest son. She herself knew the horrors of war. Subjecting Itachi and Sasuke to that was something that weighed heavily on her. As much as she wanted to fight back, she didn’t want their childhoods colored by civil war if they could in any way avoid it. ANBU or not, Itachi was still a child...and Sasuke was barely enrolled in the Academy. Though she gave Fugaku her support, she also begged that he keep trying to salvage the talks for as long as possible...if only for the sake of her boys.

But what had the most weight leaning her into war - a deeply personal feeling of betrayal and anger toward Konoha - came not by blood...but by friendship.

Uzumaki Kushina’s death rattled Mikoto to her very core. The pair had been best friends since their Academy days, and Mikoto trusted no one else as much as she did Kushina, save her sister and - in some regards - her husband. The loss was just as keen as if she’d lost a sister, and she mourned openly for weeks. During that time, having been in the hospital often to visit her sister Manami as she recovered from her amputation, Mikoto spotted baby Naruto within the maternity ward...and she immediately knew he was Kushina’s son. He looked too much like Minato to be mistaken, and the birthdate matched perfectly.

But what confirmed it more than anything was the angry red chakra Mikoto could practically feel calling to her Sharingan: the chakra of the Kyūbi...the demon that had attacked their village, disfigured her sister, killed her best friend...and had changed the lives of her kin forever.

Few had been allowed to know about Kushina’s status as a jinchūriki. Mikoto, even if not technically allowed, had been one of them. Once the secret was out, Kushina confided much in her best friend, including the Uzumaki preference for sealing the beast due to their chakra and sealing techniques.

...first Konoha had let someone steal the Kyūbi and thereby kill her best friend. Then they sealed the beast into her baby, and left him an orphan.

Mikoto wouldn’t stand for it.

She’d gone - after leaving her boys at home - straight to Hiruzen’s office, demanding to adopt the boy. Who else was more suitable than the best friend of his mother? Jiraiya, his godfather, was nowhere to be found, and was hardly in the position to care for a newborn. Mikoto was an experienced mother, and already loved the boy like a son as the child of her closest friend. He didn’t have to grow up alone and ostracized. He had her.

...but the council refused.

And she knew why.

It was their decision that he would remain parentless, alone, and kept ignorant of his past and lineage. There was a loving, familiar family just waiting for him...and the council refused.

It boiled her blood like few things had ever done in her nearly three decades of life. It was then that Mikoto truly realized there would be no overcoming the bias against them. There would be no justice - for them, for those like Naruto...none of it was fair.

So, it was with the weight of her clan’s and her best friend’s son’s lives on her back that Mikoto fully aligned herself with the coup, and saw it through until the end...when her own son cut her down for the sake of a village that would throw him, too, away when the time came. Danzō, Koharu, Homura, and Hiruzen: it was them she cursed just as Itachi’s blade swung.

...she refused to forgive them, even in death. ]

#not so secret anymore [ headcanons ]#the gentle smile [ uchiha mikoto ]#long post #very long post lmao #this is like #a weird blend of canon and fanon #and by now idek what's which xD #but uh #i guess either way this is how she works in ALAS by default #aus can see it change tho!#like verses where kushina lives #nonmass verses #etc etc

5 notes · View notes

robininthelabyrinth · 5 years

Text

Eyestealer 12 - ao3 link

Fandom: Naruto Pairing: Senju Hashirama & Senju Tobirama (mostly gen, hints of other relationships)

Summary: Hashirama really doesn’t approve of the thoughtful way his father looks at his younger brother’s bright red eyes. He’s sure it doesn’t mean anything good for anyone.

He’s right.

——————————————————————————————

It’s all Hashirama’s fault, really.

(Hashirama is not oblivious: he’s aware that this is a state of events that is, regretfully, not that uncommon.)

In his defense, he’d never been able to control his mouth.

But – really!

The confrontation with Zetsu had just been so - anticlimatic.

With Itama’s help, they’d gotten out of their binding and fought their way out of the cave to where a red-haired woman who’d initially introduced herself only as Itama’s foster-sister had been waiting patiently. Itama hadn’t even explained; he just said it was an emergency and she’d immediately followed them as they made their way back to the village by means of the hiraishin that Tobirama had apparently taught Itama through their correspondence.

Their highly illicit correspondence.

The Uzumaki had cut off communication for fear that Itama would remain too tied to his former homeland, but being told ‘no’ had never stopped Tobirama before.

(Hashirama is very proud of the fact that he’d been the one to solve the issue, suggesting that if they both signed the same summoning contract, their summons could pass along messages between them. It’d worked wonderfully, and Tobirama – who likes writing – had enjoyed having someone to tell everything to in the same way that Hashirama – who hated writing – liked pouring the same everything into his only nearby brother’s ear.)

Anyway, they’d appeared at the edge of Konoha and run inside, only to find a confrontation in the middle of the main street, with a very confused Madara attempting to hold back a hissing and homicidal Tobirama who was demanding to know who the not-Hashirama and not-Izuna really were and where his brother actually was.

The Zetsu had been trying to explain, but as soon as the real ones arrived, it took one look, merged back into a single black-blob entity, and ran away before anyone could react.

It hadn’t even bothered to wait until the Uchiha activated their Sharingans to figure out who was who!

Hashirama, who’d been looking forward to trying to prove himself and was a little disappointed, had opened his mouth and said the dumbest possible thing.

“Well, that was easy.”

Which means, of course, that when – less than twenty-four hours later – Zetsu had returned with a set of kidnapped Uchiha and the kyuubi in tow, all of them raging mad, possibly brainwashed (it was under debate), and intent on destroying the village, it was all Hashirama’s fault.

At least Tobirama’s ridiculous senses had allowed them to find out about the upcoming invasion early enough in advance that they could go out to try to stop them further off.

That battle had – not gone well.

At all.

To say the least.

Zetsu had laughed at them, and, honestly, Hashirama thinks he’s really starting to dislike the thing.

Madara had been the one to call it a failure and ordered the retreat. They’d done only enough damage to stop the kyuubi from rampaging further that day, buying them some much-needed breathing room, and in the meantime they’d fallen back to Konoha to debate their very few remaining options.

“Genjutsu would be an option if we had the Eternal Mangekyo,” Izuna argues, his arms crossed over his chest. He’s been tightly wound up ever since they successfully chased Zetsu away from the village – as the one who’d been captured by Zetsu the longest, he’d been certain that Zetsu would return, intent on achieving his goals by force now that treachery had failed.

He’d been right, too.

“For the last time, Izuna, no,” Madara snaps. “I’m not going to give up all of that work we all did modifying the Senju’s healing technique to keep our eyes from deteriorating quite so rapidly in favor of an approach that leaves you blind.”

“But –”

“Your clan’s records suggest that the Eternal Mangekyo requires sacrifice,” Hashirama agrees. “We have no idea if you would be able to take Madara’s eyes in exchange, or even someone else’s, and I’m not interested in testing it out.”

“We need to do something,” Izuna argues. “Or are we just going to let the kyuubi destroy everything we’ve worked so hard to create?”

Hashirama shakes his head. That’s not an option. “There’s still the first method I proposed,” he says. “I could hold it with the Mokuton until Itama and his friend Mito seal it into a person.”

They were all currently pretending that Mito, a smiling red-haired woman dressed in warrior’s clothing (but walking as if she was more used to fancy kimonos), was not, in fact, the princess of the Uzumaki clan, because admitting that would require trying to send her back and no one wanted to even suggest that.

Hashirama also had the additional motivation that admitting her identity would force him to actually talk to her about the tentative arrangement between their clans that they marry in a few years when Itama came of age and honestly the longer he can push off that conversation, the better.

Not that Mito isn’t great!

She’s great.

She seems very sharp and clever and funny, and Hashirama totally wants her to be part of his family. It’s just that the very idea of talking about marriage gives him the chills, and that’s not exactly a good thing right before a major battle.

“I still maintain that’s a terrible idea,” Madara says.

“Absolutely. The kyuubi never attacked before,” Itama agrees. “Not either clan, even when we were ripping up the entire forest with battlegrounds. There has to be a reason it’s doing so now, even if we don’t know what that reason is yet – though given the Uchiha Zetsu took, I think we all have our suspicions.”

“I was more thinking about consequences,” Madara says. “If we end up with a contained bijuu, then what? The other countries will declare war for fear that we will conquer them, and who knows, maybe the other bijuu will attack as well.”

“We could try to trap the other bijuu too?” Hashirama suggests, glancing at Mito who’s nodding in agreement. “Then we could spread them out –”

“No. Don’t – just – you’re a strategist, how can you not see how terrible of an idea that would be?”

“Yes, well, compared to the other available options – which is to say, nothing – ending in a mutually assured destruction scenario doesn’t seem that bad.”

“We seem to be at an impasse,” Izuna says. “That is, unless Tobirama can pull another ground-breaking new jutsu out of his ass to give us an advantage over a bijuu, or at least something that can nullify what may or may not be a Mangekyo genjutsu capable of controlling a bijuu that none of us Uchiha can break.”

Everyone looks at Tobirama, because, well, that’s more or less what he specializes in doing.

“Not out of there, no,” Tobirama says, rolling his eyes at all of them. “But there is something we might be able to use, though it may require the Uchiha elders to finally agreeing to give me full and unfettered access to your scrolls to figure out how to best utilize it.”

He looks at Hashirama pointedly.

Hashirama winces.

Of course Tobirama knows; he should never have doubted it.

Well, at least this way they don’t have to have an awkward conversation about it?

Tobirama rolls his eyes again, clearly following Hashirama’s line of thought, but he looks more amused than anything else.

“There is?” Madara asks, crossing his arms. “Is this something else related to the Uchiha that you Senju forgot to mention? Again?”

“Um,” Hashirama says. He hadn’t thought about the awkward part of telling Madara about it.

“Do I know about this?” Itama asks.

“Um,” Hashirama says again. Another thing he hadn’t thought about.

“Is this something that should have been shared with your allies?” Mito asks, her eyes dancing even as she pretends to scowl.

“Um,” Hashirama says.

“Has anyone ever told you that you’re amazingly bad at information exchange?” Izuna says. “It’s actually shocking how bad you are. Why is ‘hide everything’ your first instinct every time?”

“Clearly it’s because our family’s guardian spirits are a burrowing species,” Hashirama says brightly, relieved by the change in subject and ignoring the way both Madara and Izuna look pained at the reminder. Tobirama’s completed Susanoo kitsune apparently has something of a magnetic effect on their own tengu, leading to some fairly hilarious results. “Tobirama, it’s yours, so if you want to share, go ahead.”

Tobirama nods and closes his eyes to concentrate, his chakra tugging lightly at Hashirama’s own to pull in what he needs.

Hashirama turns to look at everyone’s faces.

Sure, there’s a gigantic chakra monster heading towards his beloved village, intent on destroying it, and probably everyone’s going to hit him for keeping this a secret for so long (he’s going to get punched until he’s black and blue, he just knows it), but he’s only going to get to see their first sight of the Rinnegan once, and he plans to savor it.

Tobirama opens his eyes.

“What the fuck?!”

(It’s totally worth it.)

#senju hashirama #senju tobirama #uchiha madara #uchiha izuna #zetsu #kyuubi #my fic #eyestealer #a short ending #sorry it took so long

27 notes · View notes

hiphopguerrilla · 6 years

Text

Pro Sasuke Uchiha : Constructive Criticism of Kishimoto’s Antagonist

Disclaimer: I am not a critic. To anyone that disagrees, my humble opinion doesn’t count for anything because I’m just some loser in his mom’s basement as far as you’re concerned. I’m little more than a disappointed fan. Thank you for reading if you’ve go this far. Hope you can read the rest with objective consideration and without bias. This will be a long rant, you’ve been forewarned.

So I’ve been on a spree of criticism of Kishi’s work. Cannot help being criticil of an Artist/Writer who has let me down just as many times as he/she has inspired me. So because he let me down he has inspired me to write about some of the things I’m very critical of because I have no closure from the series and I can’t help but feel “Next Generation” wasn’t about love for writing the story anymore.

In the beginning of the series Sasuke isn’t yet the antagonist, but it’s clear Kishi intended the to of them to be rivals while building what was supposed to be, and in many ways, is a story of incredible bonds and friendship. It was clear he had a motivation behind what he wanted to do as far as the character developing into and I see, it seems anyway, that he deviated from that.

By the early stages of the character development it is established through Sasuke’s monolgue to Sakura “I am an avenger” that he never stopped grieving the loss of his clan and family and that he wanted the same closure fans never got. He said to Kakashi “I will restore my clan” and while I’m certain this isn’t meant to be taken literally he wanted to do right by their memory.

Understanding that he didn’t just lose his family, he was literally tortured at the age of 8(forced to endure something that had Kakashi bed ridden for a week), he lost connection to his heritage(remember Madara is one of the founding members of the village yet Sasuke had no clue who he was), he lost his idol in Itachi and was forced to deal with a damaged psyche that no one could really repair Itachi drilling in his head that he was some sort of coward. He has both an inferiority complex and a superiority complex because of the standard the Clan is held to. Rather than knowing what is and isn’t true with his parents to guide him through his mess of a life.

What’s disappointing is by the end of the series that wasn’t the main take away from his character. Why? Because the development of his character was stifled by Naruto. Yes, I’m talking about the main character of the story. It’s very relevant to know and understand that Kishi didn’t take time to develop many of the characters in the story. Tenten, Hinata, Lee to an extent, Ino, Choji, Kiba, and Shino among others I may even be forgetting because....yea its obvious.

So to the point. Naruto borders on being a gary stu because, seemingly, Kishi was more partial to him than anyone Sasuke included. That’s not to say Sasuke didn’t get charcter development, just he didn’t develop in a way that was understandable to the majority of fans.

As I was saying about the end of the story none of this is understood. Worst part being that Itachi overshadows Sasuke’s character in a way that is completely disrespectful to fans who had great insterest in the development of him as Sasuke’s antagonist. I do not in anyway disagree with the choice to make Itachi remain his loving brother, who made a difficult choice for the good of the village and the one he cared for the most, but to be honest the logic that comes out of Itachi’s choice and reasoning by fans loving him so yet having great disdain for Sasuke as describe: Whiny, emo, ungrateful, selfish, among other things is a fallacy. Most of those things are inaccurate as well hypocritical to praise Itachi at the same time.

Firstly lest start with him being ungrateful or selfish. It was immediately after the death of his clan, that this clearly life altering even influenced him to decide without doubt that he would devote his life to seeing JUSTICE for what happened then. This is how the story STARTED, please understand that it wasn’t until part 2 that this turns into full blown revenge and blind hatred in a completely hypocritical manner that made fans who already disliked Sasuke absolutely loathe him. I’ll say again this is merely so Naruto could play hero and save his soul(see there I’m getting irritated thinking about this already).

If you have a goal like becoming Hokage, or President of the United States, or First Pick in the NFL draft, or becoming head Medic nin, whatever real life or fictional you know that you can’t just decide to give it up because people say it is Irrational. Sasuke’s ultimate goal was to avenge his family. That meant he had to become strong enough to defeat Itachi, which meant sacrifices must be made.

What did he sacrifice. A normal childhood, his friendships, and the closest thing he had to a family since his blood relatives died. Yet Sasuke is selfish? Sacrificing your frienships and chance at a normal life in favor of a decision you made at 8 years old because of the family you LOVED is probably the most selfless thing a person can do. I often see people compare him to both Kakashi, and Naurto in these cases to justify loathing his character and making silly memes to ridicule him.

Kakashi couldn’t get revenge on anyone, seeing as how his only family commit suicide, The White Fang was not murdered/slaughtered. As far as Rin and Obito, they died in the line of duty they weren’t killed simply because some evil bastard(as far as Sasuke knew) wanted to “Test my power.”

Naruto, had no connection to his family until Jiraiya and also had no concept of vengence until Jiraiya died, and If we are really to give credit where its due, the only reason he chooses not to avenge him is 1. Because it would go agaisnt his Masters wishes 2. Because he see the weight Sasuke’s had to carry and wants to free his friend from that pain. He can’t do that if he chooses to walk a path that was not his.

Another thing that Kishi made very clear was that was the point. Sasuke was at his best when he was written as a character that manifests his own reality, and walks his own path without regret. Let’s not forgot that Fugaku is nothing like Jiraiya. He didn’t raise Sasuke to aim for peace or anything like that, in fact, one of the Uchiha’s rules is that they don’t take prisoners. Yet another reason Sasuke took it upon himself to kill Itachi, it was his duty.

Then of course, yes I’m about to go there you’ve been wared, there’s the SasuSaku thing. Why? Just why? This relationship, was never called for from the get go. Another reason so many Americans are so messed up that they don’t understand the difference between true love and infatuation. Where does Sakura’s “love” begin, where does Sasuke’s more importantly? Was that established with any certainty?

In the beginning the bulk off their interaction consisted with Sasuke ignoring her and calling her annoying. The nicest thing he says to her the entire series is “Thank you.” seriously? Not “I’ll miss you.” not “I care for you...deeply” but “Thank you.” Thats like something you say when someone passes the salt at the dinner table.

What is their connection? I refuse to bring up other pairs because is about Sasuke development as a character not SasuSaku. Sakura does nothing but follow Sasuke around like a love sick puppy and by the end of the series, it somehow pays off and while it may feel like a win for fans of that pair, to me as a fan of the overall series and writing that makes sense even in a fictional world where characters have superpowers. There should be some logic there at least.

What we know at the start of part one is Sakura is a 12 year old girl with a crush on the most popular boy in school. Hilarious, that’s the foundation of this pairing, never in part one and hardly anything in the series at all does it explain where these “romantic” feelings developed. It least we know why Hinata admires Naruto (sorry nothing more on NaruHina,another time perhaps).

And Sasuke never shows any affection to her what so ever besides “Thank you.” of course and gently lying her on the park bench. Don’t think I don’t notice the SasuSaku moments either. Like when he was about to break both of Zaku’s arms and Sakura hugs him. Probably as close ot romance as it gets and Sasuke is being hugged from behind. He doesn’t initiate the hug and he doesn’t hug her back, he stands there suprised at probably the first time he’s been hugged since his mother was murdered.

Understand this, if you take that as a sign Sasuke felt the same, fine. That is absolutely acceptable, even understandable. However, for me, that is a bit half assed. It’s really not much to go on over the course of 700 chapters to say they “fell in love”. Because to me love does not equate to trying to force someone to notice you for two years, having attempts at affection met with disdain and even physical assault, like when he slaps the apples she spent so much time carving out of her hands as she visited him and tried to feed him at the hospital.

I’m sure I don’t have to mention the actual attempted murder at the summit to anybody so that’s all I’ll say about it for now. Now back to Sasuke’s overall story as I prepare to close. The summit was probably the biggest chance to turn Sasuke into an admirable character in fans eyes.

Instead what Kishi does is comepletely wreck his character, so he can be the antagonist and be saved by Naruto. There’s even this little comparison by Karin where she see’s how evil and corrupt Sasuke is, another innocent he tried to kill, and then sees how pure Naruto’s soul is. It was ridiculous. I understand Naruto is the hero of the story, but that never meant Sasuke HAD to be the villain.

He even turns the entire situation with Danzo and his orders to have the Uchiha clan annihilated into a complete mess. Sasuke has gone batshit, and rather than being a person trying to do right by his clan and his brother’s memory, Kishi turns him into this absolute fiend who will murder even his own allies just to make some silly point based on a story told him by a guy who’s real faces he’s never seen even once. A guy who wasn’t even the real Madara Uchiha. As if Sasuke was never strong enough to separate himself from his emotions and what he believes is right. Itachi was already dying and he wanted Sasuke to kill him as atonement. He killed the uchiha in favor of the leaf why would he want Sasuke to destroy the village.

If he were written properly Sasuke would’ve killed Danzo and walked his own path, facing Naruto one final time and either dying or leaving all of that mess behind. It would’ve been fine for him to return to the village if he there to sow seed and start a new with the Uchiha clan. Instead he's a glorified prize for Sakura and Sasusaku fans, as well as someone Naruto basically stalked for 2 years just to force him to not even be in the picture anyway.

As I said in the beginning, or someone in the middle maybe. Sasuke was at his best when he was written as an independent character walking his own path and sacrificing what mattered most to him in favor of doing right by his people, his family, his clan. I thank anyone who made it to the bottom of this post.

#constructive criticism #naruto shippuden #naruto part 2 #manga/anime #anti-sasusaku #pro sasuke uchiha #madara uchiha #itachi uchiha #the uchiha clan #musashi kishimoto #poor-writing #character development #gary-stu #antagonists #anti-heroes #sasuke uchiha #sakura haruno #naruto uzumaki

135 notes · View notes

zeonmiku · 5 years

Text

wanna go to bed soon so here’s my itachi meta post. first there are six things you should know about how i interpret his character:

itachi’s not a hero

he’s an antagonist/villain

his actions should not be idolized

he’s not a “good” person

despite that, he’s still very caring and kind and his love for sasuke is genuine

i do not adhere strictly to canon and put my own thoughts/interpretations into this because canon is limited and my brain is not when it comes to itachi

it/s/sus don’t touch

a lot of people on this site love to go off and say he’s just an uwu baby who’s done nothing wrong or that he’s a hero and should be hokage which is stupid mostly because it devalues the impact of his actions. he killed people, possibly over a hundred people, none of whom really needed to die. he could’ve easily chosen not to do this, if he’d had someone by his side telling him not to do stupid things. i think it’s been said many times that the only reason itachi even commits this crime is because shisui is dead, danzo isolated him and that allowed him to be more easily manipulated and forced into believing this was the only way to save his little brother.

however, the fact that he was essentially forced into doing this does not lessen the fact that he did indeed do it. just because he has an excuse doesn’t mean we get ignore what this did to sasuke, the one person he was supposed to be helping from it. he did not help sasuke at all, in fact. we see this much later in shippuden and after itachi is dead, how little care sasuke has for the world, how unopposed to dying he is. itachi’s actions caused this, perhaps it’s a symptom of a larger action, but the way that he handled things amplified this feeling of helplessness in sasuke.

the ucm itself has such a far-reaching impact on sasuke, even without his brother genjutsu-torturing him he would’ve been traumatized by this for life. itachi’s intentions were probably based around his own brainwashing, possibly because he because he felt he was weakened by shisui’s death (i’m reaching here because canon is... stupid). but the way he treats sasuke actually tears away at his strength, his compassion and love that he has for his friends. i don’t think itachi really knows better but a child should not be taught these things.

this is why itachi would make a horrible hokage, a hokage must be someone who understands how important compassion and love are within a person’s life and itachi sees none of that, he places his own weakness onto sasuke and through this we can believe that if itachi ever said “i’m going to be hokage” it would be just as ridiculous as sasuke saying it during the war arc.

he’s not a hero either, he didn’t save anything, and no one knows this more than him. his actions did not stop a war, he was brainwashed into believing so but over the course of his life i believe he comes to realize this isn’t true. he didn’t save anyone, not even sasuke, he just killed them. the system was corrupt and told everyone else he was a hero and that he sacrificed himself, and he did indeed sacfifice himself but not in a way that helped anyone and just played into his own complex.

he’s not a good person because he can’t seem to empathize with anyone, can’t understand how people feel or how they’ll react to any given situation. he’s also shit at planning and nothing he planned for sasuke’s life really worked out for him at all or in the way he thought it would. he probably didn’t even think he was going to live that long. he probably hoped sasuke would kill his friend and get mangekyo before they fought so that he could die earlier.

itachi wants to die. his strongest urge is death. he has a complex about it and tried to kill himself for the first time at the age of ten or so (maybe younger? can’t remember). he hates himself completely and fully, he’s probably dreamed up a million ways sasuke could kill him. he can’t kill himself because then sasuke wouldn’t get his closure but also because, as most suicidal people are, he’s terrified of taking his own life. it’s much different to imagine it than to actually do it. i’ve always kid of had this awful joke that itachi has one of the most powerful curse of hatreds in the uchiha clan it’s just not as clear because all his hate is directed at himself.

so how is he kind? how is he caring? tbh he isn’t, not in the naruto canon at least. every inch of kindness he had was most undoubtedly killed the day he murdered his entire family. the fact of the matter is, however, he has the potential to have become a kind person again should he have lived or not had to experience the ucm. me, stupid believer in hope and recovery that i am, thinks that he could indeed become the person we saw in itachi shinden and all those sasuke back flashes. i think the resurrected itachi we see validates this somewhat as this itachi who has died and now knows that death he craved so much before, can see his mistakes more clearly. he’s still hesitant to admit them but he has learned, death has taught him something in an odd way.

but he did it all out of love, his own twisted sense of love for his little brother that has been horribly corrupted by the tragic life he has lead, the kindness that was stolen from him and the belief that he is weak and hopeless. he genuinely believes in sasuke so much that he can’t see how much his own actions hurt this person he loves. the way things end up are not planned out by him in anyway, it’s all pure luck that sasuke and he even live that long. he’s an idiot who’s put his little brother on this pedestal that sasuke can never hope to actually stand on.

tl;dr:

itachi was horribly fucked up by his own actions that were forced upon by a corrupt system and thus his love for sasuke is no longer the pure thing it used to be but now the only way he can cling to hope for a death he desperately craves, bringing sasuke down with him and making him a major antagonist in his life, a barrier to overcome in more ways than just physically. he was once a good person, however, and could be that way again if given a chance.

#this is so fucking long but i promise you i have more skjdfhdlf #i think about him all the time it's an obsession i tell you #dandandanchi #you really only need to read the tldr to ge the gist of it tho #itameta

2 notes · View notes

urfavmurtad · 6 years

Note

What is your opinion on arguments that claim the islamic golden age proves islam isn't anti-science or "problematic"?

I read this article a year ago and I’m glad I bookmarked it bc it says pretty much my exact thoughts on this topic. First lemme just get this part out of the way:

Like many other concepts that shape our understanding of medieval history, the idea of a “Muslim Golden Age” is a historiographical construct. It promotes the notion that, until at least the early thirteenth century, the Muslim world experienced an era of unprecedented stability, prosperity, and cultural production. … Putting aside the fact that it imposes an anachronistic framework on medieval Muslim history, its main argument that the period between the eighth century and the thirteenth century can be characterized mainly by tolerance, cultural efflorescence, political unity, and religious harmony is contrary to many of the facts that one encounters upon reading the history of the various civilizations which are subsumed under the category of “Islamic civilization,” a phrase which conceals the linguistic, cultural, intellectual, theological, and political diversity of the lands in which Muslims resided during the medieval and early modern periods. This is to say nothing of the fact that the narratives promoted by these “Golden Age” perspectives are usually a reworking of official histories that do not take into account the realities of marginalized groups during the same period. The “Golden Age” perspective is also problematic because it is in many ways reactionary and a response to the many political, religious, and intellectual challenges faced by the Muslim world in the modern period. History, or rather particular historical narratives about a “Golden Age,” therefore becomes an important repository for the “greatness of Islamic civilization” and a refuge in which Muslims can seek solace in order to refute the idea–promoted mainly by those hostile to Islam–that Muslim civilization was, is, and always will be characterized by death, destruction and chaos.…

In other words, the nuances of Muslim history and civilization are completely obscured in the face of broad, sweeping statements geared towards emphasizing not only the uprightness, but even the absolute supremacy of Muslim civilization, as it was believed to have manifested between the ninth century and the eighteenth century. It is at this point where history ceases to be a critical intellectual endeavor and instead becomes polemic and apologetics.

The “Golden Age” is one of those abstract things that exists more as an idea than as a reality, like all other “ages” (“Dark Ages” etc). It’s important to point out that this is an Orientalist idea that was created to give the impression that Muslims in the distant past were productive and peaceful, versus “modern Muslims” (in the 1800s) who suck and must be brought back to their ancestors’ values by Ye Olde Hwhite People. It was not a term used by Muslims or Arabs themselves until the permanent inferiority/superiority complex (we r the Sasuke Uchihas of the world tbh) kicked in last century and people started using it.

No one can agree on when the “Golden Age” exactly took place. In the earliest usages of the term, it was just meant to refer to some vague past period of glory, to differentiate the past from the present squalor. The people using it did not have a damn clue about Arab history. In its modern-day usage, there is an enormous range from like… 700 AD to 1300 AD. Or even longer. That time period involved multiple civil wars, plagues that destroyed a huge portion of the population, genocides, invasions, ethnic cleansings, famines, breakdowns of society–as is expected of such a huge time period, of course. There were plenty of periods of stability and progress within that time period in some regions, interspersed by various issues… so where exactly is the line drawn? Was there really one “Golden Age”, or did Muslim lands, like literally every other civilization on earth, just go through periodic growth and collapse eras, up until the present?

No one can agree on where the “Golden Age” took place, either. Every single place where Islam was practiced? The lands of the Abbasid Caliphate, in general? The remains of the Umayyads in Spain? Fatimid Cairo? Khorasan? Mughal India? Ottoman Anatolia? What? By the 1000s AD, Muslim lands were ruled by dozens of different empires. They had different laws, different populations, different levels of development and urbanization. Some were more built-up and wealthier than others, again like every other civilization on earth. Some areas were largely rural and illiterate, others were urbanized and better-educated. Some empires attacked others and absorbed them; dynasties rose and fell all the damn time. Throughout the “Golden Age”, non-Muslim lands were invaded and absorbed into larger empires, growing the area governed by Muslims even larger. Parts of the Middle East/North Africa/Andalus/India remained poor and isolated, other parts of it became wealthy and connected to trade routes. I mean… of course?

Like… I don’t think ppl realize what a large area of land we’re talking about here. Are people under the impression that every inch of land conquered by some Muslim dynasty was not only urbanized, well-developed, wealthy, and tolerant, but also homogeneous? Not all of these places had the same conditions!! Not all were even majority-Muslim throughout this period! Many had virtually nothing in common beyond the fact that their rulers were all Muslims of various sects–and many of those rulers were only nominally religious, again just like every other civilization in the world. There were different ethnicities being ruled over by different ethnicities–I mean by the 1000s the Turks were already running amok. This whole Orientalist idea that the Abbasids were in complete control of their peaceful happy lands until the Mongols destroyed them or whatever is nonsense.

It’s all a bit like saying that Europe had a “golden age” after the Italians took over Constantinople while rural French villagers had finally realized how to wipe their asses. Hell, it’s like saying that Europe already had a “golden age” during Byzantium’s peak centuries earlier while the western half of the continent was enjoying a Germanic Rave Party. You can’t assign one label to hundreds of years of history encompassing thousands of different tribes and dozens of empires on different continents.

No one can even say what they mean by “Golden Age”. Usually it’s referred to as some combination of scientific development and “tolerance”. It goes without saying that when you’re talking about like 600 years spread over parts of Europe, North Africa, the Middle East, and Southeast Asia, the idea that all of these areas were happy, peaceful, and productive places for that time span is insane. Not to mention that there were plenty of eras outside the “Golden Age” that had just as much development. Why exactly are the Ottomans or Safavids or Mughals not considered part of this age? What measure of goldenness are we using rn, is there a table I can consult to see how many gold units are necessary to become Golden or some shit? What does “tolerance” mean when we’re talking about eras in which religious minorities were almost universally discriminated against, even in the best-case scenarios? Are we supposed to just ignore those laws, the mass slavery, conquests, etc? Is “golden age” code for when we were the ones oppressing the people of foreign lands?

But typically, when people (this includes not just Muslims btw) talk about the “Golden Age”, I think they are picturing one of three vague areas, in different continents and eras. One is al-Andalus in what is now Spain/Portugal. Plenty of people have heard of Cordoba and its “tolerance”. The second is the Syria-Iraq-Iran region (as though they’re all one place???) and especially Baghdad at some point before the Mongol invasion of the city, like 800s-1100s or something. Again, even when people know very little about Islamic history, they often know of the completely-misrepresented “House of Wisdom”. (In my experience, the focus is almost always on the Arab parts of that area, while places like modern-day Iran are basically ignored, despite the fact that this is where many Muslim literary traditions, architecture, and research kicked off. I think it’s because the “Golden Age” is usually billed as an era of peaceful coexistence, and there weren’t many happy religious minorities in Iran. There’s also doubtlessly some Arab-centrism thrown in there.) The third and imo less well-known one is Fatimid Egypt. Fewer people have heard of the Fatimids themselves, but many institutions and ideas associated with Arab science and learning are from their time.

These are… uhh different dynasties on three different continents in different eras. But let’s roll with it for the sake of argument. The article I linked to sums up my thoughts on al-Andalus (side note: I know someone who calls Spain “occupied al-Andalus” in 100% seriousness and it makes me laugh every time. “No wait only WE’RE allowed to be imperialists!!!” - ancient Islamic proverb):

Another myth that Islamic Golden Age writers like to promote is the idea of medieval Islamic Spain (al-Andalus) as a haven of tolerance and coexistence. Although it is certainly true that there was a large degree of coexistence of faiths in medieval Spain and some important examples of toleration, there was also a great deal of intolerance. In fact, some of the most brutal episodes in Islamic history occurred in al-Andalus. In 1066 a Muslim mob murdered nearly 4000 Jews in Granada (the first major pogrom to occur in Europe), while in the twelfth century the Almohad dynasty forced all Jews and Christians in al-Andalus and North Africa to convert to Islam (or choose exile); among the most important of these exiles was the Jewish philosopher Moses Maimonides (d. 1204). The works of various Muslim philosophers and theologians, including both al-Ghazali (d. 1111) and Ibn Rushd (d. 1198), were publicly burned in the courtyard of the Great Mosque of Cordoba. Other episodes, such as the Martyrs of Cordoba (851-859) and destruction of Santiago de Compostela (999), also show that al-Andalus cannot simply be reduced to a paradise of tolerance. The existence of oppressive institutions, such as slavery and the social stratification of Andalusi society also underscores this point. However, just as we should not claim that al-Andalus was a haven of tolerance based on several examples and anecdotes, we should also not reduce Andalusi history to a sequence of ravages and massacres, as some anti-Islamic thinkers have done.

Al-Andalus was, for its early history, ruled by a remainder of the Umayyads, who had been overtaken by the Abbasids almost everywhere else. By necessity, they had to negotiate with their (mostly Christian) population to avoid unrest that would make them weak to enemies coming north from Morocco. While non-Muslims were discriminated against on a level that would cause Nazi accusations if it were implemented against Muslims in the West today, there were in fact plenty of decades in which development thrived and both Muslim and non-Muslim scientists and researchers made important progress, and there were times in which people lived in peace, even if it wasn’t an equal peace. After the collapse of the Umayyads, there was a period of unrest, followed by domination by the Almoravids and then the Almohads, the latter of whom were one of the nastiest Muslim dynasties to get into Europe prior to the Ottomans. People reacted somewhat negatively to the convert-or-die order and the “Reconquista” restarted not long after. The history of the territory is more complicated than “science and peace then iron maidens and Catholics :(((”.

The Fatimids were an Arab Ismaili dynasty that ruled parts of the ME and NA from Egypt for a couple hundred years starting in the 900s AD. During the first century of Fatimid rule it is absolutely true that Egypt, and especially Cairo, developed a sophisticated and wealthy culture that gave rise to all sorts of authors and scholars. But like every other long-lasting empire on earth, in terms of tolerance and peace, it was a mixed bag, and some leaders were better than others. Some Fatimid caliphs were out of their god damned minds, the most notable of whom was al-Hakim, who facilitated both an increase in scholarship and learning and a campaign of terrible religious persecution, against both Sunnis and Christians and Jews at different points of his lifetime. He was like the Arab Louis XIV or something. Nonetheless, many educational institutions did flourish in this era. Al-Azhar, which today puts out fatwas about how Shia people are devils, was in fact founded by the Shia Fatimids…

The Syria-Iraq-Iran trio, by which I mostly mean Baghdad bc 99% of the time that’s what people focus on, was one of the Muslim world’s most urbanized and educated cities for quite a while. The Mutazilites are usually credited as the ones to kickstart this, and this was a school of early Islamic theology that incorporated a lot of Greek/Hellenized Christian ideas into their works, to the chagrin of most other Muslims at the time. The Mutazilites shouldn’t be seen as hippies or harmless–they did often persecute other Muslims (and non-Muslims) and attacked non-Muslim lands in order to subjugate them. Eventually they went too far and triggered a backlash. But they saw themselves as “rationalists” I guess the word would be, and that is what drew them to the creation of learning institutions. These are some of the first places that commissioned the translations of Indian texts after the first Arab conquests of parts of India, and those texts included many important mathematical concepts that were expanded upon by (or sometimes wrongly attributed to) Arabs. Even as this school began to fade, it left an imprint on what is now Iraq, and huge numbers of scholars from the surrounding area did visit its large cities to further their education at various points. Again–world history is really long!! Starting in the 900s AD, it was ruled by all sorts of Iranian empires, then the Turks came to town, then the Mongols came in and wrecked shit. Periods of progress existed before, during, and after that era, interspersed by periods in which progress stalled. Tolerance went from ehh to really bad depending on the particular ruler and dynasty in charge of the area, which is completely expected.

To sum it up: there was no one “Islamic Golden Age”. There were many different eras of relative progress/tolerance interspersed with less-happy eras all throughout the Muslim areas of Europe, North Africa, the Middle East, and Asia from Islam’s creation to the modern day. And of course there were! This was a huge area and a huge time span. How much of that is due to Islam itself is, uh, debatable, to put it gently–certainly the enormous wealth that came from conquest and domination of trade and slave routes didn’t hurt, and not all major figures of this “age” were even religious. I don’t think many people would call the 1500s-1800s the “Christian Golden Age”. But whatever factors you want to attribute it to, it is at least true that multiple Muslim empires, at various points in time, did contribute a lot to the development of science and medicine. Granted, it wasn’t even close to every area ruled by Muslims in every time period from 700 to 1300, and to say that these areas were tolerant or progressive by modern standards is lunacy, but still.

The idea that there was one singular chunk of time in which “Islam” as a whole was tolerant, peaceful, progressive, wealthy, and scientifically knowledgeable–after which something (Mongols, imperialism, ??? we just don’t know) happened to reverse all of that–is a modern idea mostly promoted by Orientalists, and it’s been adopted as a magical Lost Age by Muslims who feel bad about the admittedly shitty situations that many currently find themselves in. But past Muslims dealt with war, poverty, dictators, destruction, and intolerance too. Sometimes people in the “Golden Age” were ruled by horrible leaders and influenced by terrible, intolerant, anti-science movements; other eras saw a backlash to that and facilitated better conditions and people rebuilt. Then there would be some disaster that set people back again, on and on. Just like today. And just like every other part of the world, including Europe. Things move in waves, man. timeisaflatcircle.gif

(Also if I see that “Muslims invented MATH. There was NO MATH before goddamn 610 AD” post with like 5000000 notes one more time imma cry tbh)

#golden age #islam #history #ask

51 notes · View notes

kusunokihime-a · 6 years

Note

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

[ @hyugainterior ]

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

6 notes · View notes