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sasodei-is-real · 3 years

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Good afternoon💙 Well, or just Hello if you have a different time of day 😅💙

Thank you for your answers!)

And I still can’t reply to comments (I don’t know what is wrong), so I’ll answer like this)

@justanotherblonde thank you very much, it's so nice 🥺💙 And I'm glad that it will be interesting for you) Because the topic is actual and worth discussing.

@movethisalong Thanks for the answer!) I will soon work on the text in drafts, I will publish it today)💗

@bodoquehenko Weeell ... it's not directly related. But indirectly, yes. After all, even though Deidara is an adult, he has a big age difference with Sasori. So, for us - Sasodei fandom, this topic is not completely alien. Anyway, in any fandom, this is a very controversial and interesting topic that is worth discussing. As a sasodei shipper, I was asked questions about this topic. I think it would be nice to say my opinion on this issue and put all the points above and. I will talk not only about the general phenomenon, but also about sasodei separately in this topic.

But of course I will continue the analysis💛. This is not even discussed, because it is for this analysis that my blog was invented. But the point is, right now I only have time for one post. And analysis consists of many parts. And if I had written today about Onoki and Gaara (that is, I would have continued the analysis), I would have been able to move on to the next part of the analysis only in two weeks (this is how long my studies at the university will last). And that's not very good. Because although the analysis consists of different parts, the thing is integral. And it is best to read it without long breaks. I already postponed the analysis for a long time because of the uni , and then I did not want to continue again and stop the two weeks between the next part. I thought, since there is only time for one post, why not write about an actual topic that I would still raise and which would fit into one post. And then continue writing the analysis during the holidays and without long delays between continuation in order to maintain integrity.

Well, then the question was whether it would be interesting for you to discuss the topic of the age difference))

As for the ships, I think to talk after a specific stage in the analysis - when we analyze the characters of Sasori and Deidara. That is, the storage of posts turns out to be something like this - 1 question about the age difference 2 analysis where we left off - Onoki and Gaara (Iva and Suna) 3 The next stage of the analysis is Sasori and Deidara's relationship with the rest of the characters 4 Sasori and Deidarf characters 5 Short conversation about crack ships (which is not part of the analysis of sasodei, but what is worth discussing) 6 Philosophy of Sasori and Deidara, the symbolism of their characters 7 FINALLY 😂 Analysis of the relationship between Sasori and Deidara - Sasodei

Thank you for answer ^w^🧡

@deidaraakasuna Yes, I myself really want to move on to their relationship as soon as possible 🤧❤ Yes, they were created for each other. It is obvious.💫💗

And yes. I agree, everyone has the right to ship whatever they want. I am not against any crackships, or ships with questionable context ... well, any. A person's taste is formed on the basis of his lived life and emotions, and this is too personal to criticize.

But. I'm not talking about WHAT they ship, but HOW they raise their ship, for example, how, by substituting facts, they justify their ships.

I will try to explain what I think about this. The bottom line is that Naruto is a very elaborate and fragile story, the essence of which is her philosophy. Naruto has a very interesting build scheme. Recently I talked with my friend, and she noticed that in its structure Naruto is similar to the Russian classic novel "The Master and Margarita" by Bulgakov. And this is so. The bottom line is that there are a lot of characters in Naruto. Each character has its own story, its own psychology, motivation and internal conflict, the solution of which manifests one thought. The character has a conflict, the opposite or controversial side of his conflict is put in front of him, most often with the help of another character and ultimately, thanks to the contradiction, the truth is found - that is, we get a ready-made thought about any aspect of life. And so on. Everything is connected together, and each such thought, which is formed with the help of the character's life - by doing it with the rest, creates the philosophy of the work.

For instance. Sasori and Deidara degenerate their vision of the world in their art. They were a contradiction, in the end they found harmony, Deidara accepted eternity, and Sasori the truth of transience. Thanks to the fact that Sasori took instant and soul - Kankuro managed to dissuade him and Sasori decided to find eternity in the continuation of generations. During Edo Tensei, we see Sasori no longer hide his concern for Deidara with excuses and aggression - he has evolved. Therefore, Kankuro deals with the question of the soul. Sasori dies while Deidara screams and he pretends to embrace his parents. During the conversation, Edo Tensei, with the help of Kankuro and Sasori, reveal to us the theme of the soul. What is the soul? A haven of pain that poisons the heart, but without which you become a weak-willed marilnet. And Sasori's conflict is directly related to Obito. After discussing the soul issue, we see Obito pointing at the hole in his chest and saying that he doesn't feel anything. This is great preparation for Obito. These two characters are somewhat similar. Both wanted to escape their pain and forget themselves in illusions. Sasori replaced people with puppets, and love with universal contempt and control. Obito wanted to forget himself in the eternal Tsukuemi. Sasori accepted his feelings for Deidara. Obito realized that he shouldn't forget Rin. Sasori died in such a pose like hugging his parents. Obito died again while saving his friend Kakashi. Both died in the same situations that doomed them to suffering and pushed them into the dark. Simbolic 👀.(By the way, did you notice that Sasori's main OST is playing in the background? "Despair"). I mean, in Naruto, everything is very closely related to each other. Sasori and Deidara's relationship is their development. And when, for example, I see the sasosaku shippers dismantle the battle scene and say that Sakura influenced Sasori, proving her validity, it's not very pleasant. Primarily as a Naruto fan. Let's imagine for a minute If Sakura really influenced Sasori.

Sasori would not be able to achieve what he most desired - true eternal art. The role of Kankuro would not be needed and he would not have developed as a character and would not have received future Puppets . Since Kankuro is not needed, then his conversation with Chiyo and her acceptance will not take place. Since Sakura has already influenced him, there is no need to talk about the soul - there is no full disclosure of Sasori and the prologue to Obito's conflict. Complete disregard for Sasori's feelings for Deidara and for finding harmony.

And the most important thing. Sasori is a complex and deep character with his own feelings and motives. Each of his actions is based on his state of mind and thoughts. And when they explain Sasori's decision by the fact that he was influenced by a 15-year-old girl who then shouted that she wanted to get rid of her parents and who was unable to understand Sasori continued to scream, and not his character - this is a spit towards Sasori. As a Sasori stan, I am not pleased.

And so with everyone. I love Deidara. Obito is my heart. But in the pairing, Obiday Deidara is presented not as a deep character with his own conflict, but as a cliché "I behave aggressively, but I like you." Rin and Obito's wonderful story...?? No?😅😂

And yes, of course it is clear that in canon these are all crackships.

And I don't mind when people ship characters for themselves, draw art, write fanfiction and have fun. no, that's cool. BUT when they try to prove the canonicity of such an absurdity ... I'm Here 🌚👍

And after all, philosophy really changes. I was talking to my friend last week and he said, "It would be cool if in the Kazekage arc it turned out that Gaara is Uzuma. It would turn out that Naruto Uzumaki saved Uzumaki." Umm ... no. It wouldn't be.

The fact that Gaara was none for Natuto was done for a reason. From the very beginning, Gaara's history and development prepared us for 1 Pain's Philosophy. 2 To resolve the conflict between Suna and Iva. Two old villages.

Remember the first season? As after the fight Naruto said "I understand your pain, I went through the same." Gaara was not Naruto's relative, his friend from the start, he was from another village and was his enemy because

1. This resolved the conflict between Chie and the conservative villages. Chie asked, "Why does he care so much about Gaara? They are from different villages." Chie of the old school has broken the world into structures, forgetting that, first of all, they are all people and not representatives of countries. Kakashi replies, "He doesn't care what village he is from. They went through the same pain and are the best at each other." Chie dies realizing the old mistakes imposed by generations "You will change this world invented by old and stupid people."

2. Gaara was preparing us for a meeting with Pain. Pain's philosophy was that people who were completely alien to each other could understand each other by knowing the same pain. If Gaara was Naruto's relative, it would destroy the entire structure of philosophy.

3 The example of Naruto and Gaara is Jiraiya's true teaching. "We know what pain is and try to be merciful to others." The idea seems to be the same as that of Pain, but at the same time it is completely different. Pain used pain ( ahh sorry 😂) as a weapon. Against the background of Gaara's example, this looks even more obvious.

4 In the future, just like Naruto changed Chiyo, Gaara will change Onoki.

I want to say that in Naruto everything is very fragilely interconnected. This is the order and the relationship of the characters of the link. So why when the same shippers Sasosaku, Tobidei and Itadei prove their "canonicity" by

1 Sakura influenced sasori

2 Tobi called Deidara his favorite senpai

3 Deidara hates sharingan and talks about Itachi

Well, on the one hand, I don't care as the sasodei shipper , because as many canonical proofs and justifications as Sasodey has, not a single ship has

but on the other hand, as a fan of Naruto philosophy, I hate to see how people are ready to distort the idea of anime and the characters of in order to prove their canon.

So,

In a word, I want to talk about this first of all as

1 A fan of the naruto philosophy that becomes meaningless due to the substitution of facts for some ship

2 A fan of all these characters who are distorted trying to prove their "canonicity"

3 Sasodei shipper

In general, I do not mind "I like this ship and I ship it. Ok"

I do not like "I will ignore the facts and at the same time do not care that I made the philosophy of the anime useless, distort the characters of the persona only in order to prove their some crackship's canonicity 🌚👍"

I hope I could explain why I want to talk about it😶

And this one is so sweet🥺💗Yes, I also know people with a huge difference in age who are beautiful and happy together for a long time. And although I agree that a lot is not visible from the outside, but age really does not matter. It's all about people.

And I'm sorry that it turned out so long 😅

This was a good chance to explain why I decided to talk about other ships (/> <)/

So, thanks again for the answers ^=^ ❤💛

I’ll go and write a post about the age difference in the drafts, edit it a little and post 🐥🦂

#naruto #naruto shippuden #sasodei #deidara #sasori #akatuski #gaara #chiyo #onoki

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voglioungufoartsblog · 4 years

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A brief explanation on why ObiNaru became OTP, just the key points:

I could give a lecture on why and sooner or later I'll do it with lots of screenshots of the manga, but it's not the right time.

First of all I beg to disagree with those who consider them too equal: they weren't even when they were (Naruto to capture attention was foolish, Obito helped old ladies or anyone in need) and then it is clear that they take two opposite paths, both are what the other could have been if their heart had been different, Naruto continues to get strong and keep making his way even in a horrible way to change it, Obito turns his back on this world to bring him to almost destruction. Naruto clings to his identity, Obito abandons him. And these are just some of the many examples I can give, which lead to one of my favorite tropes: inverted mirror relationships.

We also come to another of my favorite tropes: enemies to lovers. Obviously at the beginning they are two enemies who hate each other, even Naruto the Saint clearly hates him to death, especially when he wears the mask, he is really keen on wanting to break that mask; on the other hand Obito is exasperated by Naruto who ruined all his plans, just blew his manipulation on Nagato in his face and how dare he?

It must also be said that Obito is the one who becomes more aware, who realizes the affinities they have and for this reason he tries to "convince him" to go to his side in every way (the part in which he holds out his hand after the death of Neji) and even Kakashi realizes it, Obito is looking for something inside Naruto, when he could just fight and maybe solve the situation faster he stops to "test" Naruto. Instead Naruto ... my god, the part when they extract the chakra from Juubito and, as good expert ninja, they can read themselves in their hearts 😭 Naruto cries on feeling Obito's emotions, so much so that Kurama must warn him not to get involved , but imagine if Naruto listens to him and suddenly puts aside all hatred to accept Obito and tries to convince him to go back to their side (Naruto holding out his hand !!!!) I could spend hours on that part, like the fact that Naruto's determination reminds Obito of the love of his life asdfghjk but the fact is that he eventually surrenders to Naruto and abandons a 17-year plan to totally rely on him, literally Naruto becomes the light that Rin was before AND THEN WHAT ARE WE TALKING ABOUT ASDFGHJKL

Here we come to a third trope: "Allow me to die (for you)"

I live by angst, you know, and seeing in those relationships where one is literally willing to give his life away for the other destroys me with feels. In this case Obito has abandoned everything he believed in for Naruto and it is obvious that he is willing to do anything to preserve that light and that's what he obviously does, sacrificing himself in place of Naruto AND Kakashi (because let's not forget the feelings of guilt, that poor fellow is convinced he can redeem himself only by dying to save a comrade, as it should have been from the beginning) and then we have that heartbreaking scene that leads us to

Fourth trope: "I feel the hole in my heart starting to fill".

The part where Obito yells at Kakashi that he doesn't have a heart anymore became a meme, so I don't even have to remember it. Obito, I'll be repetitive, he subscribed everything from his identity to his heart. In 17 years NOTHING has been able to change this, Naruto has succeeded in one night. Naruto felt the need so much to reach Obito, the real Obito, once their chakras were discounted that he made Naruto "return" a heart, all his dreams, wishes, who he was ... let's think for a moment what a shock of sudden feelings it must have been? And this is another trope that I love in romantic stories: a character who is dead inside who starts loving again thanks to another who managed to reach him in the part that he kept most hidden aaaaaaa

And on this I want to make a small parenthesis that is not a trope: "Thank you".

Just before he died Obito thanks Naruto, and honestly if the SasuSaku were canonized because a thirteen year old Sasuke thanked a thirteen year old Sakura just before knocking her out I don't understand why ObiNaru no I WANT TO TALK TO YOUR MANAGER.

In any case.

Some time ago I cried when I read that the Japanese are shy enough and reserved that they can't say "I love you" to their other half, so they use other tricks to make it understandable. One of the most significant is precisely to thank the other, because you are thanked for having them in your life, for the love he makes you feel, for everything they do for him and for the joy they share, etc. etc. And I am convinced that Obito meant this meaning. Otherwise I can't explain the shocks Naruto and Kakashi feel as soon as he says it. And why else be so surprised? I mean, it's not strange, he just sacrificed his life for Naruto's, obviously he must feel attached to him and in debt for things. So why show the surprise, why does Kishimoto want to show it was an unexpected sentence?

You obviously know the answer.

Finally, the fifth trope: being destined to meet.

I love when the path of two characters is "destined" to meet, when there is the inevitable, their destinies end up crossing without necessarily wanting it. And I'm not meaning that in the sense that like Kyuubi's Jinchuuriki, Obito would obviously have been chasing Naruto. No, I'm talking about Minato. When Minato seals the fox inside Naruto he knows nothing of the masked man, who he is, what his plans are and what he will do in the future. But he knows that the only one who can stop him is his son, Naruto, and he seals the fox in him to give him the tools to counter him. Minato destines Naruto to be the person who can stop Obito. Because his father had this feeling, he knew it and had no doubts that only Naruto could do it.

I was joking, I'm not done with the tropes, there is another one: I see in you the lover of my past.

And I'm not just talking about Naruto reminding Obito of Rin, but about when Obito was playing Madara. Now, I have this idea that for better or worse now Madara's will is ingrained in Obito as a part of him, even when he abandons the plan. He rejects being Madara, but inevitably a part remains, it is now in his character. But. When he is still Madara and meets Naruto curious to see the guy who convinced Nagato to betray him, he immediately recognizes Hashirama's will in him and we know that Madara and Hashirama had a not very straight relationship ... so ...

In conclusion: I ship them with the power of hyperuranium

Thanks for coming to my ted talks

#naruto #naruto shippuden #Obinaru #naruobi #Obito #Obito x Naruto #obito x naruto #naruto yaoi #uzumaki naruto #Naruto rant #Yaoi #naruto shipping #Shipping #Slash #Fangirl

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orlha · 4 years

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Kakashi/Sakura - Romantic ♡ 3. Where character B is their soulmate Please♡♡♡

Notes: SOOOO This is supposed to be a drabble. But heeeey SURPRISE it’s not? Hope you like it anyway, I might add that it’s not terribly fluffy either.

—

Civiliansconsidered themselves adults when they received their soulmarks at eighteen.Shinobis didn’t care too much about their soulmarks or tried not to at least.Not all soulmates meet, and if they do, not all of them meet on friendlyterms.

Kakashiknew that the chance of having an out-village soulmate was rare, yet he hadseen how Rin had reacted when Obito died, seen how his father had chosen deathover him, seen Sensei picked death over living without Kushina. His soulmarkappears, “No, you stupid man. You are not dying under my watch!” curvingdown his palm. Cursive and almost unreadable words.

Inanother world without shinobis, without pain and the ever-hanging death,Kakashi thinks he might have been loved and loved back. But he’s not in anotherworld. He’s here, where the people closest to him have chosen to die, wherethey had died leaving him alone.

Gaiassures him that soulmates always meet each other. It’s fate and no matter howfar he runs, he’ll always come back to the same fork. It leaves a bitter tastein Kakashi’s mouth. He doesn’t someone, doesn’t want someone else to die onhim. Gai… Gai is the only one he trusts not to die on him. Too much energy andoptimism, too much youth.

So hedistances himself.

FromTenzo who pursued his friendship, from Asuma who tried to rekindle their‘broship’ after his long absence, from Team seven who was a mockery of what hisown team had been.

Hebarely trains his genin, barely cares when Naruto was apprenticed to Jiraiya orwhen Sakura is apprenticed to Tsunade. They were barely his students.

Yethere they are again. Tsunade refusing to let him fade into anbu, forcing him toreform his team.

Hehates it, hates how people push him, with supposedly comforting words that hissoulmate was out there somewhere.

Hedoesn’t care. He tells himself that every time. His soulmate is probably dead,or out-village and he doesn’t care.

Theyare all lies.

Becausehe does.

He’sjust abandoned.

—

Inspite of people’s popular beliefs, Sakura worked hard to get top kunoichi. Sheknew it wouldn’t matter in the long run. Academy scores didn’t matter in thereal world, but that was all she had to prove to her next superiors that shewas competent. Never mind that she didn’t have a senior shinobi to train herlike all the clan kinds, never mind that some days her parents ‘forgot’ to feedher.

Sakurais good.

She hasto be.

She’snot like Ino who had parents to fall back on after graduating. Sakura had neverhad that kind of affection. She imagines that when she gets her soulmark, meetsher soulmate that they would fall passionately in love. She’d be tucked intohis arms, she would be loved.

It’sthese thoughts that keep Sakura going even when her jounin sensei turns out tobe a distant and barely teaching them anything beyond referencing books to readon.

Sakurareads these books voraciously. No one is going to help her if she doesn’t helpherself. She summons her own courage to request for an apprenticeship with Tsunadeand spends her next few years proving herself that she is competent, that sheis worth teaching.

Becauseno one else cares if she doesn’t.

—

Shishousends her on a mission with her former Team Seven just near her birthday. Anddespite it being a fairly low ranked mission for shinobis of their status,Sakura thinks that Shishou hadn’t counted for the Team Seven luck.

Whatshould have been an almost idyllic mission turns into a shitfest. Turns out theperson they were escorting was some long-lost prince who now inherited thekingdom and by mandate was returning to ascend the throne and the councillorwho had looked after the kingdom for twenty years was disgruntled enough tosend Iwa-nins to kill him.

That’s not important.

Sakurawas busy fighting off Iwa-nins and their stupid explosive jutsu when Kakashitakes an almost fatal hit for Yamato. Quickly, with Sai’s help, she disengagesand flickers to Kakashi, hauling him to the side where Naruto’s clonessurrounded them in a protective circle.

“No,just leave me,” Kakashi says even as she fights to manually pump his blood andheal that hole in his torso.

“No,you stupid man. You are not dying under my watch!” she snarls. She presses on,leaving Naruto to deal with anyone attempting to interrupt her and divesin.

It’smaybe minutes or hours later when she wakes from her healing trance,disoriented by the lack of veins and cells in her vision. A hand helps her up.

“Kaka-senseiwill be fine.” Hands press food into her hands as soon as she’s seated by thefire.

She blinks.

Thestars above have bloomed across the dark twilight sky, the Iaw-nin bodies hadbeen burnt or sealed away, a small smokeless campfire had already been startedand Kakashi was tucked under a blanket next to Yamato, his half-lidded eyewatching her.

Shedoesn’t care if she saved Kakashi against his will. Only stupid man does stupidthings like that. He can hate her for all she cares. He wouldn’t be the firstor the last to do so. Sakura forces herself to eat the stew Sai had given her.Tomorrow she’ll need to check on him and considering how he chose to dieinstead of being healed, she already knows it’d be a fight.

To hersurprise, Kakashi doesn’t put up a fight the next day. He lets her press hermedical chakra in, check his torso and even his eyes.

Andwhen everything checks out, Naruto heaves their long-lost prince onto his backand starts the trip to the Kingdom of Stars. Now that they’re aware of actualthreats, they’re more cautious about leaving traces behind.

Sakuratries not to recall the way Kakashi refused to let her heal him. So it seemsthat her choice of people to have crushes on always are people who areemotionally unavailable. She’s been down that way once, abandoned at thevillage gates. It wouldn’t surprise her if her soulmate would be equallyuninterested in her.

Themission ends successfully, and they’re invited to stay in the palace for a fewdays. The Kingdom of Stars is gorgeous. Unlike the Kingdom of Moon, the mostpicturesque thing about the Kingdom of Stars is their sky. The trail ofnorthern lights dancing across the sky, beset with shimmering stars.

Sakurastares out into the sky, the light wisp of smoke escaping her mouth as shebreathes. It’s a place she wouldn’t mind retiring to. The placid lifestyle ofthe people here, their earnest laughter. She thinks she could be happyhere.

Probablynot.

She hadfinally gotten her soulmark during the mission. It’s across her hip and shedoesn’t care what it says anymore. It’s stupid yearning for something she’llnever get or even brooding over it. When this mission is over, she’ll go backto the hospital where no one cares, back to her one room apartment.

Sakuraisn’t meant for happiness or love.

“Sakura?”

She’sso lost in her thoughts that his voice almost startles her off the roof.Kakashi grabs her, his hand lingers on her arm before he sticks it back intohis pockets. His shoulders are slumped, radiating the feeling of exhaustion.

“Areyou okay?” The weapons that the Iwa-nin weren’t likely to be poisoned. She wouldhave noticed if it were, but there’s always the chance for human error. Sheputs a hand on his, double checking his system for any infection or poison.

That’sweird, his hands are bare. Kakashi always wears his gloves.

Sheturns his hand and gasps. There are thick calluses across his palm, especiallyon the fingertips and across the palm, almost down to his wrist is undeniablyher handwriting.

“No,you stupid man. You are not dying under my watch!” it says.

Sheslowly looks up at him. His mismatched eyes look back at her nervously.

“Ibelieve these are your words,” he says carefully.

Sakuracan hear her blood pounding in her ears, the colour in her face bleeding out asshe processed the situation. She pulls her shirt up, wrenching part of herpants down. Splayed across her hip, the narrow but neat writing are the words “no,just leave me.”

“Those…are definitely my words and handwriting.” His hand curls up to grip hers.

Shebarks a mirthless laugh and shakes his hand off, stepping back several steps.“So…” she starts in a quivering voice and hates herself for the weakness. “…I’m marked with your suicidal words.”

Sheturns away and the frustration of the entire situation, the helplessness feltso overwhelming that she couldn’t stop tears from gathering in her eyes.

She wasright.

Thepeople always had crushes on were emotionally unavailable and that apparentlyincluded her soulmate, the man she had a crush on for the last two years. Also,the man who is suicidal and had such a blatant disregard that shishou forcedthem to have a medic at all times.

Underall her doubts and sarcasm, Sakura had hoped that her soulmate would be someonewho loved her, where she could finally be love and be loved in return.

“I’mnot…” he murmurs behind her. “…suicidal…”

Hereaches out to clasp her shoulder. “Sakura…”

“Don’tworry, I’ll be fine even if you leave,” she tells him. She had seen shinobislike Kakashi. She knows what would happen. She won’t cry over this, or so shetells herself as she ignores the tight clenching in her chest.

Becauseno one would care if she isn’t alright and her parents would be smug in theknowledge that they were right; that even her soulmate didn’t want her.

“Let metry, please.” His fingers tightened and she looks up at him. Hissharingan still spinning slowly, his hair almost fey in the dimmoonlight.

Shepulls a shuddering breath from her lungs, schooling the trembling in herhands.

“Youdidn’t care to teach any of us anything. Didn’t care who I went to or if I hadto go to genin corps. Why? Why should I?”

“I’mnot suicidal. I just… There’s a point where you don’t care because you’ve beenabandoned by everyone that loved you and I know I fucked up, but please.”His eyes are desperate.

“Atleast you’ve been loved,” she says, scrubbing the tears furiously away with hersleeve. “I’ve never even once!”

“Thenlet us try. We’re soulmates right? There has to be a reason for it…” he says.His tone full of self-deprecation. “Gai said that its fate and that no matterhow far we try to run from it, if it’s fate, we’ll come back to the same fork.So since we’re at the fork now. It’s better to try. I… I am still terrified ofmaking have new people join my ring of important people…”

Herlips twist and Sakura laughs a wet laugh.

“Andprove them wrong?” she asks. “All the people who said that no one would loveyou.”

“I’ll standback and watch you crush them?” He thumbs her tears away.

“Okay.”She presses her face into his palm, his eyes softening.

—

Andperhaps no one believed it would last. Some soulmates die young together, somesoulmates never quite work out.

Betweentheir multitude of issues and age gap, no one believed Kakashi and Sakurawould.

Butthey did.

Curledup in each other’s arms, under the tall Sakura tree, watching the petals fallaround them, they finally found the happiness, peace and love they had longedfor.

Untilthey were old and wrinkled, grey and aged.

Kakashipresses a kiss into her greying hair and thinks of the northern lightsreflected in her pink hair then and he would have it no other way.

—

Prompts are still open all the way until New Year’s Eve if you want to send any in :)

Tumblr prompts list: here

#tumblr prompts #ficlet #Haruno Sakura #Hatake Kakashi #Kakasaku #Anonymous

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godtierwallflower · 5 years

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Sleepy ramble, need these thoughts out in the world so I can sleep please: Kakashi dies specifically for Choji and generally for the village, Gai (almost) dies specifically for Lee and Kakashi and generally for the world. They have both probably thought alot about when and who for they would die. Also they both have issues really connecting with people (maybe connected, sorta, sleep please, Kakagai) Overall thoughts?

Well, sweet dreams then!

tldr; Yes, Kakashi and Gai both grew up with the intention of eventually dying for someone. They’ve both probably thought a lot about when they were going to die. In Kakashi’s case, he thought most about the people on the other side, while in Gai’s case, he thought most about the people who would stay alive by his sacrifice, although they each respectively thought about the other issue too.

As you wish, some Kakashi and Gai and kakagai meta under the cut! With pictures!

Kakashi adopted the mindset after he repeatedly lost his loved ones and became disillusioned with himself and the job.

As Gai, Kurenai, and Asuma pointed out, when Kakashi was in ANBU, he acted like he was in a hurry to die. When he did die for Choji, you could tell there was definitely a great relief to getting to die and imagining his loved ones. When he sees Minato, Obito, and Rin smiling and greeting him on the other side, we know that was all in his imagination (because Obito isn’t dead), but when he sees his father in purgatory, he’s mostly ready to accept that this is his time. Kakashi, maybe subconsciously, seems to find people easy to love/admit to himself that he loves when he’s already lost them.

When Sasuke specifically threatens to kill Kakashi’s loved one(s), for example…

He wasn’t entirely open about this, of course. He was trying, in good faith, to convince Sasuke that giving up the ghost and focus on what he had instead of what he lost. And admittedly, it does make Sasuke remember that Sakura and Naruto are both precious to him, and Kakashi is doing this as the only adult in this series to genuinely try to connect with and help Sasuke without the intention of using him. If Sasuke didn’t have people specifically trying to force him to relapse on his unhealthier mindsets, this might have actually worked. With that in mind, it would have been useless for Kakashi to give a more honest answer of “Okay, their names are Gai and Yamato, but at your level right now they’ll probably kick your butt.”

But the point remains that this is one of Kakashi’s most well-known quotes.

There are a lot of ways to read it, but taken at face value, this is Kakashi saying the people he loves most are the people who have died, and that his new companions are a consolation to that pain. And there is some truth in that. Kakashi deifies the late Obito and visits his grave so much that it makes him late for prior engagements he has with the living, and he carries the weight of his father’s death for quite a while. Chronologically, he’s known Gai about as long as he’s known Obito and Rin, but Gai and Yamato still go in the same category of new companions who he hasn’t lost [yet]. You could even say that he loves Obito and Rin more in death than he did in life (although Minato and Sakumo he already loved quite a bit).

It takes him a long while to admit that he loves the kids on his team. He doesn’t say it until after he’s reconciled with Obito.

But he is still willing to give his all and his life for the village and especially its kids, which is why it means so much that he died for Choji specifically and the village broadly, who he hadn’t been shown interacting with a lot up to that point. Kakashi is bad at forming mutual connections, and is even adverse to it, but he is surprisingly quick to care about people enough to put his life on the line. It doesn’t interfere with his professionalism, but he certainly does have a lot of close calls and hospital visits throughout the series.

This? Doesn’t happen. We know it’s all in Kakashi’s head, because Obito is… not there. This is a visual representation of Kakashi being sad because he couldn’t have that sweet release of death, to put it bluntly.

It comes down to the fact that, until he meets Obito again, he feels like the people he’s most able to love and miss are the people who are already dead. After he’s faced his demons, reconciled with Obito and the idea of letting him down via Rin, and even worked under Minato again, Kakashi is able to stop living his life feeling like he owed his lost ones a meaningful death. He lives and becomes Hokages because he wants to be there for the people he loves, and in Kakashi Hiden, he mentally lists off those living people he loves and it fuels him as motivation to finally accept the position of Hokage. He still carries the lessons he learned, as we can see when he warns Houki of the dangers of not trying to use teamwork and connect with his team while he still had time, but Kakashi’s words can finally ring true in the New Era. “No time like the present.”

Gai has lived his life with the ideal that a life given for someone you love is a noble thing, and on some level, he’s also missed his dad as well.

He sees his dad as a man worth emulating, and that final act of love and sacrifice is something he always planned to follow up on. But this likely isn’t driven by a desire to simply see his father again on the other side. Rather, it’s another way for Gai to keep his father’s teaching alive and honor a long-standing self-rule.

Gai is actually a very private person. His purposely positive and silly front is largely that, a front, and that’s pretty clear throughout the series, but especially in comparison to his younger, more pessimistic self.

He’s very caring and protective, but it’s not clear who he’s actually opened up to. He hides his weaknesses and doubts from Lee and his team for sure, because he wants to be their inspiration and not put any of his own hangups on the kids he’s raising.

And he’s not in a hurry to die. He’s been noted throughout the series to have a incredible level of endurance and stamina, to the point where he’s got the highest pain tolerance out of anyone in the series, and he’s able to brush off or heal from relatively major injuries. He takes good care of himself. Gai is actually very conservative about using the eight gates.

In all his fights with Kisame, for example, he started out in his base form, assessed the level of his opponent, and then, once he figured it out, opened enough gates to quickly and one-sidedly end the fight.

Gai wants to live. He’s open about the fact that he loves his team from the very first day they’re assigned to him, he’s open about the fact that he loves and cares about Kakashi for a long, long time, he’s open about caring about the kids and the village in general.

But he’s not open about his thoughts and worries, and part of the reason he acts so goofy and openly doesn’t care what others say about him behind his back or to his face is because it’s partially a way to keep others at arm’s length, too. Gai knows for a long time that he’s planning on going out in a blaze of glory, after all.

Gai ultimately opens the gates for two of the people he loves most in the world, Kakashi and Lee, as well as for the future of all of Konoha. And he doesn’t hesitate. As soon as it’s clear that that’s his only viable option, he announces his intent to the others and then ignores their arguments for why he shouldn’t.

In regards to kakagai, this is something they both know about each other and have frequently argued about, and they’re both well aware that they’re hypocrites for criticizing it in each other.

Kakashi and Gai are outright passive-aggressive at each other about this, in front of their students. It’s well-established that they’ve had this sort of back-and-forth of “I don’t want you to die.” “I’ll die if I want to, screw you.” for a long time now, and Kakashi is openly disdainful of Gai using the gates at all. Not enough to actually interfere with each other’s tasks or fights, of course. Just enough to be passive-aggressive about it from time to time.

As of the New Era, or even just post-war in general, they’ve mellowed out in regards to this. Gai, because he’s already opened the 8th gate in what he thought was his final sacrifice and probably can’t do it again, and Kakashi, because he knows his loved ones beyond the grave don’t hate him and don’t want him to hurry up and die.

It’s part of why post-war, Kakashi and Gai are closer and happier together than ever before.

#Kakashi #Kakashi Hatake #Maito Gai #Might Guy #kakagai #Naruto #ivydragon #flower brambles #I hope this is understandable #meta

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rikacain · 4 years

Text

the stronger claim

Warnings for dark themes and noncon/dubcon elements.

Many thanks to drel for holding my hand and doing lit analysis on my words when I sure as hell couldn’t, and to magnus for their suggestions.

when someone put down aphrodisiac jutsu as a prompt, i really wonder if they expected this.

(check ao3 notes for the kinkmeme prompt this is based on.)

summary:

Kidnapping a shinobi is nothing new. It’s what you do to keep them there, that is the question.

read it on: ao3

The kidnapping of a hidden village’s shinobi is not an entirely surprising affair.

Shinobi or not, wars have been fought with prisoners of war as a bargaining chip - it will be fought the same way for many wars more. There are far too many reasons to capture an enemy: for intelligence, or the prevention of it; for a bargaining chip to leverage against your enemies - especially if the target is significant to someone high on the authority chain.

(To act as a suicide bomber upon their return to the village, something whispers. Obito’s eye aches like a bitter reminder.)

Nevertheless, the requisite reaction to such actions in peacetime is to pursue the victim. Losses in personnel are bad for morale, and a healthy discouragement of kidnapping Konoha shinobi, in general, is a good deterrent to future kidnapping attempts (up until it isn’t). And even if retrieval ends unsuccessfully, better for those under the banner to believe that an effort would be made rather than none at all.

Of course, a successful rescue attempt is infinitely preferable - and although Kakashi won't admit it to anyone, this attempt will be personal.

As a shinobi, Umino Iruka is nothing more than a chuunin, a minor gear in the workings of Konoha. As a shinobi of Konoha, he is a teacher in the Academy, a tenant of the Mission Desk, and a regular visitor of the Hokage. Each position affords him information on various affairs, ranging from clan heirs and their abilities to the missions he reviews and accepts.

Coupled with the weekly visits he makes to the Hokage’s office for no discernibly official purposes and the way Naruto proclaims his love for his adoptive father figure without the slightest bit of reservation, Iruka makes quite an attractive target if there aren't other more compelling and valuable targets to infiltrate Konoha for.

But as a person... Iruka is more than all of his worth as a shinobi, more than his sharp words and gentle smiles and unrelenting belief in the Will of Fire; Kakashi can only be pulled into his orbit whenever Iruka passes him by.

But now Iruka’s taken (like Rin before he drove a handful of lightning through her chest) - gone. And Kakashi had always thought that there would be a day he would walk up to the teacher and ask him, maybe, for his time and whatever else Iruka would be willing to give - to let the pieces fall as they may.

It tears more at him than more he ever thinks it would, that there would never be that possibility, soft and warm and entirely his.

It fuels him to run faster, to track harder, to go to where Iruka had been taken to; it leads him to the hidden village of Nagisa, surrounded by white sands and rolling waves. A potentially idyllic vacation spot, only tainted by the actions that they have taken against Konoha.

He directs his team to infiltrate the village, to acquire information on their motives and the whereabouts of their captive. After all their efforts - after the seeping fear of finding Iruka bloody and bruised, broken against a cell wall - he finds himself venturing into a cavern with a foreign seal sketched large and wide onto the pristine sand, the sprawling script of symbols glowing a soft gradient between sea-green and ocean-blue.

He finds Iruka, at the center of it all.

Iruka, bound. Iruka, writhing. Iruka, gasping as a hooded figure bends low over his prone form and seals their mouth over Iruka's own.

Perhaps if Kakashi were more level-minded, he would claim that immediate action was a necessity. That he couldn't wait for a diversion Tenzou was creating on the far side of the village, for a better opportunity. That the seal, an unknown factor, seemed far too dangerous to allow it to come to fruition.

At that very moment, he knows only that Iruka is garbed in a yukata, thin and light and so very easy to remove. Eye-catching, sprawled helpless against the sand.

Whatever is planned next, Kakashi doesn’t want to know. He drops down onto the central array sketched within the seal. The symbols around them flare as his feet touch the ground, washing the cavern in a brilliant white.

The hooded figure jerks their head up, eyes flashing in alarm - but Kakashi only has eyes for Iruka, who arches up in their arms. He doesn't give them a chance to raise their voice; he moves in, the grip on his kunai firm and deadly.

The fight - if it could be called one - doesn't last long.

When the hood is stained red from arterial spray, Kakashi finally lowers his weapon and turns around to check on Iruka. A quip is ready on his tongue, only to dissipate with a sharp breath when he sees Iruka’s reaction - or lack thereof.

It worries Kakashi, how unaware Iruka is despite being shinobi - how utterly vulnerable he currently is. He approaches Iruka’s prone form and crouches over him.

“Iruka-sensei,” he says, urgency rushing his words. "Sensei, we’re here to rescue you.”

It does not bode well that Iruka does not even react. He stares up towards the ceiling, eyes glassy and unseeing. A sheen of sweat glistens upon his skin. The drag of his breaths, slow and audible.

Perhaps a genjutsu. Kakashi attempts to dispel it.

Nothing happens.

“Sensei,” he says again. He ruthlessly quashes down thoughts of too late once again. Tsunade can be the judge of that and no one else. “We have to go."

He reaches out to slide a hand under Iruka’s neck -

Iruka shudders in his arms, pressing into Kakashi. Reflex makes Kakashi tense; experience makes him shift towards a defensive position. He expects Iruka to swing at him, perhaps compelled by this foreign ritual, and half-expects at the end of all this to relearn that heavy numbness within his hand, the cold weight of a precious person dead at his feet.

He does not expect Iruka to moan.

Long and low and guttural; Iruka’s head falls back, eyelids a-fluttering; mouth open, inviting. He shifts, restless, his thighs twitching against each other, unmistakably rubbing against each other. A flush rises high across his face, accentuating that scar that Kakashi has always longed to trail a finger across.

The moan tapers off to something breathy. Needy.

It is a sound Kakashi dared to imagine only in his fantasies, a sound that will feature in many of them to come. His mouth dries, his heart pounds loud in his ears. A blush burns across his face, arousal mixed with mortification - he has never been more thankful for his mask.

It is also a scene he’s familiar with, one that he would not have wished on Iruka.

An aphrodisiac jutsu.

In that haze of arousal, Iruka weakly turns his head to look at Kakashi. In his eyes, there is a faint spark of recognition.

“Kakashi-san,” he rasps.

Kakashi cannot help but track the swipe of Iruka's tongue as it darts out to wet his lips. The muted shine it leaves behind. And - shamefully - all Kakashi can think is: <em>this is what Iruka would sound like in his bed.</em>

There’s a distant sound of an explosion - the distraction he was supposed to wait for, finally come unto existence. It jolts him into action: he hoists Iruka over his head and across his shoulders in one smooth and practiced movement, curling one arm around Iruka's arm and the other around his bare leg but leaving his hands otherwise free to perform a jutsu if need be. Despite the breathiness of the fabric, Iruka is emanating warmth as though he is running a fever - no doubt a symptom of the jutsu placed upon him.

Kakashi resolutely ignores Iruka's trembling, his breathy sighs. He forms a futon to blow away the symbols in the sand.

Whether it would break the jutsu, he doesn't know. Their first priority is to escape.

“Hold on, sensei,” Kakashi swallows, ignoring the curl of desire within his gut. "We're getting out of here."

-----

He meets up with Tenzou and Yugao at the edge of the village, as planned. Their three-man cell takes quick leave of the area, making the run back to Fire's borders - a grueling three days' journey away.

It takes four hours before night falls, and for darkness to set in proper without the silvery light of the moon. The absence of light is a boon more than a bane: it would be difficult for pursuers to come across their camp.

That is, if there were any.

Kakashi had expected hot pursuit of their prisoner, or retaliation for the intrusion. But there has been nothing: no jutsu aimed at them, no shuriken grazing their skin, no kunai planted in their back. They leave Nagisa practically unmolested, with their objective in tow; their objective being draped across Kakashi’s shoulder.

It is discomfiting to refer to Iruka in such an impersonal way. An objective has always been a mark: to steal, to persuade, to assassinate. To use it against Iruka feels incongruous, if not for Kakashi's own affections then to address a comrade.

But the uncomfortable truth is that Kakashi cannot consider Iruka as anything else, not at this very moment.

For Iruka has been restless, the entire time he was on Kakashi's back. The jutsu has not worn off even with the destruction of the array and the distance they gained. There is a damp patch on Kakashi's shirt where Iruka has been gasping helplessly against the fabric. Kakashi's neck is drenched with sweat, from physical exertion and his proximity to Iruka’s body heat.

Most incriminatingly, Iruka's groin is positioned just where Kakashi's tactical vest ends.

It is impossible for Kakashi to maintain an unyielding grip on Iruka; it is equally impossible for Iruka to remain still. It is therefore very natural for friction to occur - for Kakashi to feel the way Iruka's cock fills out against his shoulder as they ran, especially through the thin material of the yukata.

A healthy dose of desperation and his iron discipline stave off Kakashi’s own burgeoning arousal. Or so he hopes.

They stop in a suitable clearing. Tenzou creates a thick copse of trees with its trucks curving to form a hollow dome able to fit four at its base, while Kakashi and Yugao set up the perimeter traps and seals. Such is their routine, established by once a plan and now muscle memory; they reconvene in mere minutes.

"Senpai," Tenzou says. There's an undercurrent of concern in his voice.

The cause is clear: Kakashi has refused to set Iruka down even when they were a safe distance away from the village. Iruka is essentially little more than a deadweight at this very moment.

As if in reaction to Tenzou’s words, Iruka shudders again against his shoulder. Kakashi hastily sets him down, positioning him to face away from the others.

Iruka deserves to have his modesty preserved, as much as Kakashi can provide, even if Iruka's yukata is presently drenched with sweat to the point of translucence. It sticks to him, almost as though it is a second skin. Leaving nothing to the imagination. The way he’ll shiver if Kakashi pushes it off him, shoulder by shoulder...

He tears his gaze away from Iruka and breathes out, harsh. It is only physical relief he can afford.

"An aphrodisiac," he explains briskly, calling upon his lifetime’s worth of discipline, his experience in imparting information concisely. "I found him in a seals array, and tried to dispel the jutsu, erase the seals."

Iruka's heavy breathing in a corner of the dome speaks volumes about the success of either attempt.

Tenzou's eyes flick towards the other man, his face set in neutrality. "What did they do to him?”

"Nothing good if it involves an aphrodisiac," Yugao says darkly.

"We'll get him back to Hokage-sama," he says, decisive. None of them are medics; he can only hope that the aphrodisiac would run its course. Or that they get to Tsunade before the symptoms can worsen. "Tenzou, you're on first. Yugao, third. We leave at dawn."

Tenzou nods, and darts upwards to perch within the trees he built. Yugao settles in a far corner of the dome. He doesn't miss the way she turns her back to him, giving him the privacy he wants to talk to Iruka; gratitude settles firmly in his gut.

He crouches again, this time a distance away. Iruka probably doesn’t want anyone to see him with his inhibitions lowered, Kakashi included.

“Iruka-sensei,” he murmurs. There’s the minutest of shifting - he takes it as acknowledgment. “I’ll get you back to Konoha. To your students - to Naruto. I promise.”

There’s the sound of an exhale, shaky and forced.

“Kakashi-san,” the quiet rasp comes again. Kakashi holds himself still. “I have to go back.”

“We will,” he says hastily. “I promise you, sensei - “

“I have to go back.” Iruka’s breathing shudders again, and Kakashi yearns to reach out, to hold him. To comfort. But physical affection is the last thing Iruka needs right now. “But you can’t let me.”

Something cold drains into Kakashi’s body.

“Sensei,” he says, almost choking on the possibility of his past, repeated. It would be cruel of fate to act so callously. The hoarseness of his voice makes it sound like he’s begging: “Iruka.”

Iruka only repeats, “You can’t."

-----

The wards scream to life as their pursuers finally make their attack.

-----

Something is wrong.

Maybe it’s the way the darkness of the night is supposed to cover their tracks, and the camouflage of Tenzou’s Mokuton-built fortress their presence. Maybe it’s how the pursuers stop far too easily, never giving chase even as they retreat. Maybe it’s how their team is getting run ragged into the dawn of the next morning, as they move camp again and again and again.

Three times. They’ve been attacked three times, within an hour of setting up camp. Had it been once, Kakashi would put it down to unluckiness; twice, coincidence. Three times make a pattern.

Nagisa is tracking them.

Kakashi considers chakra sensors - then discards the theory. All attacks so far have involved different shinobi. Sensory abilities are a highly valued skill; Nagisa would have gone the way of Uzushio if other countries realize the number of chakra-sensitive shinobi they’re putting out.

Perhaps a physical tracker. But none of them has taken anything from the village, and the yukata draped on Iruka (on which Kakashi forced himself to perform the most perfunctory of inspections) is far too thin to hide any tracker sewn into its seams or sleeves. Iruka has been coherent enough to confirm that he had not been fed during his brief captivity.

That leaves only jutsu.

(There remains only one unknown factor in this entire scenario.)

He turns to Iruka - huddled again in a corner of the dome. The aphrodisiac has shown no sign of reducing in intensity throughout the night, raising a whole different set of medical concerns: dehydration and heatstroke, to name a few. More worryingly, Iruka has been incredibly reluctant to press forward, with all attempts at running being best described as faltering. When pressed, he would only shake his head.

(You can’t let me, and Kakashi can’t tell whether he’s remembering Iruka, or remembering Rin. You can’t.)

They had to resort to carrying him but therein arose another problem: Iruka would thrash wildly the very moment Tenzou or Yugao touched him. The only person he would remain still for, would allow to touch him, is Kakashi.

It sets something possessive and dark purring within him, even though he knows that it’s likely due to the jutsu. It also means that Kakashi is the only one who can carry him as they run, limiting his movement and defenses.

Still, the most pressing concern remains Nagisa’s recurring ability to find their camp. And if it’s truly jutsu, then there is one way for Kakashi to confirm: the Sharingan.

He raises his hand to pull off the headband, to direct his gaze towards Iruka… and then hesitates. The Sharingan burns memories into his mind, this he knows. He also knows how utterly mortifying it is to be vulnerable, to curl away from pitying eyes.

If he looks at Iruka, he'll remember him like this, forever. Even though Iruka should be standing with his head held high, his ponytail tied back proper, confident and assured. All the things Kakashi respected him for.

And he will be those things still, Kakashi tells himself, but only if Kakashi can get him back within the safe boundaries of Konoha.

(As though you won't remember him like this when your hand is wrapped around your cock, something small and nasty whispers to him.)

Better traumatized than dead, Kakashi repeats and pulls the headband off.

The strain sets in almost immediately. The sluggish swirl of the tomoes within the eye begins to quicken as it greedily absorbs any and all information it could perceive, the blurry haze of chakra settling into proper place as his vision comes into focus.

Iruka's chakra levels are running low, with the occasion flicker and flare Kakashi expects from a loss in control. What alarms him is a thin cord of chakra running from Iruka's heart, through the gaps of Tenzou's Mokuton dome and out into the distance.

There is little doubt that at the other end is Nagisa.

The cord is cool when Kakashi reaches out to touch it, to run a finger down the line. He flicks at it, noting how the chakra is foreign from Iruka’s fiery own - and the ephemeral flash of inscriptions running across Iruka’s form.

"Senpai," Tenzou says hesitantly.

Ah, right. He must look quite peculiar, touching nothing midair. Actually, now that he notices - the cord seems to go right through Yugao's knee, with her none the wiser.

Curious.

"I think," Kakashi says in lieu of an answer, "we need to ask them some questions."

-----

It takes a counter-ambush to capture a Nagisa-nin. It takes the Sharingan to get her to tell them what Nagisa did to Iruka.

It takes a sick mind to come up with what they did.

The tethering jutsu, Nagisa calls it. A fuuinjutsu, a forbidden technique: the sealing of foreign chakra into another person's body. As long as the source of chakra existed, Nagisa would be able to track Iruka wherever he went.

Placing trackers on prisoners and marks is nothing new, least of all to Kakashi. While physical trackers like the Aburame's insects are far more common, infusing raw chakra into the body is not unheard of. Still, as most jutsu do, such methods have their limitations - in this case, weakening or dissipating entirely after a certain distance is gained.

Nagisa's jutsu entrenches the chakra more firmly, the transfer of chakra augmented by emotional intensity and physical intimacy.

In blunt terms: by sexual intercourse.

(The aphrodisiac jutsu certainly makes that easier, Kakashi notes clinically.)

The tether also acts as a reel, one that constantly compels Iruka to return to the source of the chakra. Even though Kakashi killed the caster, apparently they were but a mere conduit for the source: the sands of the cavern, chakra-infused over the years.

Loyalty to one is a danger to all, the Nagisa-nin murmurs under the swirling Sharingan. Better to bind to a place rather than a person.

There is little need to ask why such a jutsu is so necessary, not when it is clear how small Nagisa is compared to other hidden villages of similar status. The low birth and high mortality rates of shinobi lifestyles are problems Konoha chose to answer through a relatively open (for hidden villages) immigration policy. Nagisa merely circumvented the lengthy background and security checks through the forced conversion of foreign shinobi to bolster its own forces.

After all, why invest in training when you could appropriate a trained shinobi? Why keep your best assets at home performing menial jobs and administrative tasks when you could send them out into the field?

A policy that makes sense on paper. A policy where someone looked at another villages’ shinobi and considered them resources instead of people. The results instead of the means.

(Even so, there’s a twisted part of Kakashi that is relieved - that it is but a tracker instead of a ticking bomb. That when he said ‘back’ he meant to Nagisa, and not to Konoha. That Iruka will not go the same way as Rin.)

Behind him, Tenzou’s chakra sharpens, glass-shard sharp and glinting. Kakashi wagers the idea of loyalty to one's village being ripped away so easily disturbs him. In direct contrast, Yugao’s chakra simmers, roiling bursts contained within a chilly veneer.

He turns back to the captive. “How do we break the jutsu,” he demands. “I interrupted the ritual - it shouldn’t have taken hold.”

A blank gaze. “There were other conduits attending to him,” she finally says, the hungry pull of the Sharingan drawing the information out of her. “A claim has already been made. An interruption is merely another."

Other conduits. How many of them had laid their hands on Iruka before he had gotten there? The very thought turns Kakashi's voice vicious; he snarls, again - “How do we break it?”

“We must let go of him,” comes the placid reply. “Or there must be a stronger claim.”

-----

“Senpai.”

Tenzou finds him outside of the dome. Kakashi is staring out into the distance, for the possibility of more ambushers, more pursuers, more lives to take - something he knows how to do better than solve this problem before them.

“Tenzou.” Kakashi doesn’t turn to look at him. “What are our chances of making it to Fire?”

He doubts they can even make it to Konoha. What an ingenious plan - instead of facing their opponents head-on, Nagisa merely tires them out until they are forced to give up from sheer exhaustion. He’d appreciate it when it isn’t done against him.

To his credit, Tenzou doesn’t soften his words.

“Very low." Kakashi thought so. "Even with chakra pills, we’d be drained of chakra long before we reach the borders. And with that fever Iruka-sensei is running...”

He breathes out as Tenzou trails off, sifting through the various plans he has come up with. A single guard while the others slept would mean they'd have to carry that guard alongside Iruka. A decoy would be useless. And if any of them were caught and brought back to Nagisa…

“I won't abandon him.” The words tear themselves out of Kakashi’s throat, unbidden. Cutting losses, sacrifice - concepts they’re both familiar with. The choice to save three over a compromised one.

But it means letting Iruka go back. Back where they can finish the ritual.

That isn't an option.

Tenzou nods slowly, his faith in Kakashi absolute. “I know."

Kakashi shakes his head sharply. Those who abandon their comrades are worse than trash - but this is more. More than camaraderie, more than loyalty. More than the guilt of allowing someone to be ripped away from their home, never to return, only to be part of a system that will never value their choice.

But to keep Iruka, to return him to Konoha...

It has to be Kakashi. The jutsu would not accept Tenzou, nor Yugao - it recognizes only Kakashi as a competing claim. If they were all to get away from Nagisa alive, then Kakashi would have to -

He’d have to -

“I can’t,” he says, hoarse.

"I know.” The answer jolts him out of the maelstrom of his doubts; he finally turns to look at Tenzou. His friend looks back at him, steady as the trees he built. "But you have to."

Duty calls. Kakashi closes his eyes. Tenzou is right, he has to -

"You have to ask him.” Kakashi’s eyes fly open. They meet Tenzou’s own, dark and piercing. "Ask him, senpai."

To ask Iruka -

"He's out of his mind.” Kakashi's fist clenches, tight, almost as though lightning would build in his hands. As though he could punch his way through the chest of this problem. "He won't know what he's saying."

"Better he decides than you decide for him," Tenzou tells him bluntly.

Kakashi stares at Tenzou, searching his face for another solution, another possibility. As though there'll be another way to bring all of them out unscathed. But Tenzou remains unwavering in his conviction. Firm.

"Go and ask him, senpai," he says again, not unkindly.

Kakashi stands.

------

When he steps back into the dome, he finds only Iruka. Curled small and tucked away into a corner, the previously pristine yukata now creased and sweat-stained. His gaze remains vaguely vacant, staring into the distance, but his eyes flick weakly to Kakashi as he sits down in front of Iruka.

How to even begin this conversation? Iruka-sensei, if you don't want to go back to Nagisa, you'll have to let me fuck you.

Iruka-sensei, I don't want to rape you, but if I don't do it Nagisa probably will. Would you rather be raped by me or them?

Iruka-sensei, I'm sorry.

(There is one more path, one where a kunai is put to Iruka's throat and pushed in deep. The one where Iruka becomes unreachable, untouchable - but remains wholly his own.

Kakashi refuses to even think of suggesting it.)

Kakashi takes a deep breath, to say something - but Iruka's voice is the first to cut through the silence.

"I'm sorry to put you in this position, Kakashi-san," he whispers.

Kakashi should be apologizing, not Iruka. He should have done more reconnaissance before plucking Iruka right out of the ritual. He should have watched and waited - but fear had driven him more than caution had then.

"Maa, sensei." He forces his voice lighter and smiles wanly through his mask. It was comforting then, their easy-going banter - he can't help but wonder if Iruka finds it comforting too. If he still does. "We've all had a tracker planted on us before. Yours is just a bit harder to get rid of."

He thinks he sees Iruka's twitch upwards, just the slightest bit - but that might just be wishful thinking.

"You heard about how to break the jutsu." Iruka dips his head downwards, and Kakashi doesn't know whether it could be called mercy that he doesn't need to say it again. That he doesn’t need to say it aloud.

It doesn't stop his throat from clogging up, to cement what comes next into words. Into reality.

Ask, the echo of Tenzou's voice reminds him.

"Iruka-sensei," he forces out. "I... What do you want?"

Iruka stares at him. Kakashi can see the heated glaze of his eyes, the damp sheen of his skin. What was he thinking, asking - but he can't make this decision for Iruka. Tenzou is right - and even if the choice is not much of a choice at all, Kakashi has to give Iruka anything that he can.

God, he'd give Iruka everything that he can.

"We can break the jutsu now," he continues. "Or - or, we can - " - let you go back to Nagisa, except that choice isn't a choice at all, not one he could let Iruka take any more than he could let Iruka commit suicide.

"We can wait until the borders," he says instead in a moment of great weakness. It comes out like a plea. "We'll just run all the way there. They wouldn't risk invading Fire -"

"The borders," Iruka murmurs. "The borders, they," - he cuts off with a shudder, before forcing out a strained, "three days away."

"We'll make it," Kakashi says, desperation dripping through the cracks in this terrible plan.

Iruka lifts his head. Before he even says a word, Kakashi knows.

"Kakashi-san is a very kind person," Iruka breathes out. "But I... one man isn't worth all this."

You are, Kakashi wants to say - you are, you are worth all the miles I ran after you, worth all the rain drenching my clothes and the sun beating down my back. Worth the burn in my muscles and the strain in my shoulders.

But it’s not about Kakashi, not here, not now.

“I’ll be fine,” Iruka is saying. He’s even smiling - a weak, reassuring smile, as though Kakashi is one of his students needing reassurance for a skinned knee, or from a violent storm. “I can take a few weeks more of captivity. I promise.”

Like how Kakashi promised him a few hours ago. “I promised that you’d return to Konoha, sensei. Would you have me break that promise too?"

“If it means keeping everyone safe,” Iruka answers. “Yes.”

All of them, duty-bound. Martyrs and fools. If this is Iruka’s choice, Kakashi has to respect it - but…

“You know what will happen,” he says. A nod. “You know you might not see Konoha ever again.” If Nagisa decides Iruka is valuable enough, they would increase the security and begin negotiations with Konoha - rescue would be immensely difficult. Yet, still, another nod. “Then why?”

“Like I said,” Iruka says, softly. “I don't want to put you in this position. You shouldn't have to do this."

"I shouldn't have to," Kakashi repeats, uncomprehending.

“I couldn’t…” Another tremor sweeps over Iruka. The sight of Iruka’s throat working around the words, the shift of his Adam’s apple under the skin - it catches Kakashi’s eye and keeps him there. Keeps him wondering how it would taste, if he puts his tongue to it. “I couldn’t be so selfish.”

Selfish, he says. No, Kakashi knows what selfishness is: the urge to tear off the arms off any ninja that would attempt to bind Iruka to their cause. The depths of Kakashi’s want, to be the only person Iruka should ever tether himself to. The hollow grief at the thought of an Iruka-shaped absence in the part of Konoha Kakashi considers his, even though he would be alive in Nagisa.

This is also selfishness: the absolute dread at the idea of Iruka never wanting to see Kakashi again for as long as he is alive.

"It would be selfish of us to leave Naruto worried,” Kakashi says instead. He avoids saying ‘you’, an effort to soften the blow - an effort in vain from the twitch that would have otherwise been a flinch. “Your students. Your colleagues. Friends.”

“They’ll understand.” They won’t. No one possibly could, least of all Kakashi. “They’ll carry on.”

Iruka looks at him - soft and resigned. Final. “You’d look after Naruto for me, won’t you?”

In any other situation, that is a promise he can make easily. In this situation, it is a promise he is not yet willing to give.

“You’d go back to Nagisa just to spare me.” Kakashi says quietly, confirming.

Iruka nods again, exhaustion getting the better of him. "And that's the only reason." Another nod, slow and languid. "I see."

"Thank you," Iruka says. His weak but sincere smile rends Kakashi apart - and the wretched part of it all is the gratitude. That he would be left to the wolves just to spare Kakashi.

And in that very moment, Kakashi knows what he is willing to lose.

"You're wrong about one thing, sensei," he says. There is a flicker of confusion in Iruka's eyes as Kakashi holds them with his own. They widen when he pulls off his headband yet again so that they might better see the strands of chakra tethering Iruka; further still as he pulls down his mask. "I'm not kind at all."

He reaches out to curl a hand around Iruka's nape, pulling him close - close enough for Kakashi to press his lips to Iruka's own.

"I'm very, very selfish," he confesses into the space between their mouths, and begins to stake his claim.

#fic #kakairu #tw: dubcon #kakairu mini bingo 2019

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lainellafay · 6 years

Text

Naruto Secret Agents!AU

Also known as idea I most likely will never write: REALLY FUCKING DARK AU. {There are a lot of trigger warnings in here}

Our beloved characters are part of a secret organisation that has dubious moral obligations, let’s just say. Where they lie on the spectrum of light and dark (good vs evil) is more in the grey area

Their organisation (Konoha) completes missions that involve assassination, infiltration of criminal rings & the subsequent closure of them, as well as escorting/bodyguarding etc. whatever you want, they probably do it. As long as you pay the proper fee and know how to find them in the first place

Konoha is one of such organisations all over the world, they control mainly the Asian sectors but sometimes they have border wars with the other organisations who try to step into their jurisdiction or vice versa. It’s messy. [There were wars before, secret underground ones, 3 times in history thus far, all involve border wars.]

Many of these agents are born within the organisation and brought up, or orphans picked up from the streets. By born...I mean, mission babies (sometimes their agents get compromised in long term infiltration missions) or it’s a family business (see Hyuuga, Uchiha clan etc.). Or just two agents got together and made a kid. Kids don’t grow up with their parents, when they are born and weaned, they are taken away from their mothers before a bond can be made between the two (unless clan members but even then, there are strict rules imposed -- to prevent emotional complications).

Kakashi and Gai are as such--mission babies. People doubt the true origin of Gai because his father is just not really infiltration material but he is. People talk though.

Kakashi has ‘pretty’ features and from a young age, deemed by the upper management that he’ll do child pr*stitution and p*rnography missions. [Inspiration received from fics like: These Are All Things You Don’t Understand by Novocain]

Gai on the other hand, is an ‘ugly’ child, but strong physical attributes is prepared for child fighting rings and gambling arenas (think of Colosseum type fighting with boxing, weapons etc. fight to the death while the audience bet over the children)

Kakashi is a genius, a prodigy, like his father whom he heard whispers of. Initially in awe, and then later, in disgust. He couldn’t care because he never knew his father. He’s sent on his first mission at 5 years old, a simple one, assassination--get into this old coot’s bed and assassinate him. He starts off with these kinds of missions, one on one, simple quick execution and if required, easy to extract. He does this for 1 year until he’s ‘promoted’ at 6 years of age and is started to be dumped into child pr*stitution/p*rnography rings. [He shuts down at least 4 rings before he’s deemed too ‘old’ and also ‘recognisable’ because one does not get off unnoticed for that long and eventually is removed from such missions and dumped into other types more ‘fitting of his age’ and skill set]

Gai doesn’t start until he reaches 8 years old. The first mission he goes on, he doesn’t go all the way to the actual tournaments. It was easy, he only needed get one foot into the ‘training arenas’ and confirm the evidence already collected by Konoha so they could bust it. The second goes similarly, shutting down the criminal ring before it got to even run--nipping it in the bud really. It’s the fourth mission he goes on that he becomes immersed in the actual field. It was also his last, because it was a long infiltration, taking 2 years and by then, Gai can no longer perform such missions because he’s deemed too ‘old’.

It is on Gai’s last mission that he meets Kakashi. Gai was 10, and Kakashi 9 years of age. Kakashi was with a client, who took pleasure in young boys in bed and watching them die in the arena. Sick. Kakashi was in the stands on the 2nd floor--VIP seating. Gai was in the ring, bashing another poor kid’s head into the floor. They had met eyes for one second and they knew, that they were the same, it was all in the eyes.

They don’t meet again until Gai finishes his mission and returns to Konoha for a mission briefing and Kakashi is heading off to his next. They pass by each other in the halls of their organisation building and there’s this flicker of recognition. They don’t speak, and don’t outwardly make any movement, but deep inside, they acknowledge each other.

Kakashi is 14, and Gai 15, when Konoha nearly gets destroyed from an insider job. Their leader, Kakashi’s old mentor and handler, sacrifices himself with his wife for Konoha and they leave behind a child, who holds the secrets of the event on his body. It’s coded and only a select few can decipher it. But it doesn’t stop enemies from wanting to get it, because the knowledge can destroy Konoha completely. That child is Naruto.

Kakashi and Gai became friends and rivals along the way, doing some missions together after ‘graduating’ from their old childhood ones. Kakashi is well known for his genius and dexterity with guns and short blades but he’s a shadow, an assassin in the night. Gai...he’s a true monster, crushing skulls with his bare heads. He generates fear from his presence alone and when his nunchucks appear, well, good luck. They’re a demon duo indeed.

Gai gets his first set of students when before Kakashi. They’ve been trying to foster trainees off onto the both of them for years, because they’re some of their most skillful agents and the lives of agents are short. They have to spread their knowledge before they...kick the bucket. Hyuuga Neji, TenTen, and Lee become his trainees. TenTen is an orphan, Lee a mission baby, Neji’s a clan member.

Kakashi fails all his trainees (failed trainees don’t go back to academies like Naruto universe, they go into body bags -smile-) until Sakura (hostage, civilian parents owe money, her life for their debt and they sacrificed her to Konoha), Uchiha Sasuke (last clan member...long story), and Naruto.

KakaGai happens somewhere along the way because after their childhood missions, they’re both broken souls. Honestly. Kakashi has plenty of mental scars from r*pe (physical as well because sadistic people exist) and Gai as a lot of physical scars (but mental as well because he kills so many kids to survive for his mission). NO ONE IS A HERO IN THIS GODDAMN AU

Random Scene of Naruto:

“I’m going to be a hero, believe it!” the kid in a glaringly bright orange jumpsuit exclaims with glee. “We’re going to save the world and kick bad guys’ butts, we’re going to be the best team there is, sensei!”

Kakashi looks at his mentor’s son, his single exposed eye assessing his trainees--who the fuck decided oblivious kids and him were a good combination? He was not Gai. “There are no heroes in this life. There are only monsters, and I am going to teach you how to be one of them.”

I guess Kakashi loses his eye somewhere. He had a team, once upon a time. Maybe a group infiltration. I mean, Obito and Rin weren’t that bad on the eyes. Obito gives up his eye as a dying wish as well, Uchiha clan has weird eyes okay, they turn red in distress and have 20/20 vision even in the dark it’s weird and it’s unfair but hey, this is a modern AU and we cannot have too many special powers.

I just imagine Kakashi in a suit like typical spies and he wears a bandana like his headband in canon and he wears a black facemask (like those korean idols) over the bottom half of his face. I need a drawing of this.

#naruto #Hatake Kakashi #Maito Gai #KakaGai #Kakashi Hatake #naruto au #fanfic idea #lainellafay writes #lainellafay rambles #lainellafay needs help asap

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kuriquinn · 6 years

Text

Meanwhiles and Neverweres [2/?]

Disclaimer & Info:

Almost two months after the end of the Third Shinobi World War, Obito Uchiha awakens in a prison cell at Konoha’s police station.

Or more specifically, on the floor of a prison cell.

It’s not the first time since returning home that he has found himself a guest of Konoha’s Military Police; nor is it the first time he has woken himself up with his own thrashing and screaming. He knows it won’t be the last, either.

Every night since Kannabi bridge, Obito dreams of Kakashi.

Minato calls it grieving, while the one time he mentioned it to her, Rin suggested post traumatic stress. Obito thinks they’re both wrong. He thinks he’s being haunted.

Despite how at-peace Kakashi seemed in death, the ghost that stalks Obito’s nightmares is anything but. It berates him for not keeping his promise, repeating the nonsense he spouted in his final moments.

Names that mean nothing to him and entreaties to listen. Oaths sworn in the face of death.

Rin said that it’s very likely that in his last moments Kakashi was deprived of oxygen, causing the speech centres of his brain to malfunction. During the day, Obito can repeat this to himself and ignore the nagging sense that he is supposed to be doing something important. At night, however, he is unprotected from the memory of Kakashi’s judgement.

Speaking of judgement…

He can feel it practically radiating from the door of his cell.

Obito squints across the room, half-expecting to see Rin standing there, hands on her hips and a disapproving expression on her face, or even Minato with a worried frown. Instead, he stares up into the unyielding, hard-jawed face of Fugaku Uchiha, the captain of the police and the head of the Uchiha clan.

“S-sir,” he mumbles, stumbling to his feet and attempting something resembling a bow.

“Obito,” Fugaku says, his deep voice worryingly neutral as he addresses him. “The Illusionist. Hero of the Kannabi Bridge. Pride of the Uchiha—or so I’ve been told.” He says all of this without any inflection, and each syllable rings with judgement. “Looking at you now, you don’t live up to your legend.”

“Uncle…”

“No. I am not your uncle here,” Fugaku reminds him sternly. “I am your superior and your clan leader. And I am waiting to hear the explanation as to why a hero of the Third Shinobi War is frequenting taverns and picking fights with his clansmen.”

Obito winces.

“We have lost enough of our people to the war, we will not have infighting here,” the head of the Uchiha continues in a forbidding tone. “Especially not from those lucky enough to return home. Others did not have your fortune. Too many of your cousins have died. Inabi Uchiha is more respectable than you, and he and his team gave their lives in the final hours of the war. You dishonour their memory with your behaviour.”

“It’s the memories of those we lost that I was trying to defend!” Obito snaps, and then adds a quick a tentative, “Sir.”

Fugaku narrows his eyes. “Explain.”

Obito scowls, wondering where to begin and how to avoid sounding like he blames Kakashi for all of this.

As the war entered its final months, Obito came into his own completely. His newly awakened Sharingan was much more powerful than he expected it to be. Coupled with the chidori he learned from Kakashi, no man who stood against him on the battlefield lived to tell the tale. He and Rin were instrumental in helping Minato end the war several months earlier than anticipated, once their squad destroyed Kannabi Bridge.

They returned to Konoha as heroes, and suddenly everything was different.

Minato was nominated as Hokage and Rin went on indefinite leave from shinobi duties in favour of working in the hospital. Obito never had responsibilities before the war, not beyond looking after his grandmother, and so he was unprepared for the welcome awaiting him.

Aunts and uncles sang his praises and children followed him in the street. One of his distant relatives asked if she could name her newborn son after him. Cousins who had no time for him before the war—who couldn’t debase themselves by being around a dead-last screw-up like him—were all suddenly clamouring for his attention. They plied him with drinks and spoke to him as if he held the future of the Uchiha clan in his palms.

And he welcomed it all.

Because the drinks numbed the pain and the memory of watching the life leave Kakashi’s eyes. And those loud voices laughing and joking in the background drowned out the cold silence that Rin treated him to since that day.

For a while, he could forget the blatant absence of his friends.

Until the good-natured conversation about the war turned to criticism, and his clansmen started to speak about Obito’s comrades. About how Minato was made Hokage to be a puppet, and how Rin obviously wasn’t strong enough to continue the shinobi lifestyle. About Kakashi maybe not dying to save them, but simply looking for a way to end his life quick the way his cowardly old man did.

That last one is the reason Obito is currently in jail and why he’s pretty sure the knuckles of his left hand are broken.

But he’s not about to explain all of this to the leader of his clan. Fugaku Uchiha isn’t known for his sympathy or patience toward emotional outbursts.

“Those guys were disrespecting the people who fought and died to ensure the peace they currently enjoy,” Obito eventually bites out. “Maybe beating the shit out of them wasn’t the best choice, but it will make them think twice before they do it again.” He pauses, then again adds, “Sir”, though it’s less deferential this time.

Fugaku is silent at this, considering Obito for several moments.

Then his mouth lifts in something that might—if it’s not a trick of the light—be a smirk.

“I imagine they will,” he says. Then narrows his eyes. “But if you do it again, I’ll have you cleaning every public toilet in the village.”

Obito gulps.

“The war is over—now is the time to decide what you intend to do in the future,” Fugaku continues gruffly. “With a little discipline and perhaps learning to practice better judgement, you could do well as an officer.”

“An…officer?”

“Konoha’s police require men of substance, not simply strength.”

Obito’s eyes widen in surprise, having not expected a job offer of all things when he woke up this morning. To be honest, he’s never even considered working for the police force. He intends to become Hokage, after all, and to do that, he needs to rise through the shinobi ranks, which unfortunately doesn’t include the military force.

“Respectfully, I must decline, Sir,” he says. “I, uh, I have other plans.”

Something like amusement twitches at the corner of Fugaku’s mouth.

“I thought as much,” he says quietly.

Then, in yet another surprise move, he opens the cell.

“Go home,” he tells him. “Get your hand seen to. Sleep it off.”

“Y-yes, Sir.” He turns to leave.

“I’m not finished with you yet, Obito. I want you to meet me at this location at sunset,” the police captain orders, pressing a paper into his hand. “Don’t be late.”

His tone hints at the consequence of defying him. Considering he once sentenced an officer of his to a month of manure inspection on the farms surrounding Konoha, just for having a crooked armband, Obito doesn’t question him.

Instead, he swallows and looks down at the paper in his hand, carefully unfolding it. A moment later, he yelps as it bursts in to flames – but not before he sees the words imprinted on it.

Naka shrine.

火

Rin Nohara strides between the beds of several of her patients, making observations on their charts and scribbling notes into her clipboard. Her stomach growls, but she ignores it, used to going with meals while on a mission.

Even if this isn’t exactly the same type of mission she trained for so painstakingly.

Since the end of the war, she has worked as a doctor in Konoha’s hospital. It’s a far cry from the danger of active shinobi duty, but she tells anyone who questions her decision to be here that medicine is her true calling. It’s almost completely true, if not for the gaping hole in her life where her friends used to be.

A wound that will never heal, she supposes. It’s permanent in the same way that Kakashi’s death is. Somehow the idea of going back out in the field without such an integral part of her team—and integral part of her life and her heart—makes her feel sick.

His death should not have happened.

She goes over that day in her head over and over, walking herself through every option she could tried, every sacrifice she could have made for him to live and can’t find out how. She isn’t entirely sure what she’ll do if she ever figures it out.

In the meantime, she refuses to let some other girl go through the pain of losing a comrade in the field, and throws herself into her medical studies. She was always a good student, but now she is obsessed, delving into the most technical basics of medicine and chakra manipulation to come up with a way to battle with Death…and win.

“Don’t you ever go home, Rin?” one of her patients asks, joking tone unable to completely disguise his concern. He’s is an older veteran of the war, who lost both his legs in an encounter with Iwa’s Explosion Corps. “You have to sleep, don’t you?”

“If I slept, who would take care of you?” Rin challenges with a smile, replacing an empty IV bag with a fresh one.

“You’re too young to be so busy. Don’t you have some nice young man to keep your company? I bet he’s missing you.”

Rin schools her features into her usual defence, a smile without substance and a light laugh. “No, no one’s waiting for me. Aren’t you lucky, you get me all to yourself.”

He chuckles and agrees, and Rin leaves.

As she heads to her office, she frowns, thoughs flying to Obito.

It hurts to think of him too much, to think of either of her remaining teammates really, but him especially. She hasn’t treated him very well, and knows it; but she has no idea how to be around him anymore.

The memory of his confession—“Heh…I’d be a pretty crappy guy if I let the girl I love get killed, wouldn’t I?”— is all tied up with everything else from that day. Fear and pain, the taste of blood and tears, Kakashi’s kiss, the loss of a piece of her heart. It’s not something she can explain to Obito, or even Minato-sensei when he tries to get her to speak.

Turning the corner, she almost ploughs headlong into another body.

“Sorry,” she apologises distractedly.

“You should be,” a voice replies. “Parental abuse is a serious offense.”

Startled, Rin peers more closely at her hapless victim, and flushes in guilt as her father gazes down at her. Ryūma Nohara is a tired man in his late thirties, with light brown hair and the brown eyes she inherited, although his are ringed with more worry lines than hers.

“You’re still here?” he asks her, grave and worried. “You should have gone home hours ago.”

“I had to check on my trial results before I left,” she replies.

“Your results won’t be affected by a few hours of rest. Go home and sleep. Come back tomorrow.”

“But I—”

“Consider it a directive from both your father and your boss,” he tells her, affecting a stern frown. “You’re already past your maximum shift hours.”

“How do you…?”

“The nurses. They know everything,” he smirks, but then his expression becomes grave again. “Rin…”

She can hear the worry and disapproval in his voice, and it makes her heart twinge. She only ever became interested in the field of medical ninjutsu as a genin because of him, and now here she is disappointing him.

“Fine,” Rin sighs. “Just let me fill in the last of my charts and I’ll go.” Ryūma raises an eyebrow at her, and she assures, “I promise!”

Her father’s expression softens. “How can I doubt you when you look at me like that? It’s just like your mother.”

Rin smiles sadly. Her mother was an elite ANBU who lost her life protecting the Third Hokage. The wound isn’t as recent as others, but it still stings. She wonders how her father found the strength to go on afterward. She’s never asked, though, afraid he’ll tell her what she already suspects.

Ryūma glances around mock-surreptitiously, and then reaches over to give her a hug, which Rin returns. Then, they go their separate ways as they hear him being paged over the intercom.

Once in her tiny office cubicle, which is really more like a broom closet, Rin jots down the most recent results that she noticed amongst her trial patients. The past few days have been a string of nothing, and it’s frustrating, but it’s also better than she hoped.

No news is good news in this case, she decides with a sigh, sitting back against her chair. Maybe Dad’s right, and I should—

“Rin!”

She sits bolt upright as one of the nursing students hurries in, looking anxious. “What is it?”

“It’s your friend—the Uchiha boy. He’s here and he’s asking for you.”

“He knows better than to interrupt me at work.”

“No, that’s not…he’s in the emergency care wing. He’s been injured—”

Rin drops her clipboard and makes a run for it before the woman has even stopped talking.

Obito! Hurt!

Heart in her throat, her mind casts back to the last conversation they had. She knows he’s on the active duty roster, and Minato-sensei worried he might do something stupid, but she dismissed him and asked him to leave because she had work to do and—

Oh, gods, what if something happens before I see him again?!

She practically throws the door to the examination room of its hinges, fully expecting to one of the other healers desperately trying to grasp him from the jaws of death.

Instead, she sees Obito, eyes clenched shut and gritting his teeth while her father sets the bones in his broken hand.

“Obito?” she croaks, confused. “Dad?”

“It seems your friend here needs to learn to be more specific,” Ryūma says, sounding more amused than he should under the circumstance. “He asked for Doctor Nohara expecting to see you. I think he got a bit of a shock.”

“This is…ouch…not how I pictured meeting you, Sir,” Obito bites out.

“I wasn’t aware that you wanted to,” Ryūma replies brightly, shooting Rin a look that is both knowing and expectant. She can see a particular gleam in his eye that she’s learned to be wary of.

“Well, you look like you’ve got a handle on this,” Rin says quickly, starting to back out of the room. “I finished the last of those charts, Dad, so I’m actually going to head home, just like you said—”

“Now, now, don’t run off, this is your friend,” her father chides. “I have an idea—why don’t you finish fixing his hand, and he can repay you by walking you home? I’d say that works out for everyone.”

Obito’s eyes bulge in panic, like he’s both overjoyed and terrified at the prospect. Rin, on the other hand, feels like she can’t breathe. Ryūma watches her expectantly, like he’s waiting for her to come up with an excuse. She knows if she does, he’ll have questions, none of which she wants to talk about.

“You’re right,” she brusquely, striding forward. “I’ve got it, Dad. You can go back to work now.”

“See you around, sweetheart,” he tells her. Over his shoulder, he adds, “Come by for dinner some time, hey, kid?”

Obito makes an undignified squeak in response.

With that, her father leaves her to finish caring for Obito’s hand. Her own desire to flee warring with her training, she eventually sighs and reaches for the bandages.

They sit together in heavy, forced silence for several minutes, before Obito breaks it.

“So…” he begins. Her eyes flash at him in warning, and he swallows whatever he was going to say. Instead, he clears his throat, and mumbles, “How’s work?”

Rin nods to herself; this is a question she can answer. It’s easy to talk about work.

She checks that the bones have been properly fitted back into place, she concentrates and allows her chakra to flow outward, mending flesh and bone back together. At the same time, she relates in great detail how she’s furthering her medical education, the surgeries she’s sat in on the hours she’s put in at the lab or researching in the library.

“I don’t think I’ll ever master anything like Lady Tsunade’s Sōzō Saisei, but I’m developing a healing pill that could allow for rapid healing in combat,” she tells him. “It’s still in the test stage, though, and there are a lot of kinks to work out.”

“Like what?” he asks.

“It’s excruciatingly painful during the healing process, and there’s a long recovery time. You can be absolutely useless for days after using it while the body tries to recover from such a quick healing—kind of like a coma.”

“That sucks,” he agrees. “But it sounds like it’s a start, though.”

“It is,” she agrees, sitting back. “How does that feel now?”

Obito studies his hand, waving his fingers and flexing his palm. “A lot better. Thanks, Rin.”

“So are you going to tell me what you did?”

“Do I have to?”

She folds her arms, unimpressed.

“There was a…tiny disagreement,” he admits. “That maybe involved fists and jaws.”

“I got that, yes.”

“They were saying stuff they shouldn’t have.”

“And you decided throwing yourself into a fist fight would fix that?” she demands, smacking him not-so-lightly in the shoulder. “Why would you do something so stupid?”

“It’s not that stupid…”

“Getting your hand broken is pretty stupid! Especially when you consider what could have happened if you picked a fight with the wrong person! Just because you’re a hero now doesn’t mean that you can’t get hurt or die just as easily as anyone else!” she lectures him, voice rising out of her control with each syllable. “I’m supposed to watch out for you, which is kind of hard if you get your stupid self killed!”

“Rin—!”

“Go on, tell me what was so horrible that they said which you couldn’t just let it go and walk away?”

“They were talking shit about our team!” he protests. “About you a—”

“How many times do I have to tell you, I don’t need you to defend me!”

“It wasn’t just—” he starts to shout back, and then his shoulders sag and he looks away. “Never mind.”

Her sudden rage stalls, sense returning to her.

She realises he wasn’t just defending her, but Kakashi.

A beat later, she exhales and asks flatly, “Do they at least look worse than you do?”

He glances up in surprise, and then a sheepish smile appears. “Well, I dunno…I ended up arrested. But I think I saw one of them in the emergency room when I came in, so…”

She stands, turning her back on him.

“You still shouldn’t have done it. Picking fights won’t bring him back.”

“No, but it makes me feel like I’m doing something,” Obito returns bitterly. “He didn’t exactly leave us with a way of remembering. Not really.”

She clenches her fists, hearing Kakashi’s voice in her head.

“Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura. Remember those names.”

“And it’s not like I can go to anyone else about it,” Obito goes on. “The only person in the world I know who gets what this feels like…and you don’t want anything to do with me.”

“That’s not true!” she protests.

“Yes, it is. You’re different than you were. Distant.”

“It’s called grieving.”

“I’m grieving too, but I don’t want to be away from my friends while I’m doing it!”

“Maybe that’s because it doesn’t hurt you to be around us the way it hurts me to be around you!” Rin shoots back before she can stop herself.

Silence rings between them, and right away she sees the agony in Obito’s eyes. It’s familiar to her because she saw it the day he said goodbye to his best friend.

“Obito, I didn’t…that’s not what I…I didn’t say that right…”

“Would you have been happier if I had been the one to die instead?” he asks, cutting of her explanation.

Rin instantly feels as if she has been turned to stone, then cracked into a million painful pieces. Her tongue is like lead in her mouth as she tries to respond to such a thing.

Obito obviously takes her silence as a ‘yes’.

“I see,” he says, getting up to go, but she snatches out a hand to stop him.

“How could you haven even asked me that?” she rasps, the words dragged from her throat as if over a bed of knives.

“Well what else am I supposed to think?” he counters. “All you’ve done since we’ve been back is shut me out. I thought it was just the grief at first, but it’s not just that. You’re hiding from something. I never thought you were a coward. You were always so brave, and good, and the best of the three of us. So why are you doing this now?” When she can’t answer, he exhales angrily through his nose. “No, you know what? Forget it.”

“Don’t you dare,” Rin snaps. “You don’t get to…to just start this, and then leave!”

“I think you’ve made it clear you don’t want me around.”

“I do want you around!” she cries. “I just don’t…I don’t know how anymore. It…it just reminds me…and it’s not fair to you when I…”

“I know you loved Kakashi,” Obito tells her quietly. “I know you always will. I’m not asking you for anything that would dishonour that. I just…I want my friend back. I want us to be like we were before.”

“It will never be the way it was before,” she whispers, entire body trembling.

“I’ll wait,” he says. “Your friendship is the most important thing left in my life. And I’ll earn it back if I have to wait forever. I just hope you don’t make us both go through that.”

The way he gazes at her then, she knows he believes that to be true. Tears well in her eyes, and she looks away.

Obito sighs.

“Thanks for fixing my hand, Rin,” he tells her, and she feels the air displace as he moves past her. “I’ll see you around. If you want.”

She waits until she’s sure he’s gone before bursting into tears.

火

The recently elected Yondaime Hokage peers across the desk of his office, considering the man in front of him. The man who, by all rights, should be the one sitting in his chair.

If it weren’t for the distrust of the Elders and fecklessness of the daimyo, he would be.

Fugaku Uchiha is shorter than him, but he still manages to be imposing, with a face like granite eyes that are sharp even when his Sharingan is not active. In Minato Namikaze’s experience, his temperament is even less welcoming.

“Will you have a seat?” he asks the head of the Uchiha clan, offering what he hopes is a disarming smile.

“I’ll stand,” Fugaku replies.

The response isn’t a surprise, but it suggests what the tone of the following meeting will be. Rather than betray his exasperation with the stubbornness, Minato simply smiles wider and stands, walking around his desk until he is a few feet away from the other man. Leaning against the desk, he keeps his eye level with Fugaku, telegraphing a message while his hands rest on the wooden edge in subtle reminder.

We may be equals, but I’m still the one wearing the impractical hat. So even if you don’t respect me, you will respect this office.

One of Fugaku’s eyebrows twitch, and for a moment he looks like he’s about to bestow a nod of approval. But the moment passes, and Minato is once more staring down impassable granite.

So much for breaking the ice, he thinks with a sigh. Out loud, he says, “There were complaints about a disturbance in the Uchiha Compound.”

“A matter which does not fall under your jurisdiction.”

“The whole village is my jurisdiction,” Minato replies, a bit more bite to the reminder than he intended. “The police are an extension of this village.”

“Perhaps on paper.”

Minato narrows his eyes now, losing a little more control over his politician’s mask in the face of this frustrating individual. Something of the elite jōnin must show, a reminder that even if it was a twist of fate that made him Hokage, he is not without the skills to back up that appointment.

“It has been handled,” Fugaku states neutrally.

“And for that I thank you.” He allows his smile to re-assert itself. In a softer tone, betraying a little worry, he asks, “Was Obito really involved?”

“Not in the way you imagine,” Fugaku says, and this time he sounds more weary than guarded. “It was a youthful scuffle. Someone forgot himself and a made a disrespectful remark concerning the dead.”

“Even a grown man could be forgiven for reacting badly in that case,” Minato suggests. “Recovering from a conflict such as we have is easy on no one. Much less so given how many we’ve lost.”

“An Uchiha should be able to better control himself. It does not do well to lose control,” Fugaku dismisses. “What did you really call me for? If it were just a question of security in the village, or concern over a former pupil, a message by hawk would have sufficed.”

No one could ever say he isn’t forthright, Minato thinks with a wince. He knows what follows will not be a pleasant conversation. Still, he decides to grant him the same candour.

“In the spirit of solidarity and to promote lasting peace in the village community, the Elders have suggested that the Konoha Military Police begin accepting candidates from beyond the Uchiha clan.”

He allows the message to set in, keeping a close eye on the clan leader. Fugaku doesn’t betray any reaction as he processes, and after several long moments, he finally says, “I would have to personally evaluate the fitness of each prospective candidate.”

“Well, yes, of course,” Minato agrees, relieved. He really did think it would be more difficult than that.

“Where would these recruits be coming from?”

“I imagine the same place you get your recruits now.”

“They are recommended by current officers based on observations they make in the community and their own knowledge of our values,” Fugaku says. “So, allow me to rephrase: who would be making the first recommendations to the force should my admittance requirements be…relaxed.”

“The Elders have a few candidates in mind, I’m sure. Danzō Shimura in particular has experience choosing capable men and women.”

“Ah. There it is,” Fugaku says, and his mouth finally turns upward in a smile, but it’s a hard and bitter one. “Tobirama’s student wishes to insert his people into the one place in Konoha where he doesn’t have ears.”

“Spying? A serious accusation, and a giant leap to take,” Minato says mildly, though it’s an act.

He’s more than aware of Shimura’s distrust of the Uchiha, having seen it first hand when he convinced the other council members and daimyo, one by one, that Fugaku Uchiha should not be Hokage. He’s even experienced the man’s scrutiny himself. Of those who voted on the position of Fourth Hokage, Shimura is the only one who refused to support Minato’s candidacy. Since then, every interaction they’ve had has left Minato feeling like the older man is looking for the smallest weakness to start chipping away at him.

“It’s better to take that leap if there’s a dragon chasing you,” Fugaku maintains stonily.

“Perhaps. But you make it sound like you have secrets.”

“Every clan in this village has secrets. And every clan is entitled to those, so long as they don’t jeopardise the security of the village. That was put into law by the First Hokage, if my history is correct.”

“And what better way to protect the village than ensure its security is being maintained by the entire village and not a simple few?” Minato points out, returning to the issue at hand.

“If that were truly the case, the police would never have been assigned to the Uchiha,” Fugaku snaps. “It was Tobirama Senju who enacted that as a means to isolate our people. We knew this, but accepted it so as to keep the peace in Konoha. Over the course of generations, we have made it an honourable and worthy institution in Konoha. And now you would take it from us?”

“That’s not what this is.”

“Then please, enlighten me as to what you, in your naivety, think it is,” Fugaku growls. “Generations have passed without Konoha’s leaders paying any attention to the police force or the men who serve. And now suddenly, a war ends and they decide it’s the best time to stir the pot? The distrust was always there, Lord Hokage, but attempts were made to keep it under wraps. This is blatant and unapologetic.”

By the time he finishes speaking, his shoulders heave with anger, and Minato suspects it isn’t often that the leader of the Uchiha loses his temper in that way. His own anger simmers beneath his calm façade, because there is nothing wrong in what Fugaku has said.

“I am not naïve,” Minato states coolly. “I know the history, and I can only guess at the motivations behind this move. But I also trust in this village. The will of Elders is not the will of the people, and the only way to ensure that the people are served is through cooperation. And I will need yours.”

Fugaku frowns at him, calculating.

“You really don’t know what they intend, do you?” he eventually realises.

“No.”

“But you have suspicions.”

“Yes.”

The Uchiha leader raises a challenging eyebrow. “Care to share?”

“A naïve man would say that in light of the recent war, with so many of our heroes hailing from your clan, it’s simply an attempt to extend the proverbial olive branch. A forgiveness of past distrust and a hope that in the future, Konoha will be less divided.”

“If that were the case, restructuring the police is not the way to do it. What do you really think.”

That they’re afraid of you, Minato thinks but doesn’t say.

There were so many heroes among the Uchiha, ninja that are spoken of with awe both inside of the Compound and outside of it. If they become popular enough, there’s no reason why one day, an Uchiha might not become Hokage. It’s something Danzō and the Elders want to stop happening at all costs.

Revealing that to Fugaku, however, would be unwise at this juncture. Not while it’s still only suspicion. It’s better to not sow resentment and suspicion where it isn’t yet warranted.

He flashes an edged smile. “It’s too soon to say. And you never know who may be listening.”

“Well, at least you have some sense,” Fugaku snorts.

“In the meantime, I do have to relay something to the Elders,” Minato says, returning to his chair and sitting down. “If they decide I’m being ineffective, they’ll make running this village difficult. And not just for you or I, but for everyone.”

Red tape, I’m learning, can be a bitch.

A muscle works in Fugaku’s jaw, and it appears like he is doing some rather quick thinking.

“Tell them I will take their suggestion under advisement at the next clan meeting after Konoha’s official period of mourning ends.”

Minato’s mouth tugs upward. “That’s a year from now.”

“Then I suppose you have a year to give more substance to that suspicion of yours.”

“You know they won’t be content with just that, though. They’ll want evidence that I’ve got you well in hand.” Fugaku raises his eyebrow again, the expression somewhat mocking, and Minato feels his cheeks darken. “You know what I mean.”

“What exactly do you have in mind?”

“Some suggestion that the Uchiha are willing to put the village’s needs first.”

“I take it you have a recommendation.”

“A change, perhaps, to that clan law of yours,” Minato says. “The one where anyone who marries outside of the Uchiha has to live outside of clan boundaries. Is that something you might perhaps…relax?”

“So the village doesn’t just want to put their people in our police force, but in our homes as well,” Fugaku snorts.

“Now that is beneath you,” Minato retorts. “Especially since I know you’ve been considering amending that law on your own.”

“And what is your interest in it?”

“Let’s call it personal experience,” he suggests. “My parents chose to marry against their clans’ wishes. I grew up with a name, but no connection to my family on either side. It’s not a feeling I would wish on my child, and I doubt you would wish it on your own.”

Fugaku folds his arms over his chest. “And how does this convince the villagers of my cooperation?”

“It’s all in the manner it’s presented,” Minato points out. The other man makes a gesture like he should continue. “How do you expect the children of your clan to have a connection to their family and their village, when from birth they’re told they’re outsiders? You may see no benefit in the military police opening its doors to outsiders, but surely you can see some in value in allowing your clan to do so? Or do you intend to follow the example of the Hyūga?”

“To live amongst the Uchiha, one must be Uchiha,” Fugaku retorts, and Minato stifles a groan, until he adds, “Any individual who married into the clan would have to renounce their name if they intend to live with their spouse within the compound.”

Minato winces. “That’s…not quite what I meant.”

“It’s the most compromise my clan elders would be willing to accept.”

Minato considers him for a long beat, and then sighs. “It’s a start. I can work with that.”

Fugaku nods in return.

“Alright,” Minato exhales, feeling a little relieved. That wasn’t as completely painful as he thought it would be. Perhaps this meeting can end on a good note, after all. “Now, on to another matter: I was thinking we could have dinner sometime.”

“No offense, but I believe I can do better,” Fugaku replies with neither expression nor intonation.

Minato blinks, realises what he just said, and then sputters.

“That’s not…not what I…what I meant was…I’m not—!” He sees the glint in the other man’s eyes, something merciless but amused at the same time, and he scowls. “Hey…” Fugaku’s expression remains maddeningly unchanging while the Hokage clears his throat, embarrassed. “I only meant that Kushina would like you and Mikoto to come over for dinner. And bring Itachi. Since our wives are already friends, I think we should be as well.”

“Why?” The leader of the Uchiha sounds as if he genuinely can’t fathom a reason for it.

“Well…why not?”

“Hmph. This is not the Academy, boy.”

“You’re like seven years older, that hardly gives you the high ground to call me boy.” Minato grumbles, but when Fugaku continues to look expectant, he says, “Alright, if you have no interest in friendship for friendship’s sake, how about as a means of promoting unity in the village? If people can see the two of us getting along—”

“Ah, so it’s a political ploy.”

“Would-you-stop-twisting-things!” Minato hisses. “This is an olive branch, so stop being a stubborn asshole!”

Silence rings between them, and Minato’s eyes widen in horror. He’s never lost his temper like that before, not least of all while sitting in the Hokage’s office where diplomacy and patience are meant to reign. And in front of a man whose support he’s trying to garner…?

“Forgive me,” he bows his head stiffly. “I only meant—”

“And here I thought you were just the spineless puppet they stuck in a hat to look pretty,” Fugaku interrupts, and that’s definitely something bordering on approval in his eyes. Possibly even respect, if Minato were desperate.

Whatever it is, I’ll take it!

“Blame Kushina,” he says, laughing nervously. “I think she may be rubbing off on me.”

“It’s a poor fool who doesn’t learn some of his wife’s habits,” Fugaku agrees. For a brief moment, they exchange a glance of companionship, the one beleaguered husbands with strong-willed wives always share. Then the other man’s expression turns serious again. “But friendship won’t change generations of distrust.”

“Well, I don’t know if I agree with you about that…but it’s a start, don’t you think?”

Fugaku thinks about this, and then says, “One of many, I suppose.” He turns away. “We’ll see in the coming year, I imagine, if that has any bearing.”

He pushes open the door and disappears, leaving Minato staring at the door.

“So…is that a yes to dinner?” he calls after him. “You didn’t exactly answer me…” There is no response and he sighs. “Uchihas…”

I was actually going to write more for this chapter…but it is sooooo long already. Besides, let's leave some stuff to be done for next installment. Reviews and constructive criticism are much appreciated! Thanks for your interest in my work!

クリ

#naruto fanfiction #obirin #eventual sasusaku #time travel fic #alternate reality #alternate universe #non-massacre au #angst #grief #back damn story #a different shinobi history #drama #kuriquinn #meanwhiles and neverwere

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phoenixfics · 6 years

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Minato the Mind-Reader

On AO3

Summary: Obito tries to convince his teammates that their sensei is a mind-reader. Kakashi thinks Obito is an idiot, but that he might be onto something. Rin tries desperately to convince herself that her teammates are sane individuals. Minato is just glad that Obito and Kakashi aren’t trying to kill each other for once.

“I think Minato-sensei is a mind reader.”

Obito says this with no preface, with no explanation, just lays it out in the open air like it’s undisputable proof. Like the sky is blue or grass is green, Minato-sensei is a mind reader and their training session, which until now had been quiet, peaceful, and productive, is over.

Rin scrunches up her face in confusion and throws her last kunai. Kakashi flicks his eyes from Rin to Obito and then back to the row of targets. His kunai, of course, are all dead on. Rin’s are clustered together, but towards the bottom of the target. She’s got consistent aim but needs to put a little more power into her throws. And Obito’s- well maybe the three kunai were meant to resemble the tomoe of a sharingan? Somehow, Kakashi doubts it.

Kakashi and Rin step forward to retrieve their knives but stop short at Obito’s voice.

“Guys, I think Minato-sensei is a mind reader.”

Ah. So it wasn’t his imagination.

Rin speaks hesitantly, as she often does to her teammates (probably an attempt to stave off the team’s daily arguments, not that it works). “Uh, Obito, what makes you think Minato-sensei is a mind reader?”

Obito’s eyes light up at Rin’s question and Kakashi scoffs, muttering under his breath as he walks to his target to pull out the kunai.

“I’m glad you asked, Rin!” As if he hadn’t known that Rin would answer any question he asked, if only, unknowingly to him, to keep him from asking it for all eternity. Kakashi can understand Rin’s reasoning. Better to play along than to have Obito rattle on non-stop until Kakashi is driven to homicide.

Kakashi listens to Obito’s theory as he yanks his kunai out of the target.

“He always seems to know where to find us, right? And he always knows when we’re upset, or not feeling well, or angry, and he always knows the right words to say, and he always seems to know what we’re going to say before we say it!”

Kakashi is sure that this is proof that Minato-sensei is an intelligent and good-hearted person, not that he can read minds. Rin seems to be of the same opinion.

“Obito, maybe he’s just really good at reading people’s emotions?”

Obito splutters, thrown off by Rin’s blatant dismissal of his theory. It is a tad more outlandish than some of his other ideas. Kakashi feels the need to jump in before Obito can spend the next hour defending his theory.

“Minato-sensei doesn’t need to be a mind reader to know what you’re thinking, Obito. Your emotions are plastered on your face for the whole world to see.”

It’s like poking a kitten with a stick. Highly entertaining and not the least bit dangerous.

“At least I have emotions, Bakashi!” Obito spits out. “And I’ll prove that Minato-sensei can read minds, just you wait!”

Kakashi shrugs, then walks back to the throwing line, kunai dangling lazily from his fingers. He still needs practice throwing with his off hand, it’s a fraction of an inch off of where it should be, and Sensei won’t be here for at least another ten minutes. No need to waste all of Obito’s energy before the day even starts. They still have a mission later today, after all.

Rin tries to placate Obito as she goes to grab her own knives. “Well Sensei will be here soon, so maybe we can try to get some evidence during the mission?”

Obito stares at her like she just handed him a bag of candy, smile cracking across his face like the rising sun. “Sounds good! I’ll definitely get some proof! Then Kakashi will eat his words!”

Rin mirrors his smile and grabs Obito’s kunai while she’s at it, because it doesn’t look like Obito is moving to get them. He’s plopped himself on the ground, chin in his hands and gazing seriously at the grass, like he’s plotting how to take over the world instead of how to prove that their sensei can “read minds.” Kakashi rolls his eyes and throws his kunai lazily at the target. Dead on again. It really helps imagining Obito’s face on the target.

===

When Minato arrives to training ground seven his team is uncharacteristically quiet. Obito is sitting on the ground, kunai laying ignored by his side and a pile of pulled up grass in front of him. About ten minutes worth, judging by its size. Rin is stretching against her target, kunai still embedded in the wood. She’s getting better at accuracy, but she’s not putting enough power into her throws, some of the knives are barely hanging on to the wood. And Kakashi is still throwing his kunai. With his off hand, which is interesting but not surprising. Maybe he needs to step up the training a little bit. A bored ninja is a dangerous ninja, after all. But first he needs to deal with this silence. They have a mission today, and can’t afford to start off on the wrong foot. Not that it would be unusual, for his team, but Minato doesn’t want to set a precedent.

“Did you guys have an argument again?”

Obito snaps his head up and gives his teammates a significant look. Minato wonders what it means as he notices Kakashi roll his eyes. Yeah. They definitely had an argument.

“We have B rank supply-run to the northern front. Should take us a few days to get there. We’re going to be meeting at the gate in one hour. I expect to see you there with cheerful grins on your faces, got it?”

There’s a chorus of unusually sullen ‘yes Sensei’s from his kids and he gives them a smile.

“Well don’t sound so unhappy about it, there’s probably going to be some bandits to beat up along the way, and there’s a resort town at the halfway point! It’s practically a vacation!”

His kids do perk up at that. Their last few missions had been tough. The war is still far from over, but things are at enough of a stand-still right that Minato wants to give them a bit of a break while they are still able to enjoy it. And beating up rogue bandits is always a great way to release some tension.

===

Obito is staring so intently at the back of Minato-sensei’s head as they walk that Rin worries he won’t notice any potential threats until it’s too late.

She’s currently trying to find a subtle way to distract him from Minato’s head and focus on their surroundings as they move further from the village, but Minato-sensei gets there first.

“Is there something on the back of my head, Obito?”

Obito stops walking so suddenly that Kakashi bumps into him and Rin winces. So much for having a nice, quiet mission for once. But Kakashi must not be in a fighting mood today, because he just pushes past Obito with a mumbled “idiot” and keeps walking.

Rin nudges Obito, who seems to have suddenly remembered that Sensei asked him a question, because she can practically see the wheels in his head grinding to life.

“Uh, sorry Sensei, I was just, uh… admiring your hair?”

Kakashi turns around and gives Obito an incredulous look. Obito continues, unnecessarily, and makes things worse. “It’s uh, very nice? Your hair, I mean. It’s the color of daffodils. Uh, not that I notice things like that, er, except I just did…uh…” Obito trails off, his face turning red.

Minato turns around and smiles.

“Well thank you Obito, that’s very nice of you, but maybe you could try to pay more attention to things other than my hair while we’re on a mission?”

Obito turns redder and nods, suddenly looking anywhere but his sensei. Kakashi’s eyes are wide with interest and Rin shudders at the blackmail Obito just handed Kakashi. Kakashi catches Rin looking and he turns his gaze to the tree-lined path ahead of them. She worries that maybe she shouldn’t have encouraged Obito to get proof for his theory right before going on a mission. There’s a fine line between supporting Obito’s theories and making Kakashi lose faith in humanity, and that’s where she tries to operate. It’s a full-time job, trying to keep her teammates on the right side of sanity without them knowing it, especially when they keep trying to push each other to the wrong side, and trying to keep them from killing each other and completing the mission might be too much to ask. She loves them both with all her heart, but sometimes it’s hard to remember why.

It’s going to be a long mission.

===

The war has driven all kinds of unsavory people out of the woodwork. People who love preying on the weak are abundant in wartimes. It makes Obito sick to his stomach, thinking about all the people who are in danger and need protection but won’t get it because all the shinobi are focused on killing each other. Most at risk from attack are refugees, poor civilians, injured shinobi returning home from the warfront, and weak, unsuspecting genin teams who probably look to this particular group of bandits as a group of war orphans, not trained shinobi who had just spent the morning throwing pointy objects at human sized targets. Obito has never been so glad to see bandits in his life. These bandits look to have never been more scared for their lives. They freeze at the sight of Konoha’s Yellow flash, and Obito grins in anticipation.

Obito never gets tired of watching Minato-sensei in action. He’s nothing more than a yellow blur, throwing kunai with insane precision and always thinking one step ahead of the enemy. It probably helps that he can read minds. And Minato was right that this mission would practically be a vacation. Nothing relieves stress more than kicking ass and taking names.

And that’s what he’s doing. Or trying to do, but Bakashi keeps getting in his way.

“Hey, Bakashi! That guy was mine! I almost had him!”

“Your left side was completely open. I saved you from a stabbed intestine. You’re welcome.”

Obito feels his face heat up in anger. He’s sick of stupid Kakashi and his stupid face and stupid voice always looking down on Obito for not being a genius prodigy like him.

===

That night they set up camp by a small stream and Minato goes to place some of his hiraishin kunai in strategic spots in case they are ambushed in the night, leaving the kids to make dinner. Kakashi is chopping up some vegetables they had found in an abandoned garden (lots of abandoned things to be found in war time) and Rin is slowly roasting a rabbit over a fire (Rin is good at traps) and Obito is going on about his Minato-is-a-mind-reader theory again (he’s supposed to be fetching water for the stew).

“Obito, the water isn’t going to fetch itself you know.”

“Why don’t you just use a water-jutsu, since you seem to know everything.”

“Because we’re literally feet away from a clean stream and I’m not wasting chakra if I don’t need to.”

“Yeah, okay, but weren’t you listening? I proved that Minato is a mind reader!”

“I must have missed that, sorry, I was too busy doing my job.”

“He knew I was looking at the back of his head!”

“He’s a ninja.”

“And he knew that we argued earlier!”

“Because we always argue.”

“Okay than how do explain earlier when-“

“How’s the stew coming along?”

Minato’s back. Obito scrambles to his feet and practically runs to the stream, pot in hand and face flushed red with embarrassment. Kakashi stares after him.

===

They’re halfway to the northern front and they stop at a small resort town to sleep in real beds and take real baths and Obito has finally shut up about his Minato the Mind Reader Theory. It’s a good day. The only problem is, now Kakashi can’t stop thinking about Obito’s Minato the Mind Reader Theory. He knows it’s ridiculous, that Minato isn’t really a mind reader, but there’s still something about how quickly he figures everything out that’s sticking in Kakashi’s head like a burr. How does he do it? His sensei is a genius, but so is he, if he’s to believe everyone he’s ever known, so why can’t he figure it out?

Kakashi lets out a groan and sinks deeper into the hot spring.

“Is something wrong, Kakashi?”

It is a little disconcerting how attuned to his teammates emotions Minato-sensei is. Maybe Obito is on to something. Kakashi groans again and dips further into the water. Minato-sensei raises an eyebrow but doesn’t say anything. And then there’s a large splash as Obito practically jumps into the water and if Kakashi could sink further into the water without drowning he would.

After a while, Minato-sensei leaves to check on Rin and prepare for the last leg of the journey tomorrow, and Kakashi is left alone with Obito and a choice. He can go on pushing aside Obito’s theory, because it’s ridiculous, or he can utilize Obito’s sheer force of will to get to the bottom of this. He closes his eyes, prays that he’s not making a huge mistake, and says, “I think you might be on to something.”

Obito scrunches up his face in confusion, as Kakashi’s words take a few seconds to sink in, and then a huge, shit-eating grin breaks across his face and Kakashi knows he’s made a mistake, that Obito will never let him live this down, but there’s no turning back now.

===

Something’s up with his kids, and he can’t figure out what. The three of them have been whispering furtively behind his back all day, and he would be ecstatic about this apparent teamwork if it weren’t for the fact that he knows better. They’re plotting something. Something that’s important enough to override the childish rivalry between Obito and Kakashi (he really needs to do something about that). Minato tries to push down any worries about what they could be planning and focus instead on the fact that they aren’t at each other’s throats at the moment. Hopefully it lasts until the end of the mission.

Obito and Kakashi’s whispering becomes more heated as the day goes on, especially when Rin joins him for a quick chat, leaving the boys to argue without her mediating presence. As soon as Rin joins them again, they calm down, and Rin looks pleased at the effect she has on them. She’s wicked smart and clear headed, and Minato is infinitely grateful that he got her on his team instead of a third type-A personality. She’s a good influence on them both.

===

Rin is smiling. Obito and Kakashi have united for a common goal. It is a little odd that Kakashi of all people has latched onto Obito’s theory, but she’s not one to question a good thing. It’s not entirely without fault, as they’re still bickering furiously at each other, but she’s at least sure that it won’t break out into a fist fight. So that’s something, at least. Right now, Obito is trying to explain how Minato’s supposed “mind-reading” powers work, and Kakashi is countering each statement with common-sense. Rin is glad that she’s not the one that has to do it, she hates seeing the look on Obito’s face when she shuts down his ideas. Irritation is a much easier emotion to handle than heart-break.

“He can hear the thoughts of the people around him,” Obito says.

“So he can hear what we’re thinking right now? He knows that we’re trying to figure him out?”

“…Probably not?”

“That’s great, Obito, I’m so glad that you’ve got it all figured out.”

“…Was that sarcasm?”

“No.”

“Was that sarcasm?”

They descend into silence while Obito clearly tries to come up with a more rock-solid explanation of Minato-sensei’s supposed powers.

“Maybe it’s like a jutsu! A mind-reading jutsu!”

“…Like the Yamanaka?”

“…”

“You forgot about the Yamanaka, didn’t you.”

“…no?”

Rin sees Kakashi raise his eyebrows incredulously and stifles a laugh herself. Obito blushes.

“It’s different!”

“How is it any different?”

“It just is.” Obito pauses, then a smile breaks across his face. “Or maybe it’s not? Maybe Minato-sensei is a secret Yamanaka love-child!”

Kakashi stops in his tracks.

“No.”

“Think about it! He’s blonde, can read minds, it’s a perfect fit!”

“No.”

Rin has to agree. That’s a bit of a stretch. Kakashi seems to be taking the insinuation personally, though. Kakashi and Minato-sensei are close, so if anyone would know he would. Rin can see Kakashi’s hands balled into a tight fist and Obito looks about to open his mouth again and it’s time to stop this before they get in a fight. Time to pull out the ace up her sleeve.

“But-”

“Hey Obito, I think I came up with a way to test your theory!”

“Really? What is it, Rin?”

Rin smiles, then shouts ahead to where their jonin sensei is still walking.

“Hey, Minato-sensei! What am I thinking of right now?”

“You’re thinking that it’s time for Obito and Kakashi to stop trying to prove I’m a mind-reader and focus on the mission!”

Obito and Kakashi’s jaws drop in shock and amazement and Rin smirks. Success.

Approximately 15 years later:

Kakashi’s not an idiot, despite how he may appear to those who haven’t heard of him. He knows when he’s being tailed. Especially when he’s being tailed by three barely even genin kids. Especially his barely even genin kids. They’re not very good in the stealth department, and it’s honestly adorable how hard they’re trying. Any of them might have had a chance on their own, but with all three of them trailing after him there’s far too much whispered insults (from Sasuke), elbow banging (from Naruto), and hushing (from Sakura) for there to be any hope of remaining unnoticed. Do they think he only has one working ear along with the one working eye?

But he lets them tail him anyway. It’s good practice, which they obviously need, and Kakashi is a little curious what they’re tailing him for.

It doesn’t take too long to figure it out. Especially once they blow their cover (Sasuke had bumped Naruto out of a tree and Naruto isn’t particularly graceful at falling) and decide to try a more direct approach.

“Hey Kakashi-sensei! Fancy seeing you! What a coincidence! I didn’t expect you to be here!”

Naruto is loud and eager and scrambling to find an excuse and Kakashi feels a deep and familiar pang in his heart. He forces a smile on his face.

“You didn’t expect to see me here? In the village where we both live? Yes, that is a surprise.”

Kakashi may have laid the sarcasm on a little too thick because Naruto gives him a puzzled look, like he’s trying to parse out what Kakashi said. Sakura and Sasuke are still attempting to remain silent in the tree, though Kakashi swears he can hear them roll their eyes. Feeling a little sorry that he’s leaving the two of them out of the fun he’s having, he calls up to them, mimicking Naruto’s earlier words.

“Sasuke! Sakura! Fancy seeing you here!”

His other two genin seem to have a better grasp at sarcasm because they look a little guilty once they jump down from the tree and land next to Naruto. And Naruto isn’t a complete idiot, because he looks at their faces and Kakashi can see him scrambling to come up with a plan that won’t end up with all three of them in trouble for stalking their sensei.

“Uh, yeah, we uhhhh…hmmmm…errr…” Naruto looks helplessly at his teammates, but neither of them jump in, probably content to let Naruto take the fall if things go south. Finally, Naruto gets around to spitting out some actual words and sputters out, “We wanted to see if you would come get lunch with us! At Ichiraku’s!”

It’s hard to say no to Ichiraku’s, and it’s harder to say no to Naruto, so Kakashi says yes, still suspicious of what they’re after. Naruto gives a not-subtle-at-all thumbs up to his teammates and gives Kakashi a big grin.

“Lead the way, Sensei!”

===

Yeah, his team definitely needs to work on their subtlety. It’s the work of a few minutes to determine what they’re after. The three of them, even Naruto, have barely touched their ramen. Instead, they keep glancing sideways at Kakashi every few seconds, each time Kakashi so much as twitches a finger. It’s very distracting, and very obvious. Kakashi raises his eyebrow under his headband. So that’s what they’re after. Well they’re not the first, and Kakashi finishes off his ramen with practiced ease before turning to face his kids, eyes crinkled and a smile plastered on under his mask.

“I thought you guys were hungry?”

He’s never seen his team eat a meal so fast.

===

Kakashi leaves them behind with the bill and a cheery wave, and finds himself five minutes later in front of the Memorial Stone.

“Hey, Obito.”

Kakashi always feels a little awkward, standing here, talking to ghosts. But it’s cathartic, and there’s a part of him that hopes maybe Obito will hear him, wherever he is.

“I think I have to apologize to Sensei. Being a jonin-sensei really puts things into perspective. He put up with so much, dealing with us. I think my kids put our own team to shame, though. I thought trying to prove Minato-sensei was a mind reader was a ridiculous stunt, but Naruto makes you look like an amateur. Would you believe that he tried to convince Sasuke and Sakura that I have buck teeth? Buck teeth!”

Kakashi lets out a little laugh, and imagines Obito doing the same.

“It was nice to see them working as a team for once though. I guess I can understand why Rin and Sensei would put up with all of your crazy ideas, if it meant that we were focused on something other than antagonizing each other.”

Kakashi sighs, his good mood beginning to vanish under a cloud of regret.

“They remind me so much of us, Obito. It hurts, knowing that we were kids like them, once, before the war ruined us all. Before I ruined us all. I hope they never have to go through it. I swear, Obito, I won’t make the same mistakes again. This team is going to stick together.”

There’s no answer, but Kakashi hadn’t expected one.

#mywriting #naruto #team minato

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depressedhatakekakashi · 3 years

Note

The u know whos have been harassing me all day can i please request some more HC for both your knight and skill reversal AUs regarding how kakagai reationship grows to forget about them? Thank you mun 🤍

Why are they harrassing you? Who do I have to fight? i will fight them all omg. LEAVE THIS POOR PERSON ALONE YOU JERKS.

Royalty Au

Kakashi and Gai have known each other since childhood. It’s an outcome of Kakashi’s father, Sakumo, being the royal guard to King Dai. That plus Sakumo being an only father since his wife's death, and he finds himself having to have Kakashi by his side a lot growing up. He could get someone to take care of his son, but Kakashi keeps running them into the ground and scaring them off.

Thankfully, the king is very understanding and loves that his son has someone else to play with. Most people who interact with Gai treat him like a porceline. Like they have to be super careful around him or he might shatter. Kakashi doesn’t do that. He respects Gai of course. Calls him ‘your highness’ and always bows when they greet each other or say goodbye, but otherwise, he considers Gai his friend. They run around the garden together, learn together, play together. Everything that Gai does, Kakashi does with him. Sometimes Kakashi will even be able to help Gai with his learning, being a quick learner himself who can explain things better for Gai than his tutor.

As they grow up, they continue to hang out. Even when Kakashi starts to train under Lady Kushina as a page at the age of 7, Kakashi will often use his time off from training to spend with Gai.

Gai is the first person Kakashi ever tells of his dream to become a great knight. Not just like his father, but even better. He wants to prove that he’s talented and smart and that he can protect the Kingdom and the Prince from anything and anyone. Gai feels a little sad that day, even though he loves the excitement in Kakashi’s voice when he hears about his dream. But knowing that Kakashi is going to put himself into a job that could get him killed young, all to try to prove himself. that hurts Gai’s heart.

When Kakashi is promoted to Squire at the age of 11, it’s a huge celebration. People are amazed by this kid's progress. the standard age for becoming a squire is 15, and Kakashi’s already well on his way to becoming the youngest knight in history. Even with his extra duties though, he makes sure to always visit Gai in the garden at least twice a week. They still have race’s around the place, and sometimes Kakashi will show Gai how to sword fight. Gai does get lessons from a tutor of course, but he finds that he learns easier from Kakashi. Kakashi just has a way of talking to him that helps him understand quicker. Plus Kakashi always lets him make things into a competition, which helps a lot with getting him pumped and ready to learn.

When Kakashi is knighted at the age of 16, Gai’s not sure how to feel. He’s excited for his old friend of course. This was part of Kakashi’s dream. He’s already making a name for himself separate from his father. But at the same time, Gai’s terrified that this means he won’t have any time with Kakashi anymore. Kakashi will be too busy to visit him, and he’ll be alone with no one to hang out with but the people who treat him like porcelain.

Of course, Dai won’t have that. Kakashi is immediately made Gai’s royal guard. Partially to keep him out of the field where he might find nothing but a young death, and partially to keep Kakashi and Gai close. He knows how important the two are to each other already, and he refuses to be the one to tear them away from each other.

When it comes to marriage at the age of 20, Gai is not excited. He can’t think of anyone he wants to marry, and he always finds problems with the people that he is presented with. Genma is too pessemistic, Obito is too... well, Obito. Him and Kisame just want to rip each others throats out most of the time, and while he gets along fine with Rin the two of them both agree they’d prefer to be friends.

It’s not until someone mentions to Kakashi that he should also be looking to settle down that Gai realizes why he can’t choose a marriage partner.

He doesn’t want anyone else. He wants to be with Kakashi. To have Kakashi by his side, not just as his knight, but as his partner.

He knows it’s not conventional. Most people marry royalty from other lands to strengthen treaties or secure partnerships. But his father never married. He found other ways to do those things, so surely Gai can too. Right?

He’s afraid to bring it up to his father. Terrified that he’ll be rejected. But when he finally does, Dai just laughs and tells his son that it’s about time. That he just needed to tell him what it was he wanted, and he would make it happen for him.

Gai and Kakashi don’t get married right away. Neither of them is in a rush.

But when they do it’s a big event, and Kakashi is not pleased about this fact.

Both of their fathers are standing by their side, proud that their sons have found each other and can be together. That they know who’s side they belong at. Kakashi can’t imagine Anyone else protecting Gai, and Gai wouldn’t have anyone else standing beside him as his husband or as his royal guard.

Kakashi’s position does not change at all. There are people of course who are adamant that the King's husband cannot be his royal guard. that the position is too dangerous.

But Dai knows that neither of the boys are going to let anyone else take Kakashi’s position, and he’s alright with that. Kakashi has always been the one to protect Gai, and he always will be.

Skill Swap Au

Kakashi and Gai still meet outside of the academy, but it’s Kakashi who has been turned away. Denied entry because of his lack of skill in Ninjitsu or Genjutsu. Gai feels bad for the other boy. He looks so sad standing there by his father's side, the White fangs side, knowing that he can’t get into the academy because he has been deemed ‘not good enough

Seeing something in Kakashi that no one else did, Gai decides to challenge him to a spar. It takes a few attempts, and Kakashi gets annoyed really easily at his challenges and tries to remind him that he’s just going to lose to ‘the genius’, but finally Kakashi caves.

And Kakashi loses, badly. But when he crawls to his feet and stuffs his hands into his pockets determined to leave, Gai stops him and tells him that they should spare again.

And he doesn’t stop challenging Kakashi. No matter how many times Kakashi wants to give up. No matter how often the two of them hear that Gai’s ‘wasting his time with a failure’. Gai never gives up on Kakashi.

He knows what Kakashi could be capable of. He has seen his own father train her to be strong, and he has seen Kakashi training on his own. Kakashi is not a quitter. He works his butt off and always comes home bruised and tired from his efforts. Gai knows if they just keep at it, that Kakashi can become strong.

Ultimately, with Gai’s help and a lot of perseverance, Kakashi finally makes it into the academy. It’s a moment of celebration for them both and Gai can’t stop congratulating Kakashi.

Halfway through the year, Sakumo’s mission goes terribly wrong, and suddenly ‘the white fang’ is a name no longer spoken with pride. It’s a name that people spit venom at. And that loss in pride hits Kakashi hard. After Sakumo’s death, Kakashi disappears from the academy.

Gai’s terrified that Kakashi has given up. That he’s just going to let those hateful people’s words win and stop trying to become a great shinobi.

He’s wrong. Oh so wrong. Kakashi’s more determined than ever to prove himself. to show the village that he can be a great Ninja no matter what they say. Every day from dawn to dusk Kakashi trains endlessly. Pushing himself to near collapse just to get stronger.

It’s at this point, after finding Kakashi unconscious in a field after a long day of training, that Dai decides to show him the eight gates.

Having Kakashi around the house a lot more is pretty weird, but Gai also really enjoys it. Kakashi’s not always the friendliest person, but he’s always helping out around the house with chores.

Gai graduated from the academy at the age of five, setting the record for the youngest shinobi to become a genin ever. Choza Sensei decides when he’s six to have him compete in the chunin exams, and he is promoted before any of his classmates even make genin.

Kakashi graduated at the age of seven, which is still really impressive given the fact that people have always said he would never amount to anything.

Gai gets placed on team choza with Ebisu and Genma, while Kakashi gets placed on Team Minato with Obito and Rin. Kakashi’s still very ‘by the rules’ because of his father, but rather than fighting with Obito over who’s stronger, Kakashi and Obito get along a bit better.

By the time they’re 11, Kakashi has actually managed to beat Gai in a fight. It’s no surprise to Gai when he becomes a chunin along with the others, even as Gai is promoted to Jonin ahead of them.

Team Minato still gets the Kannabi bridge mission, but they’re given another Jonin to lead the mission while Minato takes care of his part of it. When Rin is kidnapped, Obito convinces Kakashi to go with him to get her even though they’re going directly against Jonin’s orders.

Kakashi still loses his eye protecting Obito, Obito still awakens his sharing, and then Obito ‘dies’ saving Kakashi from being crushed by a bolder.

Kakashi is blamed for the mission going wrong when they get back to Konoha, but instead of allowing it to eat at him, he decides to keep training. To become stronger and show the village that he’s not the failure they think he is.

Gai is determined to help him in this mission and starts making their competitions into training sessions together.

Whenever someone gets rude with Kakashi or blames him for Obito’s death, they usually find themselves meeting the end of Gai’s foot. Kakashi may not be willing to stand up to them, but Gai is more than happy to do it for them.

Rin doesn’t die in this au because of Kakashi. Instead, recognizing that she has no other way out, she uses Kakashi’s distraction while fighting the enemy shinobi to take her own life.

Obito’s still mad at Kakashi for not being able to save her, and Kakashi still see’s her blood on his hands in his nightmares. But that’s because he actually held her body while she bled out.

Recognizing his student’s strength and hurt, Minato decides to shove Kakashi into Anbu. Something that’s frowned upon by many until Kakashi starts going out onto missions. They’re surprised by his sheer strength and ability in the field.

When Minato dies against the Kyuubi, Kakashi sinks deeper into depression and tries to push everyone away, including Gai.

Of course, Gai doesn’t allow this. He refuses to let Kakashi suffer alone and always tries to keep up with their competition and spars.

When he realizes just how bad Anbu is affecting Kakashi’s mental health, Gai decides to try and join so that he can be with him. But he’s turned away because of his personality (just like in Canon)

So instead, he decides to get Kakashi out.

Kakashi’s not too happy to be made a join sensei after being shoved out of Anbu, but he takes it as punishment for not being able to help Itachi avoid the massacre route that he chose to take (in Kakashi’s eye since he doesn’t know the truth at this point)

Over the years, Kakashi has grown a lot as a shinobi. Even Itachi was surprised to see just how strong Kakashi was with just Taijutsu and did a lot of training with him to improve his own Taijutsu.

Come the Chunin exams with Team seven and Team Gai, Neji, Lee, and Tenten are unsurprised to find that Team Seven is extremely skilled in Taijutsu. Kakashi has taught them well, and these three are ready to take names and kick butt.

Sasuke still loses in his fight against Lee, but Lee’s proud to say that he was taught Taijutsu from their sensei (taught first by Gai, and then improved upon by Kakashi) and that they’re surely going to get stronger with more time under him.

The month that Kakashi spends training up Sasuke’s taijutsu is possibly the worst month of Sasuke’s life. He’s introduced to Kakashi’s personal training methods and it is not fun. Not one bit.

And after the chunin exams, while the village is trying to repair itself from the Konoha crush and settle into some sense of nromality, Itachi and Kisame show up. This time, it’s Gai who faces down Itachi and ends up in a 72 hour genjutsu. Itachi knows better than to allow the genius time to come up with a plan. But then just as Kisame is about to swoop in and finish Gai, Kakashi shows up and kicks him away. A genius and the best taijutsu master of Konoha? Itachi is out. This is not worth the hassle.

Sasuke finds out about Itachi's appearance in the village while Kakashi, Kurenai and Asuma are watching over Gai while he's resting from Itachi's attack. Kakashi of course goes after his student

Kakashi also gets to the the 'dynamic entry' against Jiraiya, kicking him in the face and away from his students. He recognizes Jiraiya of course, but damn he'd be lying if he said that didn't feel good.

#Royalty au #Skill Swap Au #Kakagai #Anonymous #Long POst #Omg this got so long i'm sorry XD

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tsukuyomii45 · 10 months

Note

I want to hear your headcanons of Mermaid Rin. And how do you think she and Obito would meet?

From the previous post:

-We can always use the Little Mermaid reference; and have Obito drowning. It can start off with Obito and Kakashi fighting off some threats on the borders of the kingdom, and Obito saves Kakashi by running towards an enemy and tackling him off a cliff, which makes Obito fall into the water. The enemy would be dead. That's where Rin finds him, and drags him to the land.

-Kakashi of course, after finishing off the enemies with his lightning attacks, would immediately alert the kingdom to send out a search party for Obito.

-By the time Rin drags Obito to the shore, Rin would use her healing powers to heal him, and then Obito would wake up and see her hiding behind a rock. He'd be a little disoriented, and then Rin would tell him what happened slowly. Taking a closer look at Rin, he'd ask her if she saved him, to which Rin would nod her head cautiously.

-When he realizes that Rin is still in the water, Obito would question it, and then would hide further behind the rock. Obito calls out to her again, and Rin would say that she is not allowed to be out here and that he cannot tell anyone he saw her.

-Obito promises he will keep it all a secret if she lets him see her, and that's when Rin reveals herself to him as a mermaid. Of course, Obito would be astounded by her beauty, and they would exchange each other's names. Obito swears that this is all a secret. Rin would say that she needs to go before someone finds him, and Obito agrees.

-As he watches her swim off, he'd see her tail flailing in the water before she is entirely out of sight. The image of Rin is fully imprinted in Obito's head, while Rin anxiously returns home - not without thinking about the man she just saved.

Extra thoughts:

*Yes, as usual, Rin would have long hair. I'm sure you can imagine how pretty she is already; maybe with a tiara made out of coral (tie-in to Isobu's coral jutsu in canon). :D Her tail's colors would be a mixture of purple and blue gradient, and there would be some gold on the pelvic area.

If we are still referencing Little Mermaid (although I don't see the necessity to follow it all the way): Orochimaru could be the wizard (with octopus tentacles for his tail much like Ursula LMAO) that would give Rin the potion for her to have legs and all...XD

#mermaid au #obirin #obito x rin #obito uchiha #rin nohara #naruto shippuden

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tsukuyomii45 · 7 months

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So After fem!Obito returns to the village. How would she and male!Rin interact? Considering that Male Rin has feelings for Fem Obito before kanabi bridge. Also thinking that she was dead for a year. Do you think it would lead to them to confess their feelings.

I just love the whole fem!Obito concept. She’s more of a fucking troll and I love her.

XDD I love that she's a troll too, really. She's so crazy and funny, it makes me think that her male counterpart would be scared of her, lmao xDD

It wouldn't lead to a direct confession, but it would be the start of their romance. He doesn't have to tell her immediately that he had feelings for her, but there is another way he'd show.

Let's begin, this will be a bit of a ride!

I would say that they would meet again when fem!Obito escapes the Mountain Graveyard and intercepts the Kirigakure ninja that were attacking male!Rin and fem!Kakashi. Whether male!Rin becomes a Jinchuuriki at this point or not is up to your imagination. :)

Fem!Obito would make a rather flammable entrance; so as male!Rin and fem!Kakashi are fighting, they suddenly hear a voice out of nowhere shouting out: "Katon! Gokakyu no Jutsu!" and they'd be shrouded by large, gigantic flames made by her fireball.

Here, fem!Obito would maniacally use her Wood Release and starts summoning sprouts of wood that would either bind her enemies or she would throw cutting springs at them-since the wood would be fuel to her flames (just your usual pyromaniac things), as she would say, "Gotta stoke these flames a little~"

Note that Rin and Kakashi wouldn't recognize her because she's hooded, so they're just watching in confusion and awe about this mysterious person that jumped in and lit the whole world on fire. xD

I guess fem!Obito became more unhinged because she spent a year in isolation planning her escape, lol.

Anyways, so then, after the enemies can no longer attack thanks to Obito's flames (some may have escaped), rain starts to fall around them. Rin and Kakashi are standing a few meters apart from Obito, whose back is turned to them.

Male!Rin takes a step forward, and firmly asks, "Who are you?!"

Fem!Obito stands still for a few beats, before slowly lowering her hood, and slowly turning around. Her scarred face is exposed, and she tearfully smiles at Rin with her Sharingan gleaming. "Hey, you guys...!"

Everyone is shocked at the fact that Obito is alive, and they register that it's really her, male!Rin would immediately run towards fem!Obito, and fem!Kakashi would stand there covering her mouth, overwhelmed with joy about the fact their friend is still alive. Fem!Obito also runs towards them, and they meet in the middle and male!Rin would instantly embrace her and lift her off the ground, holding her so tightly to her as he buries his face in her shoulder. Their fingers would tangle in each other's hair and Rin would tell her how much he missed her and how hard it's been without her.

He then lets her go and takes a good look at her, asking her many questions. Obito tells him that it's best that they go home first and settle certain matters beforehand. Of course, not forgetting fem!Kakashi here, they also embrace each other and fem!Obito would playfully tell her, "Nice eye~! Wonder who gave that to you?" And Kakashi would shake her head and chuckle, telling her to shut up.

So skipping all the other details, we circle back to male!Rin and fem!Obito finally being alone together in the training fields, in front of the Memorial Stone with fem!Obito's name is engraved.

fem!Obito would be describing how that horrible day lead to a horrible year for her... and how much she wanted to return to the village... she'd even tell Rin that she thought about him everyday and couldn't wait to see him again.

Here, male!Rin would wrap his arms around her from behind and hold her closely to him. He'd tell her she has no idea how much that day has changed him as a person and that he never stopped thinking about her too.

He'd then turn fem!Obito in his arms and lean his forehead against hers, then cup her scarred cheek with his hand and promises her one thing: That from here on, for as long as she's alive and right beside him, he's never going to let her go, and that he'll always be watching her.

Rin makes her promise that she will never leave him and she will never his sight ever again, to which Fem!Obito's single eye wells up with tears, and she happily nods her head and says, "That's a promise!"

Male!Rin is hot, js.

#naruto shippuden #obito uchiha #rin nohara #uchiha obito #obirin #obito x rin #infinite dream #genderbender au #male!rin #fem!obito

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kuriquinn · 6 years

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Meanwhiles & Neverweres (Snippet of Chapter Two)

AN: Just a glimpse to prove I am working on one of my WIPs, and it hasn’t been forgotten!

And in case you forgot the story, the beginning of the story is here.

Three weeks after the end of the Third Shinobi World War, Obito Uchiha awakens in a prison cell at Konoha’s police station.

Or more specifically, on the floor of a prison cell.

Every night since Kannabi bridge, Obito dreams of Kakashi.

Minato calls it grieving, while the one time he mentioned it to her, Rin suggested post traumatic stress. Obito thinks they’re both wrong. He thinks he’s being haunted.

Names that mean nothing to him and entreaties to listen. Oaths sworn in the face of death.

Speaking of judgement…

He can feel it practically radiating from the door of his cell.

“S-sir,” he mumbles, stumbling to his feet and attempting something resembling a bow.

“Obito,” Fugaku says, his deep voice worryingly neutral as he addresses him. “The Illusionist. Hero of the Kannabi Bridge. Pride of the Uchiha – or so I’ve been told.” He says all of this without any inflection, and each syllable rings with judgement. “Looking at you now, you don’t live up to your legend.”

“Uncle…”

Obito winces.

“It’s the memories of those we lost that I was trying to defend!” Obito snaps, and then adds a quick a tentative, “sir.”

Fugaku narrows his eyes. “Explain.”

Obito scowls, wondering where to begin and how to avoid sounding like he blames Kakashi for all of this.

They returned to Konoha as heroes, and suddenly everything was different.

Aunts and uncles sang his praises and children followed him in the street. One of his distant relatives asked if she could name her newborn son after him. Cousins who had no time for him before the war – who couldn’t debase themselves by being around a dead-last screw-up like him – were all suddenly clamouring for his attention. They plied him with drinks and spoke to him as if he held the future of the Uchiha clan in his palms.

And he welcomed it all.

For a while, he could forget the blatant absence of his friends.

About Kakashi maybe not dying to save them, but simply looking for a way to end his life quick the way his cowardly old man did.

That last one is the reason Obito is currently in jail and why he’s pretty sure the knuckles of his left hand are broken.

But he’s not about to explain all of this to the leader of his clan. Fugaku Uchiha isn’t known for his sympathy or patience toward emotional outbursts.

“Those guys were badmouthing the people who fought and died to ensure the peace they currently enjoy,” Obito eventually bites out. “Maybe beating the shit out of them wasn’t the best choice, but it will make them think twice before they do it again.” He pauses, then again adds, “sir”, though it’s less deferential this time.

Fugaku is silent at this, considering Obito for several moments.

Then his mouth lifts in something that might – if it’s not a trick of the light – be a smirk.

“I imagine they will,” he says. Then narrows his eyes. “But if you do it again, I’ll have you cleaning every public toilet in the village.”

Obito gulps.

“The war is over – now is the time to decide what you intend to do in the future,” Fugaku continues gruffly. “With a little discipline and perhaps learning to practice better judgement, you could do well as an officer.”

“An…officer?”

“Konoha’s police require men of substance, not simply strength.”

“Respectfully, I must decline, sir,” he says. “I, uh, I have other plans.”

Something like amusement twitches at the corner of Fugaku’s mouth.

“I thought as much,” he says quietly.

Then, in yet another surprise move, he opens the cell.

“Go home,” he tells him. “Get your hand seen to. Sleep it off.”

“Y-yes, sir.” He turns to leave.

“I’m not finished with you yet, Obito. I want you to meet me at this location at sunset,” the police captain orders, pressing a paper into his hand. “Don’t be late.”

Instead, he swallows and looks down at the paper in his hand, carefully unfolding it. A moment later, he yelps as it bursts in to flames – but not before he sees the words imprinted on it.

Naka shrine.

WIP

#fanfic snippet #obito uchiha #fugaku uchiha

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kuriquinn · 7 years

Text

Penthesilea [19/20]

Cover & Disclaimer:

Chapter Summary: No one will notice if he disappears after all of this is writ into law. He is, after all, notorious, and even his own people likely want to forget that he exists. Naruto aside, there’s no one among the Senju forces left to see him as anything but a monster.

Chapter Beta: None beyond my own two eyes and at the moment. Since I’m finishing the fic this week, I’d say all edits will be forthcoming within the next few weeks as my beta has time to look through everything.

AN: Welp. We’re nearing the end. One more chapter and possibly an epilogue to go.

Sasuke wakes to the smell of antiseptic in the air and the sound of hushed voices. Somewhere to his left, Naruto’s chakra is calm and familiar, yet a sense of surprise and dismay washes over him.

“You idiot,” he rasps. His voice is raw and gravelly, and it hurts to talk. “You were supposed to kill me.”

“Well, I gave it my level best,” the other man says dryly, “but a certain healer we both know had a more convincing argument. I happen to like my head where it is.”

Sasuke opens his eyes—and he can see again and inclines his head to the left. It hurts more than he likes but he fixes the blond man with a glare. Naruto sits beside him, face covered in bandages but smirking at him nonetheless. It irritates him.

“I was meant to die,” Sasuke slowly, as if talking to a particularly stupid child. “If I live, it makes it possible for the war to continue. You’ve allowed sentiment to jeopardise that. I thought you understood.”

“Oh, I understood,” Naruto mutters. “I thought it was stupid, but I understood. Everything with you Uchiha is death and sacrifice and drama…” He waves dismissively. “You got what you wanted—the world saw me kick your ass. And then they saw Sakura show up and save it.”

Sasuke can’t find his voice at this, and can only stare at Naruto in surprise.

“Mm-hmm,” the other man nods. “The people were calling for your death, and she stepped in and said that peace should not be begin with the spilling more blood. That you’ll be tried for your crimes, and an appropriate—and useful—punishment will be found for you.”

Sasuke frowns in thought.

Exile or hard labour, most likely.

He stares up at the ceiling of the large tent overhead; in the distance, he can still hear the sound of rushing water. He thinks they must have set the tent up around him, which means his condition was serious if he couldn’t even be moved. And yet…

It doesn’t escape his notice that a certain individual is conspicuously absent. He wonders if he might have dreamed her presence before he passed out for the last time.

He has to stop himself from asking about her. Instead, he wonders, “Why can I see?”

“While she was healing you, Sakura found out you had the same thing as Itachi,” Naruto tells him. “But she knew what to do this time. And she had Tsunade-baachan and Rin helping. I’m still healing so I wasn’t much help.” He indicates the bandages on his face. “It’s a good thing she did heal you, because she found something in the process. Something about the nerves attached to your Sharingan putting pressure on part of your brain. The part that’s responsible for decision-making and rational thought. So basically, you were batshit crazy, but it wasn’t your fault.” He snorts. “Maybe that’s why you came up with such an extreme plan…oi! Sasuke! Are you listening to me at all?”

“Where is she?” Sasuke returns, finally losing the fight against asking.

Naruto’s open expression turns troubled for an instant, and then he beams. “Well, you can’t really expect her to hang around for something stupid like you, right? I mean, eyes aside, you heal pretty fast. And there’s a lot of legal stuff that needs doing that she’s responsible for now. You know she was made Tsunade-baachan’s heir a few weeks after the conclave disaster.”

“Hn.”

He was aware, but the answer doesn’t satisfy him. There is something false in Naruto’s voice that makes Sasuke’s stomach clench in dismay. He can easily interpret the truth.

Clemency aside, Sakura does not want to be around him more than necessary.

There is movement beyond the tent and then a familiar head pokes in through the flap.

“Well, you two have done it now,” Kakashi says dryly. “You know they’ll be talking about your little spat for generations.” The rest of him enters the tent. “I’m pretty sure they’re writing songs about it as we speak.”

“Hah. Just make sure they mention Sasuke’s bad hair,” Naruto quips.

Sasuke ignores him, gazing upon his former teacher. He isn’t sure how to apologise or bring up what as passed between them, and can only manage a flat, “You’ve survived.”

He doesn’t bother hiding the relief in his tone.

“Glad to see you’re feeling better,” Kakashi responds, surveying him with a critical eye.

Sasuke’s heart clenches again as he recognises the gesture as one Itachi used to perform when he thought he couldn’t see. He has forgotten over the course of the past year just how close Kakashi was to Itachi—and how grateful he once was to have the man as a mentor. He expects to face anger and repudiation for his harsh banishment of the man, but instead Kakashi’s eyes soften a little

“It seems you’re a lot more like your brother than any of us ever imagined,” he tells him quietly. “Just do us a favour and don’t try to pull something like that again?”

“I doubt there will be a need,” Sasuke says, lying back on his pallet.

“Well, about that…There’s some, er, unrest out there,” Kakashi says. “Official peace can’t be declared without the presence of the Senju and the Uchiha leaders. Which would be you, since you didn’t die and, apparently, Obito goes by Nohara now?”

He raises an eyebrow at Sasuke, who manages to remain carefully blank-faced this time. Perhaps taking note of this expression, Naruto tries to draw the older man’s attention. “Who’s officiating?”

“An emissary from the Land of Iron,” Kakashi says, naming a country that has been neutral since the first days of the war generations earlier. “Some samurai named Mifune.”

“Guess that means we have to get pretty-boy here ready,” Naruto snorts.

“He’s not the only one,” Kakashi points out. “The Uzumaki and the Hyūga are expected to be present as well.”

“Aw, shit…”

Naruto’s impending whining is interrupted as the tent flap rustles again, and Sai arrives bearing an armful of robes.

“This was the best we could find you both on short notice,” he says blandly. “Some overbearing Yamanaka woman insisted you not show up covered in each other’s blood.”

He sounds as if he doesn’t know why that would be an issue.

“Sounds like Ino,” Naruto snorts as he reaches for one of Sai’s offerings. “I didn’t know she was back.”

“She and an envoy from the Land of Wind arrived the day before yesterday, as soon as they heard the news,” Sai says. “In fact, many of the people from departed clans and from the surrounding villages have gathered.”

“It’s Sasuke’s fault…he’s been out of it for days. If you’d woken up sooner, we wouldn’t have to make such a big deal of this,” Naruto complains, while Sasuke silently accepts his own bundle of robes. He blinks in surprise when he notices that someone has taken the time to sew the Uchiha kamon onto the back and sleeves of the formalwear.

“Today is an historic event, and everyone wants to see it,” Kakashi points out. “You shouldn’t keep them waiting.”

“Yeah, yeah…though someone’s going to have to help me put this stuff on. The last time I wore montuki I was six…”

Sasuke chooses to struggle into his own, trying to ignore stiff limbs and aching bones. He suspects that he will have to get used to dressing by himself for the rest of his days, and so there is no reason to get used to someone else helping.

Sakura’s lack of presence seems even more pronounced just then, but it’s not as if he can blame her. Their last meeting before his battle with Naruto was poisonous. If she can’t forgive him, what hope does he have of the hundreds – maybe thousands – of people who suffered the ravages of this war because of him and his clan?

For the first time in his life, his feet itch to run fast and far away.

戦国時代

The valley down below the ruined waterfall teems with people. Even standing so far above them all, Sasuke finds himself overwhelmed by emotion. People cheer and cry and hold onto each other – friends and family and former enemies, wearing every colour and crest that he’s seen on the battlefield. He hears celebrations and speeches about dreams for the future and all good things to come.

Another tent has been set up on an outcropping above the valley, at the best vantage point for the people below. It is draped in the colours of the main clans and their vassals, and surrounded by representatives from each. When he and Naruto draw near, the excited murmuring goes quiet. Their eyes fly to the leader of the Uzumaki and there is awe; when their attention falls to Sasuke, it is distrust and wariness. Even the gazes of his own former vassals are cold.

He can’t blame them. If not for his grief-fuelled madness and his relentless pursuit of peace on his own terms, they might have had peace for almost a year. The rest of his clan, with the exception of Obito, might still be alive.

Sasuke clenches his fist, trying to fight down the sudden overwhelming desperation to leave. As he sees it, he has done his duty – he has ceded victory to Naruto and everyone knows it. There will be peace between the remnants of the Uchiha allies and those of the Senju, as well as their vassals. It’s a bright future – the one Itachi wanted – but not one Sasuke intends to be a part of.

No one will notice if he disappears after all of this is writ into law. He is, after all, notorious, and even his own people likely want to forget that he exists. Naruto aside, there’s no one among the Senju forces left to see him as anything but a monster.

Not any more at least.

“I know what you’re thinking,” Naruto says quietly, interrupting his thoughts. “And that’s not part of the agreement. Even if you’ve still got to go on trial, you’re supposed to get a second chance at a future, too.”

“There’s nothing left to build a future with.”

“I bet you’re wrong about that,” Naruto smirks. “And I can prove it.”

Sasuke frowns. “Whatever you think you know is wrong.”

“Oh yeah? So, there’s no one alive who you wouldn’t consider staying for?”

Sakura’s face flashes to the forefront of his mind, first the softly-smiling image he always carries close to his heart, and then the one of utter devastation that haunts his nightmares.

Chains from a failed past, he thinks grimly.

“Listen, just do me a favour,” Naruto continues. “Stick around at bit after all of this. Once we sign the treaty, there’s something you need to see. And if after that still decide it’s not enough to stay here, I’ll let you go without a fight.”

Sasuke narrows his eyes, wary, but he nods incrementally. Naruto lets out a triumphant hah, claps him on the back, and jogs ahead.

“No sense of decorum, that one,” Kakashi says appearing beside Sasuke in his usual unexpected fashion. “But he’s got a point.”

Sasuke side-eyes him, taking note of the way the man’s eyes glint in amusement. Not just at Naruto’s antics, it would seem.

“You know what he wants me to see,” he realises.

“Yes.”

“Are you going to tell me?”

“No.”

“You’re maddeningly unhelpful.”

“You deserve to stew for a bit.”

He can’t argue with that.

They cross the rest of the distance to the festive tent, where more and more of the clan representatives gather. Far down below, the crowds of people continue to swell, spreading across the fields of battle that have been littered with the dead and dying since the days of Madara and Hashirama.

“The Valley of the End,” Kakashi reminds him.

“An apt name.”

“It’s like I said. People are already turning you into legends. Are you sure you two didn’t plan this?”

Sasuke sighs and stares up at the sky, counting down the hours until sunset. “This part wasn’t planned.”

The crowd of clan representatives and witnesses part as they come through, and he can see that inside there are several sombre looking individuals. Hyūga Hiashi stands there, with his daughters on either side, and there is a young man – barely old enough to shave – loitering nearby in the colours of the Sarutobi clan. He glares about as if challenging anyone to remark on his presence there. Suigetsu is there as well, dressed in the Hozuki colours, his dead brother’s sword sheathed behind him, while the redheaded Uzumaki woman—Karin, Sasuke supposed—scowls at him across the way.

Sasuke takes up his place beside the Hyūga clan, most of whom glare at him with undisguised dislike, while Naruto stands opposite him. A serious-looking man waves for everyone to quiet down. The vassals and allies of the various clans take their places behind their respective leaders, but Sasuke notices that someone is missing.

“Where is Tsunade?” he asks. The peace cannot happen without agents from both sides.

Naruto looks sheepish. “Yeah, uh…about that…”

And that’s when Sasuke tenses.

He can sense her before she even enters the tent, with that same otherworldly awareness he has always had of her.

“Senju Tsunade has exhausted herself healing this man and is resting,” a familiar, albeit cool, voice says from behind him. “There’s no telling if she will ever wake again. But the fact that her last act was to heal her traditional enemy should tell you where she stands. As it is, before she fell into her sleep, my honourable adopted mother bestowed upon me legal agency. I am to negotiate on her behalf and on behalf of all her vassals.”

Slowly, Sasuke turns to acknowledge the speaker of these words, and when he finally sees her he feels as if he can’t breathe. He has never been one to care overly much about a woman’s looks, even after involving himself with the one facing him. And yet he can’t help be in awe by the sight of her now.

He has never seen Sakura clothed in anything other than her armour or disguised as a common villager. This figure before him is neither the warrior or the healer, but a regal politician. Her pristine white robes bear emblems of the Senju, although the obi she wears has a circle stitched into it – her own clan emblem. Her hair has been pulled back into two twists on the side of her head – not for fashion, he suspects, but to draw attention to the seal on her forehead. Finally, a gold kanzashi sits upon her crown; it’s old, he can tell, and suspects it may have belonged to a distinguished Senju ancestor.

No doubt a reminder to any who might question her status.

“I take it there have been witnesses to this granting of agency?” the samurai from the Land of Iron asks, moustache bristling in annoyance at the change to protocol.

“That’d be me,” Naruto interjects. “And before any old fogies want to bitch about needing Senju blood present for this, Tsunade-baachan and I are cousins, so kinship-wise I’ve got both the Senju and the Uzumaki covered.”

He grins, utterly irreverent and unrepentant in the face of such a serious occasion. Hinata smiles shyly at him, stars in her eyes, but Sakura’s face remains carved of marble as she stares down Mifune.

“I suppose that’s permissible,” he mutters, clearly uncomfortable.

“Then if you’re not opposed, let’s begin,” Sakura says. “The Senju wish is to sue for peace. Are the representatives of the other honoured clans in agreement with this?”

“The Uzumaki stand with the Senju,” Naruto says.

“As do the Hyūga,” Hiashi declares.

Everyone pauses, staring at Sasuke, but he ignores them. He has no intention of speaking until she looks at him, but she barely inclines her head in his direction. Despite her confident bearing and the set of her jaw, he senses apprehension. It’s clear in the way her fists move beneath her voluminous sleeves – as if they are clenching and unclenching.

“Uchiha-sama,” Mifune interrupts, voice tense. “It may simply be formality at this point, but what is the position of the Uchiha clan?”

Sasuke continues to stare at Sakura, silently requiring some sign of her acknowledgement before anything else happens. She must sense this, because slowly her gaze is drawn to his. At first, she focusses her eyes somewhere to the right of his jaw, but gradually, as if drawn by a magnet, they meet his own.

Everything beyond the two of them fades out, and Sasuke’s lungs feel too tight. The bewitching irises that were burned into his soul the first day he met her arrest him, searching him with something that is wary and tentative and hopeful all at the same time.

For a moment, they appear to find what they seek, but in that same instant she looks away, an angry flush of colour in her cheeks.

“Sasuke?” Naruto prompts.

“The Uchiha clan wishes for harmony,” Sasuke says, turning away from Sakura. “It is desired that there be peace in this land, now and into the future.”

It is as if the entire room breathes a collective sigh of relief.

“I will enter into this agreement under the condition of equal respect and trust with the Senju,” he continues. “Much of the onus falls upon those of my blood…and I will accept the consequences of my actions thereof. But the sins of the past cannot be erased either. There must be full penance from both sides before we move forward. To this end, I wish to convey the contrition of myself and my clan concerning the lives lost and pain caused. The slights we have all endured – both real or imagined – have no place in the future.”

Sakura looks back at him now, eyes calculating.

“Before any amends can be made, I would ask the forgiveness of the honourable representative of the Senju,” he concludes, “for any injuries incurred by the actions of my ancestors or myself.”

Naruto’s jaw actually drops, having not expected this. Sasuke is half in agreement, having not intended to say much today. He tries to blame the fact he is still recovering from his injuries, but when Sakura’s eyes suddenly begin to shine with something like hope, he stops trying.

“The Senju accept the apology of the honourable representative of the Uchiha,” she says quietly. “Though no words can expunge the past, we will do all in our power to build the future you speak of – and let old hatreds be buried with our dead.”

They gaze at each other a beat longer, and he feels an element of the same, unnameable force that has connected them all this time.

“Then we will now discuss the terms of this concord into law,” Mifune interrupts with a clearing of his throat. “It is hoped that from this day forward there will no longer be discord between you, but harmony and –”

A high-pitched, screeching wail interrupts Mifune’s words.

Sakura freezes, and her gaze leaves Sasuke’s faster than he can ever remember it doing. As the people gathered search for the noise – a crying child, it appears – and mumble at the inappropriate interruption, Sakura’s face flickers with a desperation he doesn’t understand.

Naruto is also suddenly uneasy.

“Sakura,” he says cautiously, although his eyes flit to Sasuke.

She doesn’t reply, instead bolting from the gathering of peacemakers.

“Senju-sama!” Mifune calls out in protest, but she ignores him, stumbling to the edges of the tent as quickly as her elaborate robes will allow. Sasuke moves to go after her, but Naruto’s hand stops him.

“It’s not what you think,” the blond man says, and is that amusement in his tone?

Sasuke’s head whips back to observe Sakura, who is reaching desperately into the crowd and – apparently – arguing with someone. He has to strain his ears to hear her.

“ – not the time, my lady –”

“ – don’t care if it’s a serious affair,” she snaps, “hand her over, she needs me!”

“ – Sakura-sama, it’s not decorous to –”

“I don’t care about decorum!”

“You can’t just –”

“I’d give her what she wants,” a blond woman standing beside Sai remarks dryly.

“Shizune, if you don’t hand me my daughter in the next thirty seconds, I guarantee you that peace will be the last thing on my mind!” Sakura growls.

Instantly a swaddled, wriggling and crying bundle is laid in her arms, and she holds it tight, making shushing noises and rocking it back and forth. The entire world has fallen away and she appears to be aware of none of it.

Sasuke can relate.

At that exact moment, everything else seems superfluous in the face of the truth he watches unfold before him.

Sakura has a child.

Sasuke’s heart clenches in his chest, and he has trouble breathing, but this time it isn’t due to awe for the woman before him. The last hopes he had of rekindling what they had dies away.

Because it has been a year, and what did he expect? That she would wait for him to come to his senses after he singlehandedly ripped apart every possible path leading to a future they could share with one another? She had people to heal and lead, and at the end of the day, she deserves to be with a man who can make her happy. He has utterly failed in this, and so he can’t even protest the gutting sensation ravaging him now.

She…deserves to be happy, he tells himself.

Long minutes of awkward whispering follow, with Sakura unable to quiet the fussing child. People are exchanging judgemental glances, and Mifune shifts in annoyance. Eventually, Sakura sets her shoulders, and stalks back to re-join the delegation, still cradling the baby. As she ducks into the tent, she bestows an expression of challenge anyone to criticise the sudden addition of crying child to the proceedings.

Sasuke suspects that it is only a general, healthy respect for what her fists can do which keeps anyone from protesting.

When Sakura’s eyes fall on his, something like dismay and apology enters them, confirming his worst fears. Then her demeanour becomes serious again and she strides forward, eyes on him and still bouncing the crying baby.

Her gaze never wavers, and it feels as if she’s using him as an anchor; he wishes she wouldn’t. The closer she gets, the more he must steel himself, refusing to look down at the child. He doesn’t want to acknowledge it or the idea of Sakura’s features blended with some other man. Instead, he does his best to meet her searching gaze without flinching.

Then she smiles a little, bouncing the infant.

“This isn’t exactly the way I imagined today would go,” she admits to him, as if they aren’t standing in the middle of stalled peace talks or being watched by the representatives of clans from both sides. As if these aren’t the first personal words she’s spoken to him in almost a year.

Or that the heart he spent his life pretending didn’t exist isn’t being shaved into a million tiny slivers as the seconds go by.

“The baby is a surprise,” he replies weakly.

She shoots him an urchin’s grin. “I imagine so.”

“Probably not as much a surprise at the other thing,” Naruto pipes up.

Sakura shoots a side glare at him. “Shut up, Naruto, this isn’t the place!”

“Oh, I don’t think there’s much choice of that right now,” he grins down at the baby. “She’s got a flare for the dramatic.”

“I suspect she comes by it honestly,” Kakashi remarks from several paces away. His visible features show no surprise, and Sasuke feels a sudden burning anger rising within.

Kakashi knew.

He and Naruto both knew about this, and they said nothing to him. And they had the gall to think he would be happy about it? And Sakura –

Sasuke knows that he has a long way to go in earning her forgiveness – perhaps he even deserves some pain for what he did to her – but this? He has never believed she would be the type to rub his face in his mistakes or remind him of that which he will never obtain.

One year can certainly change a lot, he thinks darkly.

“I suppose you’re right,” Sakura sighs now, apparently unaware of his inner turmoil. “It’s not like everyone won’t figure it out eventually.”

“In case none of you are aware, we’re in the middle of something important,” Mifune bites out.

“You don’t know the half of it,” Naruto snorts, while Sakura bites her lip and the baby fusses louder.

“Shh, Sarada…sweetheart, don’t fuss now,” Sakura murmurs softly. “I think it’s making your father nervous.”

Sasuke instinctively looks to Naruto, expecting him speak up or joke or confirm his relationship to the child, but the blond man simply continues to laugh and shake his head as if the whole situation is highly entertaining. There is no other man around them that looks concerned for the child in the way a parent might – curious, perhaps, and possibly irritated judging from the expressions of the older delegates – but the father of Sakura’s child does not appear to be in the vicinity.

It makes sense, and his frustration must show on his face, because Sakura suddenly laughs.

“Is something about this funny?” he asks her.

“Sasuke-kun…” she sighs, shaking her head like he’s missing something. Maybe he is, because the familiar way she says his name takes his breath away. He barely notices her moving closer, putting herself and the infant into his personal space. “Would you like to hold your daughter?”

There’s an instantaneous collective intake of breath all around them, as the implication of Sakura’s words sets in. Then, everyone is talking at once – exclamations of disbelief and demands for clarification and Sasuke doesn’t hear any of it beyond the first explosion of his noise, because his own brain has stalled.

“Sasuke-kun, would you like the hold your daughter.”

Daughter.

His daughter.

“It’s not…it’s not possible…” he murmurs faintly, staring at Sakura in a silent, desperate request for explanation.

Sakura purses her lips and raises an eyebrow at him in challenge. And he knows exactly what she would say if they weren’t in such esteemed company.

Because the reality is, they were never careful. He always assumed that she was taking some form of preventative measures – after all, the battlefield is a dangerous place, especially for women. Unwanted advances are common, whether from the enemy or even amorous comrades. While it’s highly unlikely anyone could ever force themselves upon someone as strong as Sakura, it would be irresponsible of a female medic to compromise her usefulness by falling pregnant.

And yet…

Even if she was, there’s always a small chance…

In the background, Mifune tries to demand order, while the various clans and their vassals dissolve into confusion. The Hyūga seem apoplectic with shock and indignation (not Hinata, however).

“Uchiha Sasuke,” Naruto snorts. “The dumbest genius in the land—ow!”

He ducks an elbow from his redheaded cousin, who also seems unsurprised by the proceedings.

Sakura lifts the fussing infant closer, and this time, Sasuke can’t stop himself from gazing down on her. The minute his eyes meet the baby’s, any infinitesimal shred of doubt vanishes as if it never was.

Because they are completely black.

It’s a distinctly Uchiha trait, possibly related to their dōjutsu, but Uchiha babies never have light eyes – even at birth. In addition to the inky black hair, Sasuke can already see smaller versions of his own features – nose, chin and cheekbones – and the way her face scrunches in displeasure at being held away from her mother. She appears to notice him looking down at her because she stills, and then he finds himself the subject of a direct, appraising look.

His heart stutters at the sight, because that look has been levelled at him before – first by his father, and then by his brother – only this time it’s with eyes identical to his own.

Sasuke doesn’t notice much more than that, however, because it is at this point that he promptly passes out.

つづく

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#naruto fanfiction #sasusaku #au #warring states period #kuriquinn #sasuke uchiha #naruto uzumaki #sakura haruno #kakashi hatake #mifune is not amused #sasuke is the dumbest smart person ever #drama #angst #romance #the end is in sight #politics has to happen before emotional stuff

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