#kakashi was probably even worse about this back in anbu when he was even less stable. this is also why kakashi gets prickly | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

dreamersscape · 3 years

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@panharmonium - this post is partly serious ponderings and partly just me having some lighthearted fun, so apologies once again in advance if the tone is all over the place, but you mentioned in our conversation that you feel "less settled" about how Yamato feels about/views romance and how it relates to him personally, and - big surprise! - once more I'm in the same boat as you. You might not be as interested in discussing this or might not have much to say about it since we're not given as much "evidence" in comparison to Kakashi, and if so that's totally okay, but I got to thinking about it idly and then I got sucked in and went back and referenced some relevant episodes and now my brain is Intrigued, haha!

Of course, what I said before about my 'default' being essentially "just about all characters are a-spec until distinctly substantiated not to be" holds true in Yamato's case as well, but at least with Kakashi we've seen on a few occasions how he behaves when someone shows romantic interest in him; we get a pretty good sense where his head is at in those circumstances. There hasn't really been a similar situation with Yamato, he's much more of a 'blank slate' in that regard. He went from being an experiment in a giant test tube, to being a member of a covert organization where he had no name of his own, no past or future, no life beyond his assigned missions, and then spends the rest of his life up until very recently in the slightly-less-secluded-but-still-covert sister branch of the previous organization where he now has a bit more personal experience with things like friendship, but his life is still mostly spent doing things like assassinating people, gathering secret intel, spywork, etc. I can't really imagine Danzo sitting down all the orphaned or otherwise 'stray' kids that grew up in the Foundation to discuss "the birds and the bees" with them. 😂 So my assumption is most of them had to make do with picking up what they could from any of their older peers on the topics of sex education and dating advice? Since Danzo was apparently still considering recruiting Kakashi when he was around 19-20 (and after he ordered him to be killed a few years before that, the nerve!), it appears that not all Foundation ANBU grew up there/had some scraps of personal lives outside Foundation headquarters? But obviously I would guess very little romance/dating if any was tolerated under Danzo's watch.

So then, cue me picturing 14-year-old!Tenzo asking Kakashi stuff like, "Hey, senpai? How do you know if you have a crush on someone?" and Kakashi just replies, "Beats me, kid." and pats him on the shoulder.

What if--and this is a very silly idea, forgive me--what if Kakashi first picked up an icha icha novel as a way to, like, find examples to more easily explain romantic matters to Tenzo, who can then figure out for himself how he feels about it all? And then Kakashi, who we saw was already a bookworm as a kid, gets drawn into the plots because they're light and frivolous and the opposite of the dark, unpleasant, life-or-death lifestyle of the ANBU.

What REALLY got my mind going down a rabbit hole was when I remembered how Yamato reacted to Sakura trying to convince Naruto she loved him now instead of Sasuke. Going back and watching that scene again, Yamato has one of the stronger shocked reactions/expressions when Sakura makes her declaration, and once the surprise wears off a little, he's still very taken aback and there's even some consternation when he questions, "What is going on?!?" and Kakashi has to physically hold him back from intervening. Yamato is continuously caught off guard by all the revelations made by Sakura and then Sai, with a marked difference in how he accepts the news that Gaara, Temari, and Kankuro deliver to them immediately afterwards. And then, he doesn't even get to be there to witness the confrontation with Sasuke and everything that happens and is said there! He only hears the abridged version. So it wouldn't surprise me in the slightest if right before Yamato leaves with Naruto on their "secret S-rank mission", he quietly takes Kakashi aside and asks, "Are... are the kids gonna be alright? Sakura just tried to kill the person she loves. And I'm still a bit ticked off he ditched me again, but Naruto did just had a panic attack so bad that he fell unconscious from it! I tried to get him to eat some porridge, but he didn't have any appetite and he said he was having nightmares about Sasuke. And now he apparently seems okay with fighting Sasuke again, even if it means they both die? What do I do if we run out of ideas for ways for Naruto to train or other things to do stuck on a boat for weeks and Naruto gets so bored he starts thinking about stuff and he ends up upset again because the girl he likes lied to him and agrees with everyone else that Sasuke needs to be treated like an enemy? I'm not trained for this, senpai!" And Kakashi is reminded again of how much he regrets trying to reassure Sakura everything would be okay after Naruto's and Sasuke's first fight on top of the hospital, and all he can say is, "Well, if it's any consolation, you can't do any worse than me at comforting crying, heartbroken subordinates." And that's the last thing they talk about the last time they saw each other? They're both doing all they can to help and protect these kids but they both feel so inadequate on a number of levels and it makes me so sad! So then I try to put a humorous spin on it... 🙃

Anyway, I'm not trying to portray Yamato as this poor innocent baby when it comes to how romance works, but it struck me that he probably hasn't had much opportunity to experience much in the romantic realm, and then he's thrust head-first into substituting for his personal hero and not only is that first mission a disaster, but he's now surrounded by a bunch of pining, angsty teenagers! Maybe it's a good thing he might've not heard that the reason why Naruto completely lost control of the Nine Tails during Pain's attack and he wasn't there to stop him from transforming, was because Hinata confessed her love to Naruto and then was very nearly killed in front of him?

#my thoughts in this post seemed more interesting and funny in my head so sorry if this sounds dumb or reductive or unimportant #we can just ignore it if so #but yeah I'm perfectly happy to see him as aroace too but I know that it's mostly something that hasn't been addressed yet #I mean yukimi asked him if he wanted to run away together with her which is usually framed as a romantic thing e.g. running away to elope?#but I don't think that was the intention there since she was projecting her little brother onto Tenzo #and Tenzo was mainly confused by her in general as it was and he was all of ten or eleven years old so...#tenzo #yamato #kakashi 'n' tenzo #team seven #naruto

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depressedhatakekakashi · 2 years

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SPEAKING OF TENZO- (and Team Ro but not really) i feel like he'd be extremely protective of Kakashi in maybe the early years after he got out of ROOT, he's likely still very protective in the present but i feel like it would've been even worse back then XD he probably felt guilty for calling Kakashi 'Friend Killer' and after that (since i honestly don't think Kakashi was popular in a good way in anbu) he would secretly get into fights with whoever he caught insulting Kakashi-

I'm not sure whether Kakashi would find out about it at the time or if it happened later but he'd probably be very upset Tenzo would risk himself just to defend Kakashi's, but that kind of protecting was all Tenzo knew at the time- beating up people up in defense of whoever, couple that with still being slightly unhinged emotionally/mentally after root and you've got yourself a figurative hissing cat whose very protective of their pack lol

Tenzo would get into verbal fights at most, standing up for Kakashi, but physical fights are something he wouldn't risk. Tenzo is a person who's even more broken by the system than Kakashi, and thus a bit more loyal even when he see's the flaws.

I think what Tenzo would do is argue the points. He'd never tell Kakashi's secrets of course (He knows to keep those close to the heart) but he would argue against those who would label Kakashi a friend killer, or treat him as though he's heartless.

Tenzo has seen first had how open and freely Kakashi expresses himself, it's just not in a way others really understand so they don't see it. He knows Kakashi cares about people maybe a little too much, and he will argue and defend Kakashi

physical fights (i think) would lead to them being reprimanded and possibly even benched, and Tenzo would still have trauma from Danzo who most likely had far heavier ways of reprimanding the disobedient, so he'd be less likely to step out of line even after getting out of ROOT.

But most importantly, being reprimanded means risking being put on a diffrent team from Kakashi, or benched while Kakashi's on missions. that's a risk because that means Kakashi going solo or on missions with people who won't have his back like Tenzo will

and I don't think that's a risk Tenzo would take.

#Tenzo Yamato #Tenzo #Hatake Kakashi

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phoenixyfriend · 3 years

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Demon-Infected Kurenai

Whoo let’s go, this is an AU I brainstormed with help from @firebirdeternal back in September, and it’s finally time to pull it all together.

To whit, this all started with me sending this message:

“Just got hit by the overwhelming urge to turn Kurenai into some kind of horror movie monster after a mid-mission accident? Like there's an unknown scroll she picks up and WHOOPS you're kind of a demonic entity now, so sorry.”

And it kinda just... went from there.

Like, okay, Kurenai is already objectively terrifying.

"I'm going to psychically convince your brain that I was never real and lull you into a false sense of peace with the scent of pleasant flowering trees before I emerge like a nightmare from the branches to snap your neck. Then when your friend looks back they see you standing placidly in the street before wondering where that lovely scent is coming from?"

(Kurama being scared shitless of Kurenai is a fun mental image. Like he doesn't give a fuck about any other living or unliving creature, but this illusion master witch who can carve up someone's reality and murder them while they smile it all away? That's fucking scary no matter how big you are.)

BUT IT ALL JUST GETS SO MUCH WORSE WHEN SHE’S NO LONGER QUITE HUMAN

Kurenai is now upset because she keeps like... bleeding from the eyes? And is freaking out the Uchiha? And she can still eat dango and sushi and all that, but she's like really into raw steak and literal bloody Marys now? And she keeps seeing ghosts?

Kurenai, poking at her chest: My heart keeps stopping and I forget to restart it and then I get cold, help.

Kakashi: Hey Asuma, are you into fangs? Asuma: ...I'm straight and not into you so why does it matter? Kakashi: Not about me. Just answer. Asuma: Fine, uh... I guess it depends on the fangs? Extended eyeteeth, sure, deep sea creature needles, not so much. Kakashi: Great! So, your girlfriend got herself into a situation.

There are Offerings being left at her doorstep by minor demons from the forest. It’s fine.

Kurenai gets monsterized, a tad, and then just. Illusion makeup. For several weeks. Under the assumption/fervent hope that it'll get better on its own. 'It's not a cold Yuuhi, I expected better of you!' 'I panicked okay? And how was I supposed to know it wouldn't get better, I've never been possessed before!'

(Kurenai is a millennial and didn't want this going on her record and interfering with her chance of getting her promotion/a genin team.)

She's not even sure WHAT she is, just like. Probably semi-dead? And demonic? Just like. Kurenai gets into a Situation and it's not even a sentient entity, it's just like. A special kind of chakra... that acts like an infection... but isn't communicable. Or something.

And there's a second layer of chakra under her own, so it doesn't mess with her control of her normal techniques at all, but if she does reach for that second, creepy chakra, things start, like... dying.

Like she channels the chakra and all the grass or trees around her just turn grey. If she channels the creepy chakra, it works like magic instead of genjutsu, and she like... sings hypnosis and shit. Calls up the dead.

She has no idea what she's doing but ANBU is making grabby hands.

Konoha completely skips over everyone else when the Zombie Combo shows up because DUH we're gonna send Undead Kurenai out against immortal bullshit.

SHE HEALS LIKE THAT ONE NEBULA GIF BUT MORE ORGANIC AND LESS TECHNO

Also sometimes she’s just like “Why is my blood black?”

Mostly I'm just really enjoying the mental image of like Hidan: What the fuck are you?!?!?! Kurenai, mid-attack: GREAT QUESTION. I'll let you know when I figure it out!

It's been like ten years by that point and they still have no idea.

Honestly Ninjas are so used to weird bullshit by now that they'll just call it a "Technique" unless it turns out she can pass it on to kids in which case it'll be revised into a Bloodline. How does it work? 🤷. Why did it happen? 🤷. Can you use it to murder people effectively? Hell yes. Good enough!

Kurenai: Wait, what if I can't have kids anymore? [one pregnancy later] Mirai: [is born singing the wails of the damned]

Like one of those Evil Possessed Child horror movies except everyone has superpowers so the Ghost Murder Attempts are just Precocious Shenanigans and the kid eventually grows up to be a productive member of murder-society

"Mirai, honey, what do you want to eat?" "The souls of the innocent." "Uh-huh. We have miso soup." "That is acceptable."

Sometimes if she’s good, they give her a freshly dead pigeon. Asuma is not nearly as thrown by all of this as he could be.

Kiba is SO PUMPED to brag about how he has the scariest sensei in Konoha and people are just like "Yeah right" because they meet Kurenai and she is so??? Normal??? Compared to Gai and Kakashi and all them??? And she's polite and friendly and caring and gorgeous! How is she--OH MY GOD WHAT THE FUCK DID SHE JUST DO TO THAT GUY'S BRAIN

Kisame and Itachi's trip back to Konoha right after the Chuunin Exams and they get set to fight the Jounin team and Kurenai shows up and gets dismissed and then it takes a moment for everyone to be like "Oh my god, you weren't here when that happened, dude she's a literal creature from your nightmares now."

Itachi: Look, even if she's super dangerous, I'll just trap her in my unbreakable genjutsu it'll be fine. [uses unbreakable genjutsu that psychically links him to her] [several seconds pass] Itachi: [gets a nosebleed] Itachi: Hey Kisame quick question can you carry me and how fast can you run while carrying me because we need to leave right the fuck now.

Not a ‘ooh sexy’ nosebleed, a ‘my brain just completely misfired from horror’ nosebleed.

On at least one occasion, Kurenai does the Creepy Horror Movie Crawling after someone thinks they've snapped her neck.

She's functionally immortal but like. In the most unnerving way possible. She's “allowed” to return to life but the prerequisite to doing so is "freak everyone in the vicinity out as you do so." You're allowed to heal but only if you're a creepy, dramatic ho about it.

Some people have no idea that she's a Monster Person because they knew her in school when she was still mortal and then she learned all this psychology and illusion magic bullshit so when she does things like that they always assume that she's using said illusion magic to fake her injury and unnerve the enemy.

Poor, oblivious fool: Kurenai, good work back there. You can drop the genjutsu now though. Kurenai: Oh right, yeah. Kurenai: [snaps her head back into place with a sickening crunch]

"Haha god you're a freaky bitch sometimes" -Anko probably

Anko is the first person to just completely ignore the Creepy.

Orochimaru did weirder shit, the important thing is that they can still get drunk and bitch about how dumb boys are.

(As far as KureAnko goes, I like "roommates who have definitely done the young-and-experimenting sex thing a few times, and maybe some of the drunk-and-grieving sex thing a few other times, but are nowadays just non-sex buddies who like to wingwoman.")

So you know how I earlier mentioned something about Kurenai possibly being able to see the dead?

She. Figures out Obito's alive. Just. The weirdest fucking wrench in those plans. (Sorry, Obito, except not really.) It’s either because she sees all the other ghosts around periodically but never him, or she just... sees Rin. And Rin tells her.

Anyway

Orochimaru and Kurenai fight. It’s. Not a comfortable time for literally anyone in the area.

Orochimaru: STOP THAT. STOP... NOT DYING. Kurenai: Shan’t.

Just an endless background chorus of "necks don't BEND that way!" and "he just vomited up his own body is that normal" and "WHY THE FUCK DOES HER JAW UNHINGE AS FAR AS HIS DOES"

Honestly though I think Orochimaru is charmed. And wants her body for himself, because Orochimaru. Possibly like. Congratulates Anko on her good taste.

Orochimaru: I want to put my soul in that body. Inoichi: No, no you really do not, I can tell you.

Orochimaru: Can I have a blood sample? Anko, completely rabid: FUCK NO GET AWAY FROM HER Kurenai: [eyes rolled back to reveal black sclera, chanting an undead language that summons demons] Orochimaru: Delightful.

Inoichi definitely tried to mind walk her at some point to like, help her figure out what was going on? And came out of it shaking and speaking in tongues and to this day refuses to talk about it other than to say, "She's in control, don't worry about that part. Never ask anyone to mind walk her again."

He wanted to help and that's the only reason he got out relatively sane.

(Me, at any given point: But how can I turn this genre into a really dumb comedy.)

Kurenai: [on her knees in a random field, head tilted back to stare at the stars, mouth agape, black necro-chakra rolling off her her in waves] Kakashi: Does anyone know what the hell she's doing? [five minutes later] Kakashi: Aaaaaaaaaand that's an entire ROOT base. What the fuck, Kurenai.

Kurenai runs into an Edo Tensei and they burst into flames and nobody knows what's going on, least of all her.

"I'm here to ruin all the bad guys' plans but I honestly don't have any fucking idea what I'm doing" is just. A treat.

(This is such a niche AU.)

(I just point at the most random characters and give them a plot you'd normally only see in one of like... four characters.)

Asuma: [comes across Kurenai eating a dead crow, hasn't even been plucked, let alone cooked, mouth covered in blood and feathers, crouched over the kill like some terrifying, shapeless mass] Kurenai: ... Asuma: ... Kurenai: [swallows] Asuma: ...so, you good? Or... Kurenai: I... I think I need a minute. Asuma: Cool, cool, I'll be in the living room.

Demon Kurenai maybe? But with her actual red eyes, and black sclera. Though "grey skin and black veins" might be more on-brand for the Vibe

TL;DR

Kurenai suffers from a demonic infection. It’s permanent. She’s still super nice and talented! She just also like... exudes some creepy “necro chakra” and feasts on raw animals and all of creepiest things in the forest are leaving Offerings at her front door. When Mirai is born, she occasionally makes demands for human souls instead of baby food. (She is not provided this, but she does get a snack of freshly-killed pigeon if she’s good.) (Asuma is not nearly as thrown by all of this as he could be.)

#Yuuhi Kurenai #Kurenai #Kurenai Yuuhi #Sarutobi Asuma #Mitarashi Anko #Demon AU #AsuKure #KureAnko #Orochimaru #Hatake Kakashi #Hoshigaki Kisame #Uchiha Itachi #Kurama #Yamanaka Inoichi #Phoenix Posts

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itachi-uchiha-deserved-better · 3 years

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Itachi Uchiha.”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Wasn’t it?

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

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

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

Did Sasuke know?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Konoha’s spy.

Had to stay hidden.

Could come and go as he pleased.

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

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

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

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

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

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

“You knew?”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Everyone in the tent nodded their agreement.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Sakura? Going somewhere?”

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

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

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sparrowstrikewrites · 4 years

Text

Cutting Roots

Drabble for @tendaysoftenzo 3 (Rouge Ninja) and Day 4 (Sensei)

Summary: It all happens fast. Mokuton responds to emotions and Tenzou’s angry. Next thing he knows, he’s got Danzou’s blood on his hands, 2 kids in dire need of a medic, and a horrible suspicion about the Uchiha Massacre.

Rating: Teen (curse words, blood, canon typical violence)

At first Kakashi tried to ignore the banging, but it just kept going and the front door didn’t deserve that abuse.

Kakashi rolled off the couch and heaved himself to his feet with a groan. A quick glance at the clock said it was just after 2AM. I’m going to give them so much shit, the teenager grumbled. He hadn’t been asleep, but it was a principles thing. When someone takes 3 days off for bereavement, you don’t show up at their house at 2 in the morning.

“The world better be ending,” Kakashi growled as he pulled the door open. The words died on his lips as he recognized the anbu on his doorstep.

Tenzou was wearing his sleeping clothes, gray standard issue for anbu. A splatter of what Kakashi assumed was blood crossed his chest. His shoulder length hair was messy and his eyes were too wide.

Something was very wrong.

“I didn’t know where else to go,” Tenzou said. His voice was hollow. “We need help.”

Kakashi pulled the door open the rest of the way. Standing behind Tenzou were 2 kids. They couldn’t be more than 5 or 6. The taller one, his hair looked about the same color as Kakashi’s in the moonlight, leaned heavily on the smaller, dark haired one. They both stared at Kakashi with blank expressions.

Kakashi noticed they were both armed like shinobi, from the kunai holsters on their thighs to the swords on their backs. He stepped back inside and pulled the door with him, a silent invitation.

Tenzou staggered inside and the kids trailed him to Kakashi’s kitchen.

Kakashi stuck his head out the front door and looked up and down the street. There was no sign of any pursuers, for now.

Kakashi grabbed the first aid kit out of the kitchen cabinet and turned to Tenzou first. In the light of the kitchen, it was definitely blood on his gray shirt.

“Where are you hurt?” Kakashi asked.

Tenzou shook his head. “It’s not my blood.”

Kakashi narrowed his eye at his kohai. He couldn’t see any visible injuries.

“Shin’s sick,” Kakashi glanced at the kids. It was the dark haired one who’d spoken. He was holding the other boy upright in one of Kakashi’s chairs.

Kakashi gave Tenzou one more look over before he shifted his focus to the kids.

Kakashi crouched down beside Shin. The other kid shied away from Kakashi, but refused to leave Shin’s side.

“I won’t hurt him,” Kakashi promised softly.

The dark haired boy looked skeptical, but he didn’t draw a kunai so Kakashi wasn’t too worried.

Shin, didn’t look good. His skin was cold and clammy, and his cheeks were flushed with fever. At Kakashi’s urging he opened his eyes, but he couldn’t seem to focus on the shinobi’s face.

Kakashi put his ear against the kid’s chest and listened. Even without a stethoscope, he could hear the way each breath rattled.

Kakashi stood up and stepped back. “Shin needs to go to the hospital.”

The dark haired kid’s grip on Shin’s hand tightened.

“Can’t,” Tenzou muttered. “The hospital will just send him back to the anbu health center. They have orders not to interfere with Root.”

Kakashi whipped around and stared at Tenzou.

Tenzou was staring down at the blood on his shirt.

“You mean these kids are Root?” Kakashi demanded.

Tenzou didn’t say anything, just dabbed at the blood with his finger.

“Danzou-sama trained us,” the dark haired kid said from behind Kakashi.

Kakashi didn’t take his off of Tenzou. “How long do we have before Danzou’s on my doorstep? Does he know you took them?”

“I killed him.” The words fell out of Tenzou’s mouth like rocks. He blinked a couple times, like he’d surprised himself.

Kakashi’s eyes went wide. His mind was moving miles a minute. The only thought that stuck was, we can’t stay.

“He was making them fight,” Tenzou’s voice rose in pitch and volume, “Like Kiri. Like the Bloody Mist.” He sounded half hysterical when he finally looked up and met Kakashi’s horrified stare.

“Fuck.”

“I didn’t mean to do it. I couldn’t sleep. I kept thinking about Itachi and I thought a walk would clear my head. I heard them in the arena and went to see who was training. When I saw Danzou and the kids, I knew what was going, but I asked anyway.” Tenzou’s chin quivers and his voice wavered. “Danzou told me and he said things…” Tenzou trailed off. His mouth twisted into an angry snarl, “things about the Third, the clan heads, and the Uchiha. He said things about you and Itachi and it just happened.”

Judging by the way the wooden floor was sprouting little branches and grabbing at Kakashi’s ankles, he didn’t have to guess what “it” was. Tenzou’s mokuton was powerful and it responded as much to his emotions as much as his thought. He’d worked so hard to wrestle it into submission, but there was only so much control you could exert over a kekkei genkai you were never meant to have.

“Good.” Kakashi’s tone left no room for argument and it surprised him as much as it did Tenzou. Just like that the tension in the room broke.

Tenzou’s shoulders sagged with both exhaustion and relief.

“Go get cleaned up,” Kakashi ordered. “Grab some clothes out of my closet and start packing go bags. Mine’s already packed, but you and the kids will need gear. It’s not the worth the risk of going back to the anbu compound.”

Tenzou nodded once and made for the stairs.

Kakashi turned back to the kids. “What’s your name?” he asked the dark haired boy.

The kid hesitated.

“ ‘S kay, Sai,” the other kid mumbled. His head was resting on Sai’s shoulder. If Sai moved, he would have fallen out of the chair.

The dark haired boy, Sai, glanced between Shin and Kakashi. “My name’s Sai. This is my brother, Shin. Please don’t let him die.”

Kakashi felt like someone kicked him in the chest. Instead of Sai, he was looking at another dark haired kid. “Promise me you’ll protect Rin.”

Kakashi took a shuddering breath. “I’ll do what I can. I’m not a medic.”

Sai nodded. He could accept that.

“I’m going to move him to the couch,” Kakashi said. He figured if he didn’t startle the kids, they were less likely to instinctively put a kunai between his ribs. He’d seen first hand how efficient and skilled Root made their anbu. Just because they were kids didn’t mean they weren’t lethal.

Kakashi slipped a hand under Shin’s knees and another behind his shoulders and lifted him out of the chair. The kid seemed to weigh nothing. He shivered and shifted in Kakashi’s arms, pressing closer.

Sai trailed Kakashi like a shadow from the kitchen to the living room.

Kakashi hummed softly. He remembered his dad doing this when he was small and sick. If the tune had words, Kakashi’d never learned them.

“Can you put a pot of water on the stove and get it boiling?” Kakashi asked Sai.

Sai nodded and disappeared back into the kitchen.

Kakashi stared down at Shin and considered his options. He had some fever tablets. They could bundle him in blankets and try to sweat out the fever, but that wouldn’t do anything for his lungs. They were definitely full of fluid.

Kakashi checked Shin’s bulse. It was light, fast, and irregular. The fever was the easiest thing to treat, but probably not the thing most likely to kill him.

Sai stuck his head back in. “It’s boiling.”

Kakashi nodded. He grabbed a blanket off the back of the couch and tucked it around Shin. “Good. The steam might help clear his lungs.”

Kakashi carried the pot into the living room and set it on a stack of hot pads beside the couch. He put the fever tablets in Shin’s mouth. They were the sort that dissolved.

“How long has he been sick?” Kakashi asked Sai.

“Forever. He coughs when we run and sometimes he wakes up and he can’t breathe. It’s been getting worse for 3 months. He used to cough a lot, but not anymore,” Sai explained.

Kakashi nodded. “Where do you sleep?”

“We have barracks.”

“Cold, damp, crowded?”

“Yeah. Lots of people get sick. Danzou-sama takes them away when they complain and we don’t see them again. Shin didn’t say anything, because he didn’t want to leave me,” Sai’s voice was small and he clutched the hem of his black shirt in little fists.

Kakashi wanted to scream. Instead he held his breath and counted to five before he let it out. “Watch Shin. I’m going to go see if I have any other medicine upstairs.”

Sai settled on the floor beside the couch without a word.

Kakashi found upstairs Tenzou digging through the closet for blankets.

“How are you holding up?” Kakashi asked.

Tenzou shook his head. “I don’t know. I feel numb.”

“I don’t know if Shin is going to make it. I’m thinking he’s got pneumonia and probably something else too. Pneumonia’s usually a secondary infection.”

Tenzou sighed. “They didn’t want to fight. Danzou was trying to force them. The other kids ran when I… Shin wasn’t able to run and Sai wouldn’t leave him.”

“I’ve got some antibiotics in the medicine cabinet. They’re old, but they might help,” Kakashi sighed. “I need to know what Danzou said about Itachi.”

Tenzou hugged the blanket he was folding to his chest. “He didn’t say anything outright, but the comparison he was making was between you and me and Itachi. He said Itachi was a good soldier. That the new Root were all good soldiers.”

Kakashi leaned against the wall. The world was spinning. He and Tenzou shared the same critical flaw in Danzou’s eyes. The fact that they were both still breathing was evidence to their failure as soldiers. They questioned orders. They disobeyed orders. They failed to kill each other and failed to kill their hearts.

“I think Itachi might have been following orders,” Tenzou gave voice to the half formed thought Kakashi was trying to grasp.

“Fuck,” Kakashi breathed.

Tenzou just nodded. They’d both taken Itachi’s betrayal hard, but Kakashi had seemed determined to shoulder the blame. He was Itachi’s captain for 2 years, he said he should have seen the instability in the Uchiha.

“I can’t think about this right now,” Kakashi muttered. He turned on his heel and began ransacking the medicine cabinet in the bathroom.

The bottle of antibiotics was almost full. They were woefully out of date, but Kakashi’d read that most medication remained effective well after its expiration date so he’d kept them. The bigger issue was that they were dosed for an adult man.

Behind the antibiotics were an untouched steroid dose pack. Kakashi grabbed those too. They’d been meant to be taken alongside the antibiotics.

Kakashi mentally did the math, guessing at how much Shin weighed and how to break the pills, as he walked back down the stairs.

Sai had moved from the floor to the arm of the couch, where he could perch and easily keep his fingers on the pulse point in Shin’s throat.

Kakashi decided to give the kid a whole antibiotic and half the starting dose out of the steroid pack.

SInce it looked unlikely that Shin could swallow the pills, Kakashi ground them up and mixed them with a little bit of milk, it was the only thing he had that might mask some of the flavor.

“This is going to taste pretty awful,” Kakashi warned Shin. He wasn’t even sure the kid could hear him now. “But you need to try to swallow it.”

The sludgy mixture slid down Shin’s tongue and he whined. His face scrunched up, but he didn’t try to spit it out.

“Good job,” Kakashi soothed.

Shin seemed to settle.

Sai looked at Kakashi. His eyes were so dark that Kakashi couldn’t tell where the pupil ended and the iris started. It gave him a perpetually wide eyed look. With his blank expression, he reminded Kakashi of the old legends about fae and changelings. “What happens now?” Sai asked.

Kakashi hesitated. “We’ll see how Shin is in a couple hours and go from there.”

Sai nodded. “We’re traitors now, aren’t we?”

Kakashi flinched.

“No. The village betrayed us first,” Tenzou said from the bottom of the stairs. He had 3 backpacks in his arms that he dumped on the floor by the door. “Danzou did horrible things. The village is better without him.”

Sai looked at Tenzou and cocked his head to the side in confusion. “But we’ll need to run away right?”

Tenzou glanced at Kakashi. “You and Shin are going to go with me. We’ll find someplace nice and quiet where Shin can get better.”

Kakashi frowned. “I’m going with you.”

Tenzou shook his head. “I can’t ask that of you.”

“You aren’t asking. I’m telling you. I’m going with you and we’re going to get answers.” Kakashi’s jaw was set and there was a spark of fire in his dark eye that Tenzou hadn’t seen since the Uchiha Massacre.

Tenzou motioned for Kakashi to step into the kitchen. Out of sight and earshot of the kids, Tanzou met Kakashi’s questioning stare. “You want to go after Itachi.” It wasn’t a question.

Kakashi nodded. He’d argued against it just 2 days ago, when the blood hadn’t even dried yet. He refused to kill Itachi and he refused to let Tenzou shoulder that burden. Now, they had an excuse to take Itachi alive.

“If Danzou ordered the massacre, he set Itachi up to take the blame. Itachi may have escaped the village, but there’s got to be Root anbu on his trail. Danzou couldn’t afford to have Itachi tell anyone the truth behind the massacre. It’d tear the village apart. At the very least the Hyuga would riot.”

“Assuming Itachi didn’t just snap like we all thought.” Tenzou said it without any weight. It didn’t make sense. Never had.

Kakashi nodded. “I want answers and Itachi needs backup. Even if he’s batshit crazy, he’s still part of Team Ro.”

Tenzou smiled at that. For someone with the title of Friend-Killer, Kakashi was the most loyal person Tenzou’d ever met. He pretended not to care, but when shit hit the fan, Kakashi was always ride or die. It was exactly why Tenzou knew he could do this. “I need you to stay here,” Tenzou said.

Kakashi’s head jerked in surprise. He’d thought when Tenzou smiled that the discussion was over.

“I need someone here that I can trust and pass information to,” Tenzou explained. “I made this mess. I need to clean it up.”

“And Itachi’s my mess,” Kakashi argued.

Tenzou folded his arms. “He’s not your responsibility anymore. He was Danzou’s mess and, as the most senior member of Root, now he’s mine.”

Kakashi opened his mouth to keep arguing, but Tenzou cut him off.

“When Danzou’s death is discovered, it’s going to throw the village off balance. The Third loved him like a brother. Knowing how he reacted to Minato’s death and Orochimaru’s betrayal, it’d be foolish not to expect every politically hungry creep to come out of the woodwork and take advantage of the situation.”

Kakashi nodded. The Third had been relatively passive his second term. Everyone knew he’d lost his edge and his confidence with Orochimaru’s defection. If Kakashi were being generous he’d say that was why the man had such a blindspot towards Danzou.

“I need you here, the village needs you here, and so does Itachi. He left Sasuke for a reason.”

Kakashi’s shoulders dropped in defeat. Whatever deal Itachi had made with Danzou was now void. If the youngest Uchiha had any political protection, it died with Danzou. There were a lot of eyes on Sasuke and none of them were friendly.

Tenzou saw the fight go out of Kakashi.

“Alright. I’ll let you go, but if you get yourself into trouble I’m coming after you.”

Tenzou nodded and put his hand on Kakashi’s shoulder.

Kakashi pulled Tenzou into a hug. It was stiff and awkward, but neither of them made any move to pull away. Kakashi noted that Tenzou’d had another growth spurt they were about the same height now and with Tenzou being 2 years younger than him, there was no doubt that he was going to end up taller.

After a long minute, Kakashi let go of Tenzou.

“Let’s go take care of you kohai,” Kakashi muttered and nudged Tenzou back towards the living room.

Kakashi watched Tenzou for a second before following. He was gangly, like most 14 year olds, but he moved like a vveteran shinobi. Kakashi knew Tenzou could take care of himself, but that didn’t mean he liked the idea of letting him go alone.

Tenzou was bent over Shin, checking the kid’s temperature when Kakashi picked his way over to the couch.

Kakashi caught Sai’s eye. “Congrats, you’re getting promoted. Welcome to Team Rho. We’ve got an impressive mission record, so don’t mess it up.”

Sai sat up straighter and squared his shoulders.

Under his mask, Kakashi’s lips twitched into a humorless smile. “Our first mission is to determine the truth behind the Uchiha Massacre and whether or not Danzou Shimaru intentionally destabilized the village. I’ll be running point in Konoha. Tenzou-san will be leading the away cell.”

Tenzou blinked in surprise. “I guess that means I’m getting a promotion too?”

“You were due,” Kakashi shrugged. “The 3 of you should get some sleep. I’ll watch Shin and wake you up before dawn.”

Sai reluctantly let Kakashi make him a bed on the opposite end of the couch from Shin. THey were both so small that their feet didn’t even touch.

Next, Kakashi shooed Tenzou upstairs to the bedroom.

Kakashi took up Sai’s previous post on the arm of the couch and watched the kids sleep.

Tenzou didn’t sleep long. An hour later, he was back in the living room. He sat on the floor by Kakashi’s feet and didn’t say a word.

Tenzou listened to the boys’ breathing and Kakashi humming softly. His heart was racing. His mind kept replaying the night over and over again, like it was still trying to believe that it had actually happened.

Danzou had raised him. He’d thought of Danzou as his father for most of his life. When he learned the truth, he’d hated the man. But even then, the hate had been tainted. How could he really hate the man who made him what he was. Who was he without Danzou?

Shin whimpered in his sleep.

Kakashi reached out to brush a hand across his sweat soaked forehead and murmured soothing promises until the boy settled.

Tenzou tensed. The magnitude of what he was taking on crashed down on him. He had no memories of his life before are 6 when Danzou saved him from Orochimaru’s abandoned lab. When he was sick, Danzou told him to push through it. When he was hurt, Danzou told him to get used to the pain. When he was scared, Danzou told him to bury it.

Tenzou had no idea how to care for a kid, let alone a kid like him.

“Stop panicking,” Kakashi ordered. His voice was low to keep from waking the kids.

Tenzou took a shuddering breath.

“Just be the person you need when you were their age,” Kakashi whispered.

Tenzou closed his eyes and nodded. He couldn’t get the words out around the lump in his throat to tell Kakashi that he was the person Tenzou had needed.

“You can do this.”

---

Shin’s fever broke an hour before sunrise and he slipped deeper into an exhausted sleep.

Kakashi bundled the kid in a couple blankets and settled him in Tenzou’s arms.

Sai knew how to shuushin, so the 2 older anbu figured he’d be able to keep up.

Kakashi stood in the doorway and watched the road long after the 3 Root anbu had disappeared.

When the sun started to brush the roof, kakashi went inside to burn Tenzou’s bloodstained sleeping clothes and destroy the rest of the evidence of his housemate.

Too full of adrenaline to sleep, Kakashi spent the rest of the morning drafting his resignation from the anbu. With 2 of his teammates rogue shinobi, he’d never be trusted again. Besides, Kakashi had a mission and he could do it better outside of the anbu. Sasuke needed someone to protect him and train him. Danzou had been the driving force behind Konoha’s jinchuuriki policy. With him dead, Kakashi intended to carry out the promise he’d made to Minato and Kushina’s graves.

Tenzou had his kohai. It was time for Kakashi to go get his.

---

Tenzou stopped late in the morning, just outside of a small town in the middle of nowhere.

Sai was exhausted and Shin’s fever was back. It was time for Shin to get another dose of medication and they were far enough from Konoha that Tenzou was willing to let their little team rest.

The woman at the front desk of the town’s only inn took one look at the tall, skinny teenager in an anbu uniform and the 2 kids with him and handed the teen a room key. One look was all it took to decide this was the sort of shinobi stuff you didn’t interfere with.

As soon as the door was open, Sai staggered in and collapsed onto the nearest of the 2 double beds. Tenzou was pretty sure the kid was asleep before his legs stopped moving.

Tenzou settled Shin on the other side of the same bed as Sai and dug the medicine Kakashi had sent out of his backpack.

Shin stirred and opened his eyes.

“Hey,” Tenzou said softly.

“Hi,” Shin mumbled. He smiled when Sai scrambled across the bed and pressed himself against Shin’s side.

“Think you can swallow some pills?” Tenzou asked.

Shin nodded. He took the pills Tenzou put in his hand and sipped from a water bottle. There was color back in his face and when he coughed it sounded like the fluid in his lungs was breaking up.

Tenzou breathed a sigh of relief. They were going to make it. They’d stay here for a few days, let the search parties pass them by, and then make for the Land of Rain. The last reports had Itachi crossing the border and heading towards Ame with a masked man.

Note: I might come back and add to this piece someday, but I’ve already got an in-progress long fic, so for now this will stay as a drabble.

#tenzou #tenzo #sai #kakashi #drabble #cutting roots #tendaysoftenzo2020 #my writing

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magnustesla · 4 years

Photo

Kakairu Fanfic - If You Fall, I Will Catch You

Rating: Explicit

Content Warning: Mental health issues, explicit sex

Tags: Hurt/Comfort, Kissing, Cuddles, Injury Recovery, Non Penetrative Sex, Frottage, Rimming, Established Relationship, Light Angst, Panic Attacks

Short Chapter Excerpt: Iruka may have fallen back to sleep, lulled by the gentle sound of water running from Kakashi's shower but, it was not a pleasant sleep. He was plagued by a nightmare that felt like it was never ever going to go away, constantly stuck in a loop, replaying that fateful evening over and over as though he were trapped in a cruel genjutsu.

Fanart by @i-drive-a-nii-san

Read the whole fic below this cut:

The morning light trickled into the bedroom, creeping through the gap in the curtains, slowly making its way across Iruka's pillow, reflecting off his dark chocolate strands of hair before settling over his face as the morning sun rose up into the sky.

Iruka scrunched his eyes shut even tighter, pressing his face further into the pillow, trying to keep the sun out of his eyes. “Hmnn, too early. Kashi?” he mumbled quietly into his pillow. “Are you awake?”

No answer.

Turning his head, he looked over to where Kakashi slept, where he should be right now. Iruka furrowed his brows and just before he was about to start panicking, he heard the distinct sound of water running in the bathroom.

Calm down Iruka. He's just gone for a shower. You're okay and you're safe. He let out a breath that he didn't realise he was even holding and let the sound of running water calm his frayed nerves as he drifted back off to sleep.

****

Iruka may have fallen back to sleep, lulled by the gentle sound of water running from Kakashi's shower but, it was not a pleasant sleep. He was plagued by a nightmare that felt like it was never ever going to go away, constantly stuck in a loop, replaying that fateful evening over and over as though he were trapped in a cruel genjutsu.

Everything felt so real. The cool evening breeze blowing over his skin, the sharp sting of kunai biting into flesh. And the absolute horror and fear as he surged forward to cover Naruto as the giant fuma shuriken embedded itself into his spine.

And then, he screamed.

“Iruka…”

As he came to and realised he was being held down, panic set in. Iruka felt like he couldn't breathe, as though something was constricting around his chest getting tighter and tighter on each exhale. Where's Kakashi? H... He promised he'd always be here. A strangled sob escaped his throat and then the tears started to fall. All he could hear was the sound of his heart rapidly thumping and then… singing, a soft voice cut through the haze of panic and the sound of blood rushing in his ears.

“Can you save me now? I am with you, I will carry you through it all.”

Iruka took a shuddering breath and felt calm washing over him. He knew that voice.

“I won't leave you, I will catch you, when you feel like letting go…”

He felt fingers carefully carding through his hair as he listened to that beautiful voice. Kakashi. He was with right there with Iruka, catching him and helping him through his trauma.

“Because you're not, you're not alone…,” Kakashi sang gently. “I'm here, Ru. Always.”

Turning his head towards the voice, Iruka looked through teary eyes and up into the face of his fiance who continued stroking his hair, smiling softly. Warmth flooded Iruka's veins upon seeing that smile, the panic and tension completely washing away, leaving his body feeling tired and absolutely wrung out.

“Kashi, I-” Iruka hiccuped, his hands clutching desperately at Kakashi's top. “I'm sorry.”

“Why are you apologising, Ru? You don't have anything to be sorry for.” Kakashi cupped Iruka’s face, gently brushing away the tears with his thumbs as they began to fall again. “Shhh, it’s okay.”

Iruka tried to push up onto his elbows, wanting a kiss but, the searing pain along his back stopped him in his tracks, making him wince.

“Iruka, stop moving. You might tear your incision if you haven't already. Lay still and let me look,” Kakashi ordered, pulling up Iruka's pajama top to expose the injury.

“Is it okay, Kakashi?” Iruka asked. He felt Kakashi tense up behind him, killing intent suddenly flooding the bedroom and then vanishing just as quick.

“Not quite,” he ground out, clearly trying to keep his voice level whilst he assessed the small amount of damage that Iruka had done during his panic attack. “The wound has reopened slightly in the middle but, the staples are still in place. I think I can heal it.” Bringing his hand directly over the wound, Kakashi let chakra flow to his hand, the green healing light of the mystical palm technique glowing softly as Iruka's skin started to knit back together.

Iruka fisted the bed sheets, a soft whine escaping his throat as he felt the healing jutsu taking effect. It had been four weeks since Mizuki had injured him and although it still hurt, the physical pain was much less than the emotional pain of betrayal. Mizuki had been his friend since they were kids and, while they had grown apart in recent years, he never once imagined that he would literally stab him in the back.

“I can hear you thinking. Stop blaming yourself, Ru. You couldn't have known that he would turn traitor. Thanks to you, Naruto is alive and safe.” Kakashi let the healing jutsu in his hand fade out. “All done. Please be careful, we don't need it opening up again.”

Kakashi pulled Iruka's pajama top back down and helped to carefully manoeuvre him over and onto his back, head propped up with soft feather pillows.

“Thanks, Kashi. Do you think Naruto is okay? I'm worried about him.”

“Maa, he's fine. I saw him yesterday at Ichiraku’s, stuffing his face. He told me to tell you that you need to get better quick so that you can take him out for ramen.”

Iruka chuckled and shook his head, a small smile gracing his tear-stained face. “Sounds about right.” And, at the mention of food, his stomach grumbled loudly.

“I'd hazard a guess that someone is hungry, ne?”

Iruka's face flushed fiercely and, try as he might, he couldn't will the blood away from his beet red cheeks. The more he tried to get his blush under control, the worse it got and before he knew it, his entire face and chest felt like it was on fire, burning with embarrassment.

A smile split Kakashi's face, both eyes crinkling in amusement. “Maa, no need to be so embarrassed. You never blush when you're enjoying me eating your-”

“Kakashi! Does your mind ever leave the gutter?”

Grinning, Kakashi shrugged his shoulders, adopting his usual slouch, and sauntered lazily out of the bedroom, heading to the kitchen to make breakfast.

The faint clanging of plates and saucepans from the kitchen had Iruka drifting into his thoughts. He would never admit it but, he enjoyed Kakashi's teasing. The man was smart, funny, and very quick-witted; something that he really enjoyed in a partner. Iruka found that very few people stimulated his mind like Kakashi.

After his parents died, the Third Hokage had taken Iruka under his wing, teaching him about everything and anything. It kept his mind busy and helped him work through his crushing depression. It was also the reason Kakashi had come into his life; accidentally catching the teen ANBU in a complex trap that he'd learned from one of the scrolls that had been gifted to him. Iruka would forever be grateful for everything that the Hokage had done for him.

The bed dipped next to Iruka, pulling him out of his thoughts.

“I made your favourite breakfast,” Kakashi said. “Miso soup, pan seared salmon and one of those oranges that you love. You know, from that little village on the border before The Land of Hot Water.” He slid the tray of food onto Iruka's lap and helped him sit up, carefully slinging an arm behind Iruka to take the strain off his still healing back.

“What would I do without you?”

“Probably starve.” Kakashi laughed, disappearing into back the kitchen and returning to sit next to Iruka with his own tray of food.

Iruka rolled his eyes and couldn't help but laugh, too. They ate in silence, Iruka occasionally stealing a sneaky glance at his fiance, eyes roaming across the pale skin on show. What did I do to deserve someone as special and beautiful as you? For as long as he was alive, Iruka fully intended to make sure that Kakashi knew how much he was loved and appreciated.

****

“It won’t stop, Kashi,” Iruka whined, desperately trying to contort himself in a way that would allow him to reach his back injury. The staples had been irritating his skin to the point where, if he could reach, he would have most likely scratched himself until he bled.

Kakashi tilted his head at Iruka’s comment, wordlessly asking him to elaborate.

“The itching,” Iruka said.

He continued frantically trying to reach behind himself when all of a sudden, calloused hands gripped his arms, tugging them both forward and pulling him against a solid chest. Iruka looked up to find to mismatched eyes glaring down at him in irritation. “I only healed that an hour ago, Ru,” Kakashi grumbled, his deep voice rumbling in obvious displeasure.

“Why couldn't Tsunade have just healed the entire thing with chakra? The staples are irritating and itching so much,” Iruka complained, pouting and looking every bit like a scolded child.

“You know why, Ru. It's better for your body to finish the rest of the healing rather than rely on chakra for the entire thing,” Kakashi said as he brushed Iruka’s hair back and placed a soft kiss to his forehead.

Iruka understood the reasoning. After all, he had spent a lot of time caring for Kakashi due to the number of injuries he had sustained over the years. But, despite that, being forced to rest, unable to do anything for himself was a huge loss of independence. Sure, Kakashi had been more than happy to help and seemed to enjoy fussing over him but, he couldn’t help feeling like a burden.

With a sigh, Kakashi released Iruka and leaned over to his side of the bed, rummaging through his nightstand. “Hmmm, where is it? I'm sure I put it in here,” he said, sounding irritated.

“Where’s what?” Iruka asked, trying to peek over Kakashi’s shoulder at what he was searching for.

“My jar of healing cream. Ah found it! Now, strip down to your underwear and get on your stomach,” Kakashi demanded, a small smirk on his face.

Iruka started pulling his clothes off, first sliding his sleep shorts down his thighs, then kicking them to the floor in a heap. He went to take his pajama top off but paused, his breath quickening. Kakashi had seen his body after being taken to hospital but, he'd mostly been covered by bandages. He had only seen Iruka's back for the second time this morning.

The night that Mizuki had attacked him, it hadn't just been with the giant fuma shuriken. Dozens of kunai, some poisoned, had pierced his skin, leaving behind many deep, red, angry scars that littered his entire body, especially his arms, stomach, and back. A few of the wounds had become necrotic from the poison, eating away at his flesh and needing debridement, leaving extensive scarring behind.

Iruka's mouth was suddenly very dry, his stomach lurching and breakfast threatening to make a reappearance. He knew what his body looked like now and had been disgusted by what he’d seen. What if Kakashi was disgusted, too?

His heart started racing, hands shaking and clutching at the hem of his pajama top as though it were his only lifeline. Suddenly, there were warm hands on his, gently easing his grip and lacing their fingers together.

“I could never be disgusted, Ru.”

Shit. Had he said that out loud?

“Scars don't matter. They are a part of you and there isn't anything about you that I don't love. You're beautiful to me and nothing will ever change that,” Kakashi whispered and brought Iruka's hand up to his mouth, lips brushing across his knuckles. He continued, pressing kisses to the scars along the inside of Iruka's forearm, right up to the inside of his elbow, hot breath fanning across the sensitive skin.

Iruka's breath hitched and his eyes fluttered shut, the sensation going straight to his groin. Never would he have thought that the inside of his elbow could be an erogenous zone. He opened his eyes to find Kakashi looking at him, gaze heated, clearly enjoying the reactions he was getting. Before Iruka could say anything, Kakashi gave a predatory grin, and suddenly there was a warm, wet, tongue tracing the crease of his elbow. “Fuck,” Iruka gasped. Kakashi had barely done anything to him, and already he was so hard that it was almost painful.

“Mmmm not just yet,” Kakashi said, voice thick with arousal. He placed a wet kiss to Iruka’s arm and pulled the top up and over his head, exposing Iruka’s gorgeous bronze skin. “On your stomach, now.”

Iruka didn’t need to be told twice and he settled down on his front, head resting on the pillow underneath. He could practically feel Kakashi’s gaze roving over his trembling body.

Kakashi leaned back on his knees, opened the jar and dipped his fingers in before returning it to the nightstand. He straddled Iruka's hips and carefully applied the cream, tracing the edges of the wound and making sure to be mindful of the staples holding the delicate skin together.

“It looks awful, doesn’t it?”

Sweeping Iruka’s long hair aside, Kakashi leaned forward and placed a kiss on his shoulder. “You could never-” Kakashi paused, kissing further down -”ever look awful.” He continued to place kisses down Iruka’s spine, pausing between each one to whisper all the reasons Iruka was beautiful.

Eager hands worked their way back up; sometimes gently tracing Iruka’s spine and other times, nails biting into unmarred flesh, raking down his sides followed by Kakashi’s tongue lavishing new scars. Being unable to see where Kakashi’s hands were, and where they would touch next, had Iruka on edge, his skin breaking out in goosebumps and his body quivering in anticipation.

It felt wonderful having Kakashi’s hands and tongue all over him, adding to the fire already burning, the heat simmering under his skin and curling low in his stomach. Before Iruka could stop himself he was pressing his hips into the mattress, desperate for a little friction to ease his aching cock.

“Someone's excited,” Kakashi teased, running his tongue along the shell of Iruka’s ear. He could feel Kakashi was hard as he began rolling his hips, pressing himself firmly against the cleft of Iruka’s ass.

Iruka was so turned on that he couldn't even begin to feel embarrassed as he reached one hand into his underwear, groaning as he took himself in hand.

They both rocked together on the bed, panting harshly; Iruka pushing his hips down into the mattress so he could grind into his hand and Kakashi straddling him, thrusting his clothed cock against Iruka's ass.

“Please, Kakashi,” Iruka begged, although he wasn't quite sure what for. All he could think about was how he was certain he'd burn up if he didn't get it.

Kakashi let out a groan and dropped forward onto both hands, his warm breath ghosting against the back of Iruka's neck. “We shouldn't,” he said. Although, his actions said otherwise, as he pulled Iruka's underwear off before sliding his own down, throwing them somewhere across the room along with his top and settled between Iruka's legs.

Iruka tried to push his hips back but, Kakashi pressed him back down into the mattress, gently spreading Iruka’s ass open and exposing him. He tried to voice his complaint but was silenced by the feeling of Kakashi's hot breath against his skin and then his tongue pressing firm, slow strokes against his entrance.

“Kashi!” Iruka gasped out, pushing back and fucking himself on Kakashi's tongue. “Just- fuck -needmoredeeper- ngh -yeslikethat.”

Kakashi spread Iruka's legs wider, his grip on Iruka’s ass almost bruising as he pressed his face closer, pushing his tongue deeper inside of Iruka's body and then used his lips to just suck.

Almost incoherent and sobbing with need, Iruka couldn't think beyond wanting Kakashi inside him. He so desperately wanted to be filled, stretched wide and to surrender to everything Kakashi had to give.

Kakashi pushed back onto his knees, wiping his mouth on the back of his hand. Leaning back over Iruka, he thrust his throbbing cock between Iruka's ass cheeks and groaned against his neck. “You feel so good, Ru. I could come just like this.” He continued to thrust against Iruka's body, panting into his shoulder before his teeth sunk in, causing Iruka to cry out. “On your back. Now.”

Impatient hands helped Iruka roll over and just as he opened his mouth to talk, he was silenced by Kakashi greedily pushing his tongue inside as though he meant to consume him.

Moaning into the kiss, Iruka wrapped his legs around Kakashi's waist and pulled him close, grinding their hips together, enjoying the push and pull of sweat-slick skin. Kakashi pulled his mouth away and growled into Iruka's throat. He opened his mouth, laving his tongue against Iruka's pulse and sucked a mark into his skin. “Mine,” he growled.

Iruka slid his hands up Kakashi's neck and into his wild hair, winding fingers into silver strands and yanking him up and into a bruising kiss, teeth clacking together in his desperation to devour Kakashi.

With reluctance, Kakashi pulled away from the kiss and started to slide down Iruka's body. He paid attention to a couple of new scars just below Iruka’s collarbone, gently tracing them with his fingertips.

An unexpected flick of Kakashi's tongue against his nipple had Iruka gasping and pulling Kakashi's head closer. He looked down just in time to see Kakashi suck his nipple between kiss bruised lips, the sensation sending a bolt of desire straight to his cock. Iruka's hands tightened in Kakashi's hair, but instead of complaint at the pain, it pulled a throaty moan out of him, his eyelashes fluttering as his eyes rolled back in his head.

Iruka kept his tight grip on Kakashi's hair as though he was trying to anchor himself to something, anything, lest he float away. Wet kisses against heated flesh only served to fuel his desire as Kakashi continued working his way down, worshipping every new scar, slowly driving Iruka out of his head.

Hands gripped his hips and Iruka tilted them upwards, spreading his legs in wordless invitation. He took in a shuddering breath and gazed up at the sight before him - beautiful pale skin flushed pink and eyes blown wide in lust. Kakashi was so open like this, his body always honest even when he himself was not.

Reaching under his pillow, Iruka grabbed the lube and pressed the bottle into Kakashi's hand. “Please, I need you.”

He watched as Kakashi poured lube into his hand and shifted forward, their hard cocks brushing together as he wrapped a hand around them both, slicking them up and slowly stroking them together. Iruka gripped the sheets, knuckles turning white, enjoying the feeling of Kakashi's hand moving between their bodies.

Dropping forward onto one hand, Kakashi held himself above Iruka, lips almost touching and breaths mingling together.

Determined to pull some sounds from Kakashi, Iruka raked his nails down Kakashi's chest and tugged at both nipples, the action earning him a low groan, Kakashi stroking them harder, and picking up the pace.

“More,” Iruka choked out.

Suddenly Kakashi came to an abrupt stop, pulling one of Iruka’s hands down between them. He took the hint, curling his hand around Kakashi's. The sensation felt amazing and Iruka couldn't help but start pushing his hips up, Kakashi matching his thrusts, both fucking into their joined fists.

Trying to stifle a moan, Iruka looked up at Kakashi, desperately hoping that he was close.

He was hanging on by a thread and couldn't hold back much longer, the warmth curling low in his stomach threatening to consume him.

“I want to hear you,” Kakashi all but begged.

Curses fell from his lips followed by guttural moans, the sounds only serving to spur Kakashi on, his hips starting to lose any semblance of rhythm as he trembled above Iruka, drawing ever so close to the edge.

“I… I'm so close, fuck- ” Iruka whined, gripping them both together. - “Come for me, please, please. ”

Kakashi captured Iruka's lips in a wet and messy kiss, full of urgency as his hips started stuttering. Tracing the curve of his ass, Iruka pushed the pad of his thumb against Kakashi's entrance, enjoying the way he groaned into their kiss as he came with a grunt, his orgasm painting Iruka's scarred stomach and chest.

Seeing Kakashi come all over him was all it took to push Iruka over the edge. And then, he was coming, coming so hard it was almost painful, mouth falling open in a silent cry as his release joined Kakashi's upon his chest.

Iruka felt his entire body become boneless and suddenly he was fighting back a yawn. He looked up to find Kakashi smiling at him.

“That good, huh?” Kakashi asked, leaning in for a chaste kiss before pushing himself up and scooting to the side of the bed.

“Mmm, yes,” Iruka said. He hadn't felt this relaxed since some time before the graduation exams. Maybe Kakashi is right - sex is a good stress reliever. The thought had him snorting with laughter.

“What's so funny?” Kakashi said as he got up, heading towards the bathroom attached to their bedroom.

“Oh, nothing really. Just thinking about how you are slowly corrupting me,” Iruka called out. “You know, we were told not to have sex until my staples are out and I'm cleared by Tsunade.”

Kakashi returned with a warm, damp cloth and started to carefully clean off Iruka's chest and stomach. He was very mindful of a few scars that were still red, almost raw from slow healing. “Maa, you started it. And, who was I to say no?”

“Asshole.”

“But I'm your asshole,” Kakashi teased, joining Iruka back on the bed, pressing his naked body flush against Iruka's side and slinging an arm across his freshly cleaned chest.

Iruka huffed a laugh and turned to look at Kakashi. He would be forever thankful for how much Kakashi had supported him, even if at times he could be a little over the top, acting like a mother hen and fussing 24/7. Not that Iruka blamed him. He had almost died, after all the first 48 hours had been touch and go due to the severity of his spinal injury, blood loss and the poison coursing through his body, attacking vital organs.

Of course, he had no memory of this and could only go by what Kakashi and his friends had told him. But, according to them, he had crashed twice within an hour of being taken to the hospital. Shortly after, the medics had admitted they were out of their depth and needed help. The Third Hokage hadn't hesitated in sending a team out to locate Tsunade Senju. And thank Kami he had, because he wouldn't be alive if it hadn't been for her unrivaled medical skill.

“Penny for your thoughts?”

“Huh? Wha- Oh. Nothing, Kashi.” Iruka said. “I'm fine.”

Kakashi arched a brow, giving Iruka a skeptical look. Iruka could tell that he wasn't buying it but was thankful that Kakashi never pushed. He'd talk when he was ready.

“Hmm, if you say so,” Kakashi replied, squeezing Iruka's hand. “C’mon, let's get up and dressed.”

****

“What do you want to watch, Kashi?” Iruka asked, voice carrying from the lounge into the kitchen where Kakashi was making coffee.

“I don't mind, Ru. Whatever you want to watch is fine by me.”

Iruka decided on one of the Icha Icha films. It wasn't really his sort of thing usually but, the storyline was light-hearted with some funny moments mixed in. Definitely nothing like the books that Kakashi read which were very explicit. He didn't think he would manage to watch the films without blushing and squirming in embarrassment if they had actually followed the books. Kakashi would enjoy watching him get flustered and most certainly would tease him relentlessly. Wouldn't change him for the world, though.

“Found something to watch, Ru?”

Iruka looked up from where he was crouched in front of the television as Kakashi padded into the room, carefully placing their drinks onto the coffee table. Pressing play on the video player, he simply nodded and tried to get back up off the floor. Spending so much time laid up in hospital had atrophied his muscles and so, at times Iruka struggled to get up from the floor.

“There's nothing wrong in asking for help,” Kakashi said. He bent forward, slinging an arm around Iruka's slim waist and carefully pulled him to his feet. “You'll be starting physical therapy once you're cleared. Things won't be this way forever, Ru.”

“I just… you shouldn't have to do this.” Iruka sighed, slumping down on the sofa, burying his face in his hands. Tears started gathering and he bit back a sob.

"He's right, I'm a failure, I-" He shook his head when Kakashi began to speak. "I can't even help myself off the ground, Kakashi, why should you have to? Why should you have to help me?"

Kakashi pulled Iruka against his chest, his hands softly carding through long strands of dark hair and whispered against his temple “Because you're my partner and because I love you.” He continued stroking Iruka’s hair, the gesture soothing, helping to calm him down. “You've done this for me enough times so please, let me in. Let me love you.”

Tugging the blanket off the back of the sofa, Kakashi pulled it over Iruka, urging him to lay his head in his lap as he began to sing softly. “I won't leave you, I will catch you, when you feel like letting go…”

Iruka looked up and almost choked up at the fond smile and the absolute warmth and sincerity he could see in Kakashi's eyes. Maybe, just maybe he means it.

“Because you're not, you're not alone…,”

“Thank you, Kashi,” Iruka whispered, eyes heavy as he drifted off to the sound of his partners voice.

What would I do without you?

#kakairu #kakairu fanfic #iruka umino #kakashi hatake #my writing

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keepyourpantsongohan · 4 years

Text

And Tomorrow Late

‘See you later,’ huh? Maybe he did change a little. (Part II, Ep. 361) | AO3 |

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Kakashi is too early precisely four times.

The first is when he is four years out of ANBU. He is in an apartment which is not his own, having seen a familiar face carrying groceries through the door. He had jumped up to the window on a whim.

“Senpai,” Tenzō says, as if it still applies. He sounds surprised, but it is likely less at the intrusion than the intruder. “What are you doing here?”

“This isn’t ANBU barracks.”

“It isn’t,” Tenzō agrees. “Would you like some tea?”

Kakashi thinks on it for a moment, and then nods. “When did you get your own place?”

Tenzō sets his groceries down, and puts the kettle on. “Six months ago, on the last room rotation. I thought it was time for a change.”

Kakashi stares at the room around him. It does not betray any particular sense of homeliness, but Kakashi also knows if Tenzō wanted that, he could have it instantly. Instead, the only sense of permanence in the room is the plants. They hang from hooks installed in the ceiling, sit on windowsills, and on shelves that face the sun. He is either home often enough to water them, or has carefully selected his houseplants to fit his lifestyle. Kakashi suspects the latter.

Considerate to the needs of greenery. It makes Kakashi smile.

In Kakashi’s musings, Tenzō has already had time to prepare their tea. He is handed a cup, and he murmurs his thanks.

“Why are you here, Kakashi?”

Kakashi shrugs. “I was passing by,” he answers honestly, though he’s certain it’s not what Tenzō is asking.

He’s right in his assessment, by the way Tenzō taps his fingers on his thigh. Tenzō still doesn’t have any tells in his expression. What he does notice in Tenzō’s face, however is a slight swelling beneath his eye, where a bruise might be if his skin were more wont to showing it.

“You’re a squad captain now, aren’t you?” Kakashi asks, though he already knows the answer. “Congratulations on your promotion.”

Tenzō nods his affirmation and his thanks. “I heard that your genin team disbanded,” he says mildly. A long drink covers Kakashi’s pause.

“That’s old gossip. Sasuke has been out of the village for a year now.” Kakashi says. To his credit, the tightening of his hands around his cup is barely perceptible.

“Uzumaki Naruto and your other student are training under Jiraiya-sama and Godaime-sama now, is that right?” The question for politeness’s sake; given Tenzō’s particular position, he would know better than anyone about the status of the village’s jinchūriki and Hokage’s protégée. When Kakashi offers one brief nod, Tenzō adds, “Do you intend to return to ANBU?”

Kakashi shakes his head. “No. I’ll continue taking A-ranks until my squad is ready to reform as a unit.” With a wry smile, he amends, “Or whatever else the Hokage asks of me.”

“Good,” says Tenzō, surprising Kakashi.

Kakashi feigns indignity. “You’re so glad to be rid of me?”

“ANBU will be fine without you, senpai,” he says, forward and sincere. “And you’re doing fine without ANBU.”

Kakashi refrains from any rebuttal of the other’s word choice, and inspects his host more carefully. Tenzō’s posture, while straighter than Kakashi’s, is more relaxed than it has been. His eyes, still dark and wide, offer a gaze which is warm and open.

“You seem different.”

“You are different,” Tenzō counters.

Kakashi hums, taking a sip of his tea. “Different suits you.”

Tenzō laughs. “That’s a backhanded compliment,” he replies, but he is pleased.

“A shinobi must train all sides of his hand,” says Kakashi, philosophically.

Tenzō laughs again, proving Kakashi’s earlier point. He leans against his kitchen counter. It is identical to the one in most jōnin apartments, but for the wooden surface. “At least you know how to talk out of both sides of your mouth.”

“You learn to adapt,” Kakashi muses, on a sigh, “when people are always giving you lip.”

Tenzō mimics the sound. “It really is the tail wagging the dog. It’s a shame no one instilled a sense of propriety in your teammates.” One hand raises to his face, comically aghast.

Despite Kakashi’s amused huff, the ribbing is nearly discomposing. He decides to return the favour with a change of tack. “How did this happen?” Kakashi asks, tapping his own cheek.

“Mission,” Tenzō says, and Kakashi gets the feeling he won’t offer any more details.

“And why not heal it?”

“You don’t need to use chakra for every problem, Kakashi-senpai.”

“Hm,” says Kakashi, setting his cup down. He puts his hand on Tenzō’s chin and tilts his face up, letting the light hit his cheek. “I think you’re showing off for your rookies.”

Tenzō opens his mouth, perhaps to contest Kakashi’s definition of ‘showing off,’ but then he pauses. His gazes flickers down, and the muscles in his lower body seem to shift, moving neither closer nor further. But Kakashi can tell he wants to do one or the other. It occurs to Kakashi that they are standing very, very close.

Tenzō is flushed. It takes Kakashi a moment to figure out it is not from embarrassment.

When he does think of the reason, Kakashi also realizes he is not immune to it. There is some part of the back of his mind that categorizes Tenzō’s face as one he might find attractive, though he can admit he’s never given serious thought to it before now. So Kakashi looks at Tenzō, at the set of his jaw and his hand tight around his tea and the redness crawling up his face.

It would be hasty, he thinks. Hasty and thoughtless and without the consideration of their years of friendship, even having spent years apart.

But Tenzō looks at him too. He looks like he has been thinking of this for longer than Kakashi. Then he shifts, just an inch, so the distance between him and Kakashi decreases by half.

Kakashi is very close to meeting him the middle when Tenzō says, “We shouldn’t.”

It’s unexpected. “Why not?”

Tenzō closes his eyes. “Because it won’t change anything.”

Kakashi raises a brow. “It’ll change a few things.”

“Nothing that matters.”

Kakashi thinks about pressing the subject, discussing whatever strangeness is in the air, something that he knows Tenzō doesn’t have the resolve to hold himself aloft from twice. But Tenzō is right. It doesn’t change anything.

Instead, he leans his head on Tenzō’s shoulder. It’s nice. Warm.

“This is worse,” Tenzō says, and there’s a smile in his voice.

“How is this worse?”

“You don’t touch me like this.”

Kakashi realizes his hands are on Tenzō’s back. “I don’t?”

“Kakashi,” he says. Angry, but not. “This is not what I want.”

Immediately, Kakashi steps back, finally creating some distance between them. “Sorry,” he says, and he means it.

Tenzō finally moves forward, sureness in his step. He bumps his head against Kakashi’s, and lifts one hand to press at his neck, just past the collar of his flak jacket. Firmly, but kindly, he says, “If something does change, let me know.”

Kakashi’s neck is uncomfortably hot on the narrow patch of exposed skin. “I think we’re doing this flirting thing wrong.”

Tenzō looks heavenward. He drops his hand, only to squeeze Kakashi’s fingers. Leaning in, he says, lips at the other man’s ear, “Goodnight, Kakashi.”

The second time is the night before he is set to be given an ill-fitting hat.

“I’m going to be the Hokage,” Kakashi says quietly into the darkness of their tent.

Tenzō’s eyes open. “In four hours,” he agrees, eyes trained on the timepiece sitting atop a hastily constructed cabinet. “How are you feeling?”

“Reluctant,” Kakashi admits. The word sits heavily, and he feels the urge to bury it. “It’s not a choice I anticipated having to make so soon.”

Tenzō’s head turns, gaze on him now. “Tsunade-sama has discussed her succession with you before,” he discerns.

Kakashi would laugh at being so soon caught-out if it were anyone else. “In passing,” he agrees. “Though I doubt anyone could’ve predicted a war of this magnitude.”

“I’m sorry that the seat couldn’t come to you in better circumstances,” Tenzō tells him. In the quiet night, they lack the urgency or audience they’d had in Iron Country, only a day past. Tenzō’s words chip away at something inside Kakashi.

Kakashi’s lips curl into what could almost qualify as a smile. “That’s probably the first time anyone has ever apologized for someone becoming Hokage.”

“You’re a special case,” Tenzō says, with an edge of irony. “Do you need back-up for tomorrow?”

He shakes his head. “We’ve already set the rebuilding back far enough. You’re needed here.” With a quiet laugh, Kakashi adds, “Besides, someone has to console Naruto. I’m jumping the line for his dream.”

“He’s resilient.” Tenzō says, pride apparent. It’s soon followed by a sigh. “He’s going to end up being a key player in all of this.”

“They all are,” Kakashi agrees. He sees his team, bruised and aching beneath a broken bridge. “It’s enough to make you wish they were still genin.”

“We won’t be able to spare them much pain this time,” Tenzō says gravely. His arm reaches out for Kakashi in the divide between them. “But I will do my best to protect what’s precious to you.”

Kakashi reciprocates the motion. “I trust you to look after Team 7.”

“And I trust you to look after all of us.”

Kakashi doesn’t know if it’s because their hands are already on each other’s bodies, or because they have been edging closer to one another since Tenzō became Yamato, or because of that vice tightening around his chest every minute that comes closer to sunrise. But he twists his body, half hovering over Tenzō, until Tenzo’s hands are at his rib cage and then he has settled his weight on top of the other man.

“Senpai?”

“Tenzō,” he replies.

He can tell that Tenzō is thinking about kissing him. He doesn’t know if it’s a new or old feeling. All he knows is that he is thinking about kissing Tenzō, and now that he’s thinking about it, he cannot stop thinking about it.

“Kakashi,” Tenzō says, in a way that shakes loose every thought in Kakashi’s head.

They lean in.

Their lips only brush for a moment before Tenzō shifts to the side, pressing his face against Kakashi’s cheek. He still hasn’t lowered his mask, and the motion tugs at the fabric, wrinkling between them.

“I’m not going to take advantage of you,” Tenzō says gently. His hand, now resting on Kakashi’s hip, falls to his side.

Kakashi lets out a noise halfway between a groan and a laugh. “Who’s taking advantage? I’m the soon-to-be Hokage trying to make a move on a subordinate.”

“It’s been a very difficult few days,” Tenzō says, as if they need a reminder. “And you have an important meeting in the morning.”

Kakashi finally lifts himself off of Tenzō, rolling onto his back with a sigh. “I suppose you’re right.”

Willing himself to sleep, Kakashi’s right eye begins to fall shut, but Tenzō draws his attention with shoulders shaking mirthfully beneath his blanket. Curiosity getting the better of him, Kakashi asks, “What is it?”

“Were you really going to kiss me with your mask on?”

Kakashi elbows him. “Go to sleep,” he says, in a stern tone that hides his amusement from neither of them.

“Yes, Hokage-sama.”

The third time is on the roof of the Hokage tower, when the sun is low in the sky.

“Your shift ended an hour ago,” Kakashi says, half-hoping to startle him.

Tenzō nods, unruffled. “I know. I felt like staying up here, I guess.” He turns his head. “Done for the day, Hokage-sama?”

“Ah, no. Avoiding my duties,” Kakashi says. It is one side of the truth. “What are you avoiding?”

“Konoha,” Tenzō replies, grasping onto the railing. His gaze turns downward at his admission.

Kakashi looks at the monument behind them, newly displaying a carved impression of himself. “This is an odd place to choose for that,” he says lightly.

Tenzō shrugs. “People aren’t usually up here.”

“Do you come here often?”

At this, Tenzō and Kakashi both look at each other, and Kakashi raises a hand. He opens his mouth to rephrase his question, but it comes out as a laugh instead. Which leads to Tenzō smiling, and to Kakashi walking closer, joining his companion at his lookout. They stand side by side at the railing as the sky turns orange.

It takes Kakashi a moment to remember his line of questioning. “Is this why you come here?” he asks, raising his head to the horizon.

“To watch the sunset with you?” Tenzō asks teasingly. “Never. The other ANBU would get jealous.”

Kakashi pretends that it’s the sun that’s warming him. “Once upon a time, you used to take me seriously.”

“You complained about that too, if I recall correctly.”

Kakashi rocks back on his heels, humming. “Is this your subtle way of telling me to get lost?” he asks, not fully in jest.

In his periphery, Kakashi can see Tenzō raise his eyebrows. “I’m not so bold as to kick you off of your own building, senpai.”

“I think we both know that’s not true.” Kakashi says fondly.

Tenzō chuckles. “Alright. Stay if you want. I’m avoiding crowds, not company.”

Looking below, Kakashi sees several dozen distant faces milling around just outside the tower. “We’ll have to get used to busy streets. We’ve had more migrants and visitors in the last year than in the past two decades. Our village is outgrowing itself.”

“I know. Shikamaru keeps calling on me to look at the new zoning laws.” Tenzō’s hand slides along the rail, and they both try not to pay attention to how close it brings their fingers. “Naruto has really changed things. Every shinobi village believes in our newfound era of peace.”

“Do you?”

“It’s hard not to,” Tenzō says, pensive. He sighs. “I’m just trying to figure out where I fit in it.”

“Where you’re standing is fine,” says Kakashi, without thinking much about it.

Tenzō looks at him then. “I can’t be in ANBU forever, Kakashi.”

“I’m not asking you to,” Kakashi says. But he is asking something, he realizes, both from the thumping in his chest and the way Tenzō is looking at him. He tries to find more words, but they do not come.

Tenzō is waiting for an answer, face coloured by the sun’s red light. And Kakashi, as much as it surprises him, wants to give him one. So he does, as best he can.

Kakashi starts to pull down his mask.

When it has slipped just past his nose, Tenzō’s hands, immediate, but gentle, halt him. They press against the mask where it sits at his ears. “Sorry,” says Tenzō, with a frantic look in his eyes.

“Oh.” Something has changed. Or hasn’t. Kakashi isn’t sure. “My apologies.”

“No,” Tenzō says, his fingers uncurling to cup Kakashi’s face. He takes a deep breath, and stands up straight, letting his hands fall to his sides. “It has nothing to do with you.”

“It doesn’t?” Kakashi asks, with only a hint of disbelief.

“No,” Tenzō says again. He seems scattered in a way he hasn’t in years. “I do… think of you.”

Kakashi waits. “Oh?”

Tenzō’s hand rises back up, fingers drifting along the part of Kakashi’s robe. “Yes,” he says, more certain. “You are someone whom I… That is, to me, you are…”

“I think the same of you,” Kakashi says, sparing him. It isn’t fair to ask Tenzō to articulate something he cannot find words for himself. “So then, what’s got you looking at me like that?”

“It’s spring,” Tenzō breathes, like the words are being dragged out of him. “The last season was difficult. Autumn more so.”

It has been foolish of Kakashi, not to wonder what it is like for Tenzō to be touched, or to touch others. He is so unwavering that none of the wears of what they have been through are visible in his duty. Kakashi counts himself thankful that their mortality can be laid bare before each other now.

“Still need to work on my timing, hm?”

“Your timing is fine. It’s me who isn’t meeting you when we were supposed to.” Tenzō replies wryly.

“I don’t have any other plans,” Kakashi promises.

Tenzō lets out another breath, slow and full. He bumps Kakashi’s shoulder with his own. “Do you think if we left now, I could walk you home before your current guard finds us?”

“Only one way to find out. I’ve always liked to keep them on their toes.”

The fourth time is only hours before he is meant to be there.

Although Kakashi, along with Tenzō, has spent the last several months planning Naruto’s wedding, it is with unforgiving hearts that he is summarily dismissed by the marriage party for hovering too much over the last minute security measures while all of their top shinobi are off-duty.

So, assigned to relax, Kakashi finds himself headed in one familiar direction.

There is a part of Kakashi which is terribly endeared by seeing Tenzō in formal wear, staring seriously at a bunch of flowers in his hand. It is a part of him he decides to set aside in favour of one of his favourite pastimes: causing trouble.

“You know, Tenzō, there are traditions about people who hold bouquets on wedding days.”

Tenzō quells Kakashi’s teasing with a look. “Sakura sent me on a mission. Apparently, Shino’s bugs have been eating some of the flower arrangements that Ino and I spent days organizing. Though, now that I’m here, I can’t tell which ones she was talking about.”

“You aren’t able to sense the plants in need?”

Tenzō snorts. “It’s mokuton, not omniscience.”

“That’s a shame,” Kakashi says solemnly. “I’ve been telling Naruto if he thinks any indecent thoughts before he’s married you’ll be able to sense it.”

Laughing, Tenzō says, “He can’t still be afraid of my face.”

“It’s a very good face,” Kakashi insists.

“I’m not sure that’s a compliment,” Tenzō replies, flushed and smiling.

Kakashi shoves a hand in his pocket, and shuffles forward to prod his free one at the bouquet Tenzō is holding. “Then why are you smiling?”

Tenzō sets the bouquet back in its vase, busying himself with adjusting the petals. “It’s a wedding,” he says, good-naturedly. “Aren’t people supposed to smile?”

The other man shrugs. He tries to not let his face crease up too much, so as to give away his own bright expression. “Usually they direct their smiles at the happy couple, don’t they?”

This time, it is Tenzō who moves a little closer to him. “Depends who they’re here with,” Tenzō says. Their fingers brush, and Tenzō doesn’t hesitate to hold onto Kakashi’s hand.

“Tenzō,” Kakashi says pleasantly, “are you asking me to be your date?”

Their fingers interlock. “I’m asking you to stand beside me while I search for bugs in bouquets,” Tenzō replies, but he leans closer to Kakashi as he says it.

“How romantic.”

The quip is undercut by the gladness Kakashi is unable to hide.

“I didn’t hear an answer,” Tenzō points out blithely. He doesn’t sound at all concerned about what Kakashi will say.

Kakashi stares at the trees blossoming above their heads, feeling a little mischievous. “I didn’t hear a question.”

“Sorry I’m late,” says Tenzō, with entirely too much humour. “But I’m here now. Will you attend the wedding with me?”

“Technically, we’re already here—”

“Really—”

“Yes.”

For several moments, as Tenzō looks at him with a warmth that overtakes all other things, Kakashi’s mind is completely, blissfully blank. And then, slowly, a foolish grin crosses his face.

“Senpai,” says Tenzō, smiling widely. “Please don’t ruin Naruto’s wedding.”

“I would never,” Kakashi says, with mock indignation. “We spent months planning it. Besides, why are you so certain I’m going to do something to upset him?”

“I know that look on your face,” Tenzō says. “And if you do what you’re thinking of doing, it’s going to make Naruto react.”

“He’s about to be a married man. He doesn’t need us to shelter him.”

“You say that now.”

“We can compromise,” Kakashi offers. “I can kiss you, and you can turn your head. That way you’ll only get half the blame that I do.”

Tenzō sternly says, “Kakashi,” but he is purposely avoiding Kakashi’s eyes and pressing his lips together so as not to widen his smile any further than it is. It would be remiss not to kiss him, Kakashi thinks. So he does.

(As promised, his lips land on only half of Tenzō’s mouth. Even less, when Tenzō’s frame shakes in silent laughter.

Naruto does catch them, and if the volume of his reaction is anything to go by, half a kiss is no better than a full one.)

Tenzō kisses like he speaks, Kakashi thinks, tugging the other man on top of him by the lapel of his suit. Slow and calm to begin with, but with another mouth to provoke him, hurried and heated. Despite all the hours they have been awake, there is no inertia in his advances. He is all motion, and keenness, and feeling. It is all Kakashi can do give as much honesty in his embrace.

It is far as Kakashi’s train of thought goes, as Tenzō’s hands slide into his hair. Kakashi arches his back.

By instinct, it seems, one of Tenzō’s hands reaches behind the other man to support him. Kakashi tugs on Tenzō’s bottom lip with his teeth to hide his smile.

“I can’t believe we made a scene at Naruto’s wedding,” Tenzō says, drawing away to take a heavy breath.

“Technically, he made a scene. And I’m sure he has other things to think about on his wedding night other than seeing two of his teachers share a chaste peck.”

Tenzō shakes his head. “And if we’ve ruined intimacy for him forever?”

“I’ll refer them to a couple’s counsellor.” Kakashi kisses him again, and pulls back. “I’m going to need us to talk about something else.”

Tenzō thinks on it, stroking Kakashi’s jaw absentmindedly. “Have you filed your taxes yet?”

“I’m the Hokage. I don’t need to file taxes.”

Kakashi delivers the words which such sincerity, he can see the alarm grow on Tenzō’s face. It is probably more a testament to how thoroughly flustered Tenzo is, because he and Tenzō did their taxes together last year, helping each other sort through the new forms that have accumulated for their positions. His expression is so concerned that Kakashi has to press his lips against Tenzō’s neck so as not to give himself away.

Tenzō draws away from the kiss, and grasps at Kakashi’s face. “Kakashi, you need to—”

Kakashi kisses his fingers in between laughs. “You can lecture me on fiscal responsibility when we’re not on a date.”

Sufficiently distracted, Tenzō eyes the clock at Kakashi’s bedside. “This is still part of our date?” he asks, snorting. “Nine hours have passed since then.”

Kakashi tugs Tenzō forward again. “Well, we were overdue.”

#kakashi hatake #kakayama #tenzashi #yamato tenzo #hatake kakashi #yamato #posting something that isn't for an event? who IS she #fanfiction #long post #ayesha talks anime #back to my roots: self-indulgent roooomance #mine

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tora-the-cat · 5 years

Text

Cats and Dogs (kakayama soulmate drabble)

He couldn't say when they started. Honestly, he never paid all that much attention to his arms. Maybe, if his soulmate was less...enthusiastic then he never would have noticed.

Alas, the universe is not so kind as to simply let him give up on any hope for some sort of meaningful bond. No, instead it decides to throw him a bone. Too late, he tried to convince himself, squash that spark of hope that had lit with the sight of the intricate but uniform roots being sketched up and down his right arm. Part of him scrambled to force him to shove it out of mind, resign himself to long sleeves and getting dressed with no mirrors, but another part couldn't look away as flowers were added to the pattern.

He wondered how long they'd been doing this, how long it had taken him to notice in between ANBU death-squad missions and deppressions lastings weeks at a time. He couldn't clearly recall the last time he looked in a mirror. For how long had he missed this?

Finally, with much effort, he ripped his eye away from his arm, forcing himself to move forward. He had a mission, and could not afford to be distracted. His hope was bottled up and shoved even deeper then most other emotions, too dangerous to be allowed to resurface. He shook his head, slipped on his ANBU mask, and abandoned all thoughts of roots and flowers and soulmates.

He had a mission.

They probably weren't supposed to know about Soulmates. It wasn't information Danzo had given them, so they probably weren't supposed to know. The thought that thy knew anyway filled them with a cocktail of shame and giddiness, But it's not like they could unlearn it.

They had been on a mission, told to keep a perimeter and take guard position as their ROOT partner went to interrogate whoever Danzo sent them out to. Kinoe knew better then to question it. They leaned against a book stand, picked up a random book to look more at place, and started to actually read it when they had been waiting for hours. Patience was something they was still working on.

'Soulmates For Dummies!" The title proclaimed, catching Kinoe's interest, and it was all down hill from there. They tried not to appear distracted when their partner finished and they went back to ROOT HQ, and probably did well enough because no one questioned them, but they didn't sleep at all that night.

Soulmates. Almost everyone had one. It is someone who's soul matched your own, often with a matching or mirroring chakra signature to your own. The skin served as a canvas that connected two people, though words could not be shared through it for reasons unknown. It is said that, if done right, knowing, dating, or even just being around your soulmate would make you feel more complete. It was everything Kinoe secretly wanted but knew better then to wish for, because it would interfere with Danzo's plans. Nothing, especially not Kinoe's personal interest, was worth compromising that.

Still, they couldn't help drawing on their arm. They doodled lines and smiles and cute things, but never got a reply form their soulmate. They almost gave up. It was possible that they didn't have a soulmate, or their soulmate was dead. It was possible that they did something to offend their soulmate and now their soulmate hated them; they didn't know enough about the sensibilities of others, mainly tried to mimic behavior. Maybe there was some unspoken Soulmate-drawing etiquette they were breaking, and now their soulmate hated them?

The thought made them feel a little hollow, and they couldn't tell if it was worse to think the other was dead, didn't exist, or just hated them. In the end they kept drawing, clinging to a desperate hope that they'd get a response. It was all they really had. They illustrated things they liked. Mostly plant life in a satisfyingly ordered fashion that plant life so rarely inhibited.

Sometimes, though, they still drew cute things they saw, things that they hoped would make their soulmate smile or forgive them or respond. Things like that cute animal with claws and eyes that seemed to glow, fur sleek and tail in the air, white whiskers contrasting it's brown face. Things like-

"Cat." Kakashi said, deadpanned, in his dark apartment. His pack, huddled around and atop him, all snapped to attention at the word. Kakashi was staring at his arm with what looked like disinterest to most, but his pack could see the anger clearly in the slightest quirk of his eyebrow. "They drew a Cat. On my hand." He sighed, going for exasperated but ending up closer to fond.

Today, by some miracle, he was having one of his very rare almost-good days. He had eaten all three meals, taken a shower, brushed his teeth, even got nearly six hours of sleep last night. He was more then ready for a wonderful night in with the pack, watching his mesmerizing arm illustrate itself and snuggling up with the only constant good in his life.

Tonight was such an almost-good day, in fact, that he had even considered, for maybe the third time in however long it had been since he noticed (he was pretty bad at keeping track of time these days), responding to the doodles with one of his own. He had been about to talk himself out of the thought again, when he finally recognized what his soulmate was drawing. A cat. On his hand. For however long it took to wash off; he didn't know, he had never tried before.

Bull growled, and Kakashi nodded. This simply could not stand. It was not something Kakashi could just leave be. It demanded action, more then anything else ever had.

Kakashi mumbled an order, an ink-soaked brush was placed in his waiting hand, and Kakashi started on the glorious portrait of a dog that looked almost exactly like a stick-figure Bull eating the realistic rendition of the disgusting feline.

He could feel Pakkun laughing at him, but Bull huffed in approval, so Pakkun could shove his critisism-

'Oh.' Kakashi realized with a start, watching his soulmate go crazy, using his shitty dog as an outline and improving the picture, 'Oh shit. I actually just. Did That.' He groaned, rubbing a hand to his face, smudging the ink.

Pakkun did not stop laughing until Bull tackled him, because Bull was actually loyal to Kakashi. Unlike, say, Shiba, who had stolen the ink well and was now dabbing pawprints onto Kakashi's skin, or Bisuke, who had grabbed his brush brush with his mouths when Kakashi wasn't looking and was now scribbling up and down his arm like a toddler left with nothing but blank walls and markers.

After thinking on it, he really couldn't find the energy to freak out, or even unsummon his pack so they'd stop. Instead he decided it was a problem for later (or maybe never) as he laid his head on Akino, who had slept through the entire debacle, and fell asleep, ignoring the slight chill of ink as his mischievous and malicious pack took advantage of his exhaustion. Definitely a problem for later.

#kakayamaweek2019 #kakayama #kakashi hatake #ANBU #tenzo #yamato #dogs #ninken #soulmate au

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shiranuigenma · 5 years

Text

An Unexpected Arrangement - KakaYama

TEEN+ // ALSO ON AO3 Words: 2,554 Prompt: Fake Dating Warnings: Alcohol, Drunk kissing, background Sasuke/Naruto

Anyone who knows me knows that angst is more my speed than humor, but I had this idea and I loved it so here we are, with my day 3 prompt for @kakayamaweek2019!

Hope you guys like it! :)

EDIT! I forgot to link to AO3 lmao

Kakashi does not talk about his personal life, to anyone, but Team 7 is notoriously nosy and he doesn't want to deal with it so he says something he shouldn’t - which, of course, backfires spectacularly.

Kakashi is not a man known for talking about his personal life. He's just a very private person - he always has been, and despite how much being the sensei for Team Seven has changed him, his dislike for sharing any details about himself hasn't changed a bit.

This, of course, does nothing to deter Sakura. She's always been too nosy for her own good, and while Kakashi knows that it's because she cares, that it comes from a place of worry, right now it's annoying because he's just left the longest, most tedious meeting of his life, he's tired, and he would rather listen to Naruto wax poetic about Sasuke for six hours than talk about his nonexistent love life right now - or ever, really, but when has he ever gotten what he wants? As it is, Sakura seems determined to hound him all the way back to his apartment, which he can't let happen.

He's made it eight years without one of his students finding out where he lives, after all. He's not about to break that record now.

"Sakura," Kakashi says as he comes to a stop, tone gentle but laced with an edge of warning. She stops beside him, glancing up at him curiously. He knows it's probably a bad idea to pull rank with someone who could kill him with just one finger if they felt so inclined, but he's only half a block and three flights of stairs from a well-deserved nap and he'd like to get there at some point today. "Do you really think this is an appropriate conversation to have with the Hokage?"

"Probably not," she replies after a moment of thought, but she doesn't appear apologetic. If anything, she sounds almost defiant, grinning cheekily at him. "But I'm not asking the Hokage, am I? I'm asking my friend, who I'm worried about."

For a moment Kakashi can only stare at her, wondering when she had become someone who so easily dismissed the Hokage. He knows her respect for him as her sensei has been declining steadily over the years, though that probably has a little to do with how lackluster he was as a teacher and a lot to do with his habit of walking around reading porn in public.

Well, that and maybe how he told her not two days ago that he hated the job and tried to pass the hat to her. He doubts he'd respect himself much either, if he were in her shoes.

"Maa, I'm fine," Kakashi finally says, but she doesn't look like she buys it. "You don't need to worry about me, Sakura, I..." He pauses when he catches movement from the corner of his eye, turning his head to see a group of men walking toward them. Naruto is talking animatedly to Tenzo, bouncing on the balls of his feet, while Sasuke and Sai trail behind them looking disinterested. Of the four of them, Tenzo is the only one who looks intrigued by whatever they're talking about.

It's like a lightbulb goes off over his head.

Is it a stupid idea? Maybe. Definitely, because if Tenzo finds out about it he will kill him, but those consequences for what he's about to do are the last thing on his mind.

"I have Tenzo," Kakashi tells Sakura, looking back at her. He expects confusion - Tenzo is not a name she is supposed to know, so she won't know who he's talking about. It's almost brilliant in its simplicity.

But confusion is not the reaction he gets. Instead, she lights up, clasping her hands in front of her and breaking out into a bright, excited smile. He doesn't like that look, and he likes it even less when she suddenly sprints up the street, closing the gap between them and the rest of their team.

Kakashi realizes a split second too late that not only has he made a mistake, but he’d played right into Sakura’s hands.

"I told you!" Sakura yells, and Naruto yelps when she suddenly jams her finger into his chest. This is bad. This is very, very bad. "Kakashi-sensei confessed, you owe me dinner!"

But that is so much worse.

"Confessed to what?" Naruto wheezes, clutching his chest where Sakura had poked him, jumping back when she moves to do it again.

"To dating Captain Yamato!"

Tenzo's head turns slowly, and if looks could kill Kakashi would drop dead where he stands.

"I'm sorry." Kakashi's not sure how many times he's apologized now - he lost count in the lobby, and while Tenzo hasn't said a word since they walked away from their arguing students, Kakashi knows he's in trouble.

He can't say he doesn't understand why Tenzo is angry with him, though. It's one thing for him to lie, but to include Tenzo in that lie without at least telling him about it first crosses one of the few boundaries that they have, and on top of that he had told that lie, intentional or not, to one of their students. He'd be mad, too, if Tenzo had done that to him.

And hell, he'd probably react the same way Tenzo is, too - with silence, quietly fuming as he all but drags Kakashi up the stairs to his apartment. He knows he's in for it the moment the door shuts behind them, and Tenzo does not disappoint.

"What were you thinking?" Tenzo demands, spinning to face him once he's slammed the door shut, dark eyes narrowed into a glare. Kakashi gets the distinct feeling that his friend is currently resisting the urge to hit him, and if he didn't find Tenzo as scary as an angry kitten, the pure fury in his eyes would almost being intimidating. "You told Sakura we were dating?"

"Not exactly," Kakashi replies defensively, kicking off his sandals by the door and beating a hasty retreat to the couch, sinking onto it with a heavy sigh. Resisting the urge to lean back and close his eyes, he instead leans forward, resting his elbows on his knees and watching Tenzo tug off his own sandals. "Sakura was concerned that I was lonely. I told her I had Tenzo, how was I supposed to know that she knew that was you?"

"You..." Tenzo stares at him, and when his knuckles visibly blanch on the sandal he's holding, Kakashi thinks he might throw it at him. "I'm starting to think that everyone who calls you a genius is either a liar or has never actually met you. The whole team has known my name for years now because you can never remember to use my code name-"

"Oh. Well, shit." Thinking about it now, he does vaguely recall only calling Tenzo by the code name Tsunade had given him maybe two or three times since he came out of Anbu to captain Team Seven. Sakura's reaction makes a lot more sense now. "I'm sorry, Tenzo. In my defense, I did just come out of a five hour meeting with the Daimyo's advisers about his upcoming visit. And honestly, is it really fair to only be mad at me? Sakura's the one that started a betting pool. She even got Lady Tsunade involved-"

"Lady Tsunade would bet on whether Naruto is eating ramen for dinner tonight if someone asked her to," Tenzo interrupts, finally tossing his sandal down and crossing the room, dropping unceremoniously onto the couch next to Kakashi. When he speaks again, he sounds just a little less angry. "I just... I thought you knew that the kids jump to conclusions like it's their job. You should have-"

"I know." Kakashi sighs, leaning back into the cushions of the couch. "I'm not going to apologize again." He closes his eyes, letting himself relax - it's not like there's much else he can do right now anyway. "I'm also not telling them the truth. Telling Sakura I had you was the first time she's actually quit asking me questions about my love life in weeks, and I will happily let her keep thinking we're dating if it keeps her off my back."

Tenzo doesn't seem to know what to say to that, and a heavy silence - not quite awkward, but not entirely comfortable either - falls over them, and when Tenzo continues to offer no response, he lets himself begin to doze off.

He's half-asleep when Tenzo finally speaks, pulling him back to attention. He cracks one eye open, giving him a curious look.

"I guess I can go along with it," he says, and if Kakashi isn't mistaken, his friend's cheeks are flushed. "If Sakura really bothers you as much as you say she does, I can pretend that we're dating."

"You sure?" Kakashi asks, both eyes open now as he looks at Tenzo, and after a split second of hesitation, Tenzo nods, though his expression becomes one of regret when Kakashi grins wolfishly. "I could kiss you right now."

Tenzo slugging his shoulder as hard as he can is totally worth the way he turns the same shade as a beet and bolts for the door.

At first, pretending to date Tenzo had been a good idea. Sakura and Sai still ask questions, but Sakura isn't as pushy as she'd been before and she's teaching Sai to be more tactful, so if Kakashi asks them to respect his privacy and drop it, they typically listen. Sasuke just doesn't care, so he's a non-issue in that regard (which - and he won't tell the others - makes the Uchiha his current favorite).

Naruto, on the other hand, isn't as considerate, but Kakashi's still not entirely convinced the boy wasn't raised by wolves when no one was looking so that's to be expected.

He does have to admit it's nice, not having to field questions about his personal life constantly, and even nicer still to get out of doing things by telling the kids he's spending time with Tenzo.

At least, it was nice, until Naruto was finally promoted to Jonin and he decided to have his celebration at a bar.

Maybe it's the poorly lit booth Naruto picks out in the back of the room, or the sake sitting warm in his belly, but Kakashi finds himself letting his guard down - and, in a strange turn of events, actually enjoys himself.

"I didn't know Kakashi-sensei knew how to have fun!" Naruto crows about it over his third drink, and it visibly sloshes over his fingers when he thrusts his cup into the air.

Kakashi would probably be offended if he weren't already beginning to feel a bit of a buzz, and besides - Naruto isn't wrong. But he's not going to put a damper on the night by bringing up the differences in their childhoods.

"I know how to have fun," Kakashi tells him instead, reaching over to pat Tenzo's back when he inhales his drink. "I played along when you were trying to see under my mask, didn't I? I even tried to help you."

"What are you talking about?" Sakura asks, but instead of answering Kakashi just grins, tugging his mask down and taking a drink.

Sakura is the only one currently looking at him, and by the time she recovers from her own shock and gets Naruto, Sasuke, and Sai's attention, his mask is already securely back in place.

The others, of course, don't believe her.

Four drinks in, the mask comes off and stays off. He's starting to feel unnaturally warm as the alcohol takes effect, and he's tired of pulling it up and down - at this point, Naruto is the only one who hasn't seen his face because Sakura, who is now taking Sasuke's place as his favorite, has been making him look the other way when Kakashi tugs it down.

This time he's paying attention, though, and his indignant reaction to realizing his friends really do already know is almost worth the mouthful of water he spits in Kakashi's face.

Five drinks in, the full length of Kakashi's leg is pressed against Tenzo's despite how much space they still have on their side of the table, his arm thrown carelessly over Tenzo's shoulders as Naruto regales them with a story about the new jutsu he's working on.

Six is still sitting untouched in front of him when he turns his head to mumble something in Tenzo's ear, and he doesn't really register the kiss he presses to Tenzo's temple until Naruto makes a joke about the PDA like he hasn't been all over Sasuke for the last twenty minutes.

Seven... Well, seven has him standing at the bar waiting for eight when Tenzo's hand suddenly wraps around his wrist, and then his back is pressed to the wall in the dark hallway that leads to the bathroom and Tenzo is kissing him, hands in his hair while his own are pressed to the small of his back.

Seven has him fleeing as fast as his feet can carry him and feeling grossly more sober than he had been seven drinks ago.

Seven has him realizing he is absolutely fucked.

Of course, he's known how he feels about Tenzo for way longer than he would ever admit - he reads enough trashy romance novels to know what it means when his palms start to sweat and his heart tries to escape his chest when Tenzo is around. The question is when this had started - maybe when they'd started going on missions together again, after his students had all left for other teachers.

Now that he thinks about it, he does remember a moment on one particular mission to the Land of Waves where they went undercover in a local bar to gather information, and seeing Tenzo smiling and laughing with the locals had made his chest feel so tight he thought he was having a heart attack.

Yeah, that's the moment. It has to be.

But whether that moment was the catalyst or not, the truth of it is inescapable - at some point, Kakashi had fallen hopelessly and pathetically in love with Tenzo, and that realization is somehow both the best and worst thing that has ever happened to him.

The problem with that is, though, that Tenzo had kissed him back. In fact, if he recalls correctly, Tenzo had been the one to drag him into that hallway in the first place, had been the one to tug his mask down and kiss him stupid. And that is terrifying and confusing and he doesn't know what the hell to do.

Which is how he finds himself confessing everything to Sakura when she visits him in his office the next day, hiding his head beneath a newspaper on his desk while she laughs at him.

He supposes he deserves it.

"You love him," she says, patting his shoulder sympathetically. She makes it sound so simple.

"No," he groans, but he's a liar and she's heartless.

"Yes." She pulls the paper away and rolls it up, smacking him on the head with it. "If Naruto and Sasuke can get over themselves, you can too. Just tell him how you feel and date him for real." With that she turns to leave, taking his newspaper with her.

"I hate you," he calls half-heartedly after her as she goes, but she just laughs and shuts the door.

#kakayama week 2019 #kakayama #kakashi hatake #yamato #tenzo #team 7 #my writing #kakayama week #mistakes are made (mostly by kakashi)#feelings are had (also by kakashi)#sakura is a cruel wingwoman

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celticfeather · 4 years

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Akatsuki Fanfic: Campfires

On: FF Ao3 Tumblr

First. 1. Dawn

Previous: 4. Slaughter’s Court

Campfires chapter 5: Kraken Hall

-Hoshigaki Kisame-

Thukk.

Right by his ear. His awakened eyes slid right. The tag of a paper bomb waved from a kunai.

Kisame sprung away in the fraction of a second before its detonation. Adrenaline damped pain: his neck and shoulder had been torn open, he did not know how much. His priority was seizing a few seconds of distance and time.

Midleap he looked for the boy, he was gone, the white cloth that bound him a twisting ribbon snaking to the forest floor.

Flickers manifested into crouching shapes on tree branches. Their animal masks denoted the Anbu of the Hidden Leaf, though the rogues were outside the Leaf's territory. The masks' inset eyes were round and black like a shark's, but leaf ninja moved like ghostly gray leopards. The assailants were three ninja: two men, one woman, and a ninja hound.

He had to get them out of the trees, the leaf ninja the advantage there. They met him on the ground. He grasped Samehada's hilt, and from the reserves of stolen chakra, his steaming flesh began to rapidly regrow where it was damaged. He grinned at the three masked ninja.

"Tell me, am I next to Itachi in your bingo book?"

There was no answer and a lightning jutsu struck at Kisame then. Huge and white and it sucked the air from the ground. He let it strike along Samehada, most of it was absorbed and channeled along the sword's scales, with the rest of the lightning shocking off into something behind him.

He felt Samehada purr. Or perhaps it was more like a stomach growling. As the leaf ninja stared in disbelief, he smashed the sword into someone's body, the shock traveled up his arms, and the exhilaration of combat flooded him.

He quickly dispatched the other two ninja with crushing strikes from his sword. Then the dog sprung at him. Dogs were not pets in the Mist. He grabbed the beast by its forelegs and winched them apart.

One, two, three, dog, down. Done.

He stepped forward to the bodies to make sure the job was finished, but his limbs didn't obey him. He looked down, an ink black shadow had reached to his foot, and somehow he could not move. One of the crumpled men he'd thought dead had wielded a shadow like a tentacle. He tried to budge his leg,

Kisame struggled against the bind. He could move slightly. A few more seconds of fighting and he would break free. He stared inevitable death at the man, and Kisame did not smile.

At that moment a shape, small and angular, inspective and fearless as a crow beside a carcass, appeared beside the crumpled Anbu. The Anbu's head turned to regard the sudden darkness over his shoulder.

"Uchiha...Itachi..."

Well? Kisame wondered of his partner. What will you do?

Itachi's red eyes looked deeply into the mask. Kisame could not know what nightmare was shared. But what he did see was Itachi's kunai strike. The tentacle around Kisame's leg uncoiled, and the fight was over.

Kisame wondered what summoned the assailants. Like a bird Itachi was so visually focused. Last night he had allowed for no fires, no loud noises. But as fine as his sharingan was, it could never see a scent. From their skirmish hours before, the boy smelled like a bloodbath. And Kisame, feeling responsible, knew that he should have been wiser.

Itachi stepped to each of the three corpses and lifted their painted masks. He stared into their faces.

"No member of the Leaf's two ninja hound clans are among these dead," the former Leaf ninja said.

Kisame's eyes slid suspiciously to the surrounding forest. So, their main course was elsewhere.

Then Itachi placed the masks back on. To face the afterworld as they lived, he supposed. The sanctity of a human body never really mattered to Kisame. Dead meat was dead meat. He accepted none of the people in this clearing, alive or not, would ever receive a proper funeral.

Itachi parsed signs and raised a hand. Dozen of crows and ravens and hulking raptors bigger than cats arrived from somewhere. The birds were fearsome, but lightweights by nature, and Kisame wondered what a bird did with a human pelvis.

"You know what doesn't leave bones?" Kisame suggested.

Itachi's expression did not change.

"Sharks."

Icy Itachi looked at his expectant wards and then at Kisame. "Leave them the hound."

Kisame lifted the human bodies and threw them into the river, and summoned four freshwater tolerant sharks. At a scarcely perceptible twitch of Itachi's finger the obedient ravens plunged. His bull sharks needed no such instruction, and when one did not not focus closely, the splashing sounded peaceable in comparison. The ravens, social and hierarchical, argued noisily with each other over the best positions. With a businesslike demeanor, the two ninja turned their backs to the clamor of devouring.

"The Leaf will have sent a second jounin squad after us. I will reroute them," Itachi said.

Itachi intended to bait an informed jounin team alone, in his condition, and probably half his unimpressive chakra with a shadow clone.

Kisame smiled. "Still slightly suicidal, I see."

"I expect no problems."

"Are you gonna say something to me about last night? Or are you just gonna let it fester?" Kisame said.

Itachi's eyes were sharp. "Do you want me to apologize for attempting suicide? Or for abusing you?"

"I want you to acknowledge that you looked into my head, revived my dead-sister's dead-kid, impregnated her, and stabbed her through the spine. To try to get me to kill you, because you decided that you can't cope with the fact that you're a killer. Have I got that right?"

Itachi continued aloofly. "I am different from all of you. Senseless killing bothers me deeply."

"You are so elitist. You think I wasn't bothered by it? You think when I was a boy, I wanted this?" Kisame gestured at himself, huge and beastly and covered in scars.

Itachi was midstride, but he stopped at Kisame's words. Kisame continued menacingly.

"I grew up in the Blood-Mist Village. I was younger than you when I became a killer. I have no family, no purpose, and almost no friends. So what I want to know, Itachi, is why you don't accept it like the rest of us."

"I can deal with the fact that I'm a killer. What I could not accept last night, Kisame, is my continuing existence in the Akatsuki causing dozens of unnecessary deaths. But whatever. It doesn't matter- you were right anyway. Ending myself is not going to solve this problem. It must be fought directly."

"Directly?" Kisame repeated. The word insinuated rebellion. Wars were won with less manpower than that would require for a rebellion against the Akatsuki, and Kisame knew he was under orders to take Itachi out if he did so.

Wisely, Itachi did not elaborate. The dark haired young man looked somewhere and Kisame followed his gaze down. The dog was just a skeleton. The winged scavengers took the bones in their slender beaks and flew away with them.

"We must leave now," Itachi said.

Kisame stepped onto the now-still water to hide his tracks and scent. He showed the scroll between his knuckles. "I'll start Kakuzu's other mission," he said gruffly.

"Hm."

Only a few wind-trembling feathers testified what happened at the scene, and the two ninja vanished with the wind that scattered them.

—Uchiha Itachi—

Itachi broke a twig between his fingers. In this moist climate, a twig would not have snapped naturally. The Anbu would halt to discuss the stick for a few precious moments and come to the same conclusion. Animals could leave smears in the moss. But only ninja leave decoys. Even if they did not have a second dog, they would know it was him.

But these Anbu would have another dog. No Inuzuka had been among the dead. No Hatake had been among the dead...

Ninja who abandon the rules are scum. But ninja who abandon their comrades are worse than scum.

Itachi thought he had embodied the persona of cold parricide. Apparently not. His ruse of coldness had been translucent as ocean water. Strange round, silver and black eyes regarded him from his memory:

You might just be the only friend I've ever had.

He had been cruel to manipulate his partner last night. Kisame had been uncomfortable fighting him, even as easy as Itachi planned to make it. He would find Kisame and apologize properly for his manipulative attempt. Maybe he could convince him to spare some of the bandits, Kisame probably would probably kill most of them if he did not interfere. Itachi hated these Akatsuki kill missions: Kakuzu, Pain, could just try and punish him for leaving some people alive after the goal was achieved. Kisame was right. Death would not solve the problem of Itachi's existence; he would have to think his way out.

That was far enough to cost the Anbu the necessary time. He parsed signs for a shadow clone, and his double unceremoniously continued forward. Last he tested, he could be separate from his clone for two kilometers before it disappeared. The real Itachi jumped some twenty meters to the water, expecting that if he did not touch solid matter, his scent would vanish in seconds in the air.

But he was not sure. He did not see his world through scent. He threw a final glance towards the past, towards the Anbu, towards his old captain Kakashi, then ignited his sharingan and focused on the way before him. Now, to track Kisame.

—Hoshigaki Kisame—

Kisame lowered the hand-drawn map and stared at the island that filled its place on the horizon. It was a fine little place for a bandit camp.

He stepped across the ocean water to where the stolen wooden skiffs crowded the island's white sand shore. He found the cave entrance by smell. Men: those lazy brutes had taken to pissing where they ate.

He walked into the tunnel. It would be inconvenient to swing Samehada in such a small place, but he did not expect the bandits would want to stay there long. Someone saw him and asked him a question. Kisame shoved their head into the wall and kept walking deeper into the cave. The scroll's task had been to 'eliminate the bandit threat,' and he would do that in the way he decided most enjoyable and convenient.

Two bigshots argued in the common area, surrounded by lower members. The two leaders raised swords at him, but he twisted their arms around, and thrust one into the blade of the other. Then the screams started. He threw the trembling survivor to the ground and stepped on his neck. A surrounding man threw a knife, Kisame returned it.

A woman called her comrades to flee. The remaining members streamed around him, out of the cave, down the beach, and Kisame stalked after the prey unhurriedly. They untethered their rowboats and launched them into the waves, running astride their vessels, tossing oars to each other.

He wet his feet in the surf and shed his robe on the beach. A grin slit his lips. He parsed a few signs and a water dragon overturned the skiffs and spilled their human cargo into the sea. He let Samehada's spiked pommel embed in the skin of his palm. What a terrible day to be a pirate, he thought as the cool tide sloshed against his now-sandpaper hide.

He smashed a skiff with a whip of his tail. The electricity in his snout fired ablaze, they were so alive, so frantic, so afraid. This prey was small, a tenth of his weight, almost small enough to swallow whole. Their tender bones waned and crunched in his jaws. He'd bite, tear, release when the muscles flexed limp, and bite the next thing that moved. The blood was intoxicating, heavy, arousing. The meat in his mouth did not taste bad.

He pictured Itachi. The cruel face he made last night shined in his mind's eye. With his grinning teeth and the weasel look in his bloodthirsty, fight-hungry eyes. Bring out Samehada!

An impulse occurred to him. He had not done that before. But that did not mean he could not start. He was frightfully hungry. A chemical of frenzied excitement flooded his brain, no longer fully human, at the prospect.

He identified a target. He sank into the depths for a pregnant moment. Then he snapped the red-muscled braided whip of his tail, shot dart-fast towards the surface, and a second before he breached, yawned wide a razored chasm of death.

—-—

Kisame staggered human out of the waves. He descended from the fogging rausch, the tremendous high. His hands trembled from ecstasy, from shock, from disbelief.

An uncomfortable feeling plagued him. It was the first time in fifteen years that he felt it. Not quite fear, not quite cold, but it gripped him around the chest like those. It was the unfamiliar realization that, maybe, he had done something wicked.

He swung Samehada off his body and flung it viciously against a palm tree, and he leered at it with shark teeth bared.

"Look what you made me do!"

The words felt hollow when they became reality. He knew better than to decry an object. It was not Samehada's fault, it was not Itachi's fault. The deed had been his alone. He knew not which god to pray to forgiveness, or demon for sanctuary.

"Holy Buddha, Amaterasu, Susanoo, fuck it, Jashin, anybody."

He knelt on the sand.

"Why did I do that?"

Kisame's gods, as always, remained silent.

Looking at the familiarity of his own limbs made him want to retch, but he knew retching would not absolve his sin. He did not know the physics of it. If he ate something big, and then he shrank back down to normal size. But he felt gorged and sick and he could not bear the thought of eating. He could not bear the thought of meat, of flesh. Of muscles pulling under skin, of intricate ligaments gently meshed to slippery bones... He looked away from his own body and towards the ocean horizon.

He did not indulge in the sleep his exhausted body craved. He sat on the beach, feeling strangely nervous. He let the surf wash coolly over him, but it brought little relief. Something brushed by his hand on a wave. He feared what it could be. He held it in front of his face to eclipse the setting sun, but it was just a harmless abalone sea shell, and the iridescent mother-of-pearl material glittered gently like mica in his hand.

He stood up from the surf and took Samehada off the tree. The moment he did, he was blasted with the instrument's chakra sensing ability. Itachi was tracking him, and a shock of unease probed him: he did not want to see Itachi right now.

Water crested around his ankles. He rubbed the smooth abalone shard with his thumb like a netsuke. He felt the sharingan-wielder nearing and decided it would be too much effort to evade him.

"Hey." A pause. "Bandits are taken care of?"

"Yeah."

"Do we have bodies to dispose of?"

"No."

Itachi had speared two fish next to a burning, salt-blue piece of driftwood. "You want some?"

"I'm not hungry."

Itachi's vivisecting black eyes probed him. Or maybe it was just a normal look. Kisame feared what he could see with those eyes, if he could read inside his mind, and pluck his nightmares into reality, like he had with Akaei.

Itachi waved his hand. "Come sit by me."

Kisame sat by him.

"Kisame, I'm sorry I attacked you last night. I thought a world minus me was for the best."

"Itachi, the day men like you are the bad ones, is the day this world has gone to shit," he said.

"I manipulated you, and I terrorized you, and I tried to kill myself. Do you forgive me?"

"Yeah. But do it again, I'll..." bite you in half, he would have said to someone else, sometime else, but he found his usual bravado unappetizing. "Don't do it again."

"Thank you, Kisame."

Itachi ate alone, neatly and quietly. Kisame stared at the abalone shard and stroked it between his thumb and finger. It was smooth and flat and not quite triangular, like a tooth, or maybe a teardrop.

"I did something I regret today, Itachi," Kisame eventually said.

Itachi looked over the moon-streaked water. "At times it's hard to live with our crimes. But we need to understand that we are worthy of our own acceptance."

Did he know? Maybe. Maybe those eyes saw every thought Kisame had ever thought. But Itachi did not grasp the crux of the incident that troubled Kisame.

"It felt good."

Now Itachi understood the severity of the problem. The young man bridged his hands before his nose and closed his eyes, and stayed quiet. Somehow Itachi's recognition sobered Kisame.

"I understand if you want to spend a few days away from me, or want to leave altogether," Kisame said.

"If you're sorry, I'll forgive you."

Kisame raised a calm eyebrow, looking down at his sea shell. This was different from Itachi's crime. "I'm not sure this is yours to forgive."

"Then, I accept you."

He contemplated the sentiment. Unlike forgiveness, acceptance invoked no debt, no guilt, and nothing to prove. There was nothing about it he could interpret as ingenuine or undeserved. It was merely a validation of his existence. He did not ask for forgiveness, or was so forward as to say he deserved it. Acceptance… Kisame liked that.

Itachi's eyes slid to the object in Kisame's upturned palm. "What is that?"

"It's an abalone shell." He passed it to his partner.

Itachi's eyes flashed red for a second and he smiled small. "It's beautiful. It has many unique colors, ones humans cannot even see. What kind of animal lived in it?"

"An abalone is a big, ugly, sea snail the size of a rat that eats slime."

"The universe is wise, how even such a wretched creature must not stay ugly at its core, is it not?"

"You can have it if you want," Kisame said. Itachi was a small, pretty man who seemed to like small, pretty things.

Itachi handed it back. "I think you'd better keep it."

He turned the silvery rainbow shard around in his palm. Yes. He would keep it, to remind him of the stupid, ugly, scum-eating, ocean creature that Itachi decided was still beautiful. He was glad Itachi found him this night. He would be miserable alone. The two ninja sat before the glow of the salt-blue flames, and stared up at the thick belt of stars.

"If you're not a bad person, and you've hated killing in the Akatsuki the whole time, why did you decide after this mission to off yourself?" Kisame asked.

"Utilitarian ethics. I had a goal, but I realized that fewer people will die if I was dead."

"Avoiding physical trauma… it might not be the most ethical thing, you know," Kisame said.

Itachi gave him a doubting look. He was starting to not be terrible at reading Itachi's expressions.

"Have you ever thought about what makes you happy?"

"Rarely," Itachi said.

"Maybe this eye of the moon scheme can make the world a better place for people like us," Kisame said.

Kisame noted Itachi's flinch. Of course Itachi would know, he and their leader were related, after all, but it was a privilege for Kisame to know the secret of the Akatsuki's true plan, the Eye of the Moon.

The Uchiha looked at him intensely. "You know the truth."

"That our leader is Uchiha Madara? Yes. He recruited me personally," Kisame said.

"Even I… was not strong enough to kill the Uchiha clan alone. Madara helped me do it."

Itachi's lips were uncharacteristically loose, and Kisame, always a hunter, identified when to act. "History paints Madara as a fanatic for his clan. Why would he cull his own legacy?"

"Some sixty years ago, Madara thought the Uchiha betrayed him when we wanted peace alongside the Senju."

"Then maybe it makes sense for him to kill his clan. But you… I can't explain why you'd do it."

The silence hung. Itachi did not relieve it with an explanation. Kisame's luck had run out and Itachi returned taciturn.

Kisame looked around. It was well into the night. Itachi probably did not like this exposed beach for a campsite. "Where should we sleep?"

Itachi signaled their departure by standing. "I noted a possibility on my way."

Kisame looked out into the blackness. "You can see in this?"

Red eyes gleamed. "Moderately."

Kisame took a torch from the fire for himself, washed the evidence into the waves, and followed Itachi.

With the starfield and ocean on his left, Kisame followed the small swift shadow through the dark hemisphere along the rocky coast. Itachi sprang down the sharp rocks with the same limberness of the Leaf Anbu, and he realized the boy had spent his formative years among their ranks. Kisame felt somewhat clumsier, hindered by the dark and a torch. They found themselves in a tidal cave which overlooked the sea, with shallow tide pools on its sharp floor. He peered into one: an octopus wilted into the cracks at his face.

"Need we be concerned about the tide?" Itachi asked him.

Kisame noted the lack of algae on the wall and the height of the moon. "No."

Itachi leaned his back against the sharp wall and let his legs sink. Kisame doused his torch in an unoccupied tidepool. With the moonlight that reflected in flashing tortoise-shells from the ocean, he could see the silver edge of Itachi's short, angular face.

Itachi stared at him for a moment, as if deciding to say something. He said, "Good night, Kisame."

Kisame was caught off guard. But he too formed his lips around the strange words. "Good night, Itachi."

Itachi closed his eyes and Kisame leaned himself on the wall opposite him. But now Kisame was watchful, and for a while he stayed awake to the sounds of waves. Comforting, hollow sounds, that like the breaths of ghosts, reminded him of a home that no longer existed.

Author's Note:

Thanks for reading!

I am looking for a new Beta for this story. If you are 18+ and might be interested in looking over this story with me for style and plot, please write me a message. I'd love to have a partner to make this piece as strong as it can be. Thanks!

And if you like reading this, please do let me know your thoughts!

Steadfast,

Kelto

#Campfires #sorry im a few days late i had to find a new place to live #and rent an apartment in a language i dont speak legalese of #But I did it because I am unkillable!#and also im flying home for christmas which will be nice #I am also looking for a new beta for this story so please let me know if you are interested #its a lot of fun I think!#thanks for reading #naruto #fanfiction #itachi #kisame #kisaita #celticfeather #keltodier #And again this is super M rated but I guess this chapter is as bad as the story gets

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365daysofsasuhina · 5 years

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[ 365 Days of SasuHina || Day One Hundred Sixty-Three: It Surrounds You ] [ Uchiha Sasuke, Hyūga Hinata, Uchiha Itachi, Uchiha Shisui ] [ SasuHina, NaruSaku ] [ Verse: A Light Amongst Shadows ] [ AO3 Link ]

Out of every ability he’s gained over the years, Sasuke will admit that Susanoo is probably his most preferred. Sure, his Rinnegan acquired during the fourth shinobi war is impressive, but..something about the chakra avatar is special to him. He’s not the only wielder of it - both his brother and his cousin can summon their own unique Susanoo: Itachi’s of red, and Shisui’s of green. The weapons they bear are all their own, as well. Sasuke’s prefers a bow, Itachi’s a sword and shield, and Shisui’s twin lances.

It can both attack, and defend. By far, it’s one of the most powerful techniques Sasuke has ever seen, let alone used. Even if it has its drawbacks in massive chakra consumption, let alone being so painful to use if done for too long...to him, it’s essential in combat.

However, with the war done, and the countries at peace, part of him had hoped that maybe - just maybe - it would mean never having to use such a jutsu again.

But his enemies had other plans.

He expected opposition to his return to Konoha. And upon Itachi’s revival, he knew it would only get worse. Shisui’s revelation to having avoided death and gone into hiding was painful to comprehend. What could have changed, had the brothers known their cousin lived? While Sasuke knew that Shisui had avoided such a reputation as his cousins’...he also realized that the very name their bore had changed. It was now a name of tragedy, of loss, and of wrongdoing...at least, in some eyes.

So in reality, he could not say he was shocked when people slowly escalated their negative reactions to seeing any of the surviving Uchiha trio. To them, it didn’t matter Itachi had only been following village orders when he helped to murder dozens. To them, it didn’t matter Sasuke had only sought justice for that same massacred clan. All they could see was the blood on their hands, caring little for the reasons behind it. To people like that, all they would ever be was murderers.

To Sasuke, his own reputation didn’t matter much. He’d come to understand the faults in his logic, and therefore his actions. And he was doing his best to amend them to those who mattered. A stranger’s opinion was, to him, inherently worthless. All that did matter to him after the war was one thing: his family. What little of it remained. And through their gentle coaxing, he branched back out into his old classmates. Teammates.

Things were difficult. Many of them were just as wary of him as those who knew nothing about him.

But through the first several years, one person stood out. Understood. Worked with him.

Hyūga Hinata.

And eventually, after their own trials and tribulations...they fell in love.

To him...it was a risk. A huge one, and in more than one respect. From his side, it gave him another weakness. Not that Hinata was weak - she could hold her own against most. But someone as powerful as Sasuke had enemies that were simply above her abilities. It was never meant as a slight, simply a fact.

And from Hinata’s side, it meant taking on that same hatred. If she aligned herself with the Uchiha, she was just as guilty in many eyes. It would put her in danger, and perhaps sully her reputation forever. As much as she insisted that mattered less to her than their relationship, Sasuke couldn’t help but worry.

...it wasn’t long after they were wed that the dissent against them began to grow.

They’d always dealt with whispers, dirty looks, shoved shoulders. Sasuke never concerned himself with it...unless Hinata was the target. He was hardly scared of any fool stupid enough to try to go toe to toe with one of the two strongest shinobi in their world. If it came down to it, he’d just flare up an arm of Susanoo and frighten them off.

But then there was the morning they woke to a threat carved into the new manor door, calling for all Uchiha guilty of treachery against Konoha to forfeit their lives. Itachi had sent his wife and two children with Shisui to the Hokage’s office as his ANBU began to investigate. Sasuke did the same with Hinata, ignoring her demands to help.

“Things just escalated to a whole new degree. I won’t risk your life.”

“And I’m supposed to let you risk yours?”

“I’m not afraid for myself, Hinata. But I am afraid for you. Please...let me waylay that fear. Just for now. This isn’t about you...it’s about me.”

She’d given him a vehement stare...but in the end, backed down.

But for all their searching, they’d found practically nothing. Hardly any clues, and what little they did find led them nowhere. They only had theories, each one more damning than the last.

The next incident was even more direct. Children with her and pregnant with another, Itachi’s wife had been attacked. In broad daylight. By some grace she fended them off, Hyūga officers and ANBU quick to step in.

Sasuke had never seen his brother so silently furious.

But before they could determine anything from the perpetrator...they took their own life with a rigged explosive tag. And with it went any chance of learning who had sent them. Several Hyūga had been injured, and it was quickly becoming a full-blown terror operation.

Their targets? Anyone and everyone connected to the Uchiha. Wives, children, allies...all were considered tainted. And they were no closer to knowing who was orchestrating it all.

Itachi was both furious and frightened. Like Sasuke, he was most concerned with those among them more vulnerable than the trio of full-blood Uchiha. Especially his children.

And by then, Hinata too was with child.

It felt like they were three lonely shepherds protecting their flock of sheep from wolves both unknown and unnumbered, unable to see into the shadows where the beasts were lurking.

But Sasuke’s last straw would come two years later...and yet, even then, they were far from over.

Walking home from an introductory playdate between their son, and the daughter of Naruto and Sakura, Sasuke and his little family leisurely head home as dusk falls. As always, the mostly-empty compound greets them silently, the unused land ripe with grass that sways in a gentle Summer breeze. In the distance, the three homes glow softly in greeting. The manor in the middle, Sasuke’s to the left, and Shisui’s to the right.

In all honesty, Sasuke’s more than glad to be home. Akane, the nanadaime’s daughter, is already a handful at two years old. Not a bad kid, just...draining. Nothing like their cool-tempered Tenkai. For now, all he wants is to get home, have a little supper, and then call it a night.

But someone else has other plans.

As tired as he is, Sasuke’s senses are still piqued - he never dares relax them for a moment. So when a whisper of chakra is picked up by his sixth sense, he wastes no time in reacting. With a flare, Susanoo erupts into being, earning a small gasp from his wife, and a shrill cry from his son. The avatar surrounds them all, glowering at the growing shadows.

Both kekkei genkai wide, Sasuke turns to face whatever threat dares show itself. He’s going to make them regret even thinking of coming to his family with harm in their intentions.

It’s a squadron of them: all bearing blank masks and unremarkable black clothing. Similar builds. Only their chakra truly stand apart, colored and unique to his gaze.

Clinging to Tenkai, Hinata lets her Byakugan awaken to watch just as carefully.

“...I’m going to give you five seconds,” Sasuke murmurs, tone low but hard with a deadly edge. “Five seconds to reconsider throwing your lives at my feet. You won’t be touching my family. Before the sun finishes setting...you will be dead.”

As he expects, none of them heed his warning. Instead, they all launch together.

Eyes narrowing, Sasuke directs the avatar to begin firing its chakra bolts. Their targets are fast and lithe...but he’s one hell of a shot. With the first, he takes down one, chest fully caving as the arrow pierces straight through them. Explosions rock the front of the compound as they attempt to blow a hole in his defenses.

Pathetic.

Whimpering as his mother soothes him, their son hides against Hinata’s chest. “Sasuke,” she offers curtly.

“I know.” With a sweep of its blade, Susanoo cuts cleanly through two more of the masked intruders.

The remaining pair then leap back, seeming to seek to evaluate the situation. Sasuke, however, doesn’t give them a chance. Over and over Susanoo fires, bolts digging into the grass with each miss. He can keep this up for quite some time...but his opponents will begin tire. No matter how painful the avatar is to maintain, he’ll do so as long as necessary.

“Sasuke!”

From behind them comes Itachi’s voice. A glance over his shoulder shows both his brother and his cousin sprinting out to aid them, their own avatars beginning to manifest.

Realizing they’re far outmatched, the intruders deploy smoke bombs...and even as Sasuke clears it with fūton, they’ve gone.

“You okay?” Shisui calls as Sasuke lets his Susanoo fade.

“...fine.”

“Did you eliminate any?”

“Three. They detonated just like the last one we caught. Seems it’s a death clause, too. Whoever these bastards are, they’re just as dedicated as ANBU to keeping their secrets.”

The Uchiha trio exchange a look as they all circle back to a theory they still can’t prove.

“...I don’t see them,” Hinata reports, letting her kekkei genkai fade. “They must have sensor training...their chakra completely vanished.”

“...come, we’ll reconvene in the manor. You two should take some time to settle down after all of that,” Itachi advises.

“We’re fine. I just want to get some rest, aniki.”

The brothers exchange a silent conversation through glances before the older relents. “...very well. I must report this to Kakashi. Shisui, if you would remain and keep an eye on things…?”

“You got it. Tell him I might be late coming in tomorrow.”

“...very well.”

Watching the clan head leave, the cousins exchange a glance. “...let’s get you three inside,” Shisui then murmurs. “I’ll keep watch until some of Itachi’s ANBU come take over.”

“Thank you,” Hinata replies, tone weary but grateful.

“Don’t mention it.”

Once inside, the little family all convene in the master quarters, Tenkai tucked between the pair of them as paranoia makes them overly cautious.

“Well...I know what it’s like within your Susanoo now,” Hinata murmurs as they settle in to try and rest.

“You might have to get used to it,” Sasuke can’t help but mutter.

“...at least most of us have strong defenses. That in itself is a blessing.”

Before he can spit a reply, Sasuke bites his tongue. It’s useless to bemoan the fact they shouldn’t need them at all. It won’t change the fact they’re being hunted. Instead, he sighs...then murmurs, “...try to get some sleep.”

“You too.”

“...yeah.”

.oOo.

I almost took this prompt in another direction, buuut went with this instead! I looove Susanoo - one of my favorite aspects of Naruto, tbh. Way OP, but...then again I'm a big fan of the Uchiha, so I'm biased either way x3 Poor Sasuke...all he wants is a little peace. But that shadowy group looking to rid the world completely of his clan just won't let up! Who could it be...? Maybe you'll get to find out someday, lol - but for now...the mystery continues! Anywho, it's late and I've gotta head to the doctor tomorrow, so...best call it a night! Thanks for reading~

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

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sacks-of-kittans · 5 years

Note

Is a long Sasuke post reasonable?

SASUKE IS A BITCH

#3rd attempt writting this, I will be going totally off topic but I just wanna bitch about the uchiha clan.

Sorry I was playing the naruto drinking game last night.

Alright so gonna be hella honest I had many many mix feelings about Sasuke so if I say something that may offend you about Sasuke, I watched most of naruto drunk.

So the lesson they teach about Sasuke must have been thrown out the window

So Sasuke is a kid from a cool ass family that is probably the strongest clan in the hidden leaf. Why I say that? His eyes have levels on levels of the sharingan. The hyuuga is really the only clan to really rival it but fails. Do to politics I’m not entirely sure why the whole clan got killed.

Spoilers: you can correct me, but this is what I got out of it. When the nine tails attacked the uchiha didn’t do anything about it even though they can seal the nine tails. The uchiha didn’t cause they’re minding their own business? When the uchiha and senju made the leaf people still kinda cold to the uchiha and the uchiha never forgot? It’s theorized the uchiha made the attack? Anyway the third wants to offer a peaceful plan and the uchiha was planning a secret revolution cause the village was treating them even worse than before. Danzo was like since you kinda like the nine tails prance around and you took the place of hokage, let me do shit since you fuck up a lot. 3rd is like no. Since Itachi is in anbu, Danzo is like kill everyone in the family or your clan is gonna start a revolution. Don’t let them look bad. You can keep your little bro alive so one day he can kill you. So Itachi never betrays the leaf.

So that’s an entire situation I was still fucked up with.

However his clan gets the most in depth explainations. They’re all fire natures. Hyuuga we don’t know, and the other clans fuck them. I wish the Izuka (I think that’s Kiba’s last name) had more time cause you know...dogs. What other things did they do for the village, Kiba sister is a medical ninja, do dogs heal too or? So much. Ino’s family is kinda cool because they have the side hustle flower shop, like how the Uchiha have the police force. Shika and Cho don’t even get that but we learn that Shikamaru has a whole forest with deer in it. And you know fuck Choji. The bug clan and the yamanak should work together for those damn flowers. I wish the hyuuga also had a side hustle. The umazaki family has just a sad past.

What makes Sasuke different from Naruto is that Sasuke knew his parents and brother. And then the world gets flipped. His dad never really shows Sasuke the love we wanted him to have, yeah his mom is like “Sasuke your dad loves you” but we never get to see that. When I first watched naruto and being an edgy preteen I was like why is Sasuke that mad, his dad liked Itachi more. But growing up I realized why Sasuke would be mad about his whole clan getting murdered. I just felt like the family bonding could have been delivered better, espescally since I thought he wanted to avenge his clan and maybe not prove strength.

Design

He is as emo as you can get in a 2013 hot topic. Like look at him having those unnesscary sleeves. To make him less emo they give him fuck boy shorts to balance him out.

In shippuden he wesrs that low low cut robe short

And then he starts looking even more emo and less fuck boy like. He gets daddy vampire emo when we hit Boruto which is the final stage of emo because then you live forever or you die.

Fuck boy vs emo Sasuke.

Fuck boy

All the girls like him even in real life I knew some chicks who wanted that uchiha dick. And looking at his ass, he’s not really that cute. How it degrades the show is that it shows most the girls in the show don’t move on and take some pretty nasty blows from that thot. He even says some mean shit to naruto. NONE OF THEM GAVE UP ON SASUKE. Him being like that kinda made me pissed. Like I would have killed if Sasuke was like “Yo Sakura I love you now” and her being like “yeah.. I need you to prove it” not some shit I have to pretend to see. Karin, Ino (hinted) Sakura, and Naruto all still love his moody ass. Karin he tells Sakura to kill her cause she’s replaceable. He calls Sakura annoying a hundred times. Rejected Ino when she gave him a friendship sunflower. And put naruto through all the shit. No I’m not blaming the other characters for still loving him, it’s he’s not that cool . He’s op as fuck in Boruto but it was a lot more fun to watch when he struggled against Lee, Gaara and naruto.

Emo

My family this my family that oh Itachi was just saving the village the whole time? Well fuck the village. I get why he hates the village for making his brother do that shit, but I also hate the 180 he makes when naruto/Kakashi becomes Hokage. “Secretly helping the village”. No he just hates being there and feels like he bare minimum. If he really wanted to avenge his family and clan he’d be a better father. I also hated how he didn’t really see naruto as an equal. Naruto’s last name was Umazaki. Which may have been a small clan or an abused clan or whatever, but they’re known for taming the ninetails. I also wished the umazaki was treated better in the leaf since One of the members was married to the first hokage and being hokage seems to be like the gig man. Sasuke was like that bad friend that had to be better than you and you take the challenge and actually are better so then they just run away.

Im not dong development since I didn’t really see how things changed in a normal way. It went from “I hate that dork naruto”-> “I wanna be stronger than naruto, so I’m leaving the leaf and working with a villain”—>”I’m killing my brother and now I hate the leaf village”->”I’m gonna help the leaf so the world doesn’t end”?-> “now that it’s all done, I’m gonna go on a journey and come back and marry Sakura”->”although I wanna avenge my clan I’m leaving again and telling nobody but naruto where I’m at”->”I like hanging out with naruto’s son”

To be fair between I hate lead and world doesn’t end was when naruto st the time was stopped getting dubbed.

Relation ships

Kakashi

Kakashi knew Sasuke was strong and how the village saw Sasuke, like they saw Itachi almost, there’s no way he’ll disappoint the village. But Sasuke does. Kakashi is like whatever I had enough people die on me where you little don’t phase me. He also always shows how much he likes his other two student “Sakura just wants to help you” and naruto just wants to save you. Even though Sasuke was his least favorite student he didn’t fall short with Sasuke and taught him shit and even called Sasuke smart I think during the first mission.

I wish we saw Sasuke and Neji fight, two cool clans fighting would have been cool.

I wish there was a filler where Sasuke and Choiji hang out and Sasuke learns he has other interest. Like cook, or Sasuke teaches Choiji how to do a cool punch and Choiji teaches something more peaceful.

I would have love to see him and Ino talk about their rivals and how they have to get stronger. They go on a date and it doesn’t work out. Something silly like that and then the Ino crush on Sasuke disappears forever.

Like honestly if he just bonded with more people (even though he thinks it’s dumb) it would have been harder for him to leave the leaf BUT tbh it would be more emotional and show how desperate he is to get stronger to literally accept help from a mega villain.

Sakura

Listen I would be fine with those to ending up together if they just fucking explain it. I’ve talked about these two a lot and I think Sasuke could have been better. I don’t care if he wasn’t a people person but it literally makes Sakura a strong ass ninja look bad for marrying a dude that never had an interest in her. Even Tsunade when reading a book was like what is this shit. I wish Sasuke actually proved his love for her other than getting her pregnant and leaving

Naruto

So even though naruto was more in love with Sasuke than Sasuke was, Sasuke still loved naruto. He didn’t know what to do with his feelings and misidentified them as rage cause I’ve done that. He also doesn’t stop thinking about naruto when he leaves, but unlike naruto he has other stuff to do like killing his brother. Yeah Sasuke was shitty but he does treat naruto better than his wife. He’s talked to naruto even on his journey and their bloody ripped off arms connect at the end. Bet naruto would have made a heart top out of it.

So I know it seems like I hate Sasuke

It’s not entirely hate, it’s just kinda poor writting

Now why I say that, a lot of the things he did doesn’t make much sense. Like I wish there was more to him wanting to get strong other than beating naruto. After rewatching that, it is about his family but a lot more about naruto. Orochimaru is an evil dude but Sasuke agrees. Team taka acts like they still like him even though he treated Karin bad at times, but it’s fine everything is peachy. He treated a lot of people in his life like shit and thought his apology to them was to just go on a journey instead of actually taking the time to talk to the people he hurt... but that would give other characters more screen time the writers never want to do. SHINO SHOULD HAVE BEEN LIKE “boy if I went on your rescue mission years ago, you would have never left”because Sasuke leaving hurt characters like Shino too. There’s no true resolve with him and that’s why I can’t really think of a lesson for him. He was an asshole who didn’t really redeem himself. Yeah he got married to a girl he was shit to, but is that really the message we wanna give people? He got all these cool ass powers but he does a lot of shitty things that only his daughter calls him out on. If they were gonna make naruto as long as they did they should have spent another 30 seconds at looking at Sasuke and being like “wow he hurt all those around him and were not gonna do much” yeah he saved the world but everyone was in that dire situation and he didn’t really wanna die. I just feel his character never got a real completion

#ask #anon #anti naruto ending #naruto

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nikkicross22 · 5 years

Text

The Lives Worth Saving

Present Day

Several hours after apologizing to Shikamaru (Chapter 6)

“If you didn’t show up at four in the goddamn morning my seals wouldn’t have burned you in the first place!” Haruki accused the cowering jounin. “Seals are for protection, and if you didn’t want to get hurt, you could have waited at least until ‘slightly before it’s socially acceptable to knock.’ What did you think would happen when you tried to sneak in through my window like a less than incompetent academy student?”

Cradling his admittedly not very injured hand to his chest, Kakashi over dramatically whined, “Haruki, you said the seals would only activate if I came with the intent to harm. I just wanted to make sure you hadn’t been kidnapped in your sleep.”

“Kidnapped in my-” the angry jounin cut himself off. “Didn’t you have the Yondaime as your sensei? He’s a sealing master! How on Earth would you not know to never mess with seals?” Haruki accused. “Also, I said the seals I put on Naruto’s door would hurt people with the intent to harm; I never said a thing about my own. What self respecting jounin wouldn’t have their windows trapped? Honestly, you’re impossible.”

Spinning on his heel, Haruki turned back to the direction of the bedroom and began to abandon Kakashi in the front room.

“Where are you going?” Kakashi questioned.

“Back to bed.”

Not that he had been sleeping before that anyway. Haruki knew that as soon as he fell asleep, all that would greet him would be Shikamaru. His Shikamaru. Organs spilled on the ground, half his face missing. Ready to greet death with a smile. And blood. So much blood. Too much. His life fading rapidly and red painting every available surface around him. There was no point in trying to save him, he was already too far gone.

They all were. Everyone was gone. Gone, and they had left him behind alone. So alone. They were never coming back; not Sasuke, nor Shikamaru, or Sakura. Kakashi, too. All of them were gone, and none of this was real. It didn’t belong to him and it never would. Haruki was going to disappear and he was never going to come back. He would be gone, too. He could go back, and see his friends again. He wouldn’t have to hurt anymore, wouldn’t have to see them all massacred and eviscerated in his mind every time Haruki closed his eyes.

He was so close. Just a little more. Just one more push and then-

Stop.

“Feel free to see yourself out. They won’t hurt you from the inside,” Haruki tossed over his shoulder feeling decidedly empty inside.

“Ma, Haruki. Don’t you have training Asuma in a little while?” Kakashi asked. “It would be rude to show up late.”

Freezing in place, Haruki felt something sharp rise up inside of him. God, he knew Kakashi wasn’t here for whatever stupid reason he had dropped. It irritated Haruki to no end thinking about the Kakashi in his past (future?) that he had known so well. He may had been damaged, but at least he respected his friends enough not to bullshit them. The jounin wasn’t quite sure if it was directed at himself or at the stupid front Kakashi always had up, but the sheer amount of hatred made him nearly snarl at the person behind him.

“What do you want, Kakashi? What could have possibly driven your lazy ass to to break into my apartment in the middle of the night when you could very well be at home avoiding your issues with your disgusting excuse for a novel?” Haruki slowly turned around and regarded the other jounin with fire in his eyes.

Well, he’d accomplished it. Kakashi’s mask fell and shattered into a million pieces.

“That expression you made when you saw Shikamaru earlier; that wasn’t normal,” the silver haired shinobi said with a blank expression. “You looked like you were about to vomit or worse, and I couldn’t get it out of my head that I might have to walk in and find you just like my father. You claim to know everything, so you should know exactly what I’m talking about. That’s why this is so frustrating. Tell me; why should I have to be so fixated on a shinobi I just met? Why should it matter what you do with yourself? Why should I care?”

Kakashi finished his small tirade with slightly trembling hands before he curled them into fists to avoid giving himself away. Haruki felt unnerved at the uncharacteristic display of emotion from the other man. He may have gone a little too far. Kakashi had dropped his aloof front, but his eyes were still unreadable, and the red head knew this situation had quickly elevated to something somewhat uncontrollable.

Kakashi was scared for him, which only meant one thing; he was attached.

“For what it’s worth, I have no plans to kill myself,” The paradox would take care of it anyway. “To answer your question though, you shouldn’t. I’m nearly a perfect stranger, and for all you know, I could just be out to hurt you and your students. So why should you care? You shouldn’t.”

Haruki inwardly winced as realized he probably just made the situation worse.

Eyes now blazing, Kakashi aggressively rebuked, “If there is one thing I have learned about you in all the times we have interacted, it’s that you would rather die than watch any harm come to those students. Not only that, you have the explicit trust of the Hokage himself, and the only other person I’ve ever seen him trust so much to was Minato himself. You’re not going to hurt the village, and you’re not going to hurt me,” Kakashi snarled. “I know that, but what I still don’t understand is why you refuse to acknowledge that there are people out there that want to help you. People care about you, and somehow, you managed to rope me into that as well, so you better make damn sure to take responsibility for doing this. You talk like you dying wouldn’t affect anyone. You may not say it, but I can hear it, and I don’t want to have to be the one to help you with your inferiority complex.

“There is more to being a shinobi than just fulfilling orders and carrying out a mission. Isn’t that what you helped teach my students? What do you think it would do to Naruto? To Sasuke? Our team would be in shambles if it wasn’t for you, so for the love of God take a moment and remember that you’re not on some infiltration mission any more. You’re home, and you don’t have to worry about being attached anymore. It’s okay to have friends. It’s okay to have a family again.”

Kakashi seemed to suddenly realize that he had been carrying on, and quickly proceeded to shut himself up. Really this was unlike him, but he could see so many parallels between himself an Minato right now it was terrifying. Raising his eyes up to look at the other man, the silver haired jounin felt like he’d been stabbed at the look that was being leveled his way. Kakashi had seen glimpses of the depression that seemed to hang around the weary shinobi, but he had never seen something like this before. Haruki’s brilliant blue eyes were acting like windows to his soul, and Kakashi witnessed something he could never wish on anyone; not even on the people who had killed Obito.

Oh, he’d fucked up.

The sheer amount of devastating sadness, self hatred, and all consuming depression was on clear display at that moment, and despite Kakashi only knowing Haruki for a short while, all he wanted to do was help the man in any way he could, no matter what it would take. Kakashi had promised himself to do better after Sarutobi had pulled him out of his suicidal Anbu missions, swearing to fix the holes he had left with his friends. And he’d mostly accomplished it too, now able to freely converse and work with all the jounin he worked with on multiple occasions, and he even indulged Gai on occasion. Sure, he had been angry at Haruki’s cold display and seemingly careless disregard for his life, but the sliver haired man had never wanted to cause the man this much pain. He was trying to emulate what Minato would say, not destroy the man. Kakashi had been told before that he was sometimes a little too callus and intense when it came to looking underneath the underneath, but he never imagined it could have this kind of impact on someone.

“Go home, Kakashi,” Haruki whispered in a broken voice. “Just go home. There’s nothing more for you to do here.”

Turning once again, Haruki slowly started to walk back towards his bedroom, not even realizing that his whole body was shaking. He had pushed far too hard, and now he would suffer for it.

Kakashi’s eyes widened and he instantly called after the red head. “No, wait! I didn’t- I didn’t mean it like that,” he took a step forward. “Haruki please, I’m sorry.”

Reaching for him, Kakashi clamped his hand around Haruki’s bicep and felt his entire body go rock stiff. He’d messed up. Again.

“Kakashi,” Haruki said without and inflection. “Let go of me. Now.”

Dropping him like he was on fire, the silver haired shinobi immediately froze, before carefully relaxing himself.

“Haruki?” he whispered. “Please turn around.”

The mentioned shinobi full body shuddered before slowly facing the man behind him. Taking a second, Haruki slowly raised his eyes up to meet Kakashi’s, and was enveloped in deep charcoal full of regret and terror, presumably at his own actions. Haruki sighed, taking a moment to reflect on the fact that Kakashi was still horribly emotionally stunted and probably had no idea how to deal with the situation he had created.

There’s no way Kakashi could know. He couldn’t understand just how bad the words had affected the red head. And that was okay, Haruki didn’t want him to. It was just, Kakashi had read the situation perfectly, lack of social grace or not, and he had voiced the worst of Haruki’s demons. He didn’t have a home, not any longer. That was the truth of the matter; he was just an outside force giving interference on the natural course of this world, and no matter what he did, what connections he made or deeds he carried out, he would still disappear within the year.

But still, he couldn’t just leave Kakashi like this. The man would never forgive himself for destroying yet another bond, and Haruki knew Kakashi didn’t need any more emotional scarring. Hesitating, the red head took half a step forward, directly into the other shinobi’s space, before allowing his forehead to drop onto Kakashi’s shoulder. God, he hoped this wouldn’t scare him off. Haruki felt him stiffen underneath his head before relaxing. Kakashi moved an uncertain hand towards the younger shinobi’s head before aborting the motion halfway and dropping it back down to his side.

It was something Minato used to do, but Kakashi had no idea whether or not it would be appropriate at a time like this. All the Copy-nin knew was that Haruki needed some sort of reassurance after being so brutally called out on his insecurities, but the man himself beat Kakashi to it.

“It’s okay. I pushed you too far. I know you didn’t mean it to be harmful, I just don’t know what to do with that information. I forgive you. Please don’t beat yourself up over it,” Haruki breathed against his shoulder.

What the hell was wrong with him? Kakashi had just torn the other shinobi apart and he was just standing here listening to Haruki reassure him?

Once again, the silver haired man brought his hand up towards the other man’s head, and this time successfully buried his hand in it, gently petting Haruki’s scalp. Kakashi felt him shudder slightly, but this time he could tell it was not from revulsion. He wasn’t sure how long they stood there, calmly basking in each others’ presence while attempting to heal old scars, but the next time Kakashi opened his eyes, it was beginning to become light outside and he could sense people starting to wake up around the complex.

Haruki stepped backwards out of the hold and Kakashi’s hand fell from his head leaving the red head startlingly cold. That was okay though; he had taken advantage of the Copy-nin’s awkward kindness for far too long.

Shooting Kakashi a said smile, he gently spoke. “You should get going. You’re not going to have any time to procrastinate and make the team wait at this rate.”

The silver haired man cleared his throat and shifted before pulling out his trusted Icha Icha. If there was one way to get back in character after such a heart wrenching experience, it was with his usual cover.

“Ma, you’re right Haruki-san,” he drawled slightly uncertainly. “Miki-chan and I didn’t get to see each other all night. I should really go catch up.”

Haruki let out a startled chuckle before waving him away. Maybe he could catch an hour of sleep before he had to meet up with team ten. Haruki watched as Kakashi excused himself and began walking towards the door.

Just as he the older jounin touched the doorknob, Haruki grabbed his attention once more.

“Oh and Kakashi?” he asked. “Drop the ‘san.’ It makes me feel old.”

Kakashi genuinely smiled under his mask before quietly replying, “Sure thing, jiji.”

Then he was gone.

Oof. That one hurt. Anyway, this one absolutely wasn’t cannon for the story. This is just the way I would have done it had I been in charge of that chapter, and good practice for me in learning how I want to make both of them react to different situations. Also, they don’t quite get each other as well as they think, so I thought I would explore it a little bit. Haruki is a very damaged person, but he really does want to understand Kakashi. He’s had a lot of time with his former sensei in the reality he comes from, and he’s using that to his advantage right now. They’re closer than Haruki is comfortable with, and even with his best intentions in mind, Haruki is never going to be able to break that bond.

Also, sorry for any spelling errors. I really only glanced over it as I was writing it.

Anyways, if you haven’t checked it out already, go ahead and give “The Lives Worth Saving” over on Ao3 a glance!

#thelivesworthsaving #tumblrdrabbles

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manikas-whims · 6 years

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A Chance at Redemption [13]

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A/N: Hey guys!

Um..eh hem..please just don't kill me. You can all gang up and beat the shit out of me but do realise that I am human too. Since the past 3 years my life has been a mess and let's just say some personal things are making it really hard for me to write.

I’d like to thank you lovely readers *blows a kiss* I started this fic on a whim and its really a surprise treat to find out that people are actually giving it positive responses. I mean I can just never thank you people enough..

An important thing before you proceed onto the chapter: I may be gone for long but I'll never leave my fics unfinished. I know the pain one feels when coming across a plot of their liking only to realise that it has been left unfinished for xyz years. I'll complete all my fanfics. It's a pinky-swear with you loves. ♥

And as I say, "In the world of writers, those who go on hiatuses are trash but those who abandon their books are worse than trash." XD

Alright! Um..let's have a short recap of everything that has happened so far in this tale:-

The fourth shinobi war's victors were Uchihas who now rule the whole shinobi world with Madara as the self-claimed Hokage. Naruto is no more and Kakashi is in a coma. Sai and Sakura are the only members of Team 7 and they work together along with a few other rebels under the name of FoK. Sai also happens to work in the anbu directly under the Uchihas, thus, acting as a double agent. In order to stop the annihilation of the Hyuga Clan which was planned by the Uchihas, Sakura decides to make a deal with Sasuke. She offers herself to him in a bond of marriage in exchange for the lives of many innocent Hyugas. When her marriage is revealed to the whole world, she is treated as a traitor amongst the rebels. Later on, she finds out that the head of the Hyuga Clan, Hiashi has been assassinated and begins to doubt Sasuke's promise to her. Caught up in his anger Neji reveals about his knowledge of the planned annihilation and just as the Uchihas are about to interrogate him, Sai comes in and takes him to the funeral held for Hiashi in excuse to actually save his neck. Sasuke recalls and is confused about how Sakura and Neji came to know of this annihilation and questions her directly. He then realises how Sai may have been the one who told those two but the question is 'why'. He leaves Sakura for the time being and heads to the burial grounds with the thought of interrogating both Neji and Sai.

If this summary didn't help out much, feel free to read the previous chapters :3

Now back to the chapter..

Chapter 13: Moving Forward

"My hands are drenched in sin..

..but that doesn't mean I'm heartless."

-Suigetsu Hozuki

The two have been sitting silently in his small apartment for an hour now, both lost in deep thought about the next step that they must take. Or rather, the necessary step that they must take now that Neji has literally jeopardized their cover by lashing out in front of the Uchihas. And in doing so, he has also threatened Sai and Sakura's neck along with the whole secret about the FoK.

Sai watched the Hyuga Prodigy meditate with barely concealed interest. He can't help himself from wondering about what would've happened to this man had he not shown up at the Hokage's room when he did. Who knows? Maybe Neji would've earned himself a death sentence? Or worst! Maybe he would've been tortured to the point where he would've been left with no choice but to spill-out everything about their small group of rebels?! The thought in itself is terrorising. The ex-root nin shook his head and decided to distract himself with something less scary. And weirdly, his distraction came in the form of Neji's periodic inhale and exhale of the surrounding air.

Sai gazed at the continuously inflating and deflating chest of the Hyuga. With eyes closed, Neji tried focusing more on controlling his chakra. Sai felt fascinated by him and pondered on whether he must capture this moment on one of his canvases. It'll be a lovely addition to his growing collection of paintings. But not just Neji, Sai is fascinated by all the different people around him. They can teach him important things about life just as much as his team-mates do. Well..talking about teammates, none are currently available to help Sai with his emotional problems. Now that Sakura is betrothed to the infamous second grandson of Madara Uchiha, he is left with no other choice but to resort back to his guide books. How he wishes to discuss about all such things with her.

"Can you stop staring?" muttered the Hyuga, eyes still closed in concentration.

The artist tried an apologetic smile in a similar manner that he has read about in a book but the Hyuga only frowned. It's a mystery how he can understand the ex-root nin's fake expression even with his eyes shut like that. Nonetheless, Sai spoke, "I'm sorry. I'm just trying to formulate a plan about what I can do with you now that you've landed the three of us in such a conundrum."

"Three?" Neji asked, inhaling yet again.

"Yes", Sai picked up a sketch-pad and a brush as he began with a rough sketch of the long-haired prodigy, "You, me and Sakura. The Uchihas may let the matter go but Sasuke won't sit still until he reaches the very bottom of this whole thing."

A long sigh left the prodigy's lips and he stood-up, breaking the calm atmosphere that he had created with his meditation. "You're right. Besides, we only have an hour until the funeral ceremony gets over."

"Yes and I bet that Sasuke will come at you the instant that funeral ends. And he will not let this go until he uncovers every last speck of detail about us." Sai added gravely.

"Well, he'll probably torture me to the point I can take it no more and then make me talk. So I came up with this idea while I was meditating." He said and Sai urged him to go on, "What if he never finds me? Like Sakura did with that disguise of hers'."

Sai shook his head in negation, "Before we can delve any further into this thought I'd like to remind you that Ugly is a pro at chakra control unlike you or myself. So we need to do something else about hiding your identity. Just a simple henge won't work in your case."

Neji nodded in understanding. He knew that Sai would mention this and so, he moved on to his next suggestion "In that case..how about this?"

With the arrival of the Hokage and his minions at the Sacred Hyuga Burial Grounds, an elderly Hyuga member began the Funeral Ceremony by a long prayer in respect of the departed one. And as everyone closed their eyes in prayer, Sasuke Uchiha scanned the whole place, his obsidians looking around in pursuit of a certain Ex-Root assassin and a Prodigy from the Hyuga Clan. But even under the effects of his eternal mangekyou sharingan, he was unable to locate any matching suspects. From what he can recall, it was Sai who had practically dragged a frightened-looking Neji Hyuga out of the Hokage's office, right when Neji spilled-out his knowledge about the annihilation of the Hyuga Clan. There's no need to have any great deduction skills to figure out that the two are hiding- no- conspiring something! And whatever it is that they are plotting to accomplish, is also known to Sakura. It's ridiculous how he completely ignored the fact that she proposed a deal of marriage with him in exchange for the lives of the Hyugas. He must've been more focused and paid attention to how she came to know about that annihilation. But oh well..thanks to his distracting ex-teammate, he let his guard down and failed in noticing how suspicious her and Neji's involvement in this whole matter is.

Taking another glance around the place, he grit his teeth. There were literally no traces of any of the two suspects he's been searching for. Where did they disappear off to? Or what exactly are they doing as of right now? Are they initiating their plans already? Has the first step already been put in action? More importantly, he doesn't even know what they are working on!

Dammit!

He took a long breath to calm his flaring nerves and decided to do one last scan of the area. The first person that his eyes fell upon was Hinata Hyuga. He frowned as he watched the young Hyuga Princess' eyes closed in respect for her father. Its not like she can ever replace her father. There's only one person worthy enough of this position and that is Neji Hyuga from the branch family but even Sasuke knows that the main family will never allow something like this. The Hyugas aren't any less than the Uchihas when it comes to biasing.

He turned his head slightly back and found a former comrade, Shikamaru Nara standing directly behind him with his parents and a blonde, pigtailed woman. He recognises her because he had faced her once when he was still a willing shinobi of the Leaf. He is well-aware about her presence in this village. Well, it's not like she is the only one as after the war ended in their victory, the whole world of shinobi turned into a big mess of panicky civilians and ninja alike. Due to this haphazardness, a lot of the people were unable to return to their respective homelands. And since then, the village gates have been under constant surveillance because of which nobody is allowed to enter or leave at their free will. If there's any need to depart, the individual will first have to consult the nasty Hokage himself.

"What is it Uchiha?" an edgy, feminine tone asked him and it took him a moment to realize that it was the same blonde woman. At her side, Shikamaru scratched his jaw uneasily.

Such firm was her gaze that Sasuke felt himself unable to utter even a word to her.

She smirked teasingly, "Stop staring at me. You're a married man now."

The remark was spewed at him out of spite and disgust she feels towards him for chaining her pink-haired friend in a bond of marriage. And it was more than enough to spur his emotions. He narrowed his eyebrows and glared at her in what he thinks is his most menacing look but it didn't even make her budge. If anything, her lips only curved further upwards. It's almost like she's trying to spite him into some sort of outburst. Anyways, why the hell is she even gazing at him so smugly when her eyes are supposed to be closed in prayer like everyone else's?

"What?" she gestured with a nudge of her head, "Don't have a comeback?"

Comeback? How dare she? Who does she think she is, trying a childish banter with him? Him? He can kill her right here if he wants to but since he has always been surrounded by idiots like her, he knows how to keep his anger in check. His eyes shifted slightly from her face when he noticed some movement. It was the young Nara's palm that sneakily encircled her wrist, signalling her to stop. She turned her head towards Shikamaru and stared at him questioningly.

The young Nara ignored her look and instead bowed his head to Sasuke, "I'm sorry. The edginess is just a part of her personality. She doesn't mean to taunt you."

Sasuke watched her expression change as she heard those words. A big smile settled upon her lips. A big mocking smile and she herself apologised to him, ofcourse in a manner that ridiculed him even further. His fingers were itching to just strangle that little neck of hers but just as he motioned his hands, all eyes flew open.

The ceremony was over and a couple of eyes glanced confusedly between him, Shikamaru and the blonde girl, wondering exactly what was going on. With a heavy sigh, Sasuke managed to alleviate some of his anger and left the burial grounds in search of Neji Hyuga instead.

Behind him, Shikamaru released a breath in relief.

When she woke up, the whole apartment shook by the intensity of her horrified scream. Her shoulders shook with fear as she could still feel those crimson orbs boring holes into her frightful emeralds. And here she thought that those nightmares were finally gone...Surprise! Surprise! They had never really left..They were just lurking in the depths of her dark thoughts laced in fear, anticipating the right time to launch an attack. She can still remember that dream along with all of the vivid details. The dense chakra that was surrounding the aura of that avenger- Sasuke! He charged his left hand with a chidori and struck it right into the heart of her innocent, blond teammate, ending his life then and there. And as Sasuke did so, the blood went splashing all around him, drenching every inch of his skin in that Hokage-wannabe's blood. She can still remember herself sitting there, kneeling right before the whole scenario, tears streaming down her cheeks endlessly. Every time in her vision, he would turn around at this very moment and his piercing crimsons would clash with her scared emeralds. And he would inch closer towards her, pressing his lips against hers, smearing them with that very same blood of her dead teammate...

Just the shear memory made her scream again and that too, louder this time...Immediately, the door to her room burst open and in stepped the two sycophants that Sasuke has left to keep watch on her at all times. She lifted her eyelids slightly and flashed them a menacing glare.

"What do you want?" She whispered hoarsely in an irate tone.

The minute her scream reached their ears, Suigetsu and Juugo slammed the door open and ran in to check-up on the situation, completely prepared for whatever it was awaiting their entrance behind her door. Shockingly, they only found her gnawing at the skin of her innocently beautiful face. A second passed with her glaring at them, her fingernails digging painfully into her cheeks and them confusedly staring back at her.

"What do you want?" She whispered in a tight tone.

"We heard you scream. Are you alright?" Juugo asked with genuine concern swirling in his scarlet-red irises.

"You can tell Sasuke that I'm dealing well with all his confinements." She answered in a sarcastic tone.

"For your kind info, Sasuke never asked us to do this." Suigetsu spoke, his hand gripping the hilt of his huge blade a bit too hard.

No doubt they have been sent here by Sasuke to make sure that she is safe. Why? Well..because now that she is an Uchiha, as entitled by Madara himself, there are people who will try and grasp every chance they can to kill the young bride of his grandson. They have been sent here for the sole purpose of her protection at all costs but they aren't supposed to tell her about this. Heh! "She will understand..."- those were the exact words spoken by their young boss. Sasuke doesn't want them to tell her. She will understand?! How?! Last time that Suigetsu checked, she wasn't a psychic and she isn't one now! So the chances of her understanding Sasuke's motives without them having to explain it to her are very slim.

"Yeah..Yeah..Just like he never asked you to keep me locked-up at my apartment." She uttered with excruciating emphasis on every word.

"Huh..." Suigetsu exhaled audibly and closed his eyes, "Now listen-"

"I'm an Uchiha right?! Then..why was I restricted to attend Hiashi Hyuga's funeral?!" She yelled, tears clouding her mesmerizing irises.

He wants to tell her so badly about Sasuke's intentions but he simply cannot go against his master's orders. Frustrated at the fact and at himself, he closed his eyes and heaved a long sigh. When he re-opened them, he found the young medic already out of her bed, standing in her black, knee-high boots. And that sight alone, made him release another long sigh. Seriously? Does she ever stay at home and sleep like a normal girl must? No? Well..Karin did..

Karin.. He sighed. That redhead was kinda bitchy but Suigetsu has to admit that he misses her.

The swordsman rubbed his eyes to keep himself from overreacting and asked the pinkette, "Where are you going?"

She bade him no response, which is not even surprising anymore. He has gotten pretty used to her weird antics. And so, as she made her way out of her bedroom and left her apartment, him and Juugo were left with no other choice but to follow her. A sense of déjà vu passed his thoughts as Juugo closed the main door of her apartment.

Blood had started to ooze out from the places she had been gnawing at on her cheeks. Why isn't she healing herself? He thought but then immediately felt like smacking himself. Ofcourse it has to do with that stupid bracelet that Kabuto has put on her. Healing is an intricate procedure and requires a lot of chakra and focus.

"Do you enjoy this?" Suigetsu asked, sweat trickling down his brow.

"Enjoy what?" she asked as she continued marching in the direction of only god knows what place.

"Getting us all worked-up!" the swordsman yelled, finally losing his cool. Her lack of concern for her own skin irked him even more. Karin would've never let even a single scar stay on her cheek. Karin would've tried everything in her might to look pretty every single fucking day. Karin would..Karin isn't here anymore..

He sighed in frustration and tried to focus on Sakura again."You know Sasuke won't be pleased when he finds out-"

"Does it look like I care?" she drawled out.

"Well..you must. Because when he finds out, he's gonna kill us all." Suigetsu tried his best to emphasize the 'kill' part but the young medic continued walking. And yet again, he moved his lips to shout some sense into her head but a large hand on his shoulder stopped him from doing so. He glanced at the shaky palm and then at it's equally fidgety owner- Juugo. The expression on his face was enough to convey that he was controlling his anger the best he could and so, Suigetsu decided to let the matter go. For the time being atleast. Afterall, it's fine as long as Sasuke is the one who kills them. He will grant a quick, merciful death. An enraged Juugo on the other hand, will tear him and Sakura to shreds but only after making sure to beat them to a pulp. Suigetsu doesn't want such a death. And he's damn sure Sakura shares the same thoughts.

The déjà vu hit Suigetsu yet again as they entered the rusty, old building of the Konoha Hospital. If they are here, then ofcourse the pinkette wants to see none other than her half-dead mentor. Crossing the dirty halls that led towards the secluded ward, Suigetsu and Juugo watched in silence as the small key was inserted into the hole and the knob was turned. Sakura walked in with a heaviness in her heart and before the minds of the former S-class nins could comprehend what was happening, she threw herself over the unmoving body of the infamous copy-nin. Unexpectedly loud sobs reached the men's ears and they watched in shock the continuous shaking of the young medic's shoulders as she shed tears.

What Suigetsu had heard from his buddy Sai was the fact that team 7 is not just a team but a family. It was hard to believe those words when he had first heard them but it is far-easier to understand their depth now that he is experiencing them with his very own eyes. His eyes remained fixated on Sakura as she wept over the silver-haired man's form as if he was actually her father. Okay, maybe not. But in his own way, Kakashi is like a father to team 7.

"You.." they heard her sob out in a soft yet shrill tone, her tears mixing with the dried blood on her cheeks, "You said that you won't let me shoulder the burden on my own. You promised..."

The whole room went quiet again, followed by the hysterical sobbing of the pink-haired kunoichi. With her face burrowed into the chest of her former teacher, her hands clutched at the fabric of his shirt and she cried. She cried and cried and cried..and they watched. Both Suigetsu and Juugo were unable to look away from the pitiful sight before their eyes. It made them contemplate and question their own acts. Are they on the right side? Ofcourse not. Can they help her out of this? Maybe? Maybe not. Who knows? At this point, the only thing that is clear to them is that she doesn't belong anywhere near that Uchiha den.

"You know why I married him.." she lifted her head and whispered to the sleeping man, "You know exactly why.. So pleaassse..wake up, Sensei. Wake up and take away some of my burden..." She gazed hopefully at the man lying on the stretcher but her words proved to be futile. The man didn't even budge. Juugo honestly felt an ache in his heart. He maybe on the wrong side but he isn't a bad person. He wants to help Sakura. He genuinely does. He just has no idea where or how to begin..

Three hours passed in that hospital ward with Sakura talking to her comatose sensei and Suigetsu discussing with Juugo about how to actually handle being guards to such a fragile girl. One misstep and she'll break.

Sakura wiped her teary face with the back of her sweaty palms and turned around to find Sasu- her husband's faithful sycophants waiting for her. Bidding them no signal, she walked right past them out of the room, knowing they'll undoubtedly follow.

Now that she has freely let out her emotional pain to someone, she is ready to sacrifice herself and stand next to the Uchihas. All her friends think of her as a traitor and it's better this way. Atleast her false betrayal will act as a positive motivator. It'll rile their sentimental connections to her and help them realise their goal much easily. The rebels will work far-better in her absence.

Upon reaching her small apartment, she felt an intense gaze pierce through her carefully constructed mask of apathy. She knew exactly whom those eyes belonged to and without even an ounce of fear in her form, she tilted her face, her emeralds meeting the onyxes. By the deep frown marring his face, it was obvious that he wasn't pleased about something and clearly that "something" is linked with her. Still, she climbed the three short steps up the porch and stood directly in front of him, awaiting his angry tirade.

"Where were you?" he gritted out.

"Not a matter of your concern." came her curt response.

He exhaled a breath through his nose and she watched his nostrils flare in unbridled anger.Such a Sasuke-thing to do. She scoffed inwardly and watched the riled up Uchiha inch closer towards her. She kept her gaze. She wasn't intimidated by him in the least. He has already tried to kill her twice so she isn't much scared of dying by his hands. Much to her surprise though, a heavy, shiny object swished in between her and him, breaking the tense atmosphere in an instant-Suigetsu's huge sword. Taking a long breath, Sasuke turned to the side to face the intrusive person and his eyes changed to red, the black tomoes spinning wildly as he seethed at the man. Sakura's eyes on the other hand widened in actual shock when she found that it was Suigetsu who had intervened between them. Why did he?

The white-haired rogue-nin simply stared at his master, his lips a thin line that expressed no emotion whatsoever. When he had decided to serve Sasuke, he had planned to stay out of his boss's way..he had planned to stay out of trouble. But things have changed. He has changed. Watching this pink-haired medic weep in front of her unresponsive sensei stirred something in him. And if this is the last bit of good that he has within him, then he surely wants to utilise it to his best. His inner conflict has finally ended and he has reached a conclusion. He maybe working under the Uchihas but he'll properly safeguard Sakura Haruno. It's better to die the death of a kind bodyguard than an S-class shinobi who used to kill for fun.

"I'm-We're sorry, Sasuke-sama." Juugo was the one who spoke-up for his lean partner, nodding his head at the swordsman in agreement. If Suigetsu is ready then he is too. Afterall, he had never wanted to be the bad guy. It's just life offered him limited options and he had to choose the least bad from amongst them. But now as he glanced between his master and his newfound bride, who also happens to be a kind woman, he has changed his mind from just 'spending the days and dying' to doing something good for the sake of redemption..to achieve true piece at the time of his demise.

"We can't let your hostile nature hurt Sakura-san because this is exactly what you had ordered us to do." He explained honestly.

If anything one of Sasuke's eyebrows arched high up in question of such insolence. He had expected eventual discord and disrespect from Suigetsu. He has never been able to trust the mist-nin but he had always expected Juugo to be a faithful one. So what exactly did Sakura do to win over his dogs? Moments of him glaring ferociously at them did nothing to melt their determination to protect the young kunoichi. They stood before her like a shield and the pinkette watched in silent amazement. It's almost as if she hadn't expected them to protect her.

With his sharingan now faded back to reveal his beautiful greyish-onyx orbs, he sighed raggedly and asked her again in a much calmer tone, "Where were you?"

She scoffed, only this time not inwardly. She shook her head at him and countered his query with a question of her own, "Why do you even care?"

Sasuke's left hand moved and he grabbed tightly onto the hilt of his kusanagi. Sakura's eyes followed, noticing the subtle action of the man she had fallen for. And with a piercing gaze, he gritted out, "Because Neji Hyuga was found dead an hour ago and I don't want to find out that my wife was behind his murder."

Sakura gulped calmly in the eerie silence that followed his words. And then, she shrieked, "WHAT!?"

Alright, so this marks the end of the chapter. I know its not the best one but I still hope you guys liked it..:)

What do you think about Neji's death?

Or Suigetsu and Juugo's newfound fealty towards Sakura?

More angst in the coming chapters.

And once again, thanks for being such patient readers. I really love you guys..♡

AND IF YOU CAN THEN PLEASE SUPPORT ME ON KOFI

My family is facing some issues and it’d be of great help..

Don't forget to share your thoughts about this chapter cuz believe me or not, I read all your comments. They are fun to read and always keep me motivated! :D

And do let me know if you find any errors.

Hopefully I'll make another update soon..:3

Until Next Time...

~Manika

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#sasusaku #sasusaku fanfic #Sasuke Uchiha #Sakura Haruno #angst #post war #Hate #redemption #romance #hardships

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