#okay this sprung from a wonderful conversation with kate where they posited that what if kakashi encouraged Tenzō to make fun of him in anbu

[mokutone]

page one || page two || page three

[ID: A watercolor and ink comic. Young Tenzō, still with his long hair, and young Kakashi are in the anbu barracks, the panels are rendered in warm yellows, browns, and a light purple. Kakashi sits on one of the beds, curled around his book. He’s wearing no armor aside from the metal panel on his anbu gloves, just his undershirt and black pants, not even his anbu boots or his hitai-ate. Tenzō, on the other hand, is almost fully armored, only missing his cat mask and arm protectors.

“You can bully me back a little if you want, it’s fine.” Kakashi says, seemingly unprompted. Tenzō casts a nervous glance behind him towards Kakashi.

“What? I don’t want to do that,” he says. The next panel is unsettlingly close to Tenzō, but doesn’t show his eyes. “I have a lot of respect for you and—”

The third panel is a violent teal, rendered in harsh, small lines. Tenzō’s expressionless cat mask pushes at the edges of the panel, and warped speech bubbles with the text “You’re the friend killer here, Kakashi.” waver out from the closed mouth, and hang over Kakashi, who stands poised to lance his chidori through Tenzō, his expression is tense and pained and his sharingan is open. 

“–And I don’t know why you would ask me to do this.” Tenzō continues, back in the warm light of the anbu barracks, although his head overlaps the teal flashback panel. 

Kakashi raises his hand gently, as if reaching towards Tenzō’s turned back. “Tenzō, it’s fine—you don’t have to. I’m not asking anything of you.” He says. /end ID]

#my art #naruto #comics #Tenzō #yamato tenzō #yamato #Kakashi Hatake #anbu times #okay so past here is my interpretation and explanation of the subtext. i don't want to force anyone to accept my reading of my work so #its allllll in the tags babey! #although to be fair the implications are present in the visual depiction and image description #okay this sprung from a wonderful conversation with kate where they posited that what if kakashi encouraged Tenzō to make fun of him in anbu #which was a great idea they are full of fantastic and wonderful ideas...i like also the idea of Tenzō having been afraid to be mean #bc its the EXACT opposite of sai. who is mean bc he expects people to care as little as he does...Tenzō instead is over-correcting #he's only taunted before to cause direct harm and he's not sure how to go about it in a friendly way yet. so he's scared #he doesn't want to hurt people he cares about and doesn't want to chance the line between friendly teasing and causing harm #and also knowing what he knows about who kakashi is now. having taunted him with the friend killing thing he's especially like. feels bad #like you know when you say the wrong thing once and for the rest of your life you lie awake at night haunted by the shit you said that once #that but you tell your best friend and guy who saved your life that hes responsible for the deaths of his friends. ID FEEL WACK ABT THAT TOO #it's notable at this point kakashi has Very Much forgiven tenzō for that. he understands root brainwashing was at play #and he's very sure that tenzō knows him better now—and understands that he takes the lives of his friends incredibly seriously #but that doesn't mean that Tenzō has forgiven himself yet. he feels he's the same person as the boy who said that—no distance yet #so he's afraid. he doesn't want to take any liberties in teasing when he only knows it as another weapon in the arsenal #Tenzō has a lot of growing to do before he can be comfortable being ''himself''. he's kinda gotta invent that wholecloth #kakashi has a vague inclination of some of this but isn't really sure. #he just wants to be sure that his kōhai isn't nervous /of him/ because that would be. catastrophically dangerous for missions #and absolutely horrible groundwork for a working friendship

[backtothestart02]

Same Game, Greener Pastures - 1/? | Cruel Summer fanfiction

A/N: Fic 1 of 2, here we go!

...

Synopsis:  College!AU - Kate and Jeanette never went to the same high school. Instead, they meet in college, and the stakes are just as high.

...

Chapter 1 -

Her face stayed pressed to the glass for the duration of the car ride. She could’ve driven herself, really, but her parents were the sentimental type, and they wanted to drive her. Or, at the very least, her dad drove her. Her mom drove separately, so that she could have a car at school, and they could still return home. It was a little strange not having them both in the car, but they’d had their teary goodbye before leaving the house, so aside from helping her unpack once they got to her dorm room, she supposed they didn’t both need to be there.

“Whatcha thinking, doodlebug?”

Jeanette pulled herself away from the window and turned to look at her dad. She smiled innocently.

“Nothing. I’m just excited to get there.”

He smiled.

“Well, you know, you will have to pay attention to your studies too. Can’t be all partying all the time just because Vince and Mallory will be going to the same school as you.”

“I know, Dad. I know.” She laughed. “Still, it’s a new chapter. I’m putting high school behind me. This is a chance for me to possibly be popular. No one here knows me except for Vince and Mal. Who knows what could happen?”

He was silent for a moment.

“You know, there is more to life than being popular, Jeanie. Real, true friends like Vince and Mallory, they don’t come around every day. And you didn’t find them by being popular.”

“Of course.” She sobered up, then looked out the window again. She couldn’t help feeling that this conversation would’ve gone differently if it had been her mom she’d been talking to.

Before she could wonder anything further though, they turned the corner on the road and there before them lay the large university building she’d been dreaming of re-entering ever since she came here for a tour the year before.

“We’re here,” she said, excitedly sitting up in her seat.

Beside her, her dad smiled and nodded.

“Yes, we are.” He paused then looked at her. “Should we go to your dorm first? Do you know if Mallory is here yet?”

“She said she’d be here early. I’m sure she’s here.” She squealed in anticipation. “Ah, I’m so excited. This is going to be great!”

He chuckled and entered the school parking lot, weaving around the winding roads until they reached the parking lot for her dorm room. As soon as they were parked, Jeanette bolted from the car and ran into the building. Her dad was slower to join her.

There was a long table set up in the lobby of the dorm room where several volunteers sat to help students check in and get the keys to their dorm room. Jeanette got in line immediately. She didn’t have to wait long to get to the front.

“Jeanette Turner,” she told the woman once it was her turn.

The woman was older and seemed to be almost annoyed by having to be there that day. Jeanette wasn’t thwarted though. She was too excited.

In a matter of minutes she had received her key and some paperwork indicating where and when she needed to be for orientation and how to go about getting her student ID.

She spun around and almost ran right into her dad. She saw just past him that her mom was coming through the door. She ran past her dad to her mom and excitedly explained what she’d just received. Then she turned around and headed for the stairs.

“What, is there not an elevator in this place?” her dad joked lightly.

Jeanette’s mom swatted at him playfully, then they both followed their daughter.

“Elevators take too long. And besides, I’m on the third floor.”

“Of course you are,” her dad said, imagining already how carrying all her stuff up the stairs would be more draining and time-consuming than he’d hoped it would be.

Another swat from his wife though, and he shut his mouth on the subject.

Jeanette was to the third floor before her parents, and all the way down the hall when with shaky, excited fingers, she turned the key in the lock and opened the door.

“Mallory!”

Mallory sprung to her feet from the bottom bunk bed where she’d started to unpack, and with a huge grin on her face, hugged her best friend.

“Hey!”

“Have you seen Vince?” Jeanette asked, eager to be with both of her best friends at the same time.

She shook her head. “Not yet. But I told him where we were gonna be. I don’t know if they’ll let him in because he’s a guy, but…”

“Why wouldn’t they?” She laughed. “It’s moving day. Everyone’s allowed in on moving day.”

She glanced around the room, taking in her surroundings. Aside from the bunkbed, there were two desks on the other side of the room and a small mini fridge in the corner. On top of the fridge was a microwave. Then there was one small dresser and a closet.

“This place is awesome,” Jeanette said.

“Kinda small,” Mallory drawled. “But yeah, it’ll work.”

Jeanette rolled her eyes.

“It’s perfect. We have everything we need.”

“No TV, but they have a lounge with a TV on the first floor. We’ll probably be there more than we’ll be here anyway.”

Jeanette nodded, agreeing.

A knock at the door startled them both. Jeanette reached for the knob, certain who would be there and too slow to change the words that were tumbling out of her mouth before they did.

“Vince!”

Her dad blinked slowly, and her mom fought a smile.

“No, it’s just us. Your parents.” He craned his neck to look beyond his daughter. “Hello, Mallory.”

“Hello, Mr. Turner. Jeanette’s mom.”

Jeanette turned around to look at her strangely but stepped to the side to let her parents in.

“This is nice,” Jeanette’s mom commented. “And look, how cute is this fridge?”

“It’s called a mini fridge, honey,” Jeanette’s dad said, which got him an eye roll from his wife and a little bit of a glare from his daughter. Mallory tried not to laugh.

“Well, do you think we could start bringing in your stuff?” he asked his daughter after he’d thoroughly inspected the place and his wife had stopped cooing over everything.

“Yeah, totally,” Jeanette piped up, then turned to Mallory. “We’ll be ri-”

“You want to come help, Mallory?” he asked the blonde, cutting off Jeanette, who sent him a wide-eyed stare that he ignored.

“Of course, Jeanette’s dad.” Mallory strutted out into the hall. “There’s nothing more I’d enjoy doing.”

He got some jabs from his wife and daughter, but he knew they’d get the moving in done in half the time if they had a little help. Plus, Mallory had known Jeanette since middle school. Surely she could afford to do her part in instances like this.

“Great,” he said, and followed the ladies to the staircase leading downstairs.

…

A car door opened on the opposite side of the parking lot, and out stepped Kate Wallis. On the driver’s side exited Jamie Henson, her boyfriend of four years, who had insisted on driving her to their new school instead of her parents.

Kate was stunning. She was beautiful, blonde, well-off, and had Jamie wrapped around her finger. It hadn’t been her idea to drive with him, but she hadn’t been put-off by it either. She loved Jamie, and he adored her too. It had been a miracle that they had gotten both of their luggage into his car, but somehow, they’d managed.

Jamie looked over the car at his girlfriend and smiled, waiting for her to meet his gaze.

“You ready for this?”

“Are you?”

He shook his head.

“Nah, not really.” He laughed. “But with you, yeah, I am.”

She smiled. He was so over the top sometimes, but she loved that about him.

He shut his door, rounded the car, and pulled her into his arms.

“Let’s do this,” he said, then lowered his lips to hers in a sweet kiss.

Kate turned with him and they walked into the building, joined at the hip, passing on their way a quartet of people. A pair of parents it looked like and two younger girls possibly her and Jamie’s age. She didn’t pay them much attention though. There were so many people here today moving in. They were just some of many.

“Long line,” Jamie commented, stopping just as they entered the building, because that was how long the line had become.

“You should go to your dorm and get checked in,” Kate suggested. “This could take a while.”

“No, I don’t want to leave you,” he said instantly, holding her tighter.

“I’ll be fine. Don’t worry about me. As soon as I get my key and whatever else, I’ll come find you. You’re just one building over, right?”

His brows furrowed, but he couldn’t help being honest.

“Yeah, I think so.”

She smiled.

“Are you sure about this?” he asked.

“Positive.” She laughed and kissed him again. “Now, go.”

Reluctantly, he untangled from her and made his way out the door just as the line was starting to move forward. He was so distracted by watching his girlfriend, he didn’t even realize he was bumping into another girl trying to come through the door.

“Ah!”

He spun around.

“Oh, my God, I’m so sorry.”

“No, no, it’s okay, that was all me.”

She was all curls and fumbling with her glasses, but she had a brilliant smile as she fought to make eye contact and failed most of it. It made him smile.

Shaking himself free of the brief reverie she had him under, he pushed the door open further so she could walk through. Another girl who gave him a snooty look followed her, and two adults who looked like parents to one of the girls, probably the first one if he had to guess.

He smiled politely until they’d all gone through and then dashed out to head to his own dorm building to get what was needed so he could rejoin his girlfriend again and help her unpack.

#cruel summer #cruel summer fanfiction #backtothestart02 fanfiction #same game greener pastures #chapter 1