#ten days of tenzō

[mokutone]

late entry for the final day of @tendaysoftenzo ! the prompt was:

Day 10, November 10th: Tenzo’s Quarter Birthday* | Free Day

For this day, I decided to do a redraw of a visual that i enjoyed so much while watching naruto that i screenshot it for later drawing reference. sakura and naruto's faces at yamato just DELIGHT me!

thank u to the mods of tendaysoftenzo for running this event, it was really great + i had a lot of fun making art + seeing everyone else's art!

#tendaysoftenzo #my art #naruto #naruto uzumaki #sakura haruno #yamato tenzo #yamato #tenzō #genuinely i want to say i looked forward to this event last year and i looked forward to it this year and it really was so so fun #i know i got sick and that threw me off schedule but even still. like. it definitely stretched my art abilities in a good way 2 participate #and it delighted me to see so much good tenzō content >:^D !!! #and i just feel very lucky to be in a space where other people care enough abt this character to host an event about it! like! #thats so neat! that's so lovely! #anyway #ty for another wonderful ten days of tenzō

[keepyourpantsongohan]

Married, Colleagues, Divorced

This thought would enter his mind: Something about it is definitely different. (Gaara Hiden, Ch. 1) | Ten Days of Tenzo (@tendaysoftenzo) Day 5: Kakashi | AO3 |

                          ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

Yamato to Kakashi of the Two Normal Eyes: Kakashi. Can I ask you a question...?

Kakashi to Colleague I Think About Such a Normal Amount: Yes, Tenzō?

Yamato: Did you date Iruka?

Kakashi: Why do u ask?

Yamato: Something Naruto said about going on outings with the two of you. Apparently, you even paid. 

Kakashi: We are amicably divorced

Yamato: Elaborate. 

Kakashi: The outings are part of our custody arrangement. The ramen is alimony

Yamato: I understand all of these words but not in this order. 

Kakashi: What’s not to understand. It’s important to model healthy separation for the kids 

Yamato: So you two did date?

Kakashi: No. Next question 

-- 

Kakashi to Standing Tenzōvation: Come sit here

Yamato to Hatake a Bow: I’ll come find you after. We’re going to get in trouble for texting during jōnin council deliberation again. 

Kakashi: I tried talking to u with Anbu hand signals. U said those were too obvious

Yamato: They are too obvious; you should see the message Genma sent me after the last council. Why do I need to sit there anyway? 

Kakashi: I want to eat with u today and if I’m not already occupied after we finish I will be caught in a meeting vortex

Yamato: Comes with the new job-title, Rokudaime-sama.

Kakashi: Not until next week, officially. And I didn’t enjoy any part of that sentence.

Yamato: Well, aren’t you emotionally forthright today? It’s refreshing. 

Kakashi: Does that mean u will buy lunch?

Yamato: You’re the one who just got a promotion. Hokage’s treat? 

Kakashi: I’ll spar u for it

Yamato: You’re on. 

--

Kakashi to Magic Mountain: Soup on your windowsill 

Yamato to Lord Sixth Flags: Thank you. You could come in, you know. 

Kakashi: U need some rest. Plus I have been assigned a mission to have tea with Hyuga-san 2nite

Yamato: That’s a new one. Who assigned that?

Kakashi: Me. 😔 I’ve been told clan relations are my problem now

Yamato: I can hardly wrap my head around you being a politician. 

Kakashi: I’m having a hard time wrapping my head around u nearly getting chakra exhaustion from a spar

Yamato: How many times have YOU gotten chakra exhaustion?

Kakashi: I haven’t kept a count 

Yamato: I have. 16.

Kakashi: That’s not bad. 1.4% of missions. Point is that’s what I expect from me, not u 

Yamato: Give me a break. I’ve only ever fought you when you had your sharingan. I didn’t account for how much stamina you’d have without it. My hospital check-up was quick and painless. 

Kakashi: Easy for u to say, u weren’t awake for the berating when I hauled u in

Yamato: Tsunade-sama or Sakura?

Kakashi: Sakura, thankfully. She still feels bad about hitting me, unlike her shishō

Yamato: Are we in trouble?

Kakashi: Don’t think so. The killing intent stopped after u woke up 

Kakashi: Sakura threatened to abandon her post and become a rogue ninja if we ever do it again, but I have a plan for that

Yamato: Do you anticipate Sakura leaving Konoha?

Kakashi: Not really. But after Sasuke I figured the other two should have contingencies, and I kept adding as u and Sai joined 

Yamato: Are you saying you have a plan for a scenario where all five other members of our team abandon the village? 

Kakashi: Don’t take this the wrong way but I have a 14-step-plan for that scenario

Yamato: Both impressive and concerning. 

Kakashi: That’s what they tell me in ninja therapy

Yamato: You have a therapist? 

Kakashi: Yeah. Don’t u?

Yamato: Don’t take this the wrong way, but I’ve never been more attracted to you.

Kakashi: Hm. What’s your average amount of attraction to me?

Yamato: I abstain from the question.

Kakashi: 🤔😈㊙️❓

--

Sakura to Team Thanks for Pardoning Sasuke, Sensei: reminder that our new team photo will be taken tomorrow. naruto buy a hairbrush. sensei and sasuke remember to show up on time 

Naruto: i own a hairbrush!! it just doesn’t work on my hair y’know

Sakura: bring it and i’ll help. i’m not breaking another one of my combs

Sasuke: Why do I get lumped in with Kakashi? I’m on time.

Sakura: you missed the last three years of team meetings

Sasuke: Touché. 

Sai: Do Yamato-taichō and I need to do anything? 

Sakura: i think you’ll both be fine. don’t worry too much about what kind of smile you need. be natural

Sai: I will join you early so we can practice being natural.

Sakura: that’s not what i meant. but sure we can get breakfast 

Naruto: me too!!!!

Sakura: NOT ichiraku. 

Naruto disliked “NOT ichiraku.” 

Sasuke liked “NOT ichiraku.” 

Naruto: :(((((((((((( ok 

Yamato: Kakashi and I will both have a meeting about the new housing developments first thing. I can make sure we get there.

Naruto: should u be spending so much time together?

Naruto: i don’t want yamato-taichō to catch ur chakra exaustion again kaka-sensei

Kakashi: For the last time, I did not GIVE Yamato chakra exhaustion. U can’t catch it

Sakura: debatable.

Sai: Sakura does offer medical credibility to Naruto’s theory.

Kakashi: Tenzō, tell them.

Yamato: I haven’t ruled it out.

Naruto: SEE. ur contagious sensei 

Kakashi: I miss when u all found me intimidating

Sasuke: We never found you intimidating. 

Sakura liked “We never found you intimidating.”

Naruto liked “We never found you intimidating.”

Yamato: Didn’t you make them homemade bento on their first day? Not your most menacing tactic. 

Naruto: tbh iruka-sensei and jiraiya-sensei had a lot more rules than u 

Naruto: ur gonna have to work on that as Hokage!

Sai: If you would like, I can pretend to find you intimidating. I’m a very good actor. 

Kakashi: Thank u, Sai. 😔🤘 

--

Anko to Jōnin Gone Wild: @Shiranui Genma, Married, Colleagues, Divorce: Gai, Raidō, Aoba 

Genma: Easy. Marry Raidō, Colleagues Gai, Divorce Aoba

Aoba: I understand

Gai: You have ALWAYS been an EXCELLENT Colleague, my friend!!!

Raidō: 👌

Yamato: What kind of a game is this?

Anko: Kakashi invented it. Something about it being a therapy exercise

Kakashi: Actually, my therapist advised against it. But I’m glad we have a new game. Shizune was 2 good at online mahjong

Shizune: You would be too if you grew up with Tsunade-sama. Also your next meeting is 5 minutes. I’ll bring the briefing when I’m upstairs

Kurenai: You know, as Hokage, technically Kakashi is responsible for all active shinobi. He shouldn’t be allowed to date any of his colleagues

Anko: Hahahah, government-mandated celibacy

Kakashi: I’ve been Hokage for like 3 days and none of u respect authority anyways 

Kurenai: Are you saying you DO want to date a jōnin?

Anko emphasized, “Are you saying you DO want to date a jōnin?”

Yamato emphasized, “Are you saying you DO want to date a jōnin?”

Kakashi: U think I don’t know a trap when I see one

Shizune: He has a picture of gljljLKHGLJ

Shizune: I would like everyone to know that Kakashi-sama grabbed my phone when I was writing that message. 

Kakashi: Aiming for meeting brief. New depth perception with 2 eyes. Talk later bye

--

Yamato to Celibacy Senpai: Explain to me how the game works again. Since we’re colleagues, we can’t be married or divorced?

Kakashi to Comrade Featured in Several GROUP Photos: It’s more of a state of mind

Kakashi: Take for example, if I had u, Yugao and Ibiki. I’d Colleagues Yugao, Divorce Ibiki and Marry u. 

Yamato: That implies you were married to Ibiki before me. 

Kakashi: Would it affect ur interest in marrying me?

Yamato: No, but I’d wonder why we didn’t get married first. We get along more.

Kakashi: We prioritized our friendship over other potential kinds of bonds

Yamato: I think we've got a pretty good track record for adapting. Besides, spouses should be friends. Anyway, none of this answers the question of why you’d suddenly marry someone else.

Kakashi: We were separated by a tsunami. U lost ur memory and I couldn’t find u so Ibiki and I got together so the kids could have another role model

Yamato: How long was I gone before you moved on? 

Kakashi: We co-parented but I didn’t move on. That’s why u and I get married 

Yamato: What if I’m more of a long-term-romantic-roommates kind of guy? 

Kakashi: I’d make that work

Yamato: In the game?

Kakashi: Sure. In the game

--

Naruto to Team Congratulations Chūbu Sai: i went 2 the yamanaka flower shop for plant food after we met up and u’ll never guess what i saw!! u know the bandana guy?

Yamato: Genma? 

Kakashi: Ibiki?

Sakura: Ebisu-sensei? 

Naruto: no. sasuke hair

Kakashi: Izumo

Yamato: Izumo. 

Naruto: yeah him!! he was buying flowers for that other guy. big stick.

Sakura: 🤨

Kakashi: That’s Kotetsu. And? 

Naruto: he was BUYING FLOWERS. for that GUY. for a DATE!!!!!

Sai: Ino tells me it is customary to bring your partner gifts like flowers to show your affection. 

Naruto: I DIDN’T KNOW THAT WAS AN OPTION!!

Kakashi: Dating Kotetsu? It isn’t. He’s in a relationship. And he’s too old for u

Naruto: DATING A GUY!!

Yamato: Why didn’t you think it was an option, Naruto? 

Naruto: i mean, everyone thinks that way about guys and girls and everyone 

Naruto: but no one DOES IT, y’know

Sai questioned “i mean, everyone thinks that way about guys and girls and everyone.” 

Sai: Is that true?

Sakura: i think this is the wrong chat to ask that question in 

Yamato emphasized, “i think this is the wrong chat to ask that question in.”

Sai: Why? 

Kakashi: I can give u a book that will explain it, Sai. Anyway Naruto, people can date anyone they want, within reason. As long as the people involved like each other

Naruto: anyone?

Kakashi: Yeah. Even more than one person at once. Right, Sasuke? 👨🏻‍🎤

Sasuke: What’s that emoji supposed to mean?

Kakashi: I just like to make sure ur phone is on. 

Naruto: i gotta go for a walk

--

Yamato to It’s Kakamplicated: I’m going to tell him.

Kakashi to Konoha’s Next Top Anbu (Not a Sex Thing. Maybe A Sex Thing): Give him a few more days, he’ll figure it out 

Yamato: …How long did it take you to figure it out?

Kakashi: I abstain from the question

Yamato: 🙄

Kakashi: Fine. 19. 

Yamato: Age or years?

Kakashi: Definitely one of those two things. Next question 

--

Iruka to Senseis R Us: What have you been telling Naruto?

Kakashi: U’ll have to be more specific

Iruka: Why did Naruto say he was going to hang out with my ex-husband?!

Kakashi: What makes u think I have anything to do with it

Iruka: I didn’t say I was talking to you. However, he was going to see your team and I don’t think Yamato-san is responsible for this!!

Yamato: I’m going to leave this one in Kakashi’s capable hands.

Iruka: Kakashi. What is wrong with you?

Yamato: Becoming a chunin at the age of 6, a strangely public black ops career, a possible attachment disorder and some very interesting tan lines. 

Kakashi: That’s the kunai calling the shuriken sharp. 

Kakashi: Also I’ll show u some interesting tan lines

Yamato loved “Also I’ll show u some interesting tan lines.” 

Kakashi: Anyway. I didn’t say much, Naruto was just curious about our history 

Iruka: We don’t have a history?? 

Kakashi: What about when I reupholstered your sofa?

Iruka: Was that... a romantic activity for you?

Kakashi: This is why we’d never work out, Iruka. 

Iruka: Because you text like a member of the cypher corps? 

Yamato: It’s not so bad. His birthday messages are very heartfelt. 

Kakashi loved “It’s not so bad. His birthday messages are very heartfelt.”

Kakashi: Thank you, Tenzō.  

Iruka: Who’s Tenzō?

Yamato liked “Who’s Tenzō?” 

Kakashi loved “Who’s Tenzō?” 

Iruka: This is going on your performance review as an ex-husband.

Kakashi: That’s fair

--

Yamato to Kakashinova: Have you seen my uniform belt? 

Kakashi to Some Kind of Wooderful: I have not. U do keep taking it off every time we eat if that helps?

Yamato: I can’t get used to the placement. But I’ll need to find it or order another one before my next check-in. You know how they are about item counts. 

Kakashi: U can use one of mine if u want 

Yamato: Your black belt which has Rokudaime Hokage stitched on the inside? I’ll pass, thanks. 

Kakashi: I don’t know why they keep putting that on everything. But u can’t see that part while ur wearing it anyway. It’s the same belt 

Yamato: Yes, but the Anbu would know it was your belt. I get enough heat for how much time we spend together as it is.

Kakashi: Favouritism?

Yamato: More like wisecracks about holding a torch for you. 

Kakashi: Haha why. Do you have a crush on me, Tenzō?

Yamato: You know the answer to this one. Next question.

Kakashi: What makes u think I know the answer?

Yamato: You’re the smartest person in this village. And we see each other every day.

Kakashi: We all have our Shodaime’s nipple

Yamato: Some of us more than most. Let’s try a different question. How many times have we kissed each other?

Kakashi: 7. 9 and a half if u count missions 

Yamato: Where are you getting the half from?

Kakashi: CPR

Yamato: Ah. So, in those nine-and-a-half moments... You didn’t have any suppositions? Inferences? Lessons gleaned from experience? 

Kakashi: Four and a half of them we’d need to discount for recall, and the last few are harder to report on due to observer bias

Yamato: The observer bias in you gauging my romantic feelings.

Kakashi: Yes

Yamato: Because you would like?

Kakashi: You

Yamato: Me to what?

Kakashi: Long-term romantic roommates, eventually

Yamato: Oh.

Kakashi: Yeah. Do you mind?

Yamato: No, I don’t mind. Maybe we can start with dinner and a walk first? 

Yamato: And Kakashi? I long-term romantic roommates you too. 

Kakashi: That’s a funny way to ask me on a date. 💘 See u in an hour?

Yamato: It’s on.

#kakashi hatake #yamato tenzo #kakayama #tendaysoftenzo #tenzashi #naruto series #mine #fanfiction #long post #team 7 #ayesha talks anime #as always. i'll ignore that some of u are late if u ignore that i am the latest ;) #one day i hope the couch reupholstering story will see the light of day #i will make no apologies for my sense of humour LMAO #except to iruka. i love u mineral water <3

[shinracha]

Not sure if I'm gonna be able to finish ten days of Tenzō bc school started again and I'm pretty busy aaaa :,,,)

[rookie98writes]

Not Until I Say So

Part of the ANBU Series Prev → Next

Relationship: Hatake Kakashi x fem!Reader

Rating: Explicit - Minors DNI

Warnings: smut, mild dubcon (power imbalance), degradation, bondage, sensory deprivation, vaginal fingering, cunnilingus, vaginal sex, unprotected sex, edging, orgasm delay/denial, overstimulation, creampie, praise kink, cum eating, multiple orgasms, POV reader

Word Count: 5.9k

Summary: As the newly appointed fourth member of Team Ro, you expect to pick up right where you and Kakashi left off.

AO3 Link

The first thing you learned about being a shinobi in the ANBU black ops was that you should never expect to be comfortable on missions. All too often, you were hungry and sleep-deprived, muscles aching from hours spent running through endless miles of forest. So when your latest mission brought you to a place that could best be described as an estate—or maybe a palace—you tried not to get your hopes too high.

After all, it certainly wasn't a vacation. It was one of the most important assignments you’d gotten yet. 

Team Ro had spent the last few days trekking to the home of the Daimyō of the Land of Fire. Lord Third would be hosting him for some kind of diplomatic event that was likely to have all the shinobi in the village prickly from working overtime. Your job—rather, your team’s job—was to escort the Daimyō safely from his home to Konohagakure, then back again after the event was over. The fact of the Daimyō’s traveling had been kept on a strict need-to-know basis, so the risk of running into trouble was hopefully as low as possible, to your immense relief.

You had enough to worry about.

It had been a few weeks since you had officially been made a member of Team Ro, and the mixed signals you were getting from your captain were more tiresome than the actual assignments. Your unspoken agreement was like a tangible force between you, drawing you and Kakashi closer with each passing hour. You felt his gaze on you at every turn, and he consistently found ways to touch you and tease you—giving you a conspiratorial look with the promise of more to come. Yet every time you tried to finally act on the palpable tension, he would brush you off and flatly whisper, “Not yet.”

Countless nights in countless camps, you’d waited in your makeshift bed, hoping Kakashi would sneak in and order you up on your knees again. But every night you fell asleep wired and untouched, and every morning you would find yourself fighting your growing sexual frustration. The desire compounded on itself until you could barely focus on the mission at hand. On the evening your team reached your destination, you put all your effort into pushing all thoughts of lewd acts with your captain out of your mind until the escort mission was successfully completed.

The Daimyō’s staff welcomed your team warmly, providing each of you with your own quarters where you could rest after they fed you a hot meal. Tenzō enthusiastically dove into the curry dish, and both you and Yūgao couldn’t wait to lie down in a warm bed. But your captain only curtly nodded in thanks for the hospitality. He didn't even seem comfortable removing his porcelain mask; keeping it on until the Daimyō insisted he remove it.

Kakashi’s (mostly) uncovered face only made it more painfully difficult to keep your libido under control. It was pathetic; how just watching him sit at the Daimyō’s ornate table, fiddling with his meal in silence, made your mind glaze over with memories. Those fingers tangled in your hair. That dark eye staring down at you. His hands tugging you forward so that your lips slid further and further down his—

Knock it off. You're an ANBU professional. Act like one.

You physically shook off the train of thought, focusing instead on the story Tenzō had been telling for the past ten minutes. The gesture had been subtle, but it hadn't gone unnoticed by Kakashi. You felt his gaze burning through you, his dark eye fixed on you as you swallowed.

His eye didn’t meet yours—his gaze was lower. Just barely lower, his eyelid narrowing like he’d spotted food on your face and couldn’t handle the secondhand embarrassment. Absent-mindedly, you poked out your tongue and licked the corner of your mouth. In that same moment, Kakashi abruptly pushed away from the table and picked up his plate, announcing that he would take his meal in private and escaping before anyone could question him.

You looked to Tenzō and Yūgao for some kind of guidance; deferring to their judgment since they had been under Kakashi’s leadership much longer than you had. “What was that about?”

“Eh, that’s pretty typical for him,” Tenzō shrugged. “I wouldn’t worry about it.”

Even though the youngest member of your team was also the one who’d been working with Kakashi the longest, you still couldn’t shake the uneasy feeling as the three of you went your separate ways. Your teammates were eager for rest before setting out on the escort mission in the morning, and you knew you should have the same objective on your mind. But as you passed the door to Kakashi’s room, it was like your feet stopped on their own; your hand gently knocking on the door without your command.

“Come in.” His reply was gruff and succinct. You figured he had already identified you by your chakra.

Entering the room, you found Kakashi seated at the small desk beside the bed, pouring over one of the team’s scrolls. He had removed his arm guards, gloves, and his dō; now dressed only in his undershirt and pants. He looked good enough to make you blush, and you realized that this was the first time you were seeing Kakashi’s bare hands and forearms. Light scars ran up his arms in patterns resembling exposed branches in the dead of winter. His skin was pulled taut over prominent muscles and veins. And his hands…

Those hands were instruments of death. Mortally precise tools that Kakashi used to expertly kill his enemies and complete his missions. Yet you could only think of the things they had done in your tent in the quiet of night.

You blinked and cleared your throat. “Captain…”

“Y/N.” He didn’t even bother looking up.

You felt like an idiot, just standing there staring at him. But it was difficult for you to reconcile this man with the one who’d gripped your hips and taken you from behind like his life depended on it. His inconsistent behavior was disorienting, and left you floundering to find what to say.

“I-Is everything ready for tomorrow?”

Kakashi let out a sigh as his hand stilled. “No, actually.” He turned and finally looked at you. “You’ve been distracted.”

It was not a question, or a concerned check-in. He was annoyed at best and ready to request your replacement on the team at worst. “I can't have you acting like this once we head out in the morning,” he continued. “Whatever it is, handle it. Now. If you can’t do that, head home tonight so you stay out of the way.”

Gods, how does he get away with being so rude all the time?! He knew exactly what the issue was.

Fine. I'll handle it. “It’s you.”

Kakashi’s face was unsettlingly blank as he stared you down. “What did you just say?”

“It’s you, Captain.”

“And, how exactly am I a problem for you?”

His tone was beyond exasperated, like he’d never heard an excuse more stupid than yours. It made you doubt yourself, and you could hear it in your own voice.

“Because of how you're acting toward me,” you tried to explain. “You keep…putting me off.”

He continued to stare at you, letting the uncomfortable silence stretch for a few minutes before he stood to his full height.

“Are you fucking serious?” he barked. “That’s what’s got you acting up?”

Much as you tried to fight it, your embarrassment and frustration manifested all over your face, tears of irritation welling in your eyes. You only felt worse when your hand instinctively came up to your face in a sorry effort to wipe the emotions away.

Kakashi took one step toward you, crowding you with his presence. His hand suddenly gripped your wrist and roughly pulled it away from your face. “You want my cock so bad you're crying over it.”

His abrupt change in demeanor had you sputtering. A denial was on the tip of your tongue, but your brain held the response back. Heat singed your cheeks as you realized his perverse statement was completely true.

“Poor thing. Don't you know you're supposed to trust your captain’s decisions?”

The condescending tilt of his head left you speechless. You didn't even try to break free of his grip; you just looked up at him with your lips barely parted, waiting for him to tell you what to do next. Even if he hadn’t been your superior, he would still have this insane power over you, just by virtue of being him.

“You’ll get what you want,” he purred, “but first, you have to give me what I want.”

Desperation crept into your voice. “What can I—”

He slapped his free hand over your mouth. “Just shut up, and be a good little subordinate.” He tilted his head in the other direction, his hidden smirk crinkling his eyes. “Think you can do that for me?”

He uncovered your mouth, and you easily fell back into your role. “Yes Captain.”

“Hmm, let’s see if that's true. Take off your clothes.”

Your heart raced as you followed the order, quickly tugging your top off and letting it fall to the floor. The rest of your clothes followed one-by-one until you were left fully bare under your captain’s inspection. His eye hungrily roamed your body as he took a few steps closer.

“Good. Now lie on the bed. On your back.”

You didn't dare look away from him as you sat on the bed and repositioned yourself to lay flat. Kakashi followed you closely, as though there were a tether between you, not letting you distance yourself by more than an inch. He crawled onto the bed, straddling you and settling himself over your hips to pin you down.

Kakashi held eye contact as he tugged down on his waistband with one hand, reaching in with the other and pulling out his half-hard cock. The overdue sight made your mouth water. His tip was swollen and leaking, a dribble of clear precum smeared over the deep pink flesh.

“This what you want?” he taunted you, tightening his fingers around the pale shaft and pumping to bring it fully to life. “This what you've been whining for?”

You leaned forward, eager to taste him again. “Mhmm…”

“Not yet.” He pushed your forehead back. “You'll have to be a good girl if you want my cock.”

“S-sorry Captain.”

“Honestly, I thought I taught you better than that by now.” Kakashi looked down his nose at you and you could see it in his eye; the moment the idea formed in his mind. He reached his free hand into his weapon pouch. “Arms up,” he ordered, removing his hand and revealing a neatly-wound ankle wrap. “Over your head.”

Tingles erupted over every inch of your body at his words. Your eyes roamed over the muscles in his arms as you followed his order and raised your hands, wrists crossed over your head. He pulled the wrap taut between his hands, watching you with an intent that had your thighs rubbing together. He reached forward to start tying your hands to the elegant headboard. The shift in his body position caused his cock to rub over your belly, trailing sticky precum over your skin.

You adjusted your body a little to try and give his dick the attention that you’d prefer to give him with your hands, but he continued to focus on securing you down; pulling the ties until the cloth bit into the soft skin of your wrists, tightened to a point just shy of painful.

“Try to get away.”

Getting away from him was the last thing you wanted to do, but damned if you didn't try your hardest; twisting and wriggling and trying to throw him off—clawing at the ties to see if you had any chance of escaping.

It was as useless as you expected. You quickly gave up, huffing out a breath and letting your body drop like dead weight. Kakashi looked happier than you’d ever seen him, his hidden smile causing his eye to shine with sadistic delight while his unattended cock twitched.

“You really can't break free, can you?”

“No sir.”

“Absolutely pathetic.” He shook his head. “What kind of shinobi are you?”

He shamelessly looked over your body, heat blooming under your skin in the wake of his gaze. “You're completely helpless,” he remarked, cupping your breasts and circling your nipples with his thumbs. “I could do anything to you.”

Your brain was so fogged with lust, all you could do was weakly nod.

“But where to start…” he mused aloud, tilting his head. He reached forward with his right hand and caught your jaw between his thumb and curled index finger, applying pressure and manipulating your head in small increments. He angled your head back a bit, his eye roaming over the column of your throat and your parted lips.

“I know exactly what I want to do.”

Kakashi put his other hand behind your head and pulled it forward. He released your chin and reached into his pocket, pulling out another strip of cloth.

Your eyes widened as he draped the cloth across your face and obscured your vision. “Capt—”

“Shhh.” Kakashi leaned down and tightened the blindfold, tying it securely behind your head and making sure it wouldn’t slide out of place. “You're going to show me that you trust me,” he said. “You are going to let me do whatever I want, and you will not question me.”

He hovered so close that you could smell him. A true stealth expert, Kakashi only carried the scents of his surroundings on him. The dew of the morning, the sharp pine of the trees, a hint of the sweet spice of the night’s dinner. His presence had never been so apparent, so blatant, and you wanted to inhale until your lungs burst.

“If you follow those rules, I’ll make you cum so hard you won't even need this blindfold. Got it?” 

You nodded, and you heard Kakashi’s amused little chuckle as he leaned away, his weight shifted backward off the bed. Just like that, your senses were starved. He was perfectly hidden in every way; even his chakra signature was masked. He might as well not even be in the room. Tension coiled in your muscles as you fought the urge to move; to get away. Under any other circumstances you would have broken the headboard—or your own wrists if necessary. It was plain shinobi instinct: don't get captured. Was this some kind of mind game? Or worse—a test? He said to trust him and you did but—

Weight returned to the mattress, and warmth fanned over your mouth in the half-second before you felt lips pressing against your own. Your shoulders stiffened as you instinctively prepared to shove your assailant away, but the newly-familiar scent of fresh pine overtook your senses and you knew, despite how unbelievable it was.

Kakashi had removed his mask, and was now kissing you. His bare mouth was on yours.

The binding around your wrists tightened as you pulled at them to try to get closer. He held your wrists down with one hand and put the other on your throat to keep you in place, then pulled back just enough for the kiss to break and leave you gasping for more.

“Greedy girl,” he whispered. His mouth was still so close that you felt his words washing over your lips. “Don't rush me.”

Kakashi leaned back in, taking your mouth again and easily establishing his dominance over you despite being a bit clumsy in his movements. Inexperience was the last thing you ever expected Kakashi to show, and the fact that it was so surreal was the only thing keeping you from believing this was some kind of fever dream.

You had to work to hold back the desperation simmering under your skin. Every cell in your body wanted more of him, but you didn’t want to risk doing anything that would cause him to pull away. But after only a minute or so, you could feel the change in the way he kissed you. It was like he was reading your body and reacting; altering his moves with intuitive precision.

Never had a kiss affected you like this before; goosebumps breaking out over your limbs as your heart fluttered. Your body’s heightened reactions only got worse when he snaked his tongue between your lips and demanded entry. Deep moans vibrated off his lips as he licked inside your mouth. You couldn’t identify any specific taste to him. He just tasted like him; without the muddled flavor of any food or drink. The taste you were experiencing was one hundred percent pure Kakashi.

You rolled your hips and felt his hard cock, heavy and hot and unignorable. Heat radiated off of him and you finally recognized that he hadn't just removed his mask—he had removed everything. Kakashi Hatake, Captain of Team Ro, was fully naked above you, rubbing his body against yours and frenching you like you were his sole source of oxygen.

If this was a test, you would happily fail it ten thousand times over.

You threw yourself into the kiss, meeting his enthusiasm and savoring everything he gave you. If you couldn’t see him, you were damn well going to feel everything there was to feel. His teeth scraped over your lower lip before he sucked it into his mouth, biting down on the flesh sharply enough to draw a cry from your throat.

Kakashi suddenly pulled away, and you felt him bury his face in your neck. You whined, desperate for him to come back to you. But he nuzzled closer and deeply inhaled, his naked mouth brushing over your racing pulse. “Fuck,” he shuddered. “I like that even more than I thought I would.”

Before you could respond, he harshly sucked the skin of your neck into his mouth, making you gasp out in a mixture of pain and pleasure. His wide palm covered your mouth and stifled the sound.

“Don’t you remember?” he hissed against your skin. “You need to stay quiet.”

Kakashi’s curious tongue ran all along your neck, following the tense muscles hidden just under the skin. He started sucking and biting at your flesh, causing you to whine and mewl despite his command. At this rate, he was going to leave your neck completely covered in hickeys.

Your own tongue was heavy with warnings. Not so hard, careful, people will see!

But as he kept going, you realized that Kakashi was moving so quickly along your body, there wasn't a chance he stayed in one spot long enough to create a mark. His teeth raced their way over your collarbone and lower, lower until his tongue and lips massaged the round flesh of your breast. It was there that he finally slowed down. His wet tongue ran all over your tit before he abruptly sucked your nipple into his greedy mouth.

“Ah! Captain!”

Scoffing, he released you with a harsh pop. “Shhhh. Will I have to gag you as well?”

You gently shook your head. “Mm-mm.”

“Just let me do what I want to you.” He pinched your tight nipples between his fingers and tugged. A cry built in your throat but you forced yourself to keep quiet, only the tiniest whine escaping your lips. “Pretty tits,” he mumbled before rubbing his smooth face between them. “Soft…”

His mouth was warm as he kissed and licked at your chest, his impatient hands gripping your waist. Arousal was building so quickly between your legs, it was almost uncomfortable. In an effort to ease your growing need, you rolled your hips again for some friction. You’d lost track of where all his limbs were, and your core was searching for his abs or his thigh—just anything solid. Instead, you were met with two of his long fingers pushing deep into your aching cunt.

You gasped and felt yourself clench around his fingers. Unwilling to let him go, your hips pressed closer to him, trapping your clit against the rough heel of his hand. The relief sent stars bursting inside the darkness of your vision.

“Wet little hole,” Kakashi groaned against your chest. “You are my toy. You exist for me to use how I want, when I want.” He crooked his fingers and started pumping them in and out, humming as you ground your clit into him. “Such a good fucktoy for your captain.”

His mouth claimed your nipple again, biting and sucking and moaning as his tongue swirled around the sensitive peak. The bites were almost painful. While you’d been confident that he had left your neck unscathed, you doubted your breasts would receive the same consideration. Not that it mattered; no one would see them anyway.

No one but him.

The stimulation had you dizzy. His fingers were as needy as his mouth, both working you over with more and more intensity. All you could hear was the wet squelching between your legs and Kakashi’s haphazard grunts and huffs. Tightness coiled in your belly as you felt your inner walls flutter around his fingers. He already had you on the edge—just a little more, just a little more…

He pulled completely away before you reached your orgasm. You tried to sit up in protest, forgetting your bindings until they forced you back onto the mattress. Frustration and confusion filled the void that the stolen pleasure had left in your gut.

“Awww, what’s wrong? Little slut didn’t get to cum?”

Kakashi pushed his thumb into your clit and wound slow circles around it, chuckling at the broken look on your face.

“You really think I’m gonna let you cum when you haven't done anything for me yet?” He slapped his solid, dripping cock down on your stomach. “I’ve been this hard for days. All because of you. I’m gonna take everything I want from you.”

He removed his thumb, instead settling the shaft of his dick over your clit and rubbing it over you just enough to make you writhe for more. You heard wet slurping sounds and realized he was eating your slick off his fingers.

“Fuck, is that what your cunt tastes like?” He groaned, audibly lapping his tongue over his digits. His weight shifted and you jumped as you felt his finger swipe over your entrance. “Have some,” he ordered, stuffing his finger in your mouth. It wasn’t the first time you’d tasted yourself, but you could taste him as well—his finger coated in a mixture of your arousal and his saliva. It tasted divine. You greedily licked and sucked on his finger to savor the combination.

“Tastes good, huh?” He slid his finger out of your mouth and you whimpered. Kakashi chuckled before moving again, nipping at your ribs and making you squirm as his teeth assaulted their way down your sensitive skin. If you still wondered whether he'd left marks on your breasts, you just knew those sharp canines were going to leave their imprint as they passed over your hip bone and explored your inner thigh. “I think I want some more myself.”

Kakashi held you by your hips and rubbed his nose along your sex, breathing in deeply enough that you could feel it. His hot breath fanned over your entrance in a deep growl. “Almost smells as good as it tastes.”

He yanked you toward his mouth with his full strength. The cloth at your wrists resisted and you could hear the creak of the headboard being nearly pulled out of the frame. His tongue messily swirled itself over your folds, lapping and probing with blind hunger. Your thighs clamped down on his ears. Without giving you a chance to move them back, Kakashi shifted his hands to keep your thighs in place, effectively smothering himself between your legs.

It was like you’d died and gone to a heaven more perfect than anyone deserved. His mouth was just as thorough as it had been when he kissed you, only now it was ten times as vulgar. His lips and tongue loudly worked you over in an uncoordinated display, like he was possessed with the sole purpose of eating your cunt. Just that enthusiasm from him—a man known to keep his composure even on the brink of death—and you felt that familiar heat build below your navel again.

You clawed at the bindings, desperate for anything to hold. In your mind, you were carding your fingers through his hair, gripping and tugging and pushing his face into yourself. Your hips bucked and you gasped when his nose brushed over your clit.

“Capt—Aah!!”

He pulled away at the last second, again. That smug bastard.

“Ah ah ah.” He clicked his tongue. “You’re not allowed to cum. Not until I say so.”

Your heart was pounding out of your chest. Heavy breaths fell from your parched lips. “Please Captain…”

“I'm teaching you patience, eager little whore,” he said, pinching your nipple and making you yelp. Then he put his hands on the backs of your thighs, pushing them forward and exposing every inch of your swollen sex. “You’ll cum when I want you to.”

Kakashi gently ran his nose along the skin of your inner thighs, teasing your cunt with barely-there kisses. The callused pads of his fingers dug into the meat of your thighs and spread you wide. “You’re my toy, Y/N. I’m not done playing with you yet. I have a lot more that I want to try.”

He licked one long stripe up the full length of your sex, chuckling at the way you trembled on his tongue.

“You’ll cum when I decide you deserve it.”

“Y-yes Captain…”

The muscles of your cunt clenched around nothing, feeling so empty and needy. His breath fanned over your entrance and your walls shivered, suddenly feeling shy under his scrutiny. You pushed against his grip, but you were no match for his strength, helpless to stop him from burying his nose in your folds and snarling like an animal.

Kakashi had you completely at his mercy, left with no choice but to endure the assault of his secret mouth for as long as he wanted. Which, judging by the way you could both hear and feel his grunts of pleasure, would be quite some time. Numbness settled in your fingers as he tugged you further and caused your bindings to tighten that last little bit.

Kakashi was already pussy drunk from his first taste. He messily licked the juices from your folds, loudly slobbering over you despite telling you to be quiet. “Shit you’re wet,” he muttered. “Try’na drown me?”

“Captain—”

He sucked your clit into his mouth and roughly tongued at the sensitive bundle of nerves, working it as aggressively as he’d treated your nipple. It was everything you never knew you needed. The same heat built right back up in your lower abdomen. This time, you fought the urge to squeeze your thighs together. But if he stopped again, you might cry. You were so close—right on the edge, and you were almost willing to lock your legs closed to guarantee he would finally finish what he’d started.

“C-c-captain!”

His fingers pushed you down into the mattress, breaking the connection and putting your needy body just out of reach of his mouth. You had to bite down on your lower lip to keep from screaming.

He grazed the sharp points of his incisors along your sensitive folds. “Say my name.”

The stolen orgasm had left you breathless and mindless, but every cell in your subservient body understood how disrespectful it was to address your captain by his actual name.

The hard K sound was easy enough—you could easily still address him by his title. But his request felt like an order, and trusting him was the name of the game.

“K-Kakashi.”

It was suddenly too quiet; you could hear the echo of his name settle in every corner of the room. Your thighs trembled, but he held you statue-still. You were ready to burst when you felt the tip of his tongue flick over your clit, followed by his gravelly voice.

“Again.”

“Kakashi.”

He flattened his tongue and licked a fat stripe over your sex. “Again.”

You started chanting his name in a whirlwind of moans, sighs, and pleas; each time rewarded with the stimulation of his rough tongue worshiping your clit. He lapped you over and over and over until you finally, finally felt the tension snap. Your legs wrapped around his head and held his face against your cunt as you rode out your high in a silent scream.

When the worst of the aftershocks faded, your legs fell as dead weight on either side of him. Your tongue was dry, your mouth wide open and panting. It was the best orgasm you’d ever had, and it left you seeing not only stars, but the entire universe.

Your body stayed spent and useless as Kakashi prowled over you. “There,” he hummed. “Now it’s my turn.”

Immediately, you felt his entire throbbing length push past your still-quivering opening. He groaned and snapped his hips, stuffing every inch inside of you and forcing your gooey cum to spill out. He burrowed his hands beneath you and grabbed your ass, using it as leverage so he could angle you and reach the furthest depths of your insides.

“Ohhhhhh that’s it,” he grunted as he buried his face in the crook of your neck. “That's what I want.”

He quickly set an urgent pace, his cock pounding in and out of you like a piston while he pulled your bouncing body in to meet every thrust. He was reaching even deeper than he’d managed from behind. In surprise, your insides tensed and you squealed broken sounds as his fat cock abused your sensitive walls. 

“This is what you wanted,” Kakashi groaned against your throat. “Now be a good girl and take it.”

His filthy words only made you want more, even though you had no control on the matter. You would get whatever he wanted to give you. The way he moved inside of you was absolutely perfect, wetness slicking your hole and suctioning down on him every time his hips pulled away.

“Fuck, you’re soaked. Little slut for my cock.”

You let your tongue roll out of your mouth and you fully submitted to him. Your legs wrapped around his hips; your ankles crossed behind him to make sure he wouldn't completely pull out. Exhausted as your body was, you would give yourself to him until you broke. You only wished you could see him, or touch him. But you could hear him—panting and grunting and whining. He sounded like absolute lust and bone-deep satisfaction, muttering the whole time. 

“I haven't been able to stop thinking about this. Your sloppy cunt wrapped around my cock. Feels so good…couldn't keep waiting…h’ngh—”

Kakashi quickened his pace and gripped your ass tighter. His hips collided with yours faster and harder and more and more desperately. You could hear his balls slapping loudly against your ass, promising to give you everything he had to offer.

“Pretty toy…wanted to fuck you for so long,” he huffed. “It hasn't been easy…forcing myself not to fuck you the whole way here. Because I know I made myself—haa—perfectly clear, the first time I made you come apart around my cock.”

Kakashi pulled his face from your neck, leaning his forehead on yours and babbling against your lips. ���I told you this cunt was mine. You're mine. And I fucking meant it.”

You gasped, trying to capture his mouth with yours, but he kept it just out of reach while bullying his cock in and out, deep and demanding. “You're my girl,” he grunted. “Mine. This pussy’s mine. So I can fuck it whenever I want.”

“Yes…yours…Captain…”

He shoved one hand between your sweaty bodies, fiercely rubbing your clit as he continued pounding away at your cunt. “You only cum for me. No one touches you but me.”

“Only you Kakashi—”

“Gonna fill my little toy with cum. You’re gonna take it. Take every drop.”

“Y-yes please!”

“SHIT—ah!” He stuttered a long, indulgent groan against your mouth, his hips shakily following their rhythm as his cock released its full, sticky load inside you. You felt the warmth spread through the limited space inside you, drooling out of your cunt and leaving a gooey ring at the base of his cock. Your cunt fluttered around him, covetously milking those last creamy drops from his balls despite your insides already filled to capacity. His thumb didn't stop rubbing your clit until he was drained.

“That’s my girl,” he panted. His head dropped back down to your shoulder as he gasped to catch his breath. “Perfect little pussy.”

After a few minutes of letting his body recover, Kakashi lifted off of you and slowly pulled out. You whined as you felt the warm juices spurt out of you. It was hard to believe there was even that much left inside to leak out.

You jumped when he suddenly pushed two fingers back inside you, hooking them upward and scooping a thick glob of liquid out of your cunt. Then those same fingers pushed inside your open mouth and deposited the sticky substance on your tongue. A perfect combination of your bitter fluids and his salty cum burst over your tastebuds. You barely had a chance to moan before he removed his fingers and replaced them with his tongue, swirling it around yours and spreading the mixture of cum and slick and spit all over the inside of your mouth. He groaned against your lips and tilted your head back to allow himself deeper access.

When he finally pulled away, you could feel the string of combined fluids connecting his mouth to yours, thinning until it finally broke and landed on your chin.

“Don’t forget who you belong to,” he ordered.

You exhaled a deep, satisfied sigh. “I won’t.”

One metallic shink later, your hands were free. You sat up and rubbed your wrists but hesitated in taking off the blindfold. Were you allowed? It might ruin everything if you removed it too soon. But your anxiety was lifted away with the blindfold when Kakashi hooked one finger underneath and pulled the cloth upward, allowing you to finally look at him. To your deep dismay, he had already put back on all the clothes he had been wearing when you entered the room. But there was some kind of softness in his eyes, and an unmistakable blush across his cheeks.

“Go on, get dressed.”

You stood up and gently padded to the center of the room, where your clothes were abandoned in a messy pile. When you knelt down, you felt a warm sensation as a few drops of fluid wept from your pussy and started running down your leg. You quickly pulled your clothes into place, feeling Kakashi’s eyes on you the whole time.

“Now get some rest,” he instructed, shooing you out the door with a sharp smack to your ass. “And don’t let me catch you getting distracted on the return trip, or when we get back to the village, you’ll really be in for it.”

tags: @redskyvenus, @mostlyunsure, @joy-girl

► masterlist

#kakashi x reader smut #kakashi x reader #kakashi smut #kakashi hatake x reader #kakashi hatake smut #kakashi hatake x reader smut #kakashi x you #kakashi x y/n #anbu kakashi #the man the myth the menace #anbu kakashi smut #rookie98 #rookie98writes #rookie wrote #ao3 writer

[tenzoyamato]

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Naruto Rating: General Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: kakayama, Kakashi Hatake/Tenzō Yamato Characters: Hatake Kakashi, yamato tenzo Additional Tags: Husbands, Ten Days of Tenzo Series: Part 1 of Ten Years With Tenzō Summary:

Tenzō has planned out a tenth anniversary surprise for Kakashi and he wants it to be perfect.

@tendaysoftenzo Also, as promised. I’m tagging you. xD @depressedkakashihatake

Also, thank you again to @nijixrainbow for editing! 💜

#ten days of tenzo #Happy Birthday Tenzō #Happy 10th Anniversary #I hope you enjoy! #Day 10! #Free Day!

[kiro-sveta]

The best helper ever and the best goblin queen ever.

For Ten Days of Tenzō, 'Cats (Not the Musical)', and more importantly for two dear friends with lots of love.

#tendaysoftenzo #yamato tenzo #and goblin queen hobbes #for sloane and ran #wishing you lots of catharsis and rest and many happy memories #and many hugs and lots of love #<3 <3 <3

[ohayohimawari]

I made a podfic of The Zen of Tenzō for the free day in this year’s Ten Days of Tenzo event.

This story is dear to me. I’m so happy to revisit it, create new artwork for it, and share it in an audio format.

[Podfic] The Zen of Tenzō

Rated: T

Gen; no pairings

Summary: “In the era of peace, Tenzō wishes to claim some of it for himself, and he retires from shinobi life in order to pursue it. Follow the journey of his first year in robes in this series of parables.”

The above video is a preview, and you can find the entire podfic on AO3

#podfic #yamato #tenzo #kakashi #naruto #sasuke #sakura #orochimaru #kabuto #konohamaru #hima writes #hima reads #hima draws

[cyhyr]

Summer of Whump Day 12: Death

Fandom: Naruto

Rating: T

Pairing: Hatake Kakashi/Umino Iruka, pre-relationship.

WC: ~1560

Warnings: Graphic Depictions of Violence; attempted murder staged as suicide

Notes: GDV warning is conservative.

A/N: What are Motives, anyway. I just want to hurt these boys, who cares about Reasons. Also like, I am literally incapable of killing my whumpees BUT I will get them very. very close. And make everyone think they're dead.

~

Kakashi does everything he can to keep himself steady as he runs on the water, leading the charge into Water territory. The ANBU team following him keep their distance; all except Tenzō, who keeps pace just behind Kakashi’s shoulder.

“We’ll save him, senpai.”

The landmark mentioned in the ransom note is in view as Tenzō says this. Kakashi puts on a burst of speed.

Mist has had Iruka for a fortnight. Maybe they’ll get him back, but gods, in what condition?

~

“Number One reported Konoha shinobi closing in. The Copy-nin leads them.”

Iruka tries to hold back his wince, but this group has been nothing but honest about their intentions since he arrived in their camp. Spend the weeks they had with him making him wish he were dead, and then, when Konoha finally sends a retrieval team, granting that wish. For days, Iruka has held out hope that he could survive this. Now, his life has a definite endpoint.

Less than an hour.

“Perfect,” their boss says. He looks back at Iruka, along with the rest of the group; their toothy grins send chills down his spine. Iruka hasn’t caught any of their names. They’ve been careful to call each other by numbers, and the numbers seem to change from day to day; this one, though, the one with long, straight, white hair and teeth like a shark, was always boss.

Iruka’s wrists are torn up with rope burn, tied as they are against his lower back. Another length of rope leads from a meter-high post to a crude leather collar, tagged and sealed around his neck. If his hands were free, he could undo the seal on the collar with ease; without the tags around his neck, he could have fought back enough to eventually free his hands. Together, Iruka couldn’t rig a way out of the situation. The rope from the collar gives him enough slack to lay down if he needs to rest, but the Mist nin have never untied his wrists after the first time they made that mistake.

There had been seven of them, originally. Iruka is proud of the fact that there’s only five, a fortnight later; sealed and bound, they hadn’t thought he would be a threat.

Now, though, with minutes ticking down, Iruka had to find some other way to get out.

The Boss towers over him, and commands over his shoulder, “Tanto.” He holds out his hand while one of the lackeys (Three, today; yesterday, he was One—there doesn’t seem to be a pattern Iruka can figure out) places a sheathed tanto into his palm.

Iruka swallows his fear and speaks through it. “So, what? After all this, you’re just going to stab me? That’s how you grant the great wish of death for your captives?”

“Oh, this isn’t for you,” the Boss says. He makes a show of unsheathing the tanto, letting it gleam in the light from the gas lamps. Shrugging, nonchalant, he continues, “Well, I suppose in a way, it is. But really, it’s for Hatake.”

Iruka says nothing, waiting for the rest of the monologue.

“Boss, how’re we gonna get him to do it? It’s not like—”

“Shut up, Two.” The boss steps closer to Iruka, goes on one knee so they’re the same height, and says, “Listen, you can either do this yourself, or we can do it for you and stage it.”

Iruka shakes his head slowly. “I don’t—”

“You’ve been denying it the whole time, but we know you and Hatake are involved.” He sneers, “Lovers, even.”

“We’re not.” The denial comes quick and easy because it’s true. They hadn’t… Kakashi hasn’t even asked him out yet. They’re still dancing around each other, flirting and testing the waters.

“Yeah, yeah,” the Boss waves him off. “So anyway. Hatake’s father committed seppuku. Imagine what it’ll do to him to see his lover gone the same way.” He casually swings the tanto toward Iruka’s neck, then drags it over his chest and down to his navel.

“It will destroy him,” Iruka whispers, knowing that the Boss wants a response and finding himself incapable of keeping the horror inside.

“And the greatest weapon Konohagakure has ever cultivated will snap,” the Boss snapped the fingers on his free hand for emphasis, “just like that. Moving in and stealing the secrets and remaining strengths of Konoha will be a breeze with Hatake off the roster.”

“I won’t help you do this,” Iruka shakes his head. “Stage it all you want, but I will not go along quietly.”

"Suit yourself," the boss says, and slides the tanto into Iruka's belly, holding his shoulder with the other hand.

Iruka gasps, grunts; blood works its way up his throat and he coughs it out into the Boss’s neck. His arms tense behind him like he could fight back if only—but then the bastard drags the tanto up through organs and tissue to settle just underneath his ribcage.

He cries out. Blood stains his lap and the collar bites into his neck as he tries to lean forward and curl around the wound. Number Four cuts the bonds on his wrists and safely disarms the tags, pocketing them.

They leave the collar on him, but untie it from the post.

The Boss takes his hands and places one below the guard of the tanto, the other he lets Iruka cup around the blade. The wound is so large.

His pulse is fluttering behind his eyes.

They let him fall to the side, clutching the tanto. They cheer as they run away, regarding each other with a job well done.

I have to hold on, Iruka thinks, desperate to stay awake while blood loss and his weakening blood pressure pull him down into death. If nothing else, Kakashi needs to know I didn’t do this to myself…

~

As per instructions, the team plus Kakashi waits by the landmark for ten minutes. The second the tenth minute passes, Kakashi is on the move again, following his nose to the overwhelming smell of blood he’s praying isn’t Iruka’s. Tenzō is beside him again, and he knows he’s worrying the team but he can’t—

“Senpai, wait. Let me go first.”

“No.”

Kakashi pushes through the door they’ve found, and the smell punches him and makes him tense. But across the room is a post, and between him and it is a large table, and just at the edge of the table he can see a pair of bare feet tucked together.

He vaults the table and is beside Iruka’s body before he realizes it. And gods, did Iruka know he fell in the same position as Sakumo or was it staged to—

“...Ka..ka—?”

“MEDIC!”

The ANBU medic flashes to them, immediately beginning their mystical palm jutsu. The green light fills the space, and Kakashi lets himself relax just a bit.

He shifts so he’s at Iruka’s head, sees an ugly brown leather collar tight on his neck, and gently pulls on the buckle so he can slip it off. Iruka sighs when it’s gone; Kakashi throws it across the room, satisfied with the thunk it makes when it hits the opposite wall.

“Kakashi-san,” the medic, Otter, calls for him, “I can stabilize him, but we need to get back to Konoha with haste. He’ll need surgery to prevent long-term damage.”

“Then we move,” Kakashi says.

“I need to remove the tanto and heal that as much as possible first,” they continue.

“Also, we have the additional orders to remove the threat that took Iruka-sensei in the first place,” Rat says. He continues, “Cat and I can do that while you and Otter take care of the sensei.”

“That sounds—”

“There’s five of ‘em left,” Iruka grits.

Kakashi hushes him, putting a hand on his cheek. “Please, sensei, save your strength. Otter can fix you, but not if you keep making a bigger mess for them.”

“I—”

Iruka passes out and doesn’t finish. Kakashi leans in and listens, but his pulse is fluttering and he’s still breathing, so he sighs and sits back.

He looks up at Tenzō, who clearly doesn’t want to leave him, and says, “Your team, your call, Cat. Just keep Iruka from dying for now and I’ll follow you.”

Tenzō nods. He addresses the team, “Rat and I will pursue. Otter and Kakashi will begin the trek back to Konoha, with the priority of keeping Iruka-sensei alive and getting back as soon as possible.”

There are nods of agreement, and then the team breaks in half.

~

Hours later, they’re out of Water country and Kakashi is holding Iruka against his chest in front of the banked fire. Otter is resting across the way, having spent much of their chakra between travel and healing today.

Iruka stirs. Kakashi holds him tighter, and when Iruka murmurs, “Water,” he’s quick to uncap his canteen and press it gently to Iruka’s lips.

“I thought I’d lost you,” Kakashi breathes against Iruka’s temple.

Iruka finishes the mouthful of water. “I couldn’t let them—they wanted you to believe that I…”

“For a moment, I almost did.” Kakashi pulls Iruka ever closer. “You wouldn’t, though.”

“Never,” Iruka murmurs. He’s on his way back to unconsciousness. He rests his temple on Kakashi’s collarbone, presses his nose into Kakashi’s neck, and says, “Won’t ever hurt you. ‘Specially not like that.”

#summerofwhump #summerofwhump12 #death #fanfic #hatake kakashi #umino iruka #kakairu #my writing

[yoakkemae]

KAKASHI & HIS TIMELINE. // DO NOT REBLOG.

trigger warnings: suicide, child soldiers, murder, depression.

age four:

starts the academy.

sakumo commits suicide a few weeks before kakashi graduates from the academy.

age five:

kakashi becomes a genin.

moves out of the compound into a really small apartment because he kept on getting flashbacks to when he found sakumo’s body.

enters an apprenticeship with minato ( who is seventeen ) because he was a family friend due to sakumo being close friends to jiraiya.

age six:

right after his sixth birthday, minato picks up two students from the academy ( obito and rin, both who are four years older than kakashi ).

takes the chūnin exams. becomes a chūnin ( battles and wins against gai in the prelims, who is two years older than him ).

continues to be a part of team seven, but he also occasionally runs solo missions.

age eight:

rin and obito finally make chūnin, but kakashi and minato sometimes run missions by themselves ( or together ) without them while they were genin.

age nine:

kakashi becomes jōnin a little after his ninth birthday.

the fateful kannabi bridge mission.

age ten: 

a little bit after his tenth birthday, rin commits suicide via chidori.

kakashi is held for a few days in t&i due to the “suspicious” circumstances around rin’s death.

kakashi joins anbu a few months after.

age eleven: 

kakashi is ordered to protect kushina during her pregnancy.

age twelve:

the kyūbi attack. minato and kushina die.

kakashi really goes into anbu shit. starts running a fuckton of dark and classified missions.

age fifteen:

becomes anbu captain ( the youngest until itachi at thirteen ).

age eighteen:

his team at this point is tenzō ( one year younger ), yūgao ( two years younger ), and itachi ( seven years younger ).

is kind of darkly amused that they’re “team anbu prodigy” since they’re all really young, even for anbu.

age twenty:

itachi becomes an anbu captain. soon after, the uchiha massacre happens.

kakashi is one of the anbu members who helps to “clean” the uchiha massacre.

kakashi is asked to retire from anbu due to his ten years of service, which is a pretty long time for sandaime’s service anbu. ( the sandaime’s protecting anbu runs differently and don’t really run missions since they’re just protection detail, while danzō’s root anbu are essentially in it for life ).

becomes a jōnin-sensei, but fails his first team. thus, continues running missions, but usually b-ranks so he can adjust to jōnin life.

age twenty-four:

gets team 7, and the rest is history.

#⤷ kakashi h.【 ❝ those who abandon their friends are worse than scum. ❞ 】analysis.

[depressedkakashihatake]

How would Tenzō get the name Ten Cat Tommy? 🤔

I think the best way is that slowly Tenzo has been collecting and training cats (the first few with Kakashi’s help but then the last few all by himself) and it was definitly scary at first, but then one day him and Kakashi walk into a meeting between two rival gangs and only like 1 person from each gang survives to inform their bosses what happened

And while Kakashi and Tenzo did certainly kill people, their animals did a LOT of the work, and since Kakashi is already called the hound, someone tries to call Tenzo ‘the cat’ to which the guy who survives responsed “there are ten of those fucking things. THE cat doesn’t do it justice. This bastard is like Ten Cat ass hole.”

So that gets picked up and because Tenzo will kill anyone but Kakashi and Gai who tries to use the name Tenzo (he prefers to be called Yamato by others as Tenzo is a very personal name) they decide to go with ‘Tommy’ because it’s a good gang name and Tenzo won’t kill them for it

thus

the name Ten Cat Tommy is born lol

[dimancheetoile]

of stardust and galaxies

Written for @shikasaku-week Hanami 2020 Day 2 Prompt 1: of stardust and galaxies

Read on AO3

I had an absolute blast writing this, you have no idea. This story is set before another that will also be posted for ShikaSaku Week.

Yes I did re-use the parents I invented for Sakura in Withered Flowers but they're really not important enough in this story to warrant me spending time researching names for them.

Please tell me what you thought about this one, I'm truly interested given how much I like it!

•

The war went on for much longer than anyone could have ever anticipated. The losses were massive, in scale of destruction and in numbers. After a particularly violent attack from Madara, Konoha was simply razed off the map. Entirely and thoroughly destroyed, until not even the foundations of the buildings remained.

The scope of the fire jutsu Madara used went far deeper than simply destroying the entire history of their village and every single memory kept in those narrow streets and green parks. His black fire, raging and wild, scorched the earth deep into its own core. They tried to rebuild, for a while. Tenzō's mokuton had been vital to the reconstruction effort, but it quickly became apparent that it wasn't worth the chakra exhaustion. Nothing would grow on the cracked earth left behind by Madara's madness.

Driven out of their own homeland by starvation, Konoha's remaining population began its exodus.

Having lost most of the people who used to lead Konoha no Sato, and a good chunk of the people who would have been considered successors to those leaders, the citizens were aimless for days as they regrouped and gathered the very few items they had remade for their new homes that they were going to abandon one more time.

In the end, things settled in the way things always settle after a disaster. Desperation and urgency bred to create exceptional circumstances and someone who wanted nothing to do with power ended up with way too much of it on their hands for their taste.

Haruno Sakura was born to civilian parents in the Farmers' Guild, who only had one expectation for their daughter, which was to marry a nice civilian who owned a reasonable business or worked a reasonable job and live a reasonable life together until they died at a reasonable age only a reasonable amount of years apart.

Unfortunately for Haruno Hashiru and Uzumaki Noroshi, they would both lose their life in a raid of their small property in the farm lands around the village. Having no living relatives and her inheritance barely paying for the funeral arrangements and handling of their property, Sakura was put in the orphanage, and that was that.

Sakura grew up in one of the worst orphanages of the Five Nations, surrounded by children who suffer just as must as you and whose bitterness and malice is proportionate to how poorly they're, in turn, treated by the people supposed to care for them. You don't grow up in that kind of environment and have huge expectations for your life.

Had Sakura not met a clan heiress and her clan heirs friends when she was at a turning point in her life, she would have remained a low-life, desperate kid who would have grown up on the streets of a village that never had the emotional capacity to care for its civilian population, given that it was born out of the desperate attempt at peace of two historically warring clans that treated its own, very rare civilians like cannon fodder.

She would have grown up starved and angry, desperate to put food in her plate day by day. She would have begun selling her body at the age of twelve, to the highest bidder willing to pay for her virginity, and the money from that sale only would have put food on the table for three months, in the underground squat where she would have lived with a few other street urchins, leftovers from a government feasting on its weakest population.

(in another life, she would have kept her eyes shut, round, childish face crushed against the pillow and thankful that she didn't have to look into the beady eyes of the man paying for the last shreds of her hopeful innocence, his white mane moving in rhythm to the thrusting of his hips. She would have thrown a shaking hand forward when he was done, feeling cold and clammy inside, numbly wondering that he kinda looked like a frog, from this angle, then closed her fist around the money before leaving in a rush. In another life, the man would have pulled his loose pants back up under his yukata, feeling good about himself because he just gave a girl enough money to feed herself for a few months. In another life, it never would have crossed his mind that he could have simply given her the money and offered her a shoulder to cry on)

(in another life... right?)

She would have eventually joined a gang, on her knees as often as she would slit throats in back alleys, and a few days before her seventeenth birthday, she would have bled out in the backroom of an unregistered club, throat torn open by a masked figure in a grey uniform the gang members knew too well. As her life would have slowly poured out of her, she would have looked at the back of the ANBU that just killed her and was giving a highfive to the one standing closest, and she would have died with a smile on her lips because the figure smelled like the ramen from Ichiraku that she had never gotten to taste, too expensive for her and her crew.

But Sakura met three clan heirs and after living for ten years in the orphanage, she had been taken in by the Akimichi Clan, when the three friends had taken one look at her shared bunk, on the third day of knowing each others, and had unanimously decided that this would not do and their new friend needed a better place to live.

(Ino had stomped her feet and Shikamaru had pleaded and Chōji had cried a little and eventually, Chōza had caved in and took in the girl. None of the three sets of parents had told their children that their actions didn't solve the problem. None of the three sets of parents asked their heirs why they didn't insist on bringing back every single child from the orphanage, or asked them what they thought would happen to the other children who hadn't made friends with clan heirs. None of them asked anything, because as kind as they are with their own children, willing to give in to their whim of playing heroes for an orphan, they ultimately don't care enough to change a system that benefits them first)

Sakura grows up learning two very important lessons: no one cares about the civilians, and she'll never be in control of her own destiny.

So she's not surprised a single bit when, as the last surviving member of the inner circle around the executive powers of Konoha, she's eventually pushed to the top under the guise of “honoring the deceased” and “giving her the position she deserves for her heroic actions in the war” and named Nanadaime Hokage.

That night, as the slow caravan of Konoha survivors comes to a stop for supper and rest, Sakura crawls into her tent and cries herself to sleep.

A few days later, they finally reach Kiri and Sakura negotiates asylum with the Mizukage. In those few days, she's named herself a cabinet made of the last remaining experts amongst Konoha's sparse population. There aren't enough people in that cabinet for her liking but she can't afford to be picky, so she brings all three of them into the negotiations and they come out with the least worst deal they can hope for, one that is still considerably better than anything they would have managed before the days of the Alliance and better than anything Sakura could have come up with on her own.

The Konoha survivors are put in the deserted district where people who died in the Mist coup used to live in. It's a bit cramped, but they can't afford to complain, so they adapt. At least they have a roof over their head and enough food to feed everyone. Kiri was just as affected by the war as the other nations, though the village itself didn't suffer much in its infrastructure. But they're lacking the numbers lost on the battlefield, and that's where the Fire citizens come in.

People just fill in the gaps left by the war, integrating seamlessly into Wave's economy. They're not naturalized, keeping their Fire citizenship and Sakura remaining their leader. The way it works is that the workers build a wall to close the district off, with a big gate that remains, more often than not, open. Sakura lives in an old administration building, having transformed the top floor offices into a few bedrooms, a kitchen, and a bathroom, two empty rooms waiting to be converted to a kotatsu room and a shrine.

On the ground floor, she has meeting with her advisors, she does hearing for her people and she forges the basis of what promises to be the Fire-Mist treaty, a cooperation and integration policy that would make Konoha's survivors into what amounts to a foster village of Kiri. If this thing comes to pass, they would essentially be a separate state-entity, with its own laws and government, but with privileged relations with Kiri in terms of right of passage, trade, taxes, imports and exports, as well as an equal share of the land.

An equally beneficial treaty, then, but a text of law that still takes a long time to redact and hammer into shape to be certain that no one is getting screwed over by poor wording. The main thing that her village-within-a-village brings to the table is the proposition of an Academy of Medicine and a House of Health.

In short, Sakura would open what amounts to a carbon-copy of Konoha's Academy, training kids to become genin. From that point on, the children would get two options: either continue on the path of becoming a shinobi of Kirigakure, or join the Academy of Medicine and train as a medic-nin. All children of the village would go through the first part of the training, not only Konoha kids, and would receive complimentary medic training so that every genin, even if they don't go on to become medic-nin, have a solid understanding of chakra control and healing, in hopes of reducing field-losses.

The House of Health would be civilian medics, in every specialty, all in one place for convenience. Classes would be provided for Kiri citizens to learn first-aid or more in-depth knowledge. It would double as relief for the overcrowded Kiri hospital, taking in all non-threatening cases so that the hospital could focus entirely on its surgery division and two research labs, as well as the paediatric wing.

The House of Health would have a sub-division for monitoring pregnancies and offering a more casual environment for labour, with a few empty houses around the House, fully furnished and waiting for the soon-to-be parents. They would spend the entirety of the labour in the comfort of the provided home, going at their own pace and being on their own or with their family. And if anything goes wrong, there would be an entire House of professionals right next to the houses to give a hand when needed.

Those propositions are basically what sold the treaty to the Mizukage, despite a few clauses that she was a bit iffy on, but agreed to in the end because the prospect of a fully-functional, advanced medical system and healthcare administration, alongside trained professionals under the tutelage of the greatest medic in the world is one of those things you don't say no to, under any circumstances.

So the treaty is signed, the old Kiri Academy building is remodelled to host the new courses and the House of Health is built right next to the Konoha district. Happy endings, right?

It's another morning, another day of working a job she frankly wants no part in and that she only performs to the best of her abilities because she's aware of the weight of the enormous responsibility placed on her shoulders. You know. A typical morning.

There is a rasp on the door, barely a knock before the bamboo panel slides open. It's not meant for privacy anyway, simply there to protect the inside of the house against Kiri's weather. Sakura looks up from her paperwork, vaguely surprised to see Shikamaru standing there. Vaguely, because he's still her Councillor and they have a lot of private meetings without the rest of her advisors, and because she's way too exhausted to question anything more deeply than with mild curiosity and vague surprise.

“Hey, Shikamaru. What's the new disaster?”

Half-fallen over her desk, legs starting to sore from the extended kneeling, it takes her a moment to realize he's not moving, and he's not answering. She looks up, frowning, but what she sees on his face is enough to have her up and right in his space, taking one of his hands.

With Ino and Chōji, Shikamaru is amongst the three people she's known the longest in her life. Only her parents beat that record, and they're dead, so the three clan heirs are probably the people she knows the best as well. Living with Chōji might have made her slightly more attuned to his emotions, but the difference is inconsequential. So she knows for certain that something is wrong.

“Shikamaru?”

His lips are pressed into a thin line, his eyebrows furrowed. He's not looking her in the eye, instead looking down at their feet, still quiet. She dares a hand forward, brushing against the side of his arm before retracting, a small comfort for both of them, she hopes.

“I need your help,” he finally says through gritted teeth. With that, it seems like all the tension is drained from his body, and he looks more defeated than anything.

“You have it, always,” she answers, trying for a soothing voice but knowing her own anxiety at this weird situation is slipping through the cracks. Shikamaru has always been the stable one, the rock, and she knows, as sure as the sun rise and sets, that if he crumbles, he'll be taking her, and the entirety of Konoha with him.

He scoffs at her answer. “I never wanted you to know this. This is mine and I don't want you to know.”

She flinches a little, surprising herself by how much that hurts. For one second, Shikamaru catches it, and guilt joins the frustration and anxious expression on his face.

“I'm guessing you don't have a choice,” she says softly.

“I really, really don't.” He sighs, a sad, depressing little noise that Sakura feels all the way inside her bones. “I need you to- I need a surgery.”

Sakura's eyebrows rise in disbelief. “You... need me to operate on you? Why? What's going on? You know I can't just perform surgery on you based on your words, I need to do, at the very least, a physical exams, and maybe a few scans depending on where the problem lies.”

Shikamaru's smile is feral, self-deprecating, and she hates it so much. “Oh, trust me, you won't need to do scans.”

Sakura sighs, leaning against the way with a leg propped up.

“Would you consent to a physical exam right now? We can go to the House.”

Shikamaru shakes his head. “I don't want anyone to know there's something wrong with me. You don't need an exam room to see the problem anyway.”

She bites her lip in consideration, then nods seemingly to herself. “Alright, follow me then. We'll go to my place.”

The tension seems to bleed out of Shikamaru's shoulder and he accepts easily. Sakura leads them out of her office and into the corridor that leads to a staircase. After climbing it, Sakura slides the door panel open and walks into the part of the building that serves as her home.

Shikamaru follows her without a word until they reach one of her unoccupied bedrooms. Or that's what it used to be anyway. Shikamaru raises an eyebrow, looking at her questioningly. She gives him an awkward smile, gesturing at the miniaturized operation room and the drawers upon drawers of medical equipment.

“Look, you have no idea how many people just barge in through my window after a mission, Mist and Fire alike, just because they don't feel safe going to the hospital. Post-mission paranoia is real enough that I'm willing to indulge them, and I refuse to let a disaster happen at the hospital just because I want my beauty sleep.”

He nods, the reasoning sensible enough. It's not like she needs the four bedrooms anyway, given that she lives alone.

(silently, he wonders about that, why she's never dating, why she's never showing signs of being interested by anyone. He wonders how anyone can work as much as she does and not want to come home to someone who wants to take care of you. Dating, post-war, is awkward. No one wants to actively seek out partners, because everyone is just a little too depressed to be able to make the efforts required to have a healthy, communicative relationship. But on the other hand, a good bunch of them are getting desperate. He can't really talk, he's single too, but at least he's dated before, civilians and shinobi alike, and he knows how important it can be not to be alone)

(she's always been alone)

“Well, we're alone and I've got everything I need. Do you want to tell me what's going on, now?”

The knot is back in his stomach, and Sakura looks like she knows exactly how little he wants to talk about this. Not that any of her patients is ever easy, unless they're civilians, but she doesn't tell him that, because she wants him to trust her sometimes this year and not worsen the situation.

Eventually, Shikamaru sighs, and begins to unhook the clasps of his flack jacket. Sakura nods, satisfied, and brings the tray with her basic equipment closer. She already has her stethoscope around her neck and the monitor for his blood pressure, when he takes his shirt off, and really, she has to put down everything now, doesn't she, because it's obvious what's going on.

Shikamaru self-consciously crosses his arms in front of his chest, but it's not enough to cover the two scars running across his upper torso.

She sighs, dropping the monitor back on the tray, and looks at him, head slightly tilted.

“Does anyone else know?” she asks, more to get him to talk than because she needs to know. She has to get him to relax, to trust her with this.

“My parents, obviously. Ino's and Chōji's parents too. And the surgeon who did this, he was one of the first to openly do those surgeries, so my parents brought me all the way to Kumo to see him. He's- like me.”

“Thank you for sharing this with me, Shikamaru. It does me great honor to know you find me worthy of who you are.”

“I- Sakura, I need to know if... will you see me differently now?”

She's never seen him like this, so uncertain, so out of place. He's so confident and calm, such a driving force for their people. She hates to see him like this. Sakura offers her hand, in the space between them, and Shikamaru uncrosses his arms to take it without even pausing. She smiles softly, touched.

“Do you see me differently for my own scars, Shika?” With her free hand, she bunches her shirt up to show her midsection and the seven, thumb-long scars scattered on her skin. “Sasori skewered me like dango on a stick. His spikes were thorough and touched all of my lower organs. I have a fake portion of small intestine and I'll never be able to have a child. Do you see me differently, knowing my scars?” she asks again.

He's looking at her with wide eyes and a deep, bleak sorrow that they all learned from the war, when grief and tears could put you in danger and you needed to get over things quickly on the outside, only to break down on the inside later.

“I'm sorry,” he says quietly.

She shrugs. “I'm not. I killed an akatsuki member, someone who would have kept hurting people again and again, and both Gaara and Kankuro survived because I was a part of this mission. I won't ever regret losing a few pieces of meat if someone's life is on the line.”

She squeezes his hand, a small smile on her face.

“So, about that surgery. Were you asking about a cosmetic procedure, to make all the scarring disappear? Or were you thinking about bottom surgery?”

Shikamaru frowns, and she can see the cool, confident guy coming back little by little, putting a happy smile on her face. “I didn't know you could do something for the scarring. In that case, both I suppose.”

“Why come now? Why not before the war, or right after? Did something change?” She hates to ask personal questions when he already seems so uneasy, but she can't agree to anything without all the facts.

“Before the war, the surgeon we went to used to send me parcels with shots and creams. He stopped, I don't know if it's because of shortage, or not knowing where to send it, or-” Or maybe he's dead, she thinks but doesn't say. “I ran out of shots two months ago and I was fine for a while, but I- it came back,” he says awkwardly, a plea in his eyes for her to understand without him having to say it. She nods quickly, refusing to let him worry. “I can't live like this. I'm miserable, Sakura.”

To hear those words, from the kind of man Shikamaru is, is heartbreaking. He deserves nothing less than happiness and fulfillment, after everything he went through being the youngest chūnin, then the youngest jōnin, then a War Councillor. Someone as calm and reliable and smart as Shikamaru shouldn't be miserable. Not on my watch. Maybe being Hokage will finally do her some good, if it means she gets to help him feel good again.

Sakura nods, weighting her words carefully before speaking. “Well, the scarring I can take care of right now, it's quick and painless. However, for your surgery, I need to know what result you want. Size, shape, do you want to be able to have biological children, all of that.”

He doesn't try to hide his relief when she doesn't push or try to have him talk more about his mental health. Not that I won't later, she thinks, but she can cut him so slack right now, given hos vulnerable he must feel.

Shikamaru is silent for a long time, eyes downward on his hand in hers, looking deep in thought. She wraps her other hand around his, pressing gently to show her support.

“I have a feeling you're exponentially more competent than the man I saw when I was younger. He only had one option for me, and a pretty scary one. But I'd like to reduce the scarring now, yes. I haven't taken my shirt off in public my entire life.”

Sakura smirks, dirty and unashamed. “Oh trust me, it was for the best. You have no idea the talk I've heard in the onsen about the comparison some of the kunoichi and jōnin make. I think a good portion of them is keeping a tally and you staying as cool as a cucumber whenever they try to get in your pants is making you the grand prize of their little competition.”

He grins, a small blush on his face that Sakura doesn't comment on. “I'm not Sasuke or Naruto, I don't have an urge to flash everyone when I'm fighting bad guys.”

Sakura bursts out laughing, the joke so unexpected it releases all the tension she hadn't noticed was left in the room. It's the first time she laughed thinking about them ever since the war, and being suddenly the last living member of a cursed team. Feeling almost giddy with being able to laugh again, she raises their joined hands and kisses his knuckles. He looks at her with wide eyes, his blush even more noticeable now.

“Right, options,” she says, wiping a tear. “Lay down for me, will you? I'll start working while I explain.”

He obeys, laying down on the examination table while her hands light up in green. She gets closer, bending slightly over him to have better access, then her palms slowly swipe over his chest, her chakra coaxing his cells into duplicating faster and cloning the genetic makeup of the older, original cells around the scars. Slowly, the two raises lines begin to smooth and loose their color.

“So there's an invasive procedure, and even more invasive procedure.” Shikamaru snorts in nervous laughter and she gives him a wry smile. “The first one involves using the unneeded tissue from what's already there and constructing a penis using what your body knows to be his. With implants, you'll get testicles, and connecting nerves will give you sensation. You will be able to get a full erection, but because I'm only using pre-existing tissues, your result will remain small compared to the average.”

She can see that he's listening intensely, but his blush has crept onto his neck despite her using very clinical language. She finds it absolutely adorable but she doesn't fancy being choked to death by her own shadow so she doesn't mention it. She doesn't say it either, but she's so proud of him it warms her up from the inside.

“The more invasive surgery starts with me collecting sample from you to be grown in lab so I can get enough skin and nerves and muscle made of your genetic makeup to basically construct a penis of the size and shape of your choice. Once attached, just like the other option, it'll be fully functional, sensitive and responsive. Now in both cases, you'll have a choice between implants to give your testicles the appropriate shape, or they can also be grown in lab and I can use your eggs to synthesize sperm glands and make you fertile.”

Sakura leans back, her hands loosing their green tint. Shikamaru sits up, staring down at his chest with wide eyes, tracing with his fingers the smooth skin where his scars used to be and where nothing is left now but an absolutely normal chest.

“Now bear in mind that I've only theoretically managed a successful transplant to make someone fertile, but I was doing the opposite procedure on a woman. When you break it down, it's exactly the same process and I've synthesized it all before, but I've never done it on a man, simply because I was never asked to. I'm certain I can pull it off, but you know, warnings and all thaaa-wow!”

Sakura can't stop the shriek of surprise when Shikamaru draws her in for the strongest hug of her life. She flails for a moment before she manages to wrap her pinned arms around his waist, his own circling her shoulder and crushing her against his bare chest. Shikamaru hides his face in her neck, and she stops the words that were about to leave her mouth when she feels the first tear drop into her neck and roll down her chest.

He's crying silently, face scrunched up enough that she can feel it against her skin. She caresses his back, drawing patterns over his warm skin, and she hums gently, rocking them together to the rhythm of a song she can barely remember.

“Thank you,” he manages, his lips moving against the fragile skin of her neck.

“Always, Shikamaru. I promise.”

She doesn't move any more than her rocking his large, warm body, waiting for the storm to pass, for the clouds to part enough that they can see the stars. Finally, he releases her, rubbing harshly on his skin until she gives him a tissue. His eyes are red and puffy and his cheeks rubbed raw, but he's he most beautiful thing she's ever seen.

“I'll take the second option,” he finally says, clearing his throat when his voice cracks. “Including the fertility package. Do you do a price for family?” The joke is weak but he's trying and she's so proud she might just choke on it so she laughs and she draws him into a side hug, his head resting on her shoulder.

“Put some clothes on, exhibitionist. Let's get out of here and we'll talk more about this later, yeah?”

He nods silently and complies, following her out of the house and into the streets of Kiri. Time passed quickly and it's already well into the night. Without saying a word, Shikamaru takes her hand and laces their fingers together. She gives him a smile, shaking with excitement and giddy with the novelty of simply walking hand in hand with someone. The people of the Konoha District give them long looks, but their eyes are kind and their smiles wide, happy to see their leader finally take something for herself.

Kiri's night sky is beautiful, so different from the one in Konoha, often hidden in clouds. Here, they can see every single star winking at them from their shimmering clusters, count the constellations drawing patterns into the darkness of the void, watch galaxies form and die as they live day by day in their new normal.

“Hey, Sakura?”

She hums in response, looking away from the beautiful canvas of the sky. He's looking at her like she's personally responsible for every star shining above them, and her heart picks up.

“Can I take you out to dinner?”

She breathes in the joy, grins wide. “Of course you can.”

He blushes again, and it's her new favorite thing, she could watch him for hours. She's so happy and humbled that he trusted her with himself like that.

“On one condition, though.”

He does his best to hide his nervousness when he answers, “What is it?”

“Money upfront for the surgery, Nara. I want a kiss before the fourth date.”

He giggles, high and pretty, and even he seems surprised by it. “You've got yourself a deal, Hokage-sama.”

#shikasakuweek #shikasakuhanami #shikasaku #shikasakuhanami2020 #naruto #my writing

[mokutone]

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Where the majority of pages before were in red hues, this is all green and blue and teal, cool colors.

Over the entirety of the page, there is a drawing of Tenzō, naked and loosely coiled in black cords, just as he was in canon flashbacks to his time in Orochimaru's lab. His hair rises from his head as if floating. His expression is neutral. He appears to be the same age as he was in the red pages.

Tenzō's head dominate's panel one. His hair obscures a lot of the panel behind him, but we see a close image of ninja sandals on a tree branch. "The mission went impossibly smoothly," Tenzō recounts. "I only got injured because we were accosted during our return journey."

Tenzō's torsō rests over panel two. Behind him, to the left, his mokuton branches bind an enemy shinobi to a tree. To the right, Rabbit-Taichō is crouched on a branch and hand-signals at a different Tenzō, one which is fully dressed in his Anbu kit. Tenzō watches, his own hands poised in a seal. The Tenzō whose body stretches over the page continues, "They were rogue shinobi from the Hidden Rivers. But the mission itself was just gathering intel with Rabit-Taichō, from a lab just east of the border." Much like the black cords, the tails of the speech balloons weave and wrap around Tenzō's body.

The third panel is split by Tenzō's body. On the left, there's a single panel in the red hues of Kakashi's room. On the right, there are rows of lit, fluid-filled tanks. "A Lab?" Kakashi asks, looking uneasy, on his guard. "Yes," Tenzō's speech balloons reply. "An old one. Former hideout, but now truly civilian."

Tenzō's legs dangle over the fourth panel. Behind his legs, Tenzō and Rabbit-Taichō observe a fish as it swims in a tank. "The lab was conducting experiments on the chakra natures of non-summoned fish," Tenzō says.

"We deemed it safe after ten days of study, and several infiltrations."

/end ID

#my art #naruto #comics #yamato #yamato tenzo #tenzō #kakashi #i'm really proud of this page #i think it drives home that while he's carrying on a conversation with kakashi he's like. absolutely not present #and additionally it was aesthetically fun to use the gutters of the panels to cut up and physically disconnect parts of tenzō's body #actually in general this page was just really fun to draw and the first one i went to color lol #also a reminder: this is Not a shippy comic. u cannot get further away from romance than this comic. #caring about somebody or trying to help them through a panic attack. esp somebody you're marginally in charge of. is not a romantic act #kakashi is literally doing mental health triage and hes struggling w/ it hardcore despite trying his best #theres intimacy and vulnerability and trust here but none of those things are inherently romantic

[keepyourpantsongohan]

Millions of Light-Years (Kikoeru Yō)

But every ninja carries something like that around to a greater or lesser extent. I'm like that, too. (Sasuke Shinden, Epilogue). | Ten Days of Tenzo (@tendaysoftenzo) Day 5: Kakashi | AO3 |

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Sometime after the release of the Infinite Tsukuyomi, Kakashi visits. 

It is no surprise. Naruto had sought out his former captain’s tent this morning, with Sai on his heels. Sakura had been quick to follow, though her visit had been briefer, given the amount of injured and ailing in her care. It was only a matter of time before word would reach Kakashi, and Kakashi would reach him. 

And Kakashi has done so, quietly slipping into Tenzō’s tent as he lays in rest. Tenzo hasn’t looked at him, or even lifted his heavy eyelids, but if there is a person he could recognize by footstep and sigh alone, it would be Kakashi.

“Chakra exhaustion?” Kakashi asks, perhaps to himself. 

“Almost. I’m still regenerating, slowly.” Tenzō replies.

He opens his eyes, and Kakashi is different. 

To start with, he has two black eyes. The sharingan is conspicuously absent, a symmetry which feels strange to Tenzō, but he imagines, must be stranger still for Kakashi. Naruto had said something about that. It hadn’t made sense at the time. It still doesn’t make sense now. His flak jacket is in tatters, but there are no visible bandages aside from his leg wrappings. It is difficult to decipher anything from looking at his face, aside from the fact he likely hasn’t slept in several days. 

“Are you injured?” Kakashi asks him, pragmatically. 

It is one of the more straightforward questions Kakashi could have asked him. Tenzō thinks about it. His body aches all over, but it is difficult to point to a specific cause. 

“Whatever it is that two days of forcible tenketsu activation does to you. My heart is also being monitored for the effects of Kabuto’s poison. And there’s been damage to the bones of the left inner ear. Partial loss of hearing. Hozuki’s jutsu, I’m told.” 

“Anything permanent?”

“Shizune won’t say so,” Tenzō admits, disconcerted. “But the other medics suggest low rates of full recovery. Medical ninjutsu for the eyes and ears doesn’t tend to be so precise. Even for me.”

Kakashi would know better than most, he supposes, how medical ninjutsu cannot bring back something that has been shattered or severed. He looks back at the other man’s face. For his part, Kakashi nods and then inclines his head towards Tenzō. Tenzō presses one sore leg against another to allow his companion to sit on the edge of his bedding.

Kakashi’s movements are unusually slow, and it prompts Tenzō to ask, “And your injuries?”

“Lacerations to the chest and left knee. A puncture wound to the abdomen. More than a few cuts, bruises and burns. But nothing I haven’t dealt with before.” Kakashi shrugs. “Naruto and Sasuke are much more banged up than I am.” 

It is somewhat of an understatement, considering Naruto was sporting one less arm this morning than the last time Tenzō had seen him, but Tenzō supposes they should be grateful that that was all they lost. Besides... “Naruto told me that Sasuke is back.” 

“Sasuke’s back,” Kakashi agrees warmly. For the first time since he’s arrived, Tenzō sees his cheeks lift in a relieved smile. “A little worse for the wear. He doesn’t heal as quickly as Naruto, so he’s under Sakura’s care now.”

Tenzō tries to smile back at him, but the muscles in his own face feel sluggish and uncontrolled. He settles for nudging his friend with his closest knee with the hope his meaning is conveyed. 

In lieu of a response, Kakashi reaches out and offers him a clumsy pat on the ankle. It is familiar, and for that reason, it is unbearably heavy. It feels like a house has been dropped on his chest. 

“Kakashi,” Tenzō says finally. “What happened?”

Contrary to the sigh that he responds with, Kakashi leans back to lay down on top of Tenzō’s blanket beside him. “Naruto told you, didn’t he?”

“He did.” Tenzō concedes. He isn't owed anything more than the information he's already been given. Even less, perhaps. “But I...” He trails off, uncertain but wanting. 

“It’s a long story,” is Kakashi’s eventual reply. 

“Well, as you can see, I’m in a hurry,” Tenzō deadpans, lifting one hand tiredly.

The laugh that comes in reply is one that Tenzō can feel, as it pushes Kakashi’s shoulder against his own and causes Kakashi’s hair, wild as ever and lacking hitai-ate, to prod his cheek. “Okay,” the other man says, closing his eyes as if to brace himself. When they open again, his gaze is somewhere distant. “I guess I should start with Obito.”

“Madara,” Tenzō says, both a question and a prompt. This much, he’s managed to piece together, as convoluted as each war story he’s heard has been. 

It’s unclear whether Kakashi’s responding hm is in agreement or protest. “You know how I got the sharingan.”

He does. It is not something Kakashi has chosen to speak of often, but Tenzō knows from both village intel and Kakashi’s own rare, grave words about it, how it’d come into his possession. “Kannabi Bridge. Your teammate, Uchiha Obito.” 

Kakashi nods, and this too, Tenzō feels. In his periphery, he sees Kakashi raise a hand to his own face and then let it fall. “Obito gave me a lot of things that day. My nindō. More time with Rin. My life, and his eye.” 

Tenzō tries to turn his head minutely, close as they are, to look at Kakashi. His scar remains on his face, unchanged. “I’ll get to that part later,” Kakashi adds wryly. 

“Sorry,” Tenzō says, settling himself back. He interlocks his fingers, resting them on his stomach. “I’ll listen.” 

“You know that each sharingan can develop its own ability. Itachi’s Tsukuyomi. Shisui’s Kotoamatsukami. My Kamui.” 

At the first name, Tenzō bites down the urge to ask more questions. He wonders if this is how Naruto felt during their rasenshuriken training. But he nods, and Kakashi continues. “Before reinforcements arrived, there were only a few of us on the battlefield. Myself, Gai, Naruto and Bee. Kyūbi and Hachibi. Tobi, and the bijū under his control through the Gedō Statue.” 

With all that he knows Team 7 has faced in the past few days, this should hardly surprise Tenzō, but the image of Kakashi and Gai being underfoot even one bijū makes his blood run cold, let alone several. Unlike himself, Bee, or Naruto, they have no monstrous form of power to protect them. He feels a wave of nausea roll over him, and holds his fingers more tightly together. “You make it sound much simpler than it is,” Tenzō tells him. 

“That battle feels simpler than anything else I’ve seen recently,” Kakashi replies wearily. Tenzō feels a shaky inhale at his side. Kakashi’s voice is much quieter in his next words. “Tobi... Obito... we learned while fighting that my Kamui and his technique were the same. Two halves. The Infinite Tsukuyomi was the first Madara’s device, and Obito was the fuse.”

“I’m sorry,” Tenzō says again. 

“Me too,” says Kakashi. “For many things up until now. Obito, Rin, Itachi, Gai, you... There are a lot of things I wish I could’ve done differently.” 

They are looking at each other again, and Tenzō wonders what Kakashi sees in his face. “That isn’t your responsibility,” he says, more sharply than he intends. 

Kakashi raises a brow at him. Not unkindly, he replies, “Yours either.”

The words verge on something too close for comfort. Tenzō swallows around a suddenly tight throat. He unclasps his hands, flexing his fingers and retracting into a fist, once, twice, three times, repeating, feeling ten years old again all at once. It takes him a moment to catch his breath. “Naruto said... Obito helped you, in the end?”

Kakashi’s hand finds one of his, stilling it. He brings two of Tenzō’s fingers to his other wrist, letting Tenzō feel his steady pulse. It is slower than Tenzō’s counting, and his friend waits. When several moments of respite have passed, Kakashi tells him, “Obito helped us. We couldn’t have defeated Kaguya or undone the Infinite Tsukuyomi without him. We parted as friends.”

“I’d ask how, but I have a feeling I know.” Tenzō manages a smile this time. “Naruto has a way of getting people to see things through his eyes.”

Kakashi chuckles. “Better than anyone I know. He got through to Obito, and to Sasuke. He might’ve even eventually found a way to reach Madara, too, in time. He’s going to make quite the Hokage,” he adds. 

“Seventh, I hear,” Tenzō says slyly, tapping his fingers against his companion’s wrist.

To his amusement, Kakashi’s ears go red, his pulse picking up. “Ah, well...” And then, something in his face softens, and both eyes crease in a smile. “Yes.”

Yet again, Tenzō feels like he is walking the halls of a well-frequented haunt, only to find that the inside is not quite recognizable. But Kakashi’s expression is warm and sincere, and he grasps tightly onto the familiarity of that. “That’s what you get for saving the world,” he replies, as lightly as he is able. 

Kakashi shakes his head. “I don’t think I had much to do with that. They’d have found a way, with or without me.”

This terrain is more habitual, and Tenzō regains some of his footing. Eyeing his bedfellow doubtfully, he asks, “Is that so, Kakashi of the Susano’o?” 

At that, Kakashi flinches, letting out a startled laugh. He finally drops their gathered hands, but they land between their two bodies, so Tenzō can still feel the clamminess of Kakashi’s knuckles. “Where did you hear that?” 

“Naruto and Sakura seem to have taken it upon themselves to rehabilitate the reputation of every Uchiha who helped them out. They had a lot to say about your eyes.” Tenzō explains. With a furrowed brow, he adds, “Though I couldn’t really follow all of their stories.”

Kakashi sighs. “You’re not alone in that. No one else was awake for Kaguya’s return, so we’ve had a lot of explaining to do.”

Tenzō tries to picture it. “I imagine some of that must’ve been a tough sell.”

It paints a vaguely amusing mental image to picture Kakashi and his students trying to draw out diagrams of rabbit goddesses and alternate dimensions like a jōnin sensei might do while explaining chakra theory to their genin team. Tenzō visualizes the battlefield as a classroom, and imagines the Kage raising their hands to ask questions. 

“You’d be surprised what people are willing to accept if you release them from an endless genjutsu,” Kakashi says, interrupting his thoughts. 

Ah. Tsukuyomi. This is the one part of the war where his recollections are his own. 

Tenzō wonders if anyone else’s deepest desires were as mortifyingly mundane as his. So close within their reach. So contrary to what they have been able to achieve. His fist closes again, and this time it is Kakashi’s fingers that reach for his hand, pressing down. Calloused, warm, and unlike any that have been touching him lately. Not measuring, but grounding. 

“Do you remember much?” Kakashi asks. His tone is gentle, not unlike what he's used in particularly difficult missions, when they have faced an enemy he has no desire to fight.

It is only by merit of the polysemous nature of Kakashi’s question that Tenzō is able to answer. “Nothing that I can say now,” he says simply; beseechingly. 

In the pause that follows, he risks a look at Kakashi. His expression has an air of compassion that feels misplaced, but luckily, all the other man does is nod. Tenzō closes his eyes again. 

Kakashi’s breathing is so even beside him that Tenzō wonders if he might have fallen asleep. His own fatigue has started to catch up with him, weighing down his eyelids again and keeping them from reopening. Even the questions that remain in mind feel more and more distant, as if carried away by water. It is in this half-conscious state that Tenzō hears, “When you have something to say, I’ll listen.”

Tenzō remains silent, but he grips Kakashi's hand in turn as he drifts off. 

#ayesha talks anime #kakayama #kakashi hatake #yamato tenzo #tenzashi #long post #mine #fanfiction #tendaysoftenzo #ten days of tenzo #[brian holden voice] i'll ignore that some of u are late. if u ignore that i am the latest #it's not particularly romantic but there are certainly Vibes #all i am is gay ninjas in a trenchcoat holding hands xoxo #also i am acutely aware of the irony of the song i named this after LOL

[mokutone]

first day of @tendaysoftenzo ! i chose the prompt "birthday" bc i've long held a headcanon that yamato's actual birth date is lost to time and orochimaru and danzō's lack of interest in yamato's individual personhood.

follow up on where i think he got the birthdate from:

it was just some overworked black-ops intake mednin who had seen weirder shit on a tuesday than a new operative without a birthday.

#tenzōs induction into anbu took a while bc literally danzō would not hand over ANY of his medical files so they had to #fill everything out from scratch based on tenzō's best recollections and the anbu designated mednin's top guesses #that said with orochimaru just kinda discarding his subjects i doubt he cared enough to record accurate birthdate info #and with danzō seeing kinoe as a vessel for the first... #ANYWAY this was mostly an excuse to draw twntwn being passionate abt fortune telling #eventually shell get him with some tarot cards. he cant dodge that #all of gais students are alike to him in their fearsome tenacity #step-captain... #my art #naruto #yamato #tenzō #yamato tenzo #tenten #ten days of tenzō #tendaysoftenzo #i keep seeing the word soft in there. damn right he deserves to be soft #these are in pencil bc i still dont have time to sit down and ink and color a comic #BUT LIKE. for tenzō it acquires meaning because it is kind of his first day as a person in his own right #even under anbu hes much freer than he has ever been before and he is allowed to live in parts of himself #which is. anyway it becomes his birthday even if its not the day he was birthed

[mokutone]

#my art #naruto #yamato #tenzō #yamato tenzo #kakashi #this was one of my favorites of ten days of tenzō... #i think tenzō has a lot of like. social feelings and needs that bc of root he does not know how to express #so like. i think he would probably get a little overwhelmed in a good way abt something which should be simple like his teammate #falling asleep on him... #he is allowed a moment (unobserved) to deal with this in whatever way he likes. whatever way feels most natural #the unobserved part is important too. we love kakashi but his gaze can be a heavy thing im sure #but he sleeps. he rests. and tenzō is allowed to experience his own private explosion of camaraderie and homeness #sleepy art

[keepyourpantsongohan]

Age of Coming Reason

Maybe he was simply a child held captive by the ambiguity of the word “adult” itself. (Shikamaru Hiden, Ch. 4) | Written for @azuzel23 | Prompt: Second Childhoood | AO3 |

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Tenzō is 26 years old the first time he plays on a sports team. 

He is no stranger to training exercises to improve athletic ability. He’s done his fair share of rock climbing, push-ups, and whatever other tactical courses his ANBU teammates decided to throw at him. 

But standing in Training Field 3, trying to kick a ball into a goal marked only by two stones, while twelve-year-olds shout encouragement at him, is new. 

Konohamaru and his friends think more highly of Naruto than almost anyone else in the village, and as one of Naruto’s newly-dubbed mentors, Tenzō is a subject of moderate interest to them. So when the three genin showed up, ready for a challenge while Naruto was ready for a break, Tenzō had entertained them. 

“Moegi,” Tenzō calls out, while Naruto crowds him. He feigns moving forward and kicks the ball back into her path. It is further away from the goal, but Konohamaru is far enough from both the goal and the kunoichi that he and Naruto are not in a position to guard either well. 

Moegi scores. Udon lets out a triumphant cheer. 

“I thought you said you never played before, Yamato-taichō,” Naruto complains as they stand opposed for a face-off. Failing to remember, it appears, that it had been him who decided the teams. 

“I haven’t,” Tenzō admits, shrugging. “But it’s like any other game. Teamwork is important.”

Naruto huffs, as if it is the highest form of dishonour to imply his teamwork needs improvement. Perhaps it is, knowing who his jōnin sensei was. However, it doesn’t change the fact that Naruto and Konohamaru both move a little too independently to be an effective team. 

Tenzō smiles as he takes possession of the ball again. He runs downfield, making sure Udon is following. Konohamaru defends the goal this time. 

He passes to Udon, calling out his name, and the moment their opponent’s attention has switched focus, Udon passes right back. Tenzō scores. 

“Naruto-niichan, you said we could win even with two people!” Konohamaru calls out, crossing his arms. 

Naruto jogs over to Konohamaru. Tenzō holds back a laugh, seeing Naruto’s impassioned gestures as he speaks to the younger boy. But Konohamaru listens to him intently. Tenzō gets the feeling that the longer they play, the more their teamwork will improve.

It does get better. But not enough to defeat Tenzō, Moegi and Udon. They win the game 5-3, and Naruto and Konohamaru are sent to collect drinks for the winners while the other team collapses on the grass. Tenzō would be lying if he didn’t admit that he is out of breath, and ready for a break himself. The boys put up a good fight. 

There is a child-like sense of glee in winning an honest game. He tries to remember the last time he exercised just for fun. This might be the first. He wouldn’t mind a rematch. His grin widens. 

“You’re pretty good at this, Yamato-sensei,” Moegi tells him. 

“We never beat Konohamaru,” Udon adds, with a satisfied sniffle. 

Tenzō closes his eyes. “Well, today’s your lucky day. You were both excellent teammates.”

The two younger shinobi thank him, embarrassed but pleased to be praised. 

With his eyes still closed, he hears Moegi pipe up from his left. “D’you think if you weren’t a shinobi, you’d be a professional athlete?” 

“Once, when I was younger, I thought I’d join the circus.” Tenzō confesses, laughing to himself. It had been a brief dream, formulated at age ten while on a mission. 

Udon asks, bemusement in his voice, “The circus? What for?” 

“Juggling,” Tenzō says, straight-faced. His eyes are still closed, so he can’t be sure what faces they’re making, but he notes their silence, amused. 

A mokuton sideshow could have its own appeal. He could swallow trees. The pay would be a downgrade, but he’s got plenty of savings. 

“You’re a little weird, you know that, Yamato-sensei?” Moegi replies finally. 

Tenzō wonders what’s becoming of him that it feels like a compliment. “Thank you.” 

—

Tenzō is 27 years old the first time he receives a surprise party. 

Birthdays have always existed in an odd place for him. His records from his early days as shinobi, while accurate in mission count and accounts of his abilities, are murky at best when it comes to personal details. The truth of the matter is, he’s not sure what the birthdate on his record even marks. His entrance to Root? A cover story someone had invented for him? An estimate based on something Orochimaru left behind? He’s never felt inclined to ask. 

But it is his birthday, nonetheless. It is the day his ANBU teammates would drag him out for karaoke, or toss sweets into his hands, and tease him about growing like a weed. Whatever the origin of the date, he’s grown rather fond of the memories it brings. 

The only members of his new team who know what day he was born are Kakashi, by merit of their history, and Sai, having received a copy of his shinobi record from Danzō as bartering tool during their first mission together. 

Given that knowledge, he isn’t expecting much of a fuss. Kakashi would always acknowledge his birthday in ANBU, but it’s been years since they shared the day together. Tenzō can’t be sure he remembers. And birthdays are new to Sai. It’s unlikely the boy has ever celebrated his own. 

So, he settles on his couch with a book, content to let this birthday pass peacefully. 

That is, until, Kiba shows up at his window. “Hey, Yamato-taichō. Naruto’s looking for you.” 

Tenzō frowns. “Why wouldn’t Naruto come find me himself? He knows where I live.” 

Kiba shrugs. “Something about the Kyūbi and a stomach ache. Sounded like he needs your help.” 

That triggers every alarm bell in Tenzō’s brain. All thoughts of having a peaceful day leave him. His eyes dart to his palm, looking for a trace of the seal that would indicate if Naruto has called forth enough chakra for the Kyūbi’s cloak. There’s nothing, which means Naruto hasn’t lost control yet. He cannot assume it will stay that way. 

Tenzō stands, throwing on his flak vest and weapons pouches as fast as he ever has. “Take me to him, please, Kiba.” 

He’s forced to keep pace with Akamaru and Kiba. It is slower than he likes, given his level of concern, but he can’t feel any hint of the Kyūbi’s chakra, through his seal or the atmosphere. It can’t be as bad as he’s imagining. 

He lets the young man lead him through the village until they halt in front a familiar homestead. “This is Sakura’s house,” Tenzō notes, uneasy. 

“Yeah. Don’t worry too much. Everyone’s fine,” Kiba says, offering a hard clap on his back. “But you should go check on Naruto. Door’s unlocked.” 

Normally, Tenzō would knock. However, he’ll need to come in either way, so he takes Kiba’s advice and opens it, peering into the dark hallway, on edge. 

“SURPRISE!”

Tenzō jumps as the light flickers on, and crowd of smiling faces come into focus before him. Kakashi. Naruto. Sakura. Sai. Team Kurenai. Team Asuma. Team Gai. The jōnin around the village he has been getting to know better and better. All of them stand cramped in Sakura’s living room, in a discordant choir of “Happy Birthday Yamato!”

“Uh, thank you,” Tenzō says, a bit overwhelmed. 

“Kakashi-sensei told us it was your birthday, y’know!” Naruto says, beaming at him. “What are you now, 40?” 

Tenzō snorts incredulously. “I’m 27.” 

“You don’t look a day over 38,” Genma calls out, tossing a yellow party hat at him. 

“I’ll remember that when you’re turning 40,” Tenzō warns him. He is grinning too much for the words to have any animosity behind them. He puts on the party hat, suddenly glad he forgot his happuri. 

“Yamato-taichō, you have to look at the cake me and Hinata made,” Sakura tells him, grabbing his sleeve. 

Sai smiles benignly in his periphery. “Hinata has ensured that the cake is edible, Yamato-taichō.” 

Tenzō, wisely, chooses not to comment on this statement, but he does hide a smile when Sai dodges the elbow that Sakura aims his way. 

Soon, Tenzō is crowded around what does look like a delicious cake, featuring an indeterminate amount of candles, with warm bodies and laughter surrounding him on all sides. He flushes, swallowing a lump in his throat. 

A soothing hand lands between his shoulder blades, a steady weight pressing down. It grounds him. “Happy birthday, Tenzō,” murmurs Kakashi, near to his ear. “Did we manage to surprise you?” 

Tenzō blows out the candles, grinning from ear to ear. “Yeah, you got me.” 

—

Tenzō is 28 years old the first time he sneaks out of a relative’s house to go on a date. 

While calling the Fifth Hokage a relative is not technically inaccurate, genetically, it is only lately that he has begun to see the sense in acknowledging it. 

It seems unfair, to lay claim to anything of Tsunade’s, when his gift is something taken from her grandfather without permission. But that same gift is in the prototype for Naruto’s arm, which Tsunade had called him in to see with a triumphant smile. And it is she who invited him to stay in her home, to pour over her grandfather’s exuberant writings, bridging the gaps between the mysticism of Hashirama’s accounts and the science that is Tenzō’s existence. 

She does not poke or prod him. He has been asked for no blood samples, or strands of hair, as he expected. Instead, what she extracts from him is opinions. He isn’t sure that being her grandfather’s successor offers him any particular insight into the First Hokage’s psyche, but he is happy to help where he can. 

“Do you think he’s being literal, when he writes ‘reverses capillary degeneration?’” Tsunade asks, pointing to a page in one of her grandfather’s diaries. 

“Probably,” Tenzō replies, barely swallowing a yawn. He tries to blink the tiredness out of his eyes. “It would explain why White Zetsu could mould chakra.” 

Tsunade’s eyes narrow, and she shuts the book. “We’re not going to get anywhere if we’re this tired. Get some sleep,” she orders. 

Even if she weren’t his Hokage, Tenzō knows better than to put up a fight on this one. He stands, and inclines his head in a sluggish bow. “Goodnight, Tsunade-sama,” he says through another yawn. 

She waves him off. 

As soon as he is in the guest room he’s called his own these past few nights, Tenzō feels a presence. It isn’t anything significant enough to raise any alarms, but it is enough to wake him up. He makes a bee-line for the window. 

Sure enough, when he opens it, there is someone waiting there. “Hi Bisuke,” he says, giving the dog a scratch behind his ears. “Kakashi-senpai has a message for me?” 

Bisuke barks in agreement. “He said he’s breaking you out.” 

“I’m not a prisoner,” Tenzō says, smiling. 

Tenzō imagines Bisuke would shrug, if he could. “I’m just telling you what he said.”

“Tell him I’ll meet him outside in half an hour.” 

Bisuke, the same as his master in social graces, pops out of Tenzō’s windowsill in a puff of smoke. Tenzō takes a moment to wonder how Bisuke even got to the second floor of the house in the first place, considering how thin the window ledge is and his range of jumping. Putting it down to another of Kakashi’s eccentricities, Tenzō chuckles to himself. 

It is an impatient half-hour that Tenzō passes. Twenty-five minutes from Bisuke’s departure, he climbs out of his window and jumps down into the alley between Tsunade’s house and the next. He supposes it would be just as easy to go down the stairs. But it lacks decorum, being too fatigued to research yet perfectly energized to go meet someone. So he avoids Tsunade’s shrewd gaze by cutting through the side street, feeling like a teenager skulking away from their guardian.

It doesn’t help the feeling when Kakashi shows up where he’s leaning against Tsunade’s front door, ten minutes late, and the first thing the other man says is, “Sneaked out with telling her, hm?” 

“No,” says Tenzō, even though he did exactly that. “Tsunade-sama went to bed. I was being considerate.” 

It is even easier to tell when Kakashi’s smiling now that he can see both of his eyes. “Is that so?” 

“What brings you here this late anyway, senpai?” Tenzō asks, changing tack. He straightens up, nodding towards the house. “It really is just research. No rescue needed.” 

“You’ve been holed up in here for a few days,” says Kakashi readily. His hands are shoved in his pockets, but he takes one out to offer it to Tenzō. “I thought you could use some fresh air.” 

“I see,” Tenzō replies warmly. In the lexicon of Kakashi’s eccentricities, this is, I wanted to see you. His chest tightens in a pleasant way. He interlocks their fingers, wondering how something so familiar can feel so new. “Where to?” 

“Kotetsu tells me there are some nice views in the Forest of Death this time of year.” 

“Romantic,” Tenzō deadpans, but he lets Kakashi lead the way. “Remember, I still have more research to do in the morning. I can’t be out all night.”

“I’ll have you home before kaa-san wakes up.” Kakashi says, the picture of sincerity. 

“Shut up.” 

Kakashi does keep him out all night, though Tenzō is at least half to blame. So it is in the early hours of the morning that Tenzō is climbing back through his own window, with rumpled hair and grass-stained clothes, when Tsunade knocks to call him for breakfast. 

He barely slides under his blankets as Tsunade opens the door. “Good morning,” she greets him. “Food is downstairs when you’re ready.” 

“Thank you,” he says, heart hammering. 

She nods. After a moment, she adds, looking at Tenzō carefully, “You know, next time you can just invite him in.”

Tenzō saves his mortified laughter for when she’s gone, groaning into the futon all the while. 

—

Tenzō is 29 years old the first time he takes dance lessons. 

It is wedding season for an entire generation of Konoha’s ninja. Tenzō has been invited to many of them, and the latest is fast approaching. It’s a ceremony he’s looking forward to, as it is one of his former teammates who will be starting their new life as a family. Tenzō has prepared in many respects: his gift to the couple, supporting any arrangements, having cleared his mission schedule. But one barrier remains: choreography.

As a shinobi, and furthermore, as an ANBU captain, Tenzō has excellent balance, timing and coordination when it comes to ninja techniques. Yet, for reasons unbeknownst to him, this does not translate to a sense of rhythm. Whether with a partner or alone, somehow, he has always ended up stumbling over his own feet. 

But Anko is determined to make a project of him.

He’s done a commendable job of avoiding her so far. But now, she has him cornered in the jōnin lounge, and though he considers jumping out of the window, a sense of decorum makes him refrain. 

“Anko, it’s fine, really.” Tenzō says. He raises his hands, as if that would help him fend her off. “I don’t need to learn any dances. It’s not my wedding.” 

Anko grins. Her eagerness only makes Tenzō more wary. “Sai is marrying into the Yamanaka clan. Dancing is part of the deal.” 

Tenzō does know that much. He attended the wedding of one of Ino’s red-haired cousins the previous year, a war comrade of Team Kakashi. Sakura and Ino had asked Tenzō to join some sort of group dance, and he’d thrown Iruka in that particular shuriken’s path instead. 

“You’ll be expected to dance with Ino’s mother,” Anko says, cutting across his thoughts. 

Tenzō warms at the implication, but tells her, “Sai hasn’t asked me to do that.” 

Anko laughs, not unkindly. “He doesn’t know to ask. But you know as well as I do that you and Kakashi are the ones that kid needs to stand for him.”

If Anko’s intention is to make him feel responsible, it works. Tenzō sighs. “Then why isn’t Kakashi here learning too?” 

“Kakashi’s the Hokage now.” Anko reminds him. With some amusement, she adds, “Besides, he knows how to dance.” 

Tenzō sighs again and hangs his head in submission. “What are we doing first?” 

What comes first, it turns out, is stretching. It is a comfort that some of this lesson will be routine for Tenzō. She talks him through her plan, step-by-step. It is a far cry from the last time he tried to dance with someone, which consisted of Gai spinning him in circles until he felt motion sick. 

Stretching his hamstrings, it strikes him how long it’s been since he has had to sit for any kind of lesson. He and Tsunade have discussed medical jutsu, but he hasn’t ever been her student. It’s an odd feeling. One he can’t quite place. 

Arms locked in stretching her triceps, Anko says, “Lighten up a little, Yamato. I do these lessons for Academy kids sometimes. It’s all about the basics.” 

Tenzō does crack a smile then. “I don’t remember that part of the curriculum when I was in school.”

“Prodigies never remember anything from the Academy.” She scoffs. “They kick you out too fast.” 

Anko would make a good teacher, Tenzō thinks. She is loud, and sometimes crass, but so are most children. Her knack for defusing tension is something that Tenzō has grown to appreciate. His smile widens. 

He stands. “Alright, Anko-sensei. I’m counting on you.” 

—

Tenzō is 30 years old the first time he builds a sandcastle. 

Vacation is something of a foreign word to Tenzō. He’s been working as a shinobi since he was a child. And even in recent years, when he is in between missions, he finds himself helping out with Konoha’s infrastructure, housing developments, and consulting with businesses on architecture. He enjoys it all, but at face-value, he is a borderline workaholic. 

That is what Kakashi said anyway. Hypocritically, perhaps. It backfired in any case, because no sooner than Kakashi had pointed this out at their team dinner, had Sakura threatened to put them both on mandatory medical leave if they didn’t take a week off. So Tenzō finds himself on a beach, with Kakashi, and Gai, their designated supervisor to make sure they are relaxing. 

Allowing Kakashi to invite Gai join may have been a mistake on Sakura’s part, for her medical concerns, considering Gai and Kakashi do anything but relax when they are together. But Tenzō enjoys being referee for their handstand races across the sand. And Gai is good company in any case. Besides that, he is inclined to like anyone who makes Kakashi happy. 

Mulling over these reflections while he and Gai wait for Kakashi to retrieve food, he thinks there are worse things than having teammates who care enough about them to hassle them about taking breaks. He breathes out a silent laugh, wondering when he switched roles in this ‘looking after the kids’ paradigm. 

“You are deep in thought, my friend,” Gai observes, leaning back on his towel. 

Tenzō looks over at him, shielding his eyes from the sun. “I’m glad you could join us, Gai.”

Gai gives him a blinding smile. “I am glad too. The fresh ocean air truly invigorates the senses!” 

Tenzō nods. “I haven’t spent this much time at the coast since we went to Kumo.” It seems like a lifetime ago that he and Gai were hiding Naruto from the world on a turtle’s back. “Though we didn’t take much advantage of the beach then.” 

“We are here now,” Gai reminds him. “There is so much more to be done. Beach sports, examining sea life, building a sandcastle!” 

“I’ve never done that,” Tenzō admits. He’s seen them being built by enthusiastic youth in their days here, but sandcastles have never been something he’s ever stopped and sat down to create. 

“You must, Yamato,” Gai says, sitting up and clapping his hands. “We’ll both do it! We can create our own and when he returns, Kakashi will be our esteemed judge.” 

Tenzō is more rarely looped into actually competing than Gai or Kakashi, but he doesn’t mind the offer. He’s not above a friendly competition himself. So, he agrees to Gai’s challenge. 

Gai has an ambitious plan, with an expansive layout, several towers, and some kind of moat. He shuffles back and forth from the water, unconcerned if his cast gets wet. Before long, Tenzō is peeking over at what looks like a very impressive cityscape, an island with water on all sides.

Tenzō looks at his pile of sand. There hasn’t been much progress. He is used to building, and modelling what a building could look like. But his medium is wood, not sand. He tries forming towers with a cup, like he’s seen children do with buckets, but they don’t hold their shape. 

“Yamato,” Gai says kindly, turning his attention to Tenzō’s build. “May I give you some advice?” 

“Sure.” 

Gai holds out his hand for Tenzō’s cup, and when he has it, he scoops up some of the water surrounding his miniature island. He pours it on Tenzō’s pile of sand. “The sand needs more water to hold,” he explains. “That is why I built close to the tide line.” 

“Oh,” says Tenzō. He’d assumed the sand before him, not fully dry, would be enough. He smiles at Gai. “Thank you.” 

Tenzō manages to pull together a structure that, while rudimentary, holds. He is proud of his castle, four simple towers standing up in the sand.Gai, having completed his design some time ago, has moved back to his towel. His eyes flutter, murmuring to himself, and Tenzō realizes he’s fallen asleep. 

Quickly making a few hand-signs, Tenzō encourages a small tree to pop out suddenly from the sand, with a leafy branch that just so happens to shield Gai from the sun’s rays.  He moves back to his own blanket, content to sit and watch the sea. Gai remains snoring under Tenzō’s makeshift umbrella. 

He senses Kakashi before he hears him return. “We really are relaxing,” Kakashi says, laughing quietly as he puts down their lunch basket. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen Gai take a nap.” 

When Kakashi drops down between them onto the other half of Tenzō’s blanket, Tenzō rolls over, pressing his face to Kakashi’s shoulder. He throws an arm over the other man’s back, enjoying the warmth of Kakashi and the sun. 

“You’re going to give me a funny tan,” Kakashi says into his hair. 

Tenzō gives his significant other a once-over, as best he can from this angle. Shirtless, but still wearing a mask. “You already have a funny tan.” 

Kakashi snickers. “You might be right. Did you and Gai have a sandcastle competition?” Tenzō can feel him tilt his head, gesturing. 

“Sort of. We were going to ask you to judge the winner, but he fell asleep.” Tenzō explains, with Gai’s quiet snoring in the background. Chin still resting on Kakashi, he turns his gaze towards their builds. “I don’t think we followed the rules of competition anyway. He helped me.” 

“Ah. Forfeit, then?” Kakashi asks. 

“We’ll call it a practice round. We can make more after lunch.” 

Kakashi hums in acknowledgment. In an apologetic tone, he says, “I’ll need to be an impartial judge.” 

In mock affront, Tenzō asks, “Are you implying that my sandcastle skills are lacking?” 

“No, no. It’s a very nice sandcastle,” Kakashi says, a placating hand reaching to pat Tenzō’s hair. The motion dislodges Tenzō from his shoulder. 

Tenzō’s lips twitch upward as he rolls onto his side. “I didn’t tell you which one was mine.” 

“It’s my Sixth sense,” Kakashi says, turning just enough for Tenzō to see his wink. They both laugh at that. “Should we wake Gai for lunch?” 

“In a minute,” Tenzō tells him. He lies down again, closing his eyes. “I think we’ve all earned some rest.” 

#yamato tenzo #kakashi hatake #kakayama #tenzashi #he's in there i promsie #tsunade senju #anko mitarashi #might guy #ayesha talks anime #fanfiction #long post #mine #part 2 of long awaited promises #<3 #a tender ode to tenzo 4 u #author's note: tenzo probably WOULD know how to build a sandcastle #it just narratively fit if he struggled a bit kjhgjkhg