#yes i know kakashi could go on any of the squares. consider this: hes the only one that can go in fujoshi

[atoriv-art]

yeah

#kakashi hatake #yamato tenzo #maito gai #might guy #obito uchiha #2023 #art #fanart #naruto #dont look at me #yes i know kakashi could go on any of the squares. consider this: hes the only one that can go in fujoshi

[pi-cat000]

BNHA: Kakashi dimension hops crossover (6)

Summary: Kakashi gets dumbed into the My Hero Academia universe through random plot devise.

Characters:  Kakashi Hatake

Fandoms: My Hero Academia and Naruto

WARNINGS: Mentions of violence/injury

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As predicted, the day following the seal’s application is miserable. His chest is tight with almost anxiety, pins and needles run up and down his arms making his skin itch, and he is increasingly lethargic. All symptoms of a chakra imbalance and to be expected when one’s normal chakra replacement rate was thrown out. The sensations would pass once his body adjusted as they had with his sharingan.

He is eating three square meals a day, doing the bare minimum when it came to exercise routines and avoiding excess chakra use. It had been literal years since he had had this much bed rest. If he were ever going to slap a chakra collecting seal on himself, this was a perfect time. Okay, so maybe he should have steadily increased the chakra drain over the course of a few weeks for a smoother adjustment period. Hindsight and all that.

What mattered was that he would be fine, and he just had to wait it out. Bright side? No one had commented on the seal yet. Oh, he has definitely noticed serval people throwing the odd confused frown at his shoulder, but that was as far as anyone had gone in acknowledging it. His oh so clever strategy of acting like nothing was wrong worked so much better when he wasn’t surrounded by other shinobi and medic-nin.

“Your blood pressure is still too high. Are you sure you haven’t been experiencing any additional fatigue or other symptoms? Is something about the hospital causing additional stress? If there is something wrong, we should work on strategies to fix the problem.”

Well… it worked on everyone who wasn’t Wada. The man was irritatingly persistent in his doctoring. Apparently, the pressure of adjusting to an increased chakra drain wasn’t doing his body any favours.

“Maybe it’s a part of my quirk. High regeneration. High blood pressure.” Kakashi shrugs loosely not bothering to look up from HEROES and HEROINES May Issue. Unlike his previous reading material, people gave him odd looks when they saw him reading these magazines which immediately upped their entertainment value 100-fold.

Wada undoes the compression sleeve he had been using to measure Kakashi’s blood pressure, lecturing as he goes, “From what I can tell your cells produce more energy-rich molecules, ATP, NADH, then is typical, increasing cellular functions. Where your cells are getting the energy to produce these molecules, I have no idea seeing as you eat about the same amount as any baseline human. What I can safely say is that it should not influence your blood pressure. If anything, your blood pressure should be a bit lower than average. Now don’t dodge the question.”

He pauses, waiting for Kakashi to cave and suddenly confess. Kakashi, an old hat at dodging medical questions, continues reading unperturbed.

“I’ve been at this for over 30 years. An attack like the one you suffered is understandably traumatic, not to mention the stress of severe amnesia. I’m sure, whatever is bothering you, I’ve heard it before.”

Kakashi very much doubts that. “I feel fine.”

Wada huffs, unconvinced, “Young men. You all think that admitting you have a problem is a sign of weakness. High blood pressure can damage your heart and lead to problems  later in life so finding the cause is important.” Good thing a shinobi life spans tended to max out around 30. The odds of him making it to an age where he’d have to worry about the long-term effects of anything were pretty low. He doesn’t voice this opinion, continuing to read.

Wada continues talking with greater gusto, “No matter, I’ll prescribe you something for stress hopefully that’ll help with your blood pressure. However, this is no replacement for healthy habits both physical and mental. You should consider professional therapy.”

Kakashi snorts. Yeah, that sounds about right.

“Oh, you think that’s funny do you,” Wada makes to grab HEROES and HEROIENS and he lets the doctor pull the magazine free from his hand. It gives him a good view of the man’s irate expression.

“No, of course not.” Kakashi attempts to placate and gets a light smack over the head with said magazine for his troubles.

“There is no shame in pursuing a healthy mind!”

“Weren’t we going to test my quirk today?” He complains to derail the current line of questioning.

“I have half a mind to put it off and have you rest another week,” is threatened before Wada’s stern expression relaxes, “Lucky for you, I’ve booked you into serval tests that can’t be rescheduled.”

Kakashi breaths out dramatically. He thinks Wada might have made a good medic-nin if he had lived in Konoha. Sure, he is a little too trusting, but he was also not above pestering his patients into taking better care of themselves. Sakura would approve.

The doctor, with the assistance of an attending nurse he hadn’t bothered to learn the name of, helps Kakashi out of his bed and into a wheelchair, ignoring his protests about his leg being all but healed.

“You’re to avoid putting weight on it until you start physical therapy,” Wada snaps at his continued complaints, “You’ll need to be careful, extended bed rest and surgery can leave your muscles weakened. Also, leave that magazine behind. You’re doing eye tests when do you think you’ll have time to read!”

Kakashi doesn’t push the matter further, resigning himself to being wheeled down the hospital halls like the invalid he was pretending to be. It is not like Wada knew about his frequent excursions to the roof or the fact that he has been running through strengthening exercises on his own time for several weeks now.  Best he keeps that information to himself.

Partway down the hall, he pulls out HEROES and HEROIENS from where he had slipped it into his shirt, enjoying Wada’s exasperated expression. Of course, he stops reading when the doctor threatens to start lecturing again. The man could definitely talk when given the chance.

Wada and the nurse take wheel him to a set of double-door elevators which take them down several floors below the ground level. The hallway they exit of a mirror of every other hospital hallway. Grey and white walls, pale blue lino floor and bright fluorescent overhead lights. The only difference is that this hallway is lined with heavy-looking metal doors. From snooping through patient files, he knows that all quirk tests are carried out in specially designated underground ‘safety rooms.’ That doesn't make him any more thrilled about being several stories underground. It cut down on his escape roots.

“These are some of the more secure recovery wards in the hospital,” Wada explains as their little group stops at a small reception desk where the doctor taps away at a computer screen, “they’re mostly for treating patients with unstable quirks.” Kakashi maintains a neutral expression, accepting the explanation.

Wada wheels him up to a steel door, swiping his ID card which also doubled as a key to many areas of the hospital. The heavy door is automated and slides open. A lot of the doors in the hospital operate this way and always made sneaking around slightly more troublesome.

Inside walls and floor are plain white and there is an odd number of tables and chairs pushed to one side out of the way. Everything stinks of disinfectant. On the far wall is a single solitary painting of a tree in a field, the only splash of colour in an otherwise depressingly sparse room. A poor attempt at living up the space. The opposite wall sports a rectangular, reflective surface which was probably some sort of observation booth. Well, if being underground hadn’t put him on edge, this obvious confinement room definitely did the job. Kakashi eyes the space. Worse comes to worst, he could use the kamui and remove the adjoining hallway wall then climb his way out through the elevator shaft. There are only two other people in the room with him and one woman at the reception desk, all were most likely unenhanced with quirks unsuited to combat, easily removed.  He doesn’t let his body language reflect his unease. He is just a little on edge because the new seal is messing with his body’s natural homeostasis. If this is a trap there would have been other signs of deception before now.

“Yes, I know it might seem like a whole lot of fuss just to run through a few flashcards,” Wada comments, oblivious to Kakashi’s poor mood. He waves to his assisting nurse who wheels over and lowers one of the metallic tables so Kakashi doesn’t have to move from his wheelchair. “But it’s a standard safety procedure when an unknown quirk is involved. Trust me, this is a lot easier than travelling to an external testing range.”

Wada stops to give Kakashi a once over, frowning, “How much do you know about your quirk sub-type?”

Kakashi shrugs, “Nothing much.”

“Ah,” The doctor’s frown grows, and he grimaces, “Of course you don’t.” A sigh.

“Typically, ocular quirks will act to enhanced sight in some way or improve base level memorisation and recall ability. It is also common to have a replicating function, allowing the user to produce some sort of copy of things they see. In rarer cases, ocular quirks result in precognitive abilities.” Wada explanation falters, “They can also have a line-of-sight emitter effect, such as laser vision, optical blasts, a few instances of mind control and other mental effects. These can also be incredibly dangerous if the user isn’t in control. There have even been instances where whole buildings have been levelled.”

“I see.”  He supposes Wada's irritation at this private 'quirk' testing made a bit more sense. A doctor faced with an unknown and possibly dangerous ability would be annoyed if said patient went about experimenting without taking safety precautions.

“I should have checked whether you knew the dangers instead of just assuming. Apologies. That is my own error.”

He peers at Kakashi, almost guilty now, “and you don’t have a phone either so there would have been no way for you to research quirks yourself.”

“Ah,” Kakashi rubs the back of his head not likening how torn up the other man seems to be seeing as Kakashi had ever been in any real danger. “Don’t worry about it,” he reassures.  

His reassurances land flat, the doctor still frowning, “I’ll see if I can get you access to the internet somehow.”

Privately, Kakashi adds 'research' to the list of functions ‘phones’ apparently provided and 'internet' to his growing list of terms to investigate.

Wada sighs again. “Regardless, let’s get these tests done first.” He places a thick folder labelled National Standard for Registration: Kit Type 3 alongside one of those portable keyboard-less computers the doctors tended to carry around.  “Hold on, been a while since I’ve done one of these. Need to find the rights files. Ah, here we go. First, these rooms are monitored, and all tests are recorded. The data collected is confidential, accessible only to the patient and physician unless doing so causes the patent harm. Information regarding quirk function and use is shared with the Registry Office. You have a right to stop testing at any point. You got that?”

Kakashi grunts, his already poor mood souring further. He is not sure he wants the hospital - or anyone - keeping records of anything sharingan related.

“I’ll take that as a yes,” Wada continues unperturbed, a testament to his serval weeks of trying to doctor Kakashi, “remember to let me know if you’re experiencing any discomfort. Don’t want you busting anymore blood vessels.

Kakashi lets out a tired breath, “Sure.” The sooner they left this room the better.

“We’ll test memory and vision first to compare to your baseline, then we’ll run through the replication and precognitive tests just in case.”

The nurse, who had been on the opposite side of the room waves, “All ready over here.” There is now a large poster with letters of varying sizes hung on the wall. He recognises the chart from his previous eye tests.

“Okay, let’s start with just uncovering it. Make sure you’re looking away from me as a precaution.”

Kakashi resists rolling his non- sharingan eye at the obvious instruction, shifting his attention to the poster on the wall. He flips his padded eyepatch up with his index finger so it partially rests on his forehead. All the letters, no matter the size, immediately snap into sharp focus. Nothing spontaneously combusts under his gaze. When he glances at the painting of the tree, he can now see a lack of brush texture, suggesting that it wasn’t a painting but a print of some sort. With that useless information now forever etched into his memory, he turns back to examine at Wada.

The sharingan picks out all the wrinkles and pores lining the older face. It focuses in on minuscule muscle movements as the man’s expression shifts from professional and accommodating to curious. The doctor’s fingers twitch ever so slightly over his computer. Most likely an unconscious habit. The man’s breath is slightly uneven like his chest can’t smoothly expand, suggesting some sort of lung problem. A past smoking habit perhaps? Nothing threatening is revealed.

“Doctor.” Kakashi prompts when Wada spends a little too long staring back at him. The sharingun did have a weak hypnotic effect, encouraging extended eye contact to help catch targets in genjutsu. Kakashi rarely uncovered his eye in the presence of civilians so he doesn’t know if the effect is more pronounced or if Wada is just curious.

Wada blinks, “Well…I certainly see where the ‘wheel’ description comes from.” He spends a second more staring then turns to start writing notes and tapping away at his computer screen. “I wonder if those spinning tomoe are purely cosmetic or if they have some other function because they are certainly fascinating to look at. There is also faint bioluminescence to the eye which is a common feature of ocular quirks…”

Honestly, the blatant eye contact is weird. Even his closest allies tended to avoid looking at his sharingan out of habit - expect for Naruto who was an outlier in almost everything - for understandable reasons. He thinks the people here would also exercise caution if an ocular abilities included mind control or exploding a person through eye contact. But no, Wada just goes right ahead and stares. A few seconds later and the unnamed nurse is also looking curiously at his eye. … …

Aside from redoing a standard eye exam, Kakashi runs through a marathon of flashcards to test both his memory and then precognitive abilities. The tests are done with lights on then in the dark and Kakashi is given a perfect 20/20 and an enhancement score of ‘15 grades above average’ for both. There are also several pages worth of words and numbers in progressively complex arrangements to test his information retention. Of course, everything is easily remembered with the sharingun active.

“Well, it seems to give general across the board vision enhancement alongside perfect recall and retention,” Wada finally concludes as he records all Kakashi’s results, “Of course, we’ll have to re-test retention in a few days so see if the information degrades over an extended period and we don’t know whether your quirk effects your long distance eyesight, but, for now, this appears to be all. The link between your quirked eye and the regenerative side-effect is still unknown. Odd that we couldn’t trigger any ‘copy’ function considering the quirks name though  ‘copy’ could also be a reference to memorisation.  If any other features do reveal themselves make sure you alert a medical professional.”

… …

Kakashi despises the process of getting an MRI with a heated passion. He hates having to lie prone in a loud confined space. It is the height of discomfort, making him tense up and clench his jaw. It is only the fact that Kakashi had researched and mentally prepared himself for the experience that stops him from accidentally snapping someone’s neck.

“We’ll have the results back in a few days,” Wada informs once the trying ordeal is over with, “From there we’ll update the Registry so you’re properly in the system. Speaking of which, have you made any progress on remembering a surname? I need something for the forms.”

“Hatake,” he grunts, too irritated to bother evading - he just wants to return to his room and wait out the side effects of his seal in peace- the question like he had every other time the man asked, “I think I prefer Kakashi though.”

It wasn’t like the name meant anything here and, who knows, maybe someone would come looking for him. This way they would have a trail to follow.

NEXT

#bnha #bnha fanfic #naruto #boku no academia #CrossOver #kakshi hatake #dimension travel AU #fanfiction #my hero academia #more hospital stuff #probably a bunch of medical inaccuracies #quirk biology #quirk stuff #world building

[dilly-oh]

Haircare no Jutsu

He’s wearing the red hair-tie today, Kakashi noted with satisfaction, walking down the hallway behind Iruka. An excellent choice. It perfectly accentuated the subtle reddish tones in his hair, highlighting them to perfection. His ponytail bounced with every step, the strands gleaming in the sun-rays cast through the nearby window.

Kakashi had been obsessed with Iruka’s hair for longer than he cared to admit. But hey, everyone had their quirks, especially Jounin. At least his didn’t involve green spandex and dazzling teeth. He was practically normal compared to the others.

He daydreamed about Iruka’s hair constantly, imagining running his fingers through the silken strands, pressing his face against them to smell their subtle scent. He imagined pulling Iruka's hair free from that cruel hair tie, brushing it till it gleamed, then separating it into three portions and twisting them into a thick braid. No, wait, a French one? He couldn’t decide. Still lost in internal debate, he walked closely behind Iruka, eyes glued to his hair.

Which is why he failed to see the loose tile jutting out of the floor in front of him.

Now, the Copy-nin of Konoha, feared by countless enemies and Missing-Nin alike, did not trip.

He merely attacked the loose tile with his toe, lurched forward for a better stance, wind-milled his arms about wildly to ward off any incoming attacks from enemies, and face-planted into the nearest object.

Which happened to be Iruka’s ponytail.

One time, while on an A-rank mission to Suna, Kakashi, half-dead from chakra exhaustion, had accidentally fallen into a patch of prickly cactuses.

This was worse than that.

Iruka’s ponytail was not soft and silky, fragrant and luxurious as he’d dared to dream. It was like a briar patch, bristly as hell, the strands broken and split and dry as a bone. Kakashi counted himself lucky his hitai-ate was covering one eye already so he only had to worry about losing the other one. This close, he could see the horrible split ends and flakes of dandruff with awful detail.

“Yeeeoooowch!!”

The cry echoed through the hallway, reverberating off the walls. Several heads poked out of doors to stare curiously, caught sight of Iruka’s face, and retreated.

“That’s my line,” Iruka grumbled, turning to confront him while rubbing the back of his head gingerly. “What the hell was that about?” Kakashi just gaped at him for a long moment, aghast, his hopes and dreams crumbling before him.

“Good God! Is my face bleeding?!” he blurted aloud.

“It’s about to be if you don’t start explaining yourself,” Iruka snapped back irritably, crossing his arms. “Seriously, what’s your problem?”

“It felt like I fell on a wad of steel wool!” Kakashi cried. “What the hell kind of hair product do you use?! Bar soap?!”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Iruka huffed at him. Kakashi felt a glimmer of hope flicker to life. “I use my three-in-one shampoo, conditioner, and body-wash.” The glimmer of hope promptly whimpered, curled up, and died.

“Alright. That’s it. I’m confiscating this,” Kakashi said, twirling the red hair-band around his pinky finger. Iruka’s hair immediately flopped down around his face, sticking out in all directions like an unkempt bird’s nest and further destroying every one of Kakashi’s secret fantasies.

“Hey!” Iruka cried in outrage, shoving his hair aside. “Give that back!”

“You’ll get it back when you learn to treat your hair better.”

“Whatever, I have like three more,” Iruka snorted, rolling his eyes. He reached into his pockets, searching for a few moments, then frowned in confusion. “What the…?” He looked up to see Kakashi twiddling his fingers at him, each digit encircled by a colored band. “When- how did you- give those back!”

“Oh, I will,” Kakashi assured him, “but I have some…demands.”

“You’re holding my hair-ties ransom. You’re unbelievable.”

“Firstly, you-”

“I don’t negotiate with terrorists.”

“-let me wash your hair,” Kakashi finished.

“Ew. Why?” Iruka made a face. “That’s just an excuse to get me naked, you creep.” Kakashi huffed impatiently.

“You don’t have to get naked, just take your shirt off-”

“And then I’m already halfway there. Forget it.”

“-and then I’ll bend you over the bathroom sink and-”

“I SAID FORGET IT!” Iruka exploded, his face flushing a near-match of his hair-tie. “I have two jobs! I spend all day at the Academy babysitting children who are trying to kill each other, and then all night at the Mission Desk babysitting Jounin trying to kill each other. I don’t have time for stupid things like treating my hair with the ninja art of deep conditioning.”

“Then you’re not getting your hair-ties back,” Kakashi said with finality, squaring his shoulders.

“You know what? Keep them.” Iruka turned away in a huff. “I’ll just go buy more.” And with that, he stormed away. Kakashi narrowed his eyes.

“We’ll see about that,” he muttered, hands flashing quickly in a series of signs. Several clones puffed into existence and with a short word, dispersed on their newest mission.

---

“The HELL do you mean, out of stock?!” Iruka shouted at the store clerk in outrage. The man flinched back in fear, cowering behind the counter.

“I’m sorry, Mr. Ninja, sir, but someone came in not five minutes ago and bought the whole lot of hair-ties,” he babbled. “Every single one! We won’t be getting more in another shipment until-”

“Okay, fine, whatever,” Iruka cut him off, mind working furiously. “I’ll take… rubber bands. String. I don’t care, I’ll buy it.”

The clerk simply stared at him in mute horror, eyes wide. Iruka sighed.

“…They bought all of those, too, didn’t they?”

“…Yes, yes they did.”

Iruka paused, a sudden suspicion dawning on him.

“This person didn’t happen to have ridiculous silver hair and a mask, did they?”

The eyes went even wider, threatening to pop out. “Please don’t kill me,” the clerk whispered.

“Calm down, it’s not your fault. I’ll just…” Iruka chewed on his lip, mentally mapping out Konoha and his other prospects. “I’ll try elsewhere. Thank you.”

But it was the same story at every shop in Konoha.

So Iruka changed tactics. Not that it made any difference.

It didn’t matter who he begged one off of (Anko, Ino, even Shikamaru, who rolled his eyes in exasperation, as if he wasn’t embarrassed enough already), within five minutes it had either magically disappeared or snapped for no reason and his hair flopped back down over his eyes, prickly and annoying- not that Kakashi had a point or anything.

Even his own home wasn’t safe. Iruka didn’t know how, but someone had snuck in and removed everything that could even potentially serve as a hair tie, even rags and bandages. Iruka suspected Kakashi had won over Naruto with promises of all-you-can-eat ramen. He had half a mind to bring his complaint to the Hokage herself, before realizing she would probably find it hilarious and cackle like a loon for hours. So, no. Better to just deal with it himself.

---

Iruka was a hard man to break, Kakashi would give him that. After a whole week of this charade and no sign of the sensei’s resolve weakening, he’d earned his respect. But it couldn’t last forever. He had to give up at some point. Everyone had their limit. Kakashi smirked, raising a hand to study the red band still wrapped around his pinky. Yes, any minute now…

“I’m not going to break, so piss off!” Iruka shouted from inside his apartment. Kakashi, who’d been sitting on the roof, jumped. The man was more perceptive than he’d thought. His respect went up another notch.

“You sure about that?” he asked, popping his head in through the window. It was Iruka’s turn to jump. Then he swore, grabbed him by the vest, and hauled him inside the apartment, which was just as messy and unkempt as his hair. Because, you know, two jobs or whatever. Kakashi caught sight of a pair of pink boxers splayed on the couch before Iruka spun him around to glare point-blank in his face.  

“What the hell do you even care if my hair isn’t perfect? Life is not a fucking shampoo commercial,” he demanded. Kakashi shrugged.

“I had expectations. Dreams. How dare you break my fragile, innocent heart.” He swooned and clutched his chest dramatically.

“I’m gonna break something else of yours in a minute.” Iruka scowled at him, stewing in fury. “It’s none of your business, anyway. My hair, my choice. Deal with it.”

“I refuse.” Kakashi glared right back, refusing to stand down. “It’s a matter of honor.”

“Oh, please! Like yours is any better!” Iruka burst out, stepping forward to plunge his hands into Kakashi’s thick mane. “You’re always out on a mission, don’t tell me you have the time to- merciful God it’s like I’m petting one of those fluffy Inazuka dogs.” Iruka stared at him in shock. “How the hell do you get it so soft and silky? Haircare no Jutsu?”

“Don’t be silly,” Kakashi scoffed. Iruka just gave him a flat stare. “…Alright, yes, I infuse my shampoo with a little chakra for extra volume. Sue me.”

“I’m considering it, after all the harassment,” Iruka muttered darkly, his hands still in Kakashi’s hair. Kakashi had to fight back a shudder of pleasure as his fingertips scraped across a particularly sensitive area. Finally Iruka removed his hands (Kakashi stifling a disappointed whimper) and frowned in consternation. “…I just have to let you wash my hair once?”

“Sure,” Kakashi answered with a nod. “…And then you are legally obligated to follow a strict hair-care routine dictated by me-”

“ONCE.” Iruka held up a finger, expression firm. “That’s it. That’s the deal. Then you leave me alone.”

Kakashi weighed his options. He could keep running around Konoha, using up his chakra on clones and buying up every bit of material that could serve as a hair-tie, following Iruka around till he was old and even grayer and broke.  

…Or he could just wash his hair right now and be done with it.

“Alright, fine,” he agreed. “Let me wash your hair and we’re good.” Rather than look triumphant like he expected, Iruka hesitated, biting his lip uneasily and dropping his gaze to the floor.

“…Promise you won’t take advantage of me,” he said, voice quiet and serious for once.

Kakashi solemnly placed a hand over his heart. “I promise.”

And then Iruka took his shirt off and Kakashi had never regretted making a promise more in his LIFE. He truly was that tan all over, with white scars scattered here and there like constellations, accentuating the toned muscles and hard flesh.

“Oh, wait,” Iruka said, “what am I thinking? You probably need to go to your place and get-” Kakashi wordlessly held up his shampoo and conditioner bottles. Iruka blinked. “…Of fucking course.”

---

Iruka’s bathroom was just as untidy as the rest of the apartment, half-empty three-in-one shampoo bottles and dirty clothes strewn everywhere. For some reason, the fact that he was a complete slob did nothing to detract from Kakashi’s burgeoning attraction to the man.

“If you please,” Kakashi said politely, rolling up his sleeves and nodding towards the sink.

“I am not tipping,” Iruka sniffed haughtily as he stepped forward. His eyes lingered on Kakashi’s bared hands and arms for a moment before jerking away. He leaned over the sink, which, thankfully, seemed large enough to accommodate an impromptu hair-washing. Kakashi turned the tap on, careful to adjust the water temperature to a pleasant degree, then eased Iruka forward into the spray with a gentle hand. The other man grumbled, but kept still as Kakashi thoroughly wetted his hair, careful to get every bit. When he was satisfied, he pulled out his shampoo and poured a dollop into one hand, paused, then poured some more. Might as well make it count.

“Hurry up, I’m getting water up my nose,” Iruka muttered, head still under the spray. “And water all over the rest of me, too.”

“Yeah, sorry.” Kakashi forced himself to concentrate on washing Iruka’s hair and not his glistening, muscled back. He sank his fingers deep into the dry, bristly hair and scrubbed gently, lathering up the soap, making sure to pay special attention to the scalp and roots.

The shampoo was his own special recipe, imbued with his own personal chakra for extra strength and luster. He rinsed it out after several minutes, then applied the conditioner. After one more rinse, he was done, and he stepped back, allowing Iruka to straighten. Kakashi turned away to find a towel, snatched the cleanest-looking one from a shelf, and turned back.

I’ve made a horrible mistake, Kakashi realized immediately. I can’t let others see him like this. He’s too beautiful.

Iruka on a bad day was a knockout. Iruka, gloriously shirtless and gleaming, with his wet hair pooling like ink around his face and shoulders, was a vision fit for the Gods. Kakashi stood frozen, tongue stuck to the roof of his mouth.

Unaware of the other man’s dilemma, Iruka raked a hand through his hair, pushing the wet strands off his face. Kakashi gulped, his throat suddenly dry and tight. A long, tense pause drew out between the two of them like a taut bow-string.

“What the hell are you waiting for?”

“…Huh?” Kakashi stared at him, blinking.

“Make a move already, you idiot.” Iruka stood there in his shirtless glory, arms crossed over his tanned chest, wet, glistening hair framing his face. “You’ve already got me half-naked and everything.”

Kakashi sputtered incoherently for a few seconds, shaking his head.

“I...I can't, I promised-” he choked out.

“Oh my God come here.” Iruka grabbed Kakashi by the front of his shirt and reeled him in like a prize catch. Kakashi did his part, gaping at him like a fish, wide-eyed in shock. Iruka scoffed, then leaned in close enough for their lips to brush teasingly. “I never promised not to take advantage of you, dumbass.”

Kakashi was not about to argue.

---

Years later, he still kept the red band around his pinky, right next to the wedding ring that winked in the sunlight.

-End-

Months ago, I was chosen to be a pinch-hitter for the Kakairuzine (I would step in if someone had to leave), so I completed two fics in case they were needed. Since they aren’t, I might as well upload them here. This is the second and final fic. Enjoy!

#kakairu #hatake kakashi #umino iruka #naruto #fanfic #red thread of fate #red string of fate #haircare

[vulcan-highblood]

You Belong With (someone better than) Me

Fandom: Naruto

Rating: T

Pairing: Umino Iruka / Hatake Kakashi

Chapters: 1/3

Summary: Exasperated with the ever-increasing number of well-meaning but annoying busybodies who seem to think he needs a man in his life, Iruka finally breaks down and asks Kakashi to be his fake-boyfriend in order to keep the wannabe-matchmakers off his back. 

The only problem is, Kakashi turns out to be a much better boyfriend than Iruka anticipated.

Read it on AO3

[For @the-umino-hours 1-year anniversary prompt: Fake Dating/Marriage]

Chapter 1: Will You Be My (Fake) Boyfriend? Please Check _Yes or _No

“That’s all from me,” Iruka lifted his eyes from the grade report he’d finished reading off, wrapping up his fifth student feedback report of the night. “Did you have any other questions about your daughter’s progress, Nakamura-san?” Iruka asked, gently closing the folder of Kanade’s information and handing it across the desk to her mother, who accepted it with both hands. 

“I did have one question,” she said, “It’s not about Kanade, but…” she tucked the folder into her bag and dug around for a moment before withdrawing a small photograph. “I wanted to tell you about the nice young man in this picture. He’s my cousin, Kotaro. A weaponsmith.” She wiggled her eyebrows conspiratorially. “He’s got a strong back and a lot of stamina, if you know what I mean.”

Iruka knew exactly what she meant. Face heating, he accepted the photo, sparing a quick glance down at it. He’d seen the man - Kotaro, apparently - around the village. He was tall and muscular, with wide shoulders and soft eyes. A rather unfortunate bit of facial hair, but Iruka wasn’t one to hold that against someone. Everyone had their idiosyncrasies. “I’m sure he’s very nice,” Iruka said weakly, tucking the picture into one of the drawers in his teaching desk. 

“Oh he is,” Nakamura-san insisted, leaning forward. “His contact information is on the back of the photo. If you’re interested.”

I’m very much not, but I suppose I appreciate the sentiment? Iruka thought tiredly, forcing a smile. “Thank you for your consideration,” he said. “As for Kanade-chan…?”

“Oh, she loves your class, and she’s been improving steadily, as you noted,” Nakamura-san said, finally taking her cue to leave. “Thank you for everything you do for her, Iruka-sensei.”

“Of course,” Iruka said, rising also and bowing politely. “It’s my honor to do so.” He held the bow as she crossed the room.

“Oh,” Nakamura-san paused at the door, “Just so you know, Kotaro’s usually only free on Sundays.” She turned and winked at Iruka. “But for you, I’m sure he could make an exception.”

“Ah,” Iruka said awkwardly, bowing again to avoid eye contact, “Yes. Thank you for the information.”

As soon as she was gone, Iruka flopped back into his chair and groaned loudly, covering his face with his hands. He still had another three days of parent-teacher conferences to look forward to, and that was his ninth proposition-by-proxy this week. What was it about being a single male teacher that made all of the village busybodies come out in droves? It didn’t make sense. Iruka wasn’t particularly clever or talented, and he certainly didn’t have much in the way of disposable income. So why had it come to this? He yanked open the desk drawer, staring forlornly down at the small mountain of photos residing there. He didn’t have the heart to throw any of them away, but at this point he was starting to run out of room for actual teaching aids in the drawer. Clearly, something had to be done about the situation. But what? 

Start dating? With what free time? Iruka was barely making ends meet with his punishing schedule as it was, he didn’t have time to date anyone. That’s why he was still single! He barely had time to take Naruto out for ramen between his missions, and woe to any man who thought Iruka would prioritize a date over spending time with the growing boy. 

But this was starting to get ridiculous, Iruka thought, shutting the drawer a bit more forcefully than was strictly necessary. No one had been so invested in his personal life when he’d been running missions. He paused, considering that for a moment, and decided that yes, it wasn’t just rosy hindsight. While his friends had given him some grief about being the perpetually single third-wheel, he hadn’t really been close enough to anyone else in the village to warrant that level of attention. So maybe it was more a problem of visibility? Iruka was almost always in the village these days - teaching, working the mission desk, taking Naruto for ramen… yes, the real problem here was that people were entirely too familiar with Iruka, so he bore the brunt of Konoha villagers’ well-meaning but excruciating attempts at matchmaking.

But how to get it to stop? He couldn’t even bear to throw out the useless photos, so telling them to their face that he didn’t have time for their matchmaking was out of the question. But he had equally little time to devote to deterring them! What he needed was something that would require very little effort, but would have significant enough visibility and impact to be both noted and respected by the villagers.

Packing up his supplies, Iruka considered his options. He could buy a fake engagement ring, but people were bound to start asking around about his mysterious fiancée. Worse yet, if it ever got out that the ring was a fake, he’d be back to square one, but instead of giggling it would be pitying stares and sympathetic hand-pats that accompanied the photos. It wasn’t that Iruka couldn’t get a date, and a fake ring might give the mistaken impression that Iruka thought he couldn’t get anyone without faking it. The issue here wasn’t a failure to get a date, but rather a lack of willingness to pursue the option. 

Could he get a fake boyfriend? Iruka immediately dismissed the idea. For one thing, he couldn’t afford an escort. And if anyone found out the boyfriend was fake, he’d be in the exact same position as he would be in with the fake ring - pity and hand-pats. No thank you.

Grumbling under his breath, Iruka gave the classroom a once-over, plucking a stray shuriken out of the wall and wiping the blackboards down one more time before letting himself out and shutting the door. He glanced at the hall clock and winced. It was late. By the time he managed to cook something, it would be too late to digest it properly. Besides, he had homework assignments to grade, and if he spent an hour or more buying ingredients and making an actual meal, he wouldn’t be getting to sleep until midnight. Then he would be getting up at six, rushing through breakfast and back at the Academy by seven to prep for classes. Ugh. 

Iruka decided he’d rather sleep an extra hour than go to the effort of preparing a healthy meal (especially since his healthy meals always ended up tasting terrible), so he headed in the direction of the nearest shop that offered carry-out meals. He picked up something with vegetables and a lean protein to feel like he was at least wasting money on healthy pre-prepared food. It was cheaper to cook his own, but at what cost? Iruka needed his sleep, especially with several more days of parent-teacher conferences looming in his future.

As he was waiting for his meal, he happened to glance outside and caught sight of Kakashi wandering by. Iruka immediately perked up, realizing that if the jonin-sensei was around then Naruto was probably somewhere in the village, too. Iruka hopped from one foot to the other, more anxious for his food to be ready. He really didn’t have time to go looking for Naruto tonight, but he wanted to see the boy. Maybe if he put off grading for one night, he could visit the kid. He could catch up on grading over the weekend. 

“Here’s your order, Iruka-sensei,” said Fujita-san, passing Iruka a wrapped bundle of delicious-smelling food. “Have a nice night.”

“Thank you!” Iruka beamed, rushing out into the night. By some stroke of luck, Kakashi was still out there. “Oh! Kakashi-san!” he called, hurrying over.

Kakashi, nose stuck in his usual reading material, lifted his head slowly, turning to Iruka. “Ah, Iruka-sensei. To what do I owe the pleasure?” 

“Oh,” Iruka felt his cheeks heat as he realized how rude it probably seemed to jump straight to asking where’s Naruto? “Are you back from your mission?”

“Mm,” Kakashi made a noise of assent. “The kids did well.” 

“Oh, good! I’m glad to hear it. And you’re all fine?” Iruka looked Kakashi over, but he wasn’t really the sort to look injured, even if he was. Elite jonin like Kakashi didn’t get to that status by broadcasting their injuries. 

“Nary a scratch between us,” Kakashi said. “We just got back. I think Naruto might be looking for you, actually.” 

“Oh!” Iruka glanced down at his dinner. “I only bought enough for one person,” he frowned, then turned back to Kakashi and said, “Have you eaten yet?” 

Kakashi’s visible eye widened in surprise. “No,” he said slowly, “I haven’t.”

“Here,” Iruka pressed his dinner into Kakashi’s chest, “You take this, Naruto and I will find something for the two of us.”

Kakashi glanced down at the dinner, then back up to Iruka before carefully accepting the wrapped meal. “...thank you?” 

“Thank you,” Iruka countered. “Have a good evening, Kakashi-san.” Then, before the jonin could formulate a reply, he scampered off. 

~~*~~

The next morning Iruka dragged himself out of bed early so he could throw rice in a pot and toss some dry sardines in a pot of water. He managed to scrounge up some cabbage that had seen better days, chopped up some tofu, and was just throwing them into the fish-water when Naruto wandered into the kitchen, scrubbing his eyes and yawning loudly. 

“Morning, Iruka-sensei,” Naruto said, a bit too loudly for six in the morning, “Sorry I fell asleep here again last night. I was planning on going home, I promise.”

“I don’t mind if you sleep over, Naruto. That’s what the guest futon is for,” Iruka reassured him. “Are you hungry?”

“You’re cooking?” Naruto grinned widely. “What are you making?”

Iruka gestured at the simmering pot and then turned to dig in his fridge for the miso. He pulled it out and scooped up a large spoonful, gazed at it consideringly, and put about a third back. “Miso soup, rice, and I’ve got eggs in the fridge,” he said. “Nothing too fancy, I’m afraid.”

“Sounds great!” Naruto exclaimed. “Kakashi-sensei brings me breakfast like that sometimes. But he usually makes fish and vegetables too.”

Well good for him, Iruka thought, half sincere, half snide. I’m glad one of us knows how to cook.   He tasted the miso soup consideringly. It might have too much miso. Or not enough. Or was he supposed to take it off the heat before adding the miso? He didn’t remember. The rice pot wasn’t steaming anymore, and Iruka lifted the lid only to smell the distinct odor of scalding rice. “Oh!” he yelped, turning off the burner and staring at the rice, wondering if it had cooked through this time or if he would once more be having al dente rice for breakfast. He grabbed the spoon he’d used to taste the miso soup and took a small bite of rice. It tasted slightly burnt, but seemed soft enough. A little on the firm side, but certainly not the worst rice he’d ever made. 

Behind him, Naruto giggled. “Did you burn the rice again, Iruka-sensei?”

“That’s enough out of you,” Iruka groused. “I’ve told you before, the smoke adds flavor!” he scooped a large portion into a rice bowl, setting it down in front of Naruto before dishing up a second bowl for himself. Quite a bit of rice was stuck to the bottom of the pot. Lovely. He’d leave the pot to soak while he was at work, hopefully it would be washable by the time he got home. 

“Make sure you eat the cabbage, too,” Iruka warned, setting a bowl miso in front of Naruto. He moved back across the kitchen, plucking two small styrofoam containers and two eggs from his fridge. “And eat your natto, it’s good for you,” he added, plunking the little box down and setting the egg down beside it.

“You really need a new rice cooker, Iruka-sensei,” Naruto observed, ignoring the natto and cracking the egg over his rice, pouring a bit of soy sauce over it before vigorously stirring it in.

Iruka sighed, popping open his natto container and removing the thin paper covering the beans. He used his chopsticks to stir the fermented beans around before piling them atop his rice and cracking his own egg over them. “I’ll get one eventually. But this works fine, for now.”

“At least rice cookers don’t burn the rice,” Naruto pointed out. “I think that’s probably worth it, right?” 

Iruka shrugged. Rice cookers could get pretty spendy, and the ones at the secondhand shop had appeared to be on their last legs. He was saving up, of course, but he had other priorities. He could handle a bit of burnt rice. “You really should eat the natto,” he encouraged. 

“I tried it once, Iruka-sensei. I think it almost killed me,” Naruto said too-seriously. “I’m just not cut out for healthy food, I think.”

Iruka laughed before he could help it. “Oh, fine,” he shook his head. “Next time, then.” It was something of a joke between them by now - Iruka would give him natto, Naruto wouldn’t eat it, and the natto would go back into the fridge.  

The two of them ate in comfortable silence, and Naruto wordlessly gathered up the dishes, putting them in the sink before running some hot water. Iruka felt his eyebrows climb in surprise. “Oh?” he said, “What’s this?”

“You made breakfast, so I’ll wash the dishes,” Naruto declared. “Kakashi-sensei always makes me wash the dishes when he brings me food, so I’ve gotten pretty good at it,” he added, beaming with pride. 

“That’s very kind of you,” Iruka said, “I guess I’ll go get my things, then.” He hadn’t bothered unpacking his teaching satchel, but he still double-checked it to make sure he had everything he needed. That done, he wandered back into the kitchen, spotting Naruto attacking the rice pot.

“Oh, just let that one soak, I’ll get to it tonight,” he told Naruto. 

“Okay,” Naruto agreed cheerfully, setting it in the sink and following him to the door. They left together, Naruto not-so-surreptitiously sniffing his shirt. 

“If you feel you have to do a smell check, you should probably just shower and change,” Iruka chided. 

“Yeah, yeah,” Naruto waved him off. “It’s fine.” 

Iruka considered pressing the issue, but in the end, he decided it wasn’t worth the shouting. “Have a good day of training,” he said as Naruto drew to a halt at the corner of the street. 

Naruto beamed back at Iruka.  “You too, Iruka-sensei!”

Iruka waved him off with a smile, before picking up his pace and heading for the Academy. He had another long day ahead of him, and running late wasn’t going to make it any easier to get through.

~~*~~

“Thank you for always taking care of our boy,” Tsutsuji-san said, heading for the door, “And remember what I said about my friend Hiei,” she added with a small titter. “He’d definitely be interested.”

“Of course, Tsutsuji-san,” Iruka managed to say in a strangled voice, “Thank you for your consideration.”

“Oh you’re very welcome, Iruka-sensei,” Tsutsuji-san said. “Have a nice evening.”

“You too,” Iruka replied. As soon as she was gone he shoved the third photo of the night into his desk drawer. This had gone so far beyond ridiculous he wasn’t sure what word he could even use to describe it. Scowling, he straightened up the classroom, shoved some homework assignments in his bag, and matched out of the Academy in a huff. He had to find something to make this stop!

“Yo, Iruka-sensei,” Kakashi called as he exited. The jonin was leaning casually against the Academy gates, age-inappropriate reading material in hand. Kakashi glanced up fully as Iruka approached, his eye widening as he took in Iruka’s appearance. “Rough day?” he asked, pushing off the gate and transitioning to a more vertical slouch. 

“You could say that,” Iruka sighed, then frowned in confusion. “Forgive my rudeness, Kakashi-san, but why are you here?” 

“Maa, I wanted to ask you if you had time to grab dinner sometime. Since you gave me dinner yesterday, I thought I might return the favor,” Kakashi explained. 

“Dinner?” Iruka repeated, frowning. “What, like tonight?” 

“Whenever you have time,” Kakashi clarified. 

“Oh. Uh. Sure, I’ll get back to you on that…” Iruka turned to leave, then paused, an idea forming in his mind. “Say, Kakashi-san?” 

“Yes?” Kakashi was still standing there with a vague expression on his face.

Iruka glanced around nervously to make sure no local busybodies were watching, then leaned in. “How would you feel about making that dinner a monthly arrangement? I’ll pay, of course!”

Kakashi’s eyebrow lifted in response. “Mind if I ask why?”

Iruka glanced around again. “Do you mind if we talk it over somewhere else?”

“Like over dinner?” Kakashi suggested, sounding faintly amused.

“Somewhere private,” Iruka specified. 

“Dinner at my place,” Kakashi amended.

“At your place?” Iruka echoed faintly.

“It’s pretty private,” Kakashi assured him. “Just me and the ninken.” 

“Okay,” Iruka agreed. “When?”

“We can go now,” Kakashi suggested. “I have all the ingredients at home already, we just need to eat them.” 

“You bought enough for two?” Iruka asked faintly, not sure how this conversation had gone from maybe a dinner sometime to a home-cooked meal at the copy-nin’s house.

“I usually take some leftovers to Naruto,” Kakashi explained. “He never eats vegetables when left to his own devices.” 

Iruka laughed at that. “True enough,” he noted with amusement. 

“So it’s decided. You can tell me more about whatever it is you can’t discuss publicly over dinner,” Kakashi gazed at Iruka for confirmation.

“Sure,” Iruka agreed, mentally apologizing to his future self for the pile of grading he’d be doing this weekend. “Sounds great.”

Nodding, Kakashi turned and began wandering off, heading into the village. It was at this point Iruka realized he had no idea where Kakashi’s house was. Well. If Kakashi was going to agree to Iruka’s harebrained scheme, perhaps it was a good idea to know where the man lived.

It didn’t take them long to reach their destination. It turned out Kakashi had a modest one-bedroom apartment with a wide living room and a cozy kitchen and dining area. Kakashi pulled out a small induction burner, setting it on the table, carrying over a large pot a moment later. It was packed full of vegetables, tofu, shirataki noodles and beef. “Hope you like sukiyaki,” Kakashi said, pouring a thick sweet dashi broth over the ingredients.

“Are you kidding? I haven’t had beef for two weeks!” Iruka exclaimed, probably more excited than he should have been, but beef was expensive and he was starving. “This looks amazing, Kakashi-san!”

Kakashi scrubbed at the back of his neck awkwardly, a blush rising on his visible cheek. “Maa, sensei, it's just a bit of chopping vegetables.”

“Yeah, well, considering I don’t even do that half the time, I’m impressed!” Iruka grinned at Kakashi, unable to contain his excitement. 

Kakashi set a small bowl in front of him with an egg, then carried over a steaming bowl of rice for each of them before settling down at the other table setting. “So,” he began, cracking his own egg into the bowl and lightly scrambling it, “What did you want to ask about that you couldn’t bring up in public?” 

“Well,” Iruka began, cracking his own egg, “Lately I keep having well-meaning people trying to set me up on dates, and honestly it’s starting to get on my nerves.” 

Kakashi hummed sympathetically to show he was listening, then adjusted the temperature on the burner to bring up the temperature of the sukiyaki broth. 

“So I was thinking,” Iruka continued, picking up the provided chopsticks and attacking the egg with a bit more ferocity than was probably warranted, “Maybe I should just… pretend to date someone? Just to stop the nagging.”

Kakashi turned from the sukiyaki to gaze at Iruka. “Oh? Were you planning to ask me out on a fake date, then?”

“Here’s the thing,” Iruka said, finally setting down his chopsticks to look Kakashi in the eye, “I have no time for dating. It’s why I’m not dating anyone currently. So I really don’t have the energy to spare for faking it, either.”

“Hmm,” Kakashi made a thoughtful noise. “Sounds difficult.”

“It is,” Iruka agreed. “And then, you offered dinner, and I thought maybe…” He tried to think of how to explain his thoughts in a nice (or at least nice-ish?) manner. “Don’t take this the wrong way, but… if I were going to only go on sporadic dates with someone, it would have to be someone who’s… also sporadic?” He grimaced, realizing that maybe this wasn’t the most diplomatic approach. 

“Ah,” Kakashi said, digging into the sukiyaki with his chopsticks, checking the doneness of the meat. “So you don’t want to go on dates, but you still want to pretend you’re dating.”

“Exactly,” Iruka exclaimed, pointing at Kakashi excitedly. “I need someone… low effort? Who wouldn’t care if we only went out, say, once a month. Or less, even. Less than that would be ideal.”

“I see,” Kakashi grabbed Iruka’s plate, plopping some beef on it. “Here,” he handed it back before serving himself as well. “So you want us to go on fake dates, but not very often. What am I getting from this arrangement?”

“Oh,” Iruka realized he’d not really thought that far ahead. “Well. I’m really busy, so I can’t offer much. I can, uh… buy you dinner once a month? Or maybe less than once a month?” Iruka offered, smiling weakly as he dipped the beef into his raw egg before dropping it onto his rice and shoveling it into his mouth. Oh. The rice was perfectly tender, the broth was just the right balance of sweet and salty, and the thinly sliced beef was melting with marbled fat. “Oh wow,” he moaned. “Maybe you don’t need to eat out, this is so good.”  

Kakashi snorted in amusement. His own beef had vanished, though his mask was still in place. 

Iruka averted his gaze out of courtesy before continuing. “So. Uh. What do you want from me, then?”

“Eh,” Kakashi said, serving himself some of the vegetables. “I don’t really need anything. But this sounds interesting, so I’ll do it.”

“You’ll pretend to be my boyfriend and you don’t want anything in return?” Iruka asked, surprised to have gotten Kakashi to agree so quickly. He’d thought the jonin would at least ask for something from him, but Kakashi seemed remarkably easy to please. Then again, that had been the whole reason Iruka had asked him in the first place - he wanted someone low-effort. 

“If I think of something, I’ll let you know,” Kakashi said. “Now eat, the sukiyaki’s not going to finish itself.”

~~*~~

It wasn’t until Iruka got home late in the evening that he realized he and Kakashi had never decided when their first official “date” was to take place. Oh well, he thought, dumping the pile of grading out on his kotatsu with a heavy sigh, surely they’d be able to discuss it soon enough. For now, he had homework to grade.

“Oh, hey Iruka-sensei!” Naruto called from the kitchen. “Welcome home!” he poked his head out to gaze at Iruka curiously. “You were out late.”

Urk. “Yes,” Iruka answered awkwardly, “I was having dinner with Kakashi-san.”

“Oh really?” Naruto asked, wandering out of the kitchen and into the living room. “Why didn’t you invite me?”

“It was rather last-minute,” Iruka admitted. 

“Oh,” Naruto said. “Okay. Cool.”

“Why are you here?” Iruka finally asked. 

“I came to wash the pot from this morning,” Naruto replied, “and then I ate some of the food in your fridge, so I had to wash my plate after that. Did you know you don’t have any instant ramen in your kitchen?”

“Yes,” Iruka replied with an amused snort. “There’s a reason for that. It’s not healthy.”

“It’s a lot easier than cooking, though,” Naruto grumbled. “So what did you have for dinner with Kakashi-sensei?”

“We had sukiyaki,” Iruka replied, settling down on a cushion and pulling out one of the homework papers. “Did you eat the rest of the rice from this morning?”

Naruto laughed. “No, actually I just ate some fried eggs.”

“That’s not enough for dinner!” Iruka protested. “You should have eaten more than that.”

“It’s fine,” Naruto assured him, “I had a big lunch.”

Iruka gave him a look, but Naruto didn’t flinch, so he must have meant it. “All right,” Iruka finally said, “But if you get hungry…”

“I know, I know, I just have to tell you.” Naruto flopped down on the other side of the kotatsu, wrinkling his nose as he eyed the homework spread across the table. “Oh, this stuff? Gross.”

“Hey, that’s my occupation you’re calling gross,” Iruka protested, setting his pen down momentarily to shoot a scowl in Naruto’s direction.

“Yeah, but homework sucks,” Naruto said. “I bet you didn’t like it when you were a kid, either.”

“Immaterial,” Iruka replied, “It’s important to make sure all the students understand the coursework and have a firm grasp on what we’re learning in class.”

“Oh sure, but important doesn’t mean it’s not boring,” Naruto shot back, grinning and ducking under Iruka’s half-hearted swipe at him. 

“If you’re just going to be a pest…” Iruka warned.

“I’ll be good!” Naruto promised, lifting his hands in a gesture of surrender. “I just… didn’t want to be alone tonight.”

“You’re always welcome to stay with me,” Iruka said, lifting his eyes to make sure Naruto saw he was serious. “You know that, right?”

“I do,” Naruto admitted, shuffling around so that most of his body was hidden under the kotatsu quilt, tucking it up under his chin and grinning at Iruka. “It’s just nice to hear it, sometimes.”

Iruka smiled. “Then I’ll say it as many times as you need.”

~~*~~

The next morning Iruka dragged himself out of bed and stumbled into the kitchen. Rather than make rice, he had a vague inkling that maybe toast and soup would be good enough for the day. He dug some corn potage out of the fridge and had it heating on the stove, shoving the toast in the toaster. He scrounged through the fridge, finding a few tomatoes which he sliced up and sprinkled with a little salt and pepper. He dished up the sliced tomatoes, tossed the toast onto plates, and poured two bowls of the corn soup just as Naruto wandered into the kitchen. 

“Toast for breakfast, huh?” Naruto commented sleepily. “And tomatoes?” 

“And corn soup,” Iruka added. “I just heated it up on the stove.”

“Looks great,” Naruto commented, sitting down at the table and clapping his hands together. “Let’s eat.”

“Let‘s eat,” Iruka echoed, then dug in. The tomatoes were… oversalted. But still mostly edible if you ate them with the toast. The soup was fine, at least. 

“Thanks for the meal!” Naruto exclaimed after practically inhaling his breakfast. “I’ll wash the dishes.” 

“Thanks for the meal,” Iruka mumbled as he finished his own breakfast, then wandered back into the living room to pack his school bag. 

He and Naruto left together not too long after that, parting ways at the same corner as yesterday. Iruka trudged the rest of the way to the Academy, already exhausted. Just one more day of parent-teacher conferences, he reminded himself. Then he had a whole weekend… of double shifts at the mission desk. And all the grading he hadn’t finished yet. Iruka groaned. 

“Yo, Iruka-sensei!” 

Iruka blinked, not sure he was seeing things right. “Kakashi-san?” he said, spotting the jonin casually leaning against the Academy gates, drawing confused looks from passing staff members.

“Please, it’s just Kakashi,” he said, moving away from the gate and walking over to Iruka. “We’re dating, after all.”

“Right,” Iruka said, feeling off-center and a bit confused. “Did we… have something scheduled?”

“Nope!” Kakashi replied cheerily, then lifted a thermos. “But you looked tired after last night’s dinner, so I thought I’d bring you some of my favorite coffee.”

Iruka hadn’t gotten around to the grocery store to buy more of his own coffee, and the swill in the teacher’s lounge could double as paint-thinner. Coffee sounded marvelous, though he still felt a little confused . He stared at the thermos in Kakashi’s grasp, struggling to formulate a response. “But...why?”

Kakashi pressed the thermos into his hands. “Just a thoughtful gesture from your boyfriend, that’s all.”

“I can’t accept this,” Iruka protested, his hands closing around the thermos anyway. “I already told you, I don’t have a lot of time - ”

“It’s fine,” Kakashi assured him, taking a step back and lifting his hands. “I already made the coffee, so you might as well drink it.”

“True…” Iruka glanced down at the thermos with a sigh. He decided that he could accept this one gesture, so long as he impressed upon Kakashi that this sort of behavior couldn’t become a habitual thing. Iruka just didn’t have the energy to reciprocate, and he didn’t want it to look like Kakashi was putting all the work into the relationship. “Thank you,” he said, lifting his head to face the jonin, “I appre - ”

Kakashi was gone.

Sighing exasperatedly, Iruka waved the thermos in the air. “I appreciate it!” he shouted, just in case the man was still hanging around. He supposed that popping in with random gifts and then vanishing was to be expected when ‘dating’ someone as eccentric as Kakashi. He still felt bad, though. He’d specifically asked Kakashi to do this because he hadn’t wanted to go to much effort. If Kakashi was going to do his best to sell the relationship, it would look pretty bad if Iruka wasn’t doing his best, too.

With a groan, Iruka stared down at the thermos of coffee. This was going to be more work than he’d bargained for.

#Umino Iruka #Hatake Kakashi #kakairu #the umino hours

[beans-shadow]

looking for the truth (pt 8)

Fandom: Naruto

Relationship: Kakasaku

Characters: Hatake Kakashi, Haruno Sakura

read on ao3: here

part one / two / three / four / five / six / seven / eight / nine / ten / eleven / twelve / thirteen

This time Kakashi got a significant portion of the message decoded.

More flowers needed for Leaf shipment, increase total by two tons ---

“Hmm,” Sakura read Kakashi’s decoded scroll. “Nothing that sinister yet, but considering it was encrypted I wonder what the rest of the scroll says. It must be something interesting.”

“I’d want to keep working on this, but unfortunately if we do not leave soon we’ll be late for the group picnic,” Kakashi sighed, leaving his post at the table. “And now I need to change, since Futoshi undoubtedly is expecting a different assortment of clothing from my breakfast attire.”

Sakura laughed. “True, true. Just throw on a nice pair of clothes and you’ll be fine, don’t worry. You look good in anything.”

“I do?” Kakashi asked, but Sakura either did or chose to ignore him as she went to look for picnic clothes as well. He couldn’t help the smile that appeared under his mask. Then an idea struck him.

“Hey, Sakura?” He walked into the bedroom, finding her sifting through a pile of clothes. The whole scene felt very domestic to him, and his heart felt funny when she turned around with a smile on her face.

“Yes, Kakashi?”

“I’m going to try and find Futoshi before this whole event, so I’m going to change quickly and I’ll meet you there. Is that okay?”

Sakura appeared a bit taken aback at the suggestion, but could not find a reason to say no. “Yeah, that sounds fine. Just, somehow let me know where you end up then.”

Kakashi nodded, and after he switched clothes, swiftly departed. A quick navigation through the small village found Kakashi at park on the edge of the main town square where Futoshi was organizing the group picnic.

With a tap on the shoulder Futoshi spun around and greeted Kakashi.

“How nice to see you! It has been so long,” he admonished, giving Kakashi a hug.

With a dismissive pat on the back, Kakashi agreed. “Yes, so long. If it is alright with you, I have somewhat of an unusual request…”

-------

Futoshi was more than happy to accommodate, and soon Kakashi found himself on a secluded part of the hill under a small line of trees with his own basket and blanket. The young Lord had assured Kakashi he would find someone to direct Sakura his way, and when a pierce of pink in the distance peeked over the mound, Kakashi knew Futoshi had not disappointed.

The young woman looked very adorably confused, looking all ways around her before spotting Kakashi. Her body stretched out as she waved in his direction, increasing to a brisk trot to reach his location.

As she drew closer, Kakashi got a better look at her. She dressed herself in a summer dress, a soft blue with white swirls knitted in for detail. It blew in the delicate wind, bellowing around her and lifting her hair, creating what looked like a painting in Kakashi’s mind.

He rose from the blanket to welcome Sakura. “You look wonderful,” he said, taking her hand to balance one another as they sat down.

Sakura blushed. “Thanks. What is this all about? Where is everyone else?”

Opening the picnic basket, Kakashi explained, “You mentioned you were done socializing for the day, and I couldn’t agree more… so I asked Futoshi for our own picnic.” Emptying the basket, Kakashi found grapes, cheese, some sake (he was NOT going to be drinking any of that), and some chocolate. There was also a small set of dishes, which Kakashi laid on the blanket and set up a display of food with. He prepared a separate plate and handed it to Sakura, who had a dumb smile on her face as she accepted the offering.

“What?” Kakashi asked, patting his face. “Is there something on me?”

“No, no,” Sakura shook her head, still smiling. “This is just very sweet of you.”

“Oh, well,” as he looked down, Kakashi found he did not know what to say. He usually knew exactly what do say. Why couldn’t he think of anything to say? “Futoshi really planned everything,” he settled on. That sounded dumb. Why was he acting like this?

“Well, thank you, Futoshi,” Sakura said, smiling as she ripped off a grape.

“Yes. Thank you, Futoshi.” Kakashi made his own cheese plate and leaned back on his elbows. He admired the landscape around them, for some reason finding it hard to keep eye contact with Sakura for more than a few seconds.

But out of eyeshot, conversation became easy again. They chatted about the food, Sakura once again giving Kakashi his space when he lowered his mask to pop a piece of cheese into his mouth. All the produce really was delicious, an attribute to the Daimyo’s claim from before about their fertile ground. Topic to topic drifted in and out, including the friendliness of the village and the contents of the scroll. After a while, they ambled into silence, but this time it was companionable. They were comfortable around one another, and neither was attempting to distance themselves from the other. It was pleasant, and Kakashi found he had never quite enjoyed spending so much time alone with one person before in such a vulnerable state.

When Sakura became brave enough to open the sake bottle, she tensed up. Kakashi felt it, but did not pry. He kept one eye on her, the other closed from habit. She kept her gaze away from Kakashi this time as she cleared her throat.

“You know, I’ve been thinking a lot about what you said the first day we arrived here. And you were right. I don’t have the natural potential that Sasuke and Naruto were gifted.”

That conversation did not stir good memories for Kakashi. Trying to avoid the topic, Kakashi sat up on the blanket and said, “Sakura, I didn’t mean—”

The ninja cut him off. “No, it’s okay. I will never be on their level, not truly, without their bloodlines or special abilities. But I want to be remembered too. Not as a Hokage or a covert ninja, but for something.”

Kakashi twisted in place to fully face her. “You’re the best medic nin Konoha has ever seen,” he reminded her.

With a scrunch of her face, Sakura said, “People may say that, but Tsunade will always hold that title. I think I need my own jutsu.” She looked at her small hands, so dainty and precise. “I know you trained Naruto to develop his, and Sasuke developed his technique based off your chidori.” She clenched her hands into fists. "I need my own.”

Without reason, Kakashi enveloped her hands in his own. Heat raced through his arms, but Kakashi tried to ignore it. “You need only to ask, Sakura; I’ll help you once we return to our village.”

Now Sakura smiled, eyes playful. “Oh, I’m already passed the creation stage. I’m just perfecting it now.”

“Oh?” Kakashi was surprised. “And what is it?”

“It’s my turn for secrets, Hatake.” Sakura winked at him, lifting her hands from his in a manner that made Kakashi wonder if she too felt the electricity running down his fingers. Without looking away, she popped another grape in her mouth, forcing Kakashi to fight from watching her lips move tantalizingly.

“I never thought you would be so bold,” Kakashi settled on saying, leaning back fully onto the blanket.

A puff of pink filtered in his peripheral vision as Sakura lay down next to him. Her pinky finger brushed his as she said, “And I never thought I would find myself having a picnic with the legendary Copy Nin, but here we are.”

Looking up at the clouds filtering the dusk light, Kakashi replied, “Yes. Here we are.”

They ended up hanging out on the hill for a few more hours, choosing to enjoy the view of the sunset over the village from the perch. Kakashi found it hard to choose between watching how the colors of the sunset projected over the buildings or how the light made Sakura’s hair turn a golden rose. Good thing she was too captivated by the scenery in front of her to notice Kakashi’s wavering eyes.

Before the night became too dark for them to return to their rooms in relative safety, Sakura and Kakashi cleaned up their picnic to head back. Sakura passionately talked about her current work under Tsunade’s supervision involving innovative surgical techniques, and Kakashi was happy to silently listen, nodding in appreciation and smiling with his eyes to communicate he enjoyed the conversation. It truly was amazing what Sakura was doing, despite the fact Kakashi could not understand all the technical vocabulary. Medicine was not his specialty.

When they reached their inn, Sakura was describing some case that was beyond Kakashi.

“And you couldn’t believe it – what I felt with my chakra was unlike anything I had ever seen before. The complexity of the cist was more advanced than any common ones, and simply with my chakra I was able to pinpoint the solution.”

Rummaging through his bag, Kakashi said, “I am very impressed, Sakura. And not only because I couldn’t follow most of that.”

Warm laughter came from Sakura’s side of the room. “It’s nice to hear that there are some things even you don’t know, Kakashi.”

When Sakura left to change in the bathroom, Kakashi tore off his overshirt, leaving his mask on, and changed his pants.

He settled into bed, lying on his back, before Sakura returned, taking care to stay as close to the edge of the mattress as possible. Her hand, so close to his at the picnic, was on his mind. Even if they were getting closer with their friendship restored, Kakashi felt as though there was a line being more defined he could not step over. A line he would never have considered before this trip. A line, whose train of thought was too dangerous to follow.

Just as he was nodding to sleep, Kakashi felt the bed sink with Sakura’s weight. She shimmied until the perfect position was achieved, and the room filled with a deep sigh. From his periphery, he could feel Sakura’s eyes flutter on him every once in a while.

Sakura studied him, but Kakashi flipped around to face the wall. Pulling his mask up, he tried to return to his comfortable state and fall into deep slumber. But all he could feel was the kunoichi's gaze like feathers on his back.

#kakashi #kakasaku #naruto #fanfic #looking for the truth #my writing

[merrrcurius]

some step-papashi for you hoes

i’ve written several scenes for myself and i’m having a lot of fun with this au, but i’m not sure if i should add to my growing pile of wip’s on ao3 lol... lotta pressure, but i’m down if y’all are?

the gist: kakashi is a fine-ass soccer coach who cares. the following circumstances bring our two fav people together.

Fingers thrumming against the steering wheel in rhythm to the rock song playing on the radio, Kakashi drove down the winding exit of the park debating the pros and cons of cooking dinner or picking up takeout. The barbeque colored street lights illuminating the road made him crave some type of meat, but that would take too long to cook and he was feeling particularly lazy tonight.

Dealing with his latest team of brats tend to put him in the mood to sloth out for an indeterminate amount of time. Tonight had been rough. It was only the third week of practice with his new team and already he wanted to strangle these kids. They were a bunch of little shits that needed an ass-whooping, especially Tenzo’s team. Unfortunately, he could only dole out so many laps and exercises as punishment before the kids began complaining to their parents and then the parents started complaining to them…

Kakashi had to remind himself that he actually enjoyed coaching.

Whatever his food choice, or lack thereof, a hot shower and some smutty fanfiction on the back porch would conclude his day. Forget answering emails, cleaning his cleats, or managing the gym’s finances. All of that could be saved for tomorrow. He'd rather starve than waste any precious time relaxing, especially since The-Toad-Master's new chapter should have updated during practice if the last author’s note was anything to go by. Kakashi glanced at the clock on his dash and shift impatiently in his seat. Oh yeah, I'm way late.

Slowing down for the stoplight at the end of the drive, the man looked both ways out of habit despite the empty highway only to do a double-take at the sight of one of his U-10 soccer players sitting on a bus bench. Yanking up the mask he'd left hanging around his neck to hide his “degeneracy”, Kakashi rolled down the passenger window and called out to her. “Yo." 

She was either really smart or really stupid for ignoring him. Kakashi cleared his throat as he turned the knob down on the radio and said a bit louder, “Sarada.”

“Coach!” The little brunette startled, fumbling her flip phone like a football before turning to gape at him. “Ah - hi! It’s you!” She squeaked and tucked her phone away. “W-What're you still doing here?"

“Aa?” Kakashi cocked an eyebrow and withheld the amused chuckle bubbling in his throat. "I could ask you the same thing."

"Oh, um, this…" She gestured to the bench nervously and stuttered out, "I… I was just… er, you know… waiting."

“By the highway?” Kakashi asked and set his forearm on the steering wheel, giving a discreet glance around to emphasize that this was not acceptable. He cocked a brow. “What happened to the ride picking you up at the pavilion?”

Sarada pursed her lips angrily for a moment and tugged on the sleeves of her red jacket as if she were uncomfortable. Then muttered. “Er, s-something came up…”

“Okay…” Kakashi trailed off with a frown pulling at his mouth. Narrowing his eyes, Kakashi wiggled his fingers against the gearshift. Who the fuck leaves their - “But, wouldn’t it be safer to wait back at the field?”

“I’m fine, Coach! Really!” 

“Maa," Kakashi sat back with sigh and ruffled his hair as he thought about what to do in this kind of situation. He wasn’t fit to be a parent - or a coach really - hell, this whole gig had only started out to log hours for community service. Considering that, did he have any right to judge another parent for something like this? He cast an uneasy eye at the kid. Yes. Yes, he did. Consternation coloring his tone, he said, “I dunno if I can let this slide. Come on, I’ll drive you back. We can practice drills while we wait for your ride.”

Sarada scrambled for the laminated square hanging on her backpack as she tried to explain her situation and said, “You don’t have to, Coach! I take the bus all the-”

Perhaps he had been to open handed with his instructions. Kids these days.

“That wasn’t a question.” Kakashi interrupted firmly and stared at her. The girl crossed her arms and attempt to hold a glare, refusing to move despite the nervous bounce to her leg. Kakashi raised an eyebrow at her attitude and stated grimly, “If you make me step out of this car, you won’t be playing in next week’s game, Sarada. Get in.”

Sarada attempt to hold her ground a few more seconds until she heard his car door open and the overhead light came on. With a yelp, she ran to the passenger side door and yanked it open. Moving some binders for their stats and strategies out of the way, Kakashi eyed the large overnight bag she situated on his floorboard wondering if she was homeless but quickly dismissed that ridiculous thought. She was ten years old. And she had a mom. Although, that had never deterred him as a child...

Sighing inaudibly to mourn the chunk this would take out of his reading for the night, Kakashi twist in his seat to look for any cars behind him before pulling a u-turn in the entrance of the park. The ride back to the soccer field was quiet and tense; Kakashi pondering whether he had been too harsh on a child that wasn't even his about something not even sport related and Sarada embarrassed, worrying if opening the car door count towards her suspension.

Parked once more near the fields they'd claimed earlier in the evening, Kakashi reached under the seat to pull the lever and scoot his seat back for extra space to put his cleats back on. They were wet and muggy. He sighed.

“So, that’s what that smell was…”

Kakashi shot Sarada a look and retort. “More like your upper lip.”

Sarada blew a scoff through her lips to hide her laugh and turned away, crossing her arms defiantly. She muttered to the window, “What a lame comeback.”

“You’re just mad you don’t have anything to comeback with,” Kakashi mocked sassily, bobbing his head as he bent his leg for a better angle. Once his socks were snug in wet ass cleats again, he grabbed a ball from the backseat and stepped out. 

Sarada didn’t budge from her spot. 

Glancing back, Kakashi shrugged and decided to juggle while they wait. He couldn’t care less if she sat in the car and ignored him. After removing the doubts of his behavior, he'd decided it would simply be irresponsible of him to leave her by the highway and there was no way around that fact, even if Sarada chose to be stubborn about it. Perhaps, if she’d been smart and waited inside the pavilion like she’d originally said she would do... they wouldn’t be here. To think he had thought everyone was picked up. How had she managed to walk all the way to the exit without him noticing, anyways?

It didn’t take long for Sarada to get bored. She climbed out of his 4runner and stomped across the sidewalk to join him, a scowl maring her face. When he didn’t acknowledge her, she called out for him to pass. Looking all the world as if he were blatantly ignoring her, Kakashi turned away to take in the field with his hands on his hips. It was another cold night in January, a fine mist settling on some of the fields. He was glad the city park kept the lights on after dark, otherwise they would be in a pickle.

When asking didn’t work, she huffed and puffed before charging to take it by force. Kakashi smiled and adjust his mask as he await her approach. Her pigtails were whipping around her shoulders. Poor form. He needed to teach these kids how to run properly otherwise this season was going to suck. When she was close enough, he kicked the ball through the open stride between her feet at the last minute and walked around her.

Spinning to face him, Sarada growled impatiently, “Why won’t you pass? You said we would practice!” 

“Why should I?" Kakashi teased as he dribbled circles around her. "It’s no fun passing to a grump.”

“I’m not a grump! You’re a grump, old man!”

“Old man, eh?” A chuckle huffed through his mask as he backpedaled away from her, dragging the ball with him as he taunt her. “At least, I can keep the ball.”

“I’ll show you!” Sarada yelled and dove in, leaving her stance wide open when she ran up. 

He nutmegged her a second time and kept running toward the goal in case she tried to kick him like a savage brat. These kids were vicious. He called over his shoulder, "Maa, what was that, Sarada-chan?"

Now, normally, he’d feel bad for showing up a little kid, but not tonight. Sarada and Boruto had argued all two hours of practice about something completely unrelated to soccer. She deserved it for giving everyone a headache. Everyone being him and Tenzo. The kids thought it was hilarious.

“What a coward! You can’t run away!”

Stopping short with one foot on the ball and one hand rubbing his masked chin, Kakashi looked to the sky and said, "What were you showing me again? I can’t remember.”

Sarada bellowed a funny little shannaro he'd learned the girl favored over the last few weeks before he heard her running at him again.

Kakashi tucked his hands in his sweats as he waited patiently and listened to her cleats tearing into the ground. He had to admit, for a nine-year-old with poor form, what Sarada lacked in defense, she made up for in speed when she got going. Glancing behind him to confirm her position, he wait three more seconds and rolled the ball behind him, effectively nutmegging her again with his back turned. She squeaked and ran straight into him since he didn’t move. He glanced over his shoulder and smiled. “Hmm… how should I put this? You suck, Sarada-chan."

“O-m-g, whatever! I’m done!” Sarada yelled and kicked the grass angrily. “I should have caught the bus. This is stupid!”

“You’d be waiting till six in the morning for that.” Kakashi said, idly dragging the soccer ball back and forth under his foot as he watched her throw a fit.

Sarada stopped suddenly and looked up at him. “What? Why?”

“The bus doesn’t run this late, goofball.” Kakashi crumpled his brow and said incredulously, “Maa, you weren’t kidding when you said you were new in town.”

“Seriously?” Sarada cried and threw her hands in the air as she fell back on her butt. “Why is this place like this! What am I supposed to do now? Mom will have to drive all the way across town just to pick me up now. This is terrible!”

Kakashi hummed quietly, allowing his judgemental confusion to bubble for a moment as he swayed back and forth with his hands in his pockets. Then, he asked, “Doesn’t she usually?”

“Yes sir, but not this time.” She mumbled and crossed her arms angrily. 

“Well…” Damn, now he had to know. Sarada’s mom was pretty exotic and hella feisty. She punched one of the dad’s in the head at open tryouts for saying something or another. He’d never seen anything like it. It was one of the only times Kakashi wished he indulged in gossip with the parents. After a moment of deliberation, Kakashi adjust his mask nervously, afraid of overstepping boundaries and asked, “What about your dad?”

“Um… He’s not...” Tiny fingers pulled at the grass beneath her, ripping patches out until she found words. She looked across the fields and said quietly, “Around… very often.”

“Aa, I see...” Kakashi said, gaze flickering between her face and her angry sundering of the grass. He hadn’t known Sakura was a single mother, although he shouldn’t have been surprised. Both parents usually showed up for Opening Day, took turns picking their kids up, or showed up to watch the first game at the very least, but he hadn’t seen any male that fit the description. “And you don’t have anyone else to pick you up? Maybe a grandmother?”

“We don’t have family here. My mom was offered a better job at the hospital, so… we moved.” Sarada shook her head at the ground, too busy cleaving grass in two to notice his awkward inner dialogue. She ducked her head and sniffled. “I’m really sorry, Coach. I didn’t mean to… for this...”

Mild panic shot through his system realizing this little girl was about to cry. Fuck. Why? It wasn’t that big of a deal. Things like this happened. It couldn’t be helped. Kakashi sucked in a breath of air as he crouched in front of her and plucked a few grass strands of his own. He wasn’t good at small-talk or emotions, he knew this and that was fine. Coaching was easy in a way that allowed him to be a hardass, strict and precise without all the extra stuff, but this… He really should work on his people-skills if he wanted to continue working with kids. 

What could he say? What exactly should he do? The girl claimed she rode the bus often, she even had a laminated bus pass, although it was for a different city, but leaving her unsupervised was just… not his forte. Children weren’t supposed to be left alone so young. It was strange that her mother would allow this and yet it seemed she actually wasn’t, somehow. “Sarada... next time your mom has to work late, just hang out at the field. Alright? It’s no big deal, I’ll wait until-” 

“No! It’s not her fault this time! Please don’t kick me off the team!” Sarada cried out suddenly, big watery eyes gazing up at him imploringly. “Dad was supposed to be here, to-to pick me up f-for dinner - but... but something came up-” Sarada snapped her jaw shut and looked away, face twisted with all the fury of a child betrayed. Tears steadily dripped down her chin despite how fast she was attempting to wipe them away.

Kakashi rotate his jaw as he bowed his head to give her a moment of privacy, and if he also happened to be avoiding her emotional display, well, he never said he was a good coach. Her words weighed heavily on his chest, uncomfortably close to his own childhood wounds and he didn’t want to think about it. He pressed his thumbnail into a blade of grass and watched it split.

“It’s just… It’s so embarrassing! I don’t want everyone to know and I didn’t want them to think I was getting extra p-practice like my last team. They started a whole crap ton of drama and Boruto w-would only make fun of me and call m-me a loser if he knew.”

“Hey, don’t worry about that butthead.” Kakashi said as he tossed his grass blades at her, jumping on the chance to turn this conversation elsewhere. “If they thought you were getting special training, they’d probably ask me for extra on the sly, too. You’d be a trendsetter.”

Sarada’s face lit up with a small giggle, but it died out quickly. She wiped her nose and looked up at him nervously. “S-Still, wouldn’t you have to wait here the whole time? I mean, my last coach got… he got really mad when I had to stay late and eventually told my mom to stop bringing me... I-I don’t wanna h-hic-old you up…”

Kakashi frowned at the thought of a nine year old taking the bus in a city as big as Konoha and wondered what in the fuck was wrong with whoever she’d had last year. Coaches had a duty to the kids while they were in their care, they owed that to the parents. To abuse or neglect those unspoken vows was just... wrong. Kakashi suddenly felt lucky to have had the kind of coaches he did growing up. He took a deep breath and prepared himself for his next words. If she had no one else to tell her what was wrong with this situation, then he would have to. That’s something he had loved about Minato-sensei. The man never let bullshit fly. 

He picked at the bottom of his mask nervously, wishing he didn’t feel so constricted, wishing he felt more confident. Failure wasn’t an option, though. Lessons like this were imperative to learn at a young age, no matter how uncomfortable. Leveling a finger at her, Kakashi said perhaps too blunty, “Screw that guy. And your dad. It isn’t safe to sit by yourself next to the highway of all places, especially at this time of night… Do you understand what I’m trying to say, Sarada?”

Sarada looked down at her twisted hands and nodded meekly, eventually managing to croak out a weak ‘yes sir’ as another trail of tears dripped down her cheeks. Kakashi felt his insides twist painfully at the wobble in her lip. He hadn’t meant to make her feel worse or feel like it was her fault because it damn sure wasn’t. Maybe he should have worded it differently? 

Running an anxious hand through his hair, he tugged at the ends as he bowed his head and tried to think of what to say to make her feel better, at the very least, turn this conversation to something easier so as not to end on a bad note. How would this look for her mom to drive up and see her daughter crying? There would be hell to pay, for sure. She may even take her daughter off the team and Kakashi couldn’t afford that. They only had two substitutes this year… He didn’t have kids, but he considered his soccer team to be pretty close to what it would feel like to have some and he didn’t want her to quit the team because of this or have hard feelings towards him and he hated to think of what she might be going through at home.

“Listen,” He began, dropping to his ass to mirror her as he took on a more gentle tone so it wouldn’t sound as if he were attacking her. “You don’t even have to say anything next time, okay? Just kick the ball around and if you haven’t left by the time everyone else has, I’ll understand what’s up. And I promise - Hey, look at me,” Kakashi wiggled a cleat in her line of sight and ducked his head to catch her watery eyes past the glare of her glasses. “I promise I won’t be mad. Or kick you off the team. That’s stupid.”

“Really?” Tears welled up in her eyes again as her face screwed up with emotion. Then she held out her pinky and wheezed out. “Pinky promise?”

“Aa,” A quiet, uncomfortable chuckle escaped him as he looked down. “My big toe’s stronger. How about that?”

“Ew, no! I’m not touching your big toe!” Sarada giggled a bit hysterically and scrubbed under her glasses to wipe her eyes. 

“Are you sure?” Kakashi asked quickly and wrangled off a cleat to wiggle a sweaty sock at her. “Perfect timing. Big toe soup right here.”

Sarada shrieked and jumped up to run around him. He couldn’t help snickering as he pulled his shoe back on. Good. Things were… better. Okay, at least.

They passed the ball around a bit and he attempted to explain how to time a nutmeg until her mom arrived.

===

now that i’ve put this out, i’m debating whether or not to add their meeting when Sakura picks her up... i dunno yet. lemme know whatcha think peeps!

#kakasaku #fanfic #kakashi hatake #sakura haruno #sarada uchiha #fanfiction #anti sakura uchiha #look #i just don't care for the punk #alright #writing #soccer au #modern au #kakashi is a degenerate #or is he? #papashi #hatake kakashi #kakashi

[wolvesandfoxes25]

What we want: Ch: 6

Arriving at the apartment, Naruto looked around, making sure no-one was in the vicinity.

Coast was clear.

Sighing, Naruto lifted a hand and knocked loudly.

No answer.

Scowling, he knocked again.

No answer.

Knocking once more, almost to a pounding decibel, he heard fowl cursing on the other side.

“Fuck. Just give me a damn minute!”

The door swung open.

“What?!”

Onyx eyes widened, then glared.

“Could you be any louder or impatient, Naruto?” Kakashi asked, annoyed.

The blonde rubbed the back of his head, smiling awkwardly.

“Sorry, Sensei. I just-I really have to talk to you about something.”

The silver haired man nodded, stepping to the side, letting the young Hokage through.

He had a hunch on what the subject was on.

“Want anything to drink? Sake or…sake?”

Naruto smiled, nodding.

“I uh-wasn’t interrupting anything, was I?” His ex-student asked, looking around, a little uncomfortable at the thought of catching his ex-teacher in a compromising position.

“Nope. Not tonight. Maybe tomorrow.” Kakashi answered, grabbing his bottle of alcohol, sitting across from Naruto in his living room.

Naruto blushed, and nodded.

“Well. Good luck?” He said, watching the older man smirk arrogantly.

They did small talk for a little bit, before Kakashi looked squarely at the younger male, raising an eyebrow.

“What did you need to talk about?”

Naruto set his cup down, nudging it in the way of the Hatake male. Kakashi took the hint and poured a shot, nudging it back.

Taking a deep breath, Naruto threw it back, shivering at the burn in his chest, yet relishing in it.

“I uh- I’ve been sleeping with Sakura.”

Kakashi wasn’t surprised, he figured that’s what would happen. After all these years of watching Naruto fawn over Sakura from a distance. It was about damn time.

But, he was married. They were both married. And that was wrong.

“How long?”

Naruto leaned back, “Close to two weeks now.”

Kakashi scratched his nose, furrowing his eyebrows.

“And I’m assuming Hinata does not know?” He asked the young blonde, who looked horrified, shaking his head.

Yeah, he assumed that as well.

“Kakashi-Sensei. I don’t know what to do. With Sakura I feel…alive. Like the old me. Sometimes I look in the mirror at home and see nothing but an old man. A person I don’t know, and don't want to know. When did I turn into Naruto the Hokage? Where is Naruto Uzumaki?”

The older male nodded, understanding where the younger male was coming from.

“And what do you feel when you’re with Hinata?”

Naruto looked down sadly at that question, ashamed of the answer that flitted through his brain.

“I feel…content? Settled.”

Two great words to describe a marriage.

Kakashi downed his sake, pouring a generous amount back into his cup.

“And with Sakura? You said you feel alive?”

Naruto nodded, feeling his face flush.

“I feel…passionate. I feel…whole.” He said, feeling the shame rush over him at the revelation that just now hit his heart.

It was the truth.

It had always been the truth.

“Naruto? I have a question, and I’ve actually been wanting to ask you this for a very long time.” Kakashi said, interrupting his thoughts.

The blonde just stared at the elder male.

“Why didn’t you tell Sakura about your feelings sooner?”

Naruto sighed, closing his eyes, leaning back against the sofa.

“She loved Sasuke. She always has. I couldn’t compete with him. I never could. He’s calm and collected. And I’m…loud and emotional, I’m pretty sure I annoy her ninety nine percent of the time.”

Kakashi smiled softly, shaking his head at his previous student.

“I don’t think that’s the case, Naruto. Sakura…well she…she came to see me after the bar, and she was really torn up on the fact that she never told you her feelings.”

Naruto sat up at that.

“She did? What else did she say?”

Kakashi rubbed his chin.

“I gave her my word. I can’t divulge that information, but, you should talk to her about it.”

Silence.

“There isn’t really a point. We’re both married, and it would only complicate things even more than they already are. If that’s possible..”

Kakashi looked away, feeling heat rise to his cheeks due to the sake.

“Are you going to tell Hinata?”

Naruto felt the shame wash over him, etching itself on his face, and he sighed, feeling exhausted out of nowhere.

“In due time, yes, I will tell her. I-I don’t know what will happen when she finds out. Should we divorce? Should I try and work things out with her?”

Kakashi looked at him again.

“I think you should tell her, when you’re ready. And Sakura should definitely tell Sasuke. Honestly, I don’t even think he’ll give it any thought. He’s never here and she deserves to be happy. Wouldn’t you agree? You both deserve to be happy, Naruto.”

The Hokage in question sighed but nodded.

Silence.

Smirking lightly, he looked the elder Shinobi over.

“So…you bringing a man or woman home tomorrow?”

Kakashi choked on the sake he was drinking, the burning making his eyes water profusely.

“W-What?’ He coughed, which made Naruto laugh.

Kakashi took a big breath in, turning a scowl on the blonde man across the way.

“Is that a question regarding my sexual preferences?”

Naruto just shrugged.

“Now, Naruto. You’ve seen the book I read. What do you think?”

Hey. Looks could be deceiving.

“You never know, maybe you’re good at covering it up. Then again, for the longest time, we all three thought you were asexual. Or…maybe nothing but your hand could suffice.” He chuckled, watching the red streak cover his ex-teachers face.

“I’ll have you know that I got plenty of action before and after I met you all of you brats. With women.”

Naruto smirked, but nodded.

“Well. Since we’re laying all this out, I must know. Did you and Sasuke ever decide to poke each other?”

Naruto was glad he wasn’t drinking when Kakashi-Sensei asked that question, or the sake would be all over the other man.

“W-What are you talking a-about?!” The young blonde screeched, standing up, face enflamed.

Kakashi chuckled, “Well. I just presumed after all those years of chasing him, that maybe you had another reason, other than friendship.”

Naruto felt his jaw unhinge and fall open.

“W-What??”

Kakashi just shrugged, humored at the fact that the blonde was currently opening and shutting his mouth like a fish.

“I have never wanted to have a relationship like that with Sasuke.” Naruto spat, shuddering at the image that flit across his mind.

The silver haired male only chuckled, wiping his eyes free of the tears that pooled due to his excessive laughing.

Naruto smiled too, watching the older shinobi lean back, wrapping his arm around the back of the sofa.

That mask was still in place, and Naruto glared.

That mask is coming off!

"Sensei? You know…it’s been nineteen years, when are you going to finally show us what’s under that mask?“ Naruto questioned him.

Kakashi smirked, “Well, first off Naruto, you’re the Hokage now, you don’t need to call me sensei. And second, why does it matter what’s under the mask? Is it because of your bet with Sasuke and Sakura?”

The blonde sputtered on his drink then, coughing violently.

“How did you know about that?”

Kakashi set his cup down, folding his arms.

“Sakura let it slip when she told me about what happened between the two of you. We had done the ‘give and take’ thing, where if she answered a specific, personal question, I’d take off my mask. Well, she let spill that you all had a bet on what I had under it.”

Naruto cursed Sakura silently.

“You bet I had fish lips?”

Naruto just shrugged, snickering.

“I think it’s a multitude of things, probably bad teeth, or a fucked up lip. Take your pick.”

Silence.

“Honestly, I don’t want to see it anymore, considering your age, you probably are littered with age spots. Wrinkles tend to form around the mouth first once you hit old age.”

Kakashi lifted a brow, flaring his nostrils.

“So, the women you bring home, are they old as well? Maybe full time bar pedestrians, looking for a little bit of time with someone as old as them so they won’t feel so bad. I guess pity sex is better than no sex at all.”

Kakashi glared.

Reverse psychology.

“I know what you’re doing, Naruto.” The elder ninja stated, sounding bored, yet aggravated that he was getting older.

“I’m not doing anything. Everyone gets old. No shame in that game. But still, are we supposed to pretend that you’re actually decent looking with all those wrinkles, and frown lines? Especially around your eyes, they’re terrible.”

Naruto put the cherry on top by making a grossed out face, making a show of inspecting his own face.

Kakashi sighed, oh well, he had waited almost twenty years to see it, he deserved it by now.

Grunting, he forced the mask down, and watched as the younger males eyes widened.

“Woah! It’s a good thing you kept your face hidden, sensei. Imagine all the females that would be clamoring over you on missions. You know when you were young enough to go on missions.”

Kakashi glared harder at him.

“Enough of that.”

Naruto was still inspecting his face, when his eyes hit the mole at the corner of his mouth.

“Oh shit! You have a wart!”

“Mole. Beauty spot.” Kakashi murmured, shoving his mask back over his features.

Naruto snickered, taking it all in, thanking Kakashi for doing that for him, and apologized for the falsified insults.

“You’re still young, Kakashi-sensei. Alive and kickin if what you say is true about your sexual exploits.”

The Hatake male chuckled.

“True.”

              One week later:

Naruto was standing in front of the mirror in his bedroom, adjusting his Hokage robe, running his fingers through his blonde tresses.

His hair was starting to grow out longer, and he had decided to let it. He missed his longer locks, liking how they made him look younger. Probably why Kakashi-Sensei never cut his own hair.

He looked pretty good, deciding on a shirt with a little less orange, only the Uzumaki symbol, and stripes on the cuffs were orange, the shirt fitted to him, opting out of the one that looked baggy. It really defined him and definitely his chest, his pants black, shinobi sandals completing the ensemble.

“Naruto-kun?”

Hinata appeared behind him, dusting off his Hokage robe, smiling at him in the mirror.

“Are you sure you don’t want to try and go?” He asked her, a little disappointed she wouldn’t be accompanying him.

Shaking her head, she blushed.

“It isn’t really a dinner like that, Naruto-kun. Temari-chan isn’t going with Shikamaru-chan, and I couldn't get a sitter.”

Naruto sighed, but nodded.

“Alright. Well, I need to be going. I’ll be home when this is all over. Hopefully it won’t take too long. I wouldn’t wait up.” He told her, leaning forward, pecking her forward, an intense wave of guilt crashing over him, which he shook off diligently. Closing his eyes, sighing, he pulled away, bidding her farewell.

Sakura stood in the mirror, turning this way and that, inspecting the long kimono like dress she had purchased the day before, enjoying the color. It was a pale pink like her hair, adorned with black leggings underneath and her white heels. She’d top the ensemble off with her doctors coat, and a little bit of makeup.

“Mom. You look great!” Sarada’s voice said, her daughters image appearing in the mirror.

“Thank you.” Sakura said to her child, patting her head, “Now. You’re sure you’ll be here alright for a couple of hours?”

Sarada rolled her eyes, crossing her arms.

“Yes, mom. This isn’t the first time you’ve left me to watch over the house.”

Sakura blanched at that, a wave of maternal guilt taking over her, making her sigh.

“Believe me. I wish I could stay here, the Hokage’s council is going to be drilling me and my team like crazy concerning this clinical trial.”

Sarada smiled, “I know you can do it mom. Just put on the charm, and I’m sure Lord Seventh will help you out in that respect as well. Since he’s rather charming himself.”

Sakura raised an eyebrow, seeing her daughter blush at that statement.

“You think highly of Naruto don’t you?” She asked Sarada, laughter present in her tone.

Sarada blushed profusely, shaking her head, waving her hands about.

“N-N-No! Mom! H-He’s old!”

Sakura rolled her eyes, dabbing on a little bit of lip gloss, grabbing her purse.

“Right. Being in your early thirties makes you old, hmm?”

Sarada tried to backtrack, not wanting to offend her own mother with that statement.

“No! I-I, that is, I…”

Sakura laughed, bending low and hugging Sarada, ruffling her hair.

“No problem, kid. Just be safe while I’m gone, alright? If you need anything, you have my number, and also grandma and grandpas.”

Naruto and the council sat at one of the tables in the backroom at Gyokai, the newest seafood establishment in Konoha.

Looking around, Naruto noticed Shikamaru coming through the door, putting out a cigarette before stepping in, taking off his sandals.

He looked like he normally did.

Not surprising, Shikamaru was too lazy to look nice in any capacity, but Naruto didn’t care.

“Yo, Hokage-sama.” He said, waving slightly.

Naruto glared at the formality.

“What did I tell you, Shikamaru?” Naruto asked, sighing in aggravation.

“Hey. The council is here, it’s only proper, I don’t want one of them bitching me out for not being ‘professional.’ Grin and bear it, just for this dinner.”

Naruto rolled his eyes but nodded, flipping through a menu that had been placed in front of him.

Nothing but seafood.

He wanted ramen.

Sakura brushed her dress off for the thousandth time before walking inside, the medical team on her heels, mumbling about how nice the restaurant looked.

Removing her sandals, she looked towards the table and noticed Naruto.

Looking bored.

But, the rest of him looked…handsome, his hair a little shaggy, starting to fall back into his eyes again.

Smiling, she saw him raise his head, eyes clashing with hers, blue ones widening at her state of dress, his back straightening.

Sakura felt herself blush, adjusting her coat, feeling self conscious all of a sudden.

Naruto was listening to the unending conversation to his left, when he heard voices near the front.

Sakura.

Darting his eyes over to her, he felt the breath rush from his chest.

She looked glorious.

Just like a cherry blossom in bloom.

Her dress matched with her red one remarkably, only the color matched almost perfectly with her hair, and there was no flare out in the middle of this one, the whole thing falling to mid shin. She wore black tights underneath.

The whole outfit brought him back to his genin days, and he shuddered.

The thing that stood out the most though was her eyes.

Her gorgeous eyes that he had immediately fallen in love with as a child, never before seeing such emerald hues.

His eyes wouldn’t move off of her, watching as she shook hands with his council, introducing her staff to everybody, including Shikamaru, then to him.

“Hokage-sama.” Her voice cut through, and he shook his head out of the clouds, smiling at the hospital staff, standing up and greeting them formally.

“Welcome. Please, take a seat.”

Sakura felt his eyes on her, her stomach quivering, nerves on tight ends. Shooting a glance up his way, she raised a brow, glaring lightly, making him smirk and look away.

“Sakura-sama.” Misuru started, “I’d like to know more about this clinical trial. Are you sure you’ll be able to master the skills for it to work?”

Naruto raised an eyebrow at the statement, feeling it was teetering on an insult.

However, the pinkette blushed, taking a sip of water before she began.

“Well, me and my team have done some intense research regarding the bi product, and there’s no reason as to why we wouldn’t be able to successfully make a spinal graft. Not only that, but it will start giving us insights on other bone grafts as well.”

Misuru grunted, but nodded.

Naruto smiled at the professional way Sakura held herself, proud of her, knowing Misuru was a lot to handle.

“I think it’s a grand thing.” Hana, the third member of the council said, taking a sip of sake.

“Why is that?” Misuru questioned her.

“Well, because it means we’re moving forward in medical departments. It’s never a good thing to be left behind, and Sakura-chan here is the best medical Kuniochi in Konoha, if not in many governing lands. Remember, we’ve had a bounce in revenue for the hospital, due to patients coming from other villages to see her and only her. Tusnade-sama had that as well. And she was a sannin.”

Naruto smiled at the elder woman, feeling even more pride run through his chest.

Sakura needed to know how amazing she was as a doctor, he knew her self-esteem got a little bit down.

In the midst of Naruto staring around the table, taking in conversations, and minor chit chat, he noticed the male member of the medical staff staring at Sakura, a strange look in his eyes.

Admiration.

Naruto felt a growl rumble deep within.

Slapping himself-and Kurama-mentally, he looked away, knowing that nothing good would come of him shooting fiery glares the younger males way.

The dinner took quite awhile, through many conversations about how to bone graft, to families, to children, to the hospitals regular funding.

Which really needed to be looked into. They required an abundance of things that they couldn’t keep pushing off.

Naruto had a couple ideas in mind.

As everyone crowded at the door to leave, Naruto watched Sakura put her heels back on, the same male touching her shoulder, gripping it firmly, saying words of congratulations, smiling warmly.

The same growl penetrated Naruto’s mind.

Stop it.

Do something, welp!

Naruto ignored him.

There was nothing he could do.

Leaving the restaurant, Naruto walked side by side with Sakura, telling her he would walk her home. He received a raised brow at the statement, but she shrugged, cheeks taking on a dusty color at his chivalry.

When they had all dispersed, Naruto made sure no-one was within hearing distance.

“You look beautiful tonight, Sakura.” He muttered.

Sakura glanced at him, feeling his blue eyes on her.

Stomach fluttering, Sakura nudged his shoulder, thanking him in a teasing manner, not noticing the veil of heat fall over his irises.

Silence.

“You also did a fantastic job with the council. They’re actually looking forward to this clinical trial, and they don’t look forward to anything, except maybe me stepping down.” Naruto joked, cupping his hands behind his head.

Sakura watched him, a strong sense of dejavu falling over her.

This is how it always used to be. They’d walk home from training, or eating, or seeing lady Tsunade for their briefing.

But, things were very different now.

And the thought made Sakura’s heart clench, teeth worrying her lower lip.

Silence.

“N-Naruto?” She started, feeling her throat clench with emotion.

“Hm?”

“I just wanted to say you look very handsome tonight, I like that you’re growing your hair out. And the shirt does wonders for you. Not too orange. Which, there’s nothing wrong with orange.” She mumbled, feeling the pit of her stomach flutter when his fingers grazed her hand as they continued walking.

The blonde stopped walking then, eyes fastened on her, leaning forward to grab her wrist, stopping her movements.

Sakura sucked in a breath at his facial expression.

“Sakura. I need to speak to you about something, about everything. Can we go somewhere private?” He whispered, tightening his hold on her.

The Kuniochi sucked in a breath, feeling her frame start to tremble.

“We can’t, Naruto. Sarada is at home, a-and-”

Suddenly, her words were cut off, Naruto folding her in his arms, bouncing away.

Sakura gasped, struggling a little in his grasp.

“N-Naruto! What the hell!?”

The blonde smirked, and instantly stopped, the pinkette clutching the front of his shirt fiercely.

Opening her eyes, Sakura gasped.

They were on top of the Hokage monument.

Naruto removed his cloak, setting it down, sitting down, patting the space beside him.

Sakura smiled lightly, reaching down and removing her sandals, putting them beside his robe.

They sat in silence for a little bit, their stares straight above at the stars, the echoing stillness peaceful, instilling calm where chaos usually clamored.

“Sakura.” His deep voice reached her, and she turned to look at him, entranced by the tranquility that fell over both of them.

The blonde male closed his eyes, gritting his teeth, trying to find the right way to start this conversation.

Sakura wrapped her arms around her knees, pulling them up against her chin, eyes still on the young Hokage, who seemed to be waging a war with himself.

What was wrong?

“Sakura-I…” He began again, his throat dry, feeling as if he swallowed several thousand cotton balls.

“Are you alright, Naruto?” She mumbled, reaching out to grab his hand, squeezing his fingers.

The touch sent a spike of heat to his heart and he looked down, finally gathering the courage.

“I love you.”

Sakura felt time pause around her, her throat constricting, then quivering, tears building in her eyes.

Naruto felt his heart squeeze when she didn’t answer, blue eyes closing and looking away.

“I love you too.” A raspy voice hit him and he turned his head to her, green eyes staring in his direction, tears leaking down her cheeks.

Naruto felt his own misting, then well up and flow over, mirroring what his soul was doing.

Breathing in raggedly, he enclosed her in his arms, stuffing his nose in her tresses, feeling her shake furiously against him, hands and nails clenching his shirt, sobs mixing with his own.

“Naruto.” Sakura whispered, shutting her eyes, pulling out of his warm embrace, wiping her eyes.

“I know.” He responded, knowing what she was going to say.

“You’re with Hinata, Naruto. And I’m with Sasuke. A-And I don’t know what we’re doing, are we going to continue to have this fling?”

That was the wrong thing to say.

“Fling?” Naruto growled, glaring at her.

Sakura bit her lip, wishing she could take the words back. She knew that wasn’t what this was.

“After me just admitting to you that I loved you, you still think this is a fling?"

“Well, Naruto, it’s sort of a foregone conclusion, isn’t it?”

“No! It’s not, not for me.” He responded hotly, cheek twitching with his frustration.

Sakura sighed, but nodded, closing her eyes.

“Naruto. I do not want to break up you and Hinata’s marriage, that’s not anything I want. I don’t want to be part of that, please.” She all but begged him, watching him tense.

Silence.

“What if I want to?” He murmured, glancing at her in what looked like shame.

Sakura felt like someone had shoved her in the chest, eyes misting over once more.

“D-Do you?” She asked, voice raspy, thick with tension.

Naruto breathed out a sigh, shoving his hand into his hair to almost tear at the strands in frustration. “I just really don’t like who I’m becoming right now. And when I think about Bolt and Himawari…It’s just not behavior that I want to model for my children.”

Those words ripped through her like a kunai and she almost whimpered. Swallowing back pain that threatened to consume her, she sniffled.

“What do you want to do?”

Naruto felt his throat burn and constrict with the tears he tried to not shed.

“I think we should stop.”

Those were the words that Sakura knew were coming. It didn’t make them hurt any less though, and she felt her shoulders shake with an uncontrollable urge to plunge herself off the monument.

The impact would hurt less.

Naruto looked at her, tears leaking out of his irises, fighting his entire being to not sob.

Sakura couldn’t help clutching the spot where her heart lay, the heat making its way through her body, to scald her organ, thoroughly incinerating her from the inside out.

“O-Okay.” She managed to rasp out, moving to shaky feet.

Naruto watched her, wanting to reach a hand out to grasp hers, but deciding not too.

Not bothering to put her shoes on, Sakura looked over her shoulder once more, watching as he turned his face away from hers, hands clenched tightly, shoulders trembling.

Sakura didn't wait for any more words to be exchanged, hopping off the monument and away from the man that had just effectively shattered her.

Sarada looked at the time, it was approaching ten o’clock and wondered where her mother was?

Closing the ninja book she was reading, she laid back, staring at the ceiling.

There was something going on between her mother and The Seventh. She could feel it.

It all went back to that night when he stopped over. After he had left her mother was rattled for the rest of the evening, seemingly lost in space the entire time.

She looked so sad. So…disappointed.

It left Sarada confused and a little uneasy.

What had he said to her to warrant that sort of response? Did the clinical trial get turned down?

No. It hadn’t, for she had asked her mom that exact question shortly after The Seventh left.

So, what was it?

It wasn’t only that evening either, it was days afterwards as well. Every time Sarada would bring him up, her mom would get this strange expression of what seemed like…pain, but not physical pain.

Emotional pain.

And it wasn’t only her mother either, but also the Hokage himself.

Twice, she had brought up her mother’s late nights at the hospitals, and Lord Seventh took on a face of concern immediately, eyebrows furrowing. He then drilled Sarada on if she was sleeping alright, or eating.

Sarada raised a brow at him, only nodding, a little confused.

The raven haired teenager sighed, rubbing her nose.

She had a guess of what was going on, but it really wasn’t her business. Her mother was a grown woman, but she was worried about her.

Suddenly, Sarada picked up on a sound and she sat up quickly, gripping a kunai she kept on her dresser.

Tiptoeing down the hallway, activating her sharingan, she heard the sound coming from her mothers bedroom. Stopping, she pressed her ear against the door, hearing a muffled sob hit her ears.

It was her mother.

Sarada put the kunai down, continuing to listen.

The sobs were coming out quicker and louder now, even if her mom tried to stifle them.

They broke Sarada’s heart.

Something had happened.

Sighing, the Uchiha slid down the wall and listened to her mother fall apart on the other side of the door.

And there was nothing she could do.

Nothing.

#NaruSaku #narusaku 4 ever #Naruto Uzumaki #Sakura Haruno #fanfic #affair fanfic #sadness #angst

[myaekingheart]

92. Finding Home

I have seen so many loving faces They turn back and leave with looks of regret The road goes and I am finding home in it -Finding Home, Saosin

               Newspapers and pamphlets littered Rei’s apartment as she flipped through endless real estate listings. Kakashi would be gone for the next week and meanwhile she was responsible for continuing their apartment hunt. It seemed like such a simple task—how hard could it be to find an affordable, decent place to live? Apparently she was mistaken. She had toured four different places thus far, each one worse than the last, and was admittedly reaching the end of her rope. Toshio stepped lightly across the cluttered floor, careful not to crumple any of her papers, before nudging Rei’s arm and whimpering.

               “What’s wrong, buddy?” she asked, scratching behind his ear. Toshio shook his head violently before barking at the clock on her nightstand. The time read 12:42pm. She was late.

               Without another moment of hesitation, Rei leapt to her feet and tugged her boots on by the door. She patted her thigh for Toshio to follow then raced out into the street.

               Sekkachi spun around on her barstool the minute she heard them both approach, a sly grin on her face. “You know, five more minutes and I would’ve called the cops” she jested. Rei rolled her eyes and took a seat beside her friend. She ordered a platter of gyoza and a glass of water for herself and some senbei crackers for Toshio.

               “Thanks for your concern” she replied. “I just lost track of time is all.”

               “Were you peeking at Kakashi’s smut again?” Sekkachi asked.

               “What?!” Rei exclaimed, nearly falling off her seat. “Excuse you!”

               Sekkachi shrugged. “It’s a valid assumption” she said, poking around in her bowl of rice. She dropped some senbei crackers onto the ground for the dog. “With him being gone and everything, you’ve gotta get off somehow.”

               Teuchi hesitated before placing Rei’s order of gyoza down in front of her. Rei thanked him quietly, apologetically, before glaring at her comrade. “Hey, this is a family place. Do you always have to be this inappropriate?”

               A smug smile crossed Sekkachi’s lips as she took a swig of her drink. “I try” she replied proudly. “So what took you so long, anyway?” she then asked.

               Rei sighed and shoved a dumpling her mouth. “Just busy looking for apartments” she mumbled. “But it’s proving to be a real big pain in the ass.”

               “No luck?” Sekkachi asked.

               “None whatsoever” Rei replied. For the following five minutes, she then proceeded to whine and complain of her real estate struggles and all the places she had looked into that proved to be a waste of her time. And really, the longer it took, the more heavily it weighed upon her. Housing was suddenly all she could think about. When she walked down the street, her eyes involuntarily darted to every apartment complex that might have space to let. And yet there was also probably something wrong with every one of them. Faulty plumbing, perhaps, or rodent infestations. She raked her fingers through her hair and tried to keep her cynicism at bay.

               Two minutes into her monologue, Sekkachi was already bored out of her mind. She rolled her eyes and gulped back a swig of her water, slamming the glass on the counter so that it shook the entirety of Ichiraku. Rei paused a moment, blinking. “Listen” Sekkachi sighed, and immediately Rei was expecting a lecture. Something along the lines of you know I care about you but I don’t care enough to listen to your problems. That was usually how it always went. Instead, she continued, “There’s a place down the street that just opened up a few days ago. I’ll take you there to check it out if it’ll shut you up.”

               Rei paused, blinking, before pursing her lips and socking Sekkachi hard on the arm. “Hey, do me a favor next time: lead with that!” she shouted. She scarfed down one more dumpling as Teuchi brought her a to-go box for the rest, then she slammed some money on the table and dragged Sekkachi out into the street. She refused to miss an opportunity like this.

               The apartment was on the north bend of the village, not far from the hokage office. Rei presumed just from geography alone that they would have an unprecedented view of Hokage Rock. She skipped stairs two at a time as Sekkachi told her which direction to go until they reached apartment 2B. The front door was open. Voices echoed from inside.

               Within a spacious living room was a small coffee table with pamphlets neatly stacked in the center. The rest of the room was empty save for the usual appliances that came with the place—refrigerator, stove, microwave, and so forth. Large windows lined the back wall, drenching the room in bright afternoon light. As Rei stepped inside, she could overhear a woman—the realtor—speaking with someone. A cheery voice uttered the words “sign the lease.”

               Toshio barged into the apartment, nose low to the ground as he inspected the place. Rei lunged after him but she was too late. He had already found his way into the bedroom where he introduced himself to the realtor and her clients, a bright-eyed couple brimming with naivete. They shrieked at the sudden interruption, the man and woman racing into the living room only to find a dumbfounded Rei. Sekkachi placed a hand upon her comrade’s shoulder and whispered, “I think we’re out of luck.”

               The realtor rushed in after them, pushing her wireframe glasses up her pinched nose and huffing. “What on earth--?!” she shouted, then looked to Rei and Sekakchi suspiciously. “And who are you?” she asked, looking them up and down.

               A smug grin touched Rei’s lips for a moment as she surged forward and extended a hand for a shake. “Hi, my name’s Rei Natsuki and I’m interested in the apartment.”

               The realtor paused a moment, terror crossing her face before transforming into a hollow, professional smile. A courtesy, something out of politesse rather than accommodation. She was clearly a woman of strict business. Rei would have to tread lightly.

               “Pleasure to meet you” the realtor introduced. She shook Rei’s hand but there was nothing of substance to it. She then turned to the couple with an apologetic smile and asked them to give her a moment. They nodded but it was clear that they were panicked. This unforeseen intruder was ruining their plans, it only made sense for them to be apprehensive. Sekkachi approached them with a shit-eating grin, appearing perhaps a little too friendly as she began interrogating them. Toshio sniffed their hands and furrowed his brows in displeasure.

               As the realtor, whose name Rei learned was Fudosan, showed her around the apartment, Rei’s heart leapt into her throat. She inspected every square inch with a keen eye but could not find a single thing wrong with the place. No roaches hiding in cabinets, no faulty plumbing, no broken air conditioners. It was in immaculate condition.

               “How much is rent?” Rei asked, stepping into the shower and inspecting the grout in the tiles.

               “Oh, I’m sure it’s out of your price range” Fudosan replied dismissively. “Apartments in this part of town are very expensive.”

               Rei peered out at her and grimaced. “I’m sure I can afford it” she replied. “I have money if that’s what you’re getting at.”

               A look of shock crossed Fudosan’s face for a split second, having not expected this unwelcome client to be so blunt. “I didn’t mean to offend!” she said with a hand raised in surrender. “I just meant that this area of town is in very high demand is all. Most of the people who seek residence this close to the hokage’s office are of, um…elite occupations.”

               If only this lady knew how elite Rei’s job was. The tattoo on her shoulder stung beneath her sleeve. A desperation bubbled up in the back of Rei’s throat, an urge to just explode in front of this woman and inform her of just who, exactly, she was talking to but she forcibly restrained herself. She could not afford to let her temper get the best of her. She needed to remain calm and composed. It was her only chance of winning Fudosan’s approval.

               The tour was brief, as the apartment, though in perfect condition, was rather small. A single bedroom, condensed bathroom, galley kitchen, and cozy living room; but her and Kakashi did not need much. It would suffice. Once finished, Rei eyed the couple standing anxiously by the kitchen counter, the young woman biting her nails as she looked Rei up and down. She locked eyes with them once before announcing, “I’d like to sign a lease.”

               Fudosan paused, eyes darting from Rei to the couple and back. “A-are you sure about that? There are plenty of other fine apartments in town to consider” she argued.

               “Yes, I’m sure” Rei nodded. “I’ve already seen all the others and I’ve made my choice. I’d like this one.”

               “O-okay, well, I’ll need you to answer some questions first” Fudosan said. She placed her clipboard on the kitchen counter and shuffled through some papers before pulling out a stack of forms written in unnaturally tiny print. Rei squinted at the text as Fudosan continued. “Rent is 100,000 yen per month, and we require your income to be at least twice that rate. There’s an application fee of 5,000 yen per person, and a pet fee of 25,000 each. If your application is approved, we’ll need first and last month’s rent paid upfront, so all in all a total of 235,000 yen. But if that’s too much for you—”

               “No” Rei replied, whipping a pen out of her back pouch. She twirled it upright in her fingers and clicked it on with a sickeningly sweet, vicious smile. “Not at all.”

               The man and woman watched in horror, as if she was some sort of demon after their dream home. The woman looked up at her boyfriend, nudged his shoulder with an expectant squeak. He stepped forward and rested a hand hesitantly atop Rei’s paper. “Excuse me, ma’am, but what did you say you did for a living again?” he asked. Toshio snarled up at him the minute he got too close, prompting him to recoil with a forced smile.

               Rei met his gaze and the man began to question his choices. “I’m a shinobi” Rei replied.

               Fudosan bowed her head politely. “We thank you for your service” she said.

               The man glanced at the realtor, who met his gaze with a reassuring half-smile as if to say she had some tricks up her sleeve to sway this in their favor. Feeling much braver then, he asked, “What rank are you, anyway? You can’t be any older than eighteen, so what are you? A chunin, maybe?”

               Rei smirked, pen hovering above paper, as she replied, “Let’s just say I work directly under Lady Hokage.” The man paused a moment before the weight of that statement finally sunk in. When it did, a small squeak escaped his lips as he gripped his girlfriend’s hand tightly. Toshio barked proudly at him, pleased to see him finally put in his place.

               For a long while there was nothing but the scratch of pen on paper as Rei filled out the lease information. Sekkachi watched dumbfounded from the doorway, restraining laughter at the ridiculousness of this whole situation. She almost regretted telling Rei about this place but at the same time took mild delight in watching her five-foot tall friend scare the daylights out of unsuspecting bystanders.

               As Rei reached the end of the paperwork, she furrowed her brows and looked up at Fudosan curiously. “What should I put down for my, uh…roommate?” she asked.

               Fudosan glanced to Sekkachi and ushered her nearer, but Sekkachi took a step back with raised hands. Fudosan fought the pride threatening to paint her face as she finally found Rei’s weak point. “I’m afraid they will have to sign the lease in person” she replied, though nothing in her voice sounded sorry about this fact.

               The man, upon hearing this, grew so delighted to have been returned the upper hand that he laughed out loud and pointed directly in Rei’s face. “Ha! That’s right! If your roommate isn’t here to sign the lease, there’s nothing stopping us from getting the apartment first!” he exclaimed. Rei, however, was completely unfazed. Her own condescending smile tugged at the corner of her lips.

               “That’s a real shame” she replied in mock sadness. “I’m sure he would be so disappointed to hear I lost out on a deal like this. Maybe I’ll just put his name down anyway just to be safe.” And then, eyes still locked on the man, she slowly wrote Kakashi’s name and slid the paper across the counter to Fudosan. The three of them peered down at the dotted line, ice sliding down their spines.

               “You’ve got to be kidding me!” the man shouted. Glaring at Rei, he continued, “This has to be fake! There’s no way.”

               Sekkachi leaned in then and clapped her hand on the man’s shoulder from behind. “Oh, believe me, she’s not lying” she grinned. “So I mean, unless you want to screw over the Copy Ninja, I’d suggest you find someplace else to live.”

               Fudosan’s eyes darted to each face in the room in a panic, trying to figure out how to manage a situation like this. This was one of the many things they did not teach her in real estate school and she was losing her grip. The young couple, however, made her decision for her.

               “Fine!” the man shouted, throwing his hands up in the air. He took his girlfriend’s hand and made his way toward the door. “Didn’t want the stupid apartment anyway, it’s not even big enough.” Fudosan watched them disappear, dumbstruck, with her mouth agape.

               Sekkachi leaned in and gently clapped her jaw shut, replying, “You’ll catch flies like that.”  

               Rei finished signing off the last of the lease paperwork and then slid the forms across the counter with a smile. “Pleasure doing business with you!” she exclaimed. “We’ll be moving in on the first of the month.” She patted her upper thigh, signaling Toshio to follow, and then they disappeared down the hall. All Fudosan could manage was a muttered something about waiving the pet fee.

               The minute she stepped out into the late afternoon sun, Rei exploded with laughter and swung her arms around Sekkachi. “I can’t believe it! That actually worked!” she shouted. “We have an apartment!”

               Sekkachi rolled her eyes and shook her head but there was the hint of a smile on her face. “I’ve gotta hand it to you, Carrots” she said, “That was actually pretty impressive.”

               Rei straightened her back and raked her fingers through her bangs confidently. “Why thank you” she said. “Now the next step is to just move in and Kakashi and I will officially have a place of our own!”

               Sekkachi nodded as she followed Rei down the street, but deep down there was something nagging in the back of her mind. “What do you think he’ll say when he comes back and finds out what’s happened?” she asked.

               Peering over her shoulder, Rei asked, “What do you mean?”

               “It’s really not that big a deal” Sekkachi said, “I was just thinking, like, do you think he’d like the new place?”

               “Why wouldn’t he? It’s perfect” Rei argued.

               “Yeah, by your standards” Sekkachi replied. “But would he think the same thing? I mean, you did make the decision for him before he could even see the place for himself.”

               Frowning, Rei stopped in the middle of the street and glared up at her comrade. “What the fuck, Sekkachi?” she asked. “I thought you were on my side here. I thought you were supporting me. I never would’ve even gotten the apartment if you hadn’t brought it up in the first place.”

               “Yeah, but I didn’t expect you to break out into a full-on war for it” Sekkachi replied. “I was just bringing it up as an option and as impressed as I am with how you kicked that couple’s ass, I do kind of think you were also really hasty.”

               Rei pursed her lips and crossed her arms. She hated how easily Sekkachi could manipulate her confidence. But she was right. She had been hasty. She wasn’t entirely sure if Kakashi would agree with her on this. Maybe he had been wrong to put his trust in her while he was away, maybe she had been selfish and chosen something she liked rather than thinking of what was best for the both of them. Toshio lumbered nearer and nudged Rei’s hand, sensing her growing distress.

               It was obvious to Sekkachi, too. She wanted to feel fully guilty for bringing all of this to the fore, but at the same time she couldn’t just stand by without considering the alternative. A sigh broke past her lips as she compulsively tightened her ponytail and said, “Listen, I’m happy for you but I’m not sorry. I just think it’s worth it to think things through a bit more before you make big decisions, especially when they affect someone other than yourself.”

               Rei locked her eyes on the ground and did not speak for a long stretch of time. Then, finally lifting her hard gaze to Sekkachi, muttered, “Is it really so hard to just keep your mouth shut sometimes?” Sekkachi opened her mouth to speak but Rei had already turned on her heel and headed back home. The moment was over. There was nothing more to be said.

               That night, Rei tossed and turned unable to stop thinking about what Sekkachi had said. Her anxiety hiked up higher and higher as each day passed, growing closer to Kakashi’s return. Toshio rested his head on her stomach and whimpered in an attempt to calm her, and the least she could do was tangle her fingers in his fur and try to remember to breathe. And then when the day finally came, she was there at the front gates waiting for him.

               Kakashi hadn’t expected her to greet him upon his return, and he was admittedly pleasantly surprised. He could hardly keep the smile off his masked face as he approached her. “Hey there” he whispered, pressing his forehead against hers. Her cheeks burned red and she dropped her eyes to the ground. “I’ve missed you.”

               “Hi” she whispered. “I’ve missed you, too.”

               She didn’t even need to say anything specific for him to know that something was off. He saw it in the way she carried herself, in the way she seemed so uncertain and anxious. She followed him to the hokage’s office, waited outside as he checked back in, then they strolled to Ichiraku for a bite to eat. He watched as she merely poked at her gyoza, self conscious and overly cautious about every bite. Furrowing his brows, he reached his hand across the counter to rest atop hers and asked, “How were things while I was gone?”

               “They were…fine” Rei replied, forcing an unconvincing smile. “Nothing out of the ordinary.”

               “Did you find any apartments?” he asked and Rei’s face suddenly grew unbearably hot and she felt as if she was sweating through three layers of clothing despite there still being snow on the ground. She tightened her grip on her chopsticks and swallowed hard.

               “I-I, uh…I mean, I looked at some” she gulped. She was reaching her limit and she knew Kakashi could tell. If she kept up this charade one moment longer, she was going to have a mental breakdown. She prepared herself to step away with the excuse of needing to use the bathroom.

               “Rei” His voice was so stern and demanding, she jumped in her seat at the sound of it. He squeezed her hand lightly, begging her to look him in the eyes. She didn’t think she had the strength. “Rei, did something happen while I was gone? Please, tell me what’s wrong.”

               Rei squeezed her eyes shut tight and tried to will every ounce of her strength to tell him what had happened. He softened his presence, recognizing perhaps he was intimidating her, and then she finally spoke. “I may have had a bit of an issue with the apartment hunt” she sighed.

               “Why?” Kakashi asked. “What happened? Is everything okay?”

               “Y-Yeah, Kakashi, everything is, uh…everything is fine” Rei reassured. “I just…I don’t know, I made a decision about something that I’m starting to second guess myself about.”

               “Like what?” he asked. “Is it bad?”

               “Uh, depends on how you look at it?” she replied with an anxious laugh. She wasn’t getting anywhere beating around the bush like this, though. Sighing, she ran her fingers through her hair and explained. “Sekkachi told me about this apartment not far from her place, so we went there to check things out and uh…I may have accidentally already signed the lease.”

               Kakashi blinked. “Y-you did…?”

               “It wasn’t my fault! I know it was a hasty decision but there was this couple there and they were going to snatch it up and I felt like I couldn’t take that risk but then fucking Sekkachi started saying shit about ‘oh well you should’ve waited to see if Kakashi liked it first!’ and ‘you need to think before you make decisions’ despite her egging me on in the first place and I just--!” Rei completely exploded in the ramen shop, panting and on the verge of tears by the time she finished her explanation. Kakashi, however, was filled with nothing but amusement.

               “Rei, look at me” he chuckled, brushing the hair out of her face. “I’m not upset with you.”

               “Y-you’re not?” she sniffled.

               Kakashi shook his head. “No, absolutely not” he replied. “I will admit that, yes, it would’ve been ideal to have seen the place myself first—”

               “See!” Rei interrupted. “I knew Sekkachi was right—oh god!”

               “Rei, let me finish” Kakashi said, gentle but firm. “That being said, I trust your judgment and I understand that I can’t always be there to oversee big decisions. I’m proud of you for taking the initiative and doing what you felt was right, even if it was hasty.”

               Rei wiped her nose with the back of her mind and smiled sadly. “I’m sorry anyway” she said. “I just hope you don’t hate it.”

               Kakashi smiled and shook his head. “I won’t” he reassured her.

               “How do you know?” Rei asked. She didn’t quite trust his confidence when he still hadn’t seen the apartment. For all she knew, he could absolutely despise every little thing about it.

               Kakashi’s smile ceased to waver. He looked at her with that trademark masked grin and replied, “Because it’ll be ours. Because it will be the place where you and I live together. How could I possibly hate that?”

               God, you’re so sappy, she thought to herself. “Well, either way” she replied, composing herself, “We should probably go see it just to be safe.” Kakashi nodded and there was a certain undertone of excitement in his face that was mildly comforting. As the two of them walked toward their new home, Rei began to think that maybe this wouldn’t be so bad after all. Maybe her snap decision hadn’t been the worst thing in the world.

               Rei fished around in her back pouch for the key Fudosan had given her when she later verified the lease paperwork at the office. Her hands shook as she unlocked the door, and then they stepped inside and the living room was drenched in bright natural light. Kakashi took his time inspecting the appliances, checking the quality of the plumbing, and toying with the air conditioner. Rei watched with bated breath from the kitchen, just waiting for him to point out everything wrong with it but he said nothing.

               Once he had made his way all the back around to the front door, she chewed her lower lip and asked, “Well? What do you think…?”

               Kakashi rubbed the back of his neck, and Rei prepared for the worst. “I’m glad you did what you did, Rei” he then said. Rei blinked, unsure if she fully trusted his answer. Kakashi approached and gently gripped her waist, pulling her closer. “You made the right decision. I think we’ll be really happy here.”

               “Y-you think so?” Rei asked. “It’s not too small? Or too dingy?”

               Kakashi shook his head. “I’m sure we’ll find someplace bigger later on but for right now, I think this is exactly what we need. This is the right place for us right now and I couldn’t be happier” he said. A sob broke past Rei’s lips as the weight of the week crumbled on her shoulders. Kakashi pulled her into a tight hug and held her close for a long while before tugging his mask down and planting a soft kiss on the tip of her nose. As they stood there together, her heart swelled with the promise of the future and this new chapter in their lives. This was their home now. His and hers. A place to call their own.

#kakashi hatake #rei natsuki #the scarecrow and the bell #naruto #naruto oc #fanfiction

[thetoxicstrawberry]

@madakaka

Summary: An alternate universe in which Madara survives the war and spends his days flirting with irritating the Hokage.

The Price of Atonement

Ch. 1: Limbo

Ch. 2: The Losing End

Ch. 3: Minor Adjustments

Kakashi heard Madara’s voice before he saw him. He was half-way across the store, where he leisurely perused the pet aisle, when the rumbling sound of vexation caused his shoulders to instantly tighten. He was sure they heard the damnable man all the way back in the meat department.

He thought for a moment about leaving his shopping cart and sneaking out the door, but instead ducked behind a neatly stacked display of boxed pastries and watched the man haggle with the cashier.

“22 ryō? For eggs? I’ll only give you 14 and I know they aren’t even worth that much,” Madara snapped.  

From where he stood, Kakashi could see that the cashier was shaken. All the other customers had vacated her line, probably to wait for the crazy Uchiha to complete his purchase and leave.

“I’m…I’m sorry sir. I can’t…”

“You drive a hard bargain,” Madara said and pointed at the young woman. “16 ryō, but you won’t get a penny more from me.”

Kakashi knew he should stop this. He was the Hokage after all, and Madara, with all his eccentricities, was his responsibility. A responsibility that was supposed to be at least partially delegated out.

Where was Sasuke anyway?

Kakashi sighed and cursed inwardly for ever letting them both out of prison to being with, before he slid up from behind and threw a couple of coins on the counter.

“What do you think you are doing?” Madara turned toward him, his gaze sharp and intense.

“Ah, Madara, I didn’t realize it was you,” Kakashi said evenly. “It’s usually old women that get this worked up over prices.”

“This doesn’t concern you.”

“I mean,” Kakashi continued.  “You do look the same from behind.”

“Don’t you have some place to be, Hokage,” Madara spat the last word.

Kakashi turned to the cashier and flashed her a quick eye smile. “My apologies for my friend here…”

“We’re not friends.”

“He spent a lot of time in hell, so his people skills are lacking.”

The cashier quickly gathered the money and processed the transaction.  Kakashi took the bag containing Madara’s purchases and began to lead him out of the store as he blustered.

“Are you following me now? Is the brat not enough company for me? I’ll have you know that woman is a thief,” Madara grumbled. “But I’m sure you don’t care about those things. Stealing bloodline limits that don’t belong to you.”

Kakashi’s steps paused only for a moment, a soft laugh rumbled in his chest.

“I’m not the only one that likes to steal eyes, remember?” He pointed to the left side of his face. He watched as Madara’s own eyes traced the curve of the scar that bisected his brow and trailed under his mask.  “If I remember correctly, you yanked mine right out of the socket.”

“It didn’t belong to you,” Madara said and lifted his chin defiantly.

“It didn’t belong to you either.”

Madara’s face twitched.

“What kind of person snatches another man’s eye right in the middle of battle?” Kakashi asked.

“A winner, that’s who.”

“But Dara-chan,” Kakashi said and lifted one eyebrow. “You didn’t win.”

A deep growl escaped Madara’s lips, but he didn’t reply. His footsteps took on a heavier sound, as they walked side by side. They continued in silence for about a block before Kakashi brushed a glance in the other man’s direction. Madara’s expression remained blank, as he stubbornly looked ahead to ignore the gaze of his companion.

Kakashi wondered if he had taken it too far. He liked to poke at Madara. Bantering with him had become an interesting game and often broke the monotony of his day. He loathed to admit that he was beginning to look forward to their encounters. Kakashi wasn’t built for desk duty and being around Madara allowed for him to drop the formality to engage in verbal duels of wit.

Kakashi also simply liked irritating him, but not in a malicious way. He knew just the right buttons to push and enjoyed watching the man prickle like a flustered kitten.

Madara had been all mouth when he’d first arrived back in Konoha and he gave the prison guards such a tongue lashing that they had to be rotated out. Sasuke had pleaded to either be moved or executed, anything to get away from his contemptuous predecessor. But when the weeks turned to months and suddenly Madara was alone, the talking stopped. Then the eating.

Every few weeks, Sakura would come down to check on him and monitor his condition, even though the obstinate man kept refusing any sort of medical treatment for his ailments, and it was then that she noticed something was amiss.

“I know what he’s done,” she had told Kakashi. “But if we leave him the way he is…”

“He’s going to die,” Kakashi finished her sentence.

“Yes.”

The truth was, Madara deserved to die and some dark part of Kakashi had burned with the desire to let him. There was no way for him to make reparations for what he had done. Not for the war or the heavy death toll that came with it. And not for Obito.

Obito. His name still pulled at Kakashi’s insides. It was Madara who had tainted his friend’s mind and manipulated him to carry out his wicked dream.  

But what if it had been Obito that had lived and not Madara, Kakashi wondered? If it were Obito confined to life imprisonment, left to wither away from guilt and self-hatred? Kakashi knew he would want him to have a chance at atonement, a way back into the light. He knew it was his own bias that kept him from helping the reckless Founder and that ate at him.  

It was then that Kakashi decided that he was going to release him. Against the wishes of the elders, his advisors, and even his friends. The only one that stood by his decision was Naruto, who was all bright-eyed enthusiasm at the prospect of Madara rejoining society.

The bag of groceries rustled as Kakashi shifted it into his other arm. They had arrived at Madara’s house.  A little yellow one story, with dark navy shutters, and a low metal fence that squared off the edges of the property.

Kakashi followed him through the gate and up the walk.  When they stopped at the front door, the Hokage finally broke the silence, “Madara, I…”

“Do you really think we’re friends?” Madara interrupted, his focus down on the key ring as he fumbled with it. The tone in his voice sounded inquisitive and lacked his usual challenge.

Kakashi blinked at him, slightly stunned.

“Never mind,” Madara snapped and jiggled his keys harshly as he pushed them into the lock. “I just don’t want you misinterpreting my actions. Thinking you mean more to me than you do. That’s all.”

“Don’t worry,” Kakashi’s face relaxed and he gave the other man a quick pat on the back. “I never forget that you’d kill me if given half a chance.”

Madara pushed the door open with a grumble and the Rokudaime followed him inside. Kakashi hadn’t been to Madara’s house since he’d picked it out for him. It had been empty then and he had delegated the task of furnishing it to Shizune.

The floor plan was open, making the main living space feel wide and airy. From where he stood, Kakashi could see her touches in the decorating. The matching gray couch and loveseat, a rustic looking credenza, and impressionistic paintings of scenic landscapes. It was charming.

On top of Shizune’s work was a randomness that could only be Madara’s additions. Cheap bargain store knickknacks, a stack of old newspapers, and candles. So many candles. The scents varied and bore in with such intensity that Kakashi’s eyes watered and he cursed his acute sense of smell.  

He set the bag on a cluttered kitchen table. Madara came up alongside him and started putting away his purchases.

“Madara,” Kakashi asked, looking around his kitchen. “Where are all your appliances?”

“Hmm, oh, you mean those metal monstrosities? I burned them in the backyard,” Madara said it with a degree of nonchalance that Kakashi was left bewildered.

“You burned them?”

“Yes.”

“In your backyard?”

“Of course,” Madara said. “Where else would I have burned them?”

Kakashi moved to the back door, his jaw still slack in shock, and peered out. Sure enough, the burned-out husks of his appliances were pushed to the far side of his yard.

He turned on him, hands in the air. “Those where brand new! Why would you burn them?”

Madara shrugged and said, “I had no use for any of it and there was no other way of disposing of them.”

“You could have told me to remove them. You didn’t have to destroy them.”

“I kept the cooling one. I like that one,” Madara said and gestured towards the refrigerator. “I don’t know why it ruffles your feathers so bad. We didn’t have dishwashers in my day. It was simply taking up space.”

“But you didn’t put anything in its place,” Kakashi said and motioned to the empty hole.  “Do you have any idea how expensive that dishwasher was? The taxpaying citizens of Konoha paid for it too and you burned it.”

“If you want them back, you can take it. It’s crowding up my backyard anyway,” Madara said as he placed a jar of peanut butter into the cabinet and shut it.

He was smiling---an evil playful grin, Kakashi noted, and realized that Madara was savoring the opportunity to finally find something that upset him. He rubbed at his face and tried hard to get his composure under control. He took a deep breath and dropped his shoulders, but found the tension wouldn’t give and they only tightened back up again.

The village finances had taken a major hit after everything was destroyed during the Pein attack. Coupled with the dwindling missions—an unpleasant side effect of the new era of peace—there wasn’t any room to throw money away. Kakashi hoped the accounting office never found out about Madara’s little bonfire.

“Quick question,” Kakashi said, raising his head. “If you can’t mold chakra, how did you burn them?”

“Yes, that was quite the chore. I didn’t consider that until after I had drug them outside,” Madara said, tilting his head. “My current condition is one I’m still growing accustomed to. Once I had them out of the house, I realized I wasn’t going to be able to summon fire to destroy them, so I walked down to the corner market—it’s less than a mile from here-- and bought some accelerant.”

Kakashi could visualize it all in his head. Madara, hauling his large appliances out the backdoor, without the added benefit of chakra aided strength, only to realize that, in order to complete his mission, he would need to go about it the old-fashioned way. He was probably sweating, panting, and irritable by the time he made it to the market.

“I was looking for kerosene or something similar, but was told they were out. I am under the suspicion that the storekeeper was, instead, reluctant to sell me something that could be used for destructive means.  So, I bought hairspray instead.”

“Hairspray?”

Madara nodded and pointed to the stack of newspapers, “I drenched the papers in the hairspray and put them inside every nook and cranny I could, before setting it ablaze with a match. I singed all the hairs off my arm.”

Well, no one can ever call him a quitter.

“Madara, what am I going to do with you? We need to channel that energy of yours into something productive,” Kakashi sighed and slipped his hands into his pockets. “I don’t want you lighting anymore fires. You don’t have the ability to extinguish it if it were to get out of control.”

“You afraid I’ll burn my house down and you’ll be forced to buy me a new one?” Madara teased.

“No,” Kakashi said. “I’m afraid you’ll hurt yourself or someone else.”

Madara rolled his eyes. “There you go again, making it sound like we’re friends. I thought we already clarified that issue.”

“You don’t have to like me, but as the Hokage, it is my job to take care of the village and everyone who lives here. And as much as you hate it, that includes you.”

Madara stared at him for a moment and something flickered briefly in his eyes, but it was gone so quick that Kakashi barely saw it.

Vulnerability.

“Hmph,” Madara’s face twisted into a snarl and he glared back at him. “We’re done. I have things to do. I would appreciate if you left me to it.”

“Alright,” Kakashi sighed. “But no more fires. I should have a job for you in a few days. I’ll send for you then.”

“Delightful.”

Madara followed him to the door and shut it hard behind him. He then quietly moved to the window and watched through a part in the curtains as Kakashi walked back the way they had come.

“Imbecile,” he growled to himself.

He then turned and padded back to the kitchen, only to find Sasuke standing in front the fridge, door open, with a carton of orange juice pressed to his lips.

Madara scowled and clenched his fist. “You might as well finish that or take it with you, because I won’t be drinking any after your dirty mouth has been on it.”

Sasuke closed the top and gently placed it back in the fridge.

“I can’t wait to see what he has you doing after you pissed him off like that,” he said and turned to face the older man.  

“He’s fine,” Madara said, as he removed the carton from the fridge and dramatically threw it in the garbage. “It takes more than that to get him angry.”

“Good thing too,” Sasuke continued. “For a second there, I thought I was going to have to leave. Give you two some distance.”

“What do you mean?” Madara frowned. The look on the younger man’s face was smug, which only infuriated him more. “You can’t think that idiot would fight me for destroying a few machines.”

“Fight you? No,” Sasuke chuckled, as he pulled a chair out and took a seat.  

“Whatever. Just get out of my house. I’ve already told you, I don’t like you in here.”

“You know,” said Sasuke, “I would have taught you how to use your oven and dishwasher. All you had to do was ask. Then you wouldn’t have had to destroy them.”

“That…” Madara bristled and his face flushed. “That is not why I got rid of them.”

“I can see you still have your washer and dryer. Too much trouble to burn them all in one day? They aren’t hard to work. If you don’t want me to teach you, I’m sure Kakashi would show you.”

That was it. Madara had had enough. He grabbed the back of the chair Sasuke was sitting in and begun to drag it across the kitchen.

“Madara, what are you doing?” Sasuke asked, but didn’t bother to get out of his seat.

With more effort than he would admit, Madara managed to pull Sasuke and the chair out of the house and onto the back porch.

“I told you to leave,” he said, calmer than would be expected. “Now go, before I decide to set you on fire along with the other contraptions.”

He then turned and stomped back into the house. Sasuke was still laughing when he slammed the door.

#kakashi #madara #madakaka #naruto #fanfiction #my writings

[groovy-hottub-llama]

Domestic Appliance Abuse

Short fic here :)

Pairing:Kakasaku Rating:General, Fun for all :D

Domestic Appliance Abuse

She was only walking that way out of curiosity. The screeching sound was mechanical, but that was as much as she could tell. There was a small group of people, all worried civilians that had paused under the balcony of the apartment to find why the dying screams of an appliance echoed mournfully across the street. Several of the neighbours had poked their heads out of various doors and windows in the hopes of finding out exactly what was going on.

Walking around the group of people outside she hopped up the steps, flinching as the volume increased the closer she got to the door. She knocked on the door forcefully, but couldn't hear her own knocks over the noise coming from the apartment.

"KAKASHI-SENSEI?" She yelled above the racket, "IS EVERYTHING OKAY?"

There was no answer save a sudden flurry of high pitched screeches and a sudden shriek of shattering metal. An instant later she was breaking down the door with a chakra charged fist and flying across the hall and into the kitchen.

"Kakash-, oh my god…what…why!?"

Kakashi squatted over the torn remains of what looked like a washing machine, fist still buried in the wreckage. From the ruins of the washing machine water puddled at his bare feet and bled out across the floor in an odd parody of one of his less publicised, previous occupations.

"Hello Sakura. On your way to work?"

Taken aback by his nonchalance in the face of massive destruction in such a domestic setting she paused to gather herself and then take in the situation.

"Kakashi…why have you destroyed your washing machine?"

"Would you believe it was a wardrobe malfunction?"

Sakura stared at the older shinobi, then at the floor and noticed the puddle approaching her feet and stepped around it and up onto a chair, where she resumed staring at him.

"Only you could come up with an excuse like that Kakashi-sensei."

"Hey now, I haven't been your Sensei in such a long time Sakura-chan!"

"And yet you teach me, even after all this time, about the stupidity inherent in ninja, in spite of your age and experience."

His mask shifted and she raised an eyebrow as she folded her arms across her chest, fixing him with a disapproving glare.

"Stop pouting." She ordered.

His eyebrows furrowed slightly. It was the only indication of whatever annoyance he might be feeling that showed. She kept her smirk to herself as he rose and absently shook off his hand, unclenching his fist and stretching out his fingers experimentally. Sakura noted there wasn't any injuries on his hand, despite him not wearing his usual gloves.

"I'm not, and are you implying that I don't act my age? If you are, I have to inform you that I find that rather offensive given our illustrious past."

"I've heard our past described as quite a few things ~sensei~,” she stretched the title scathingly and continued, “but I don't think I've ever heard our teams mission history called 'illustrious' before."

She glanced between the mess that was Hatake Kakashi's former kitchen and the owner of said kitchen skeptically.

"You know, you could have just unplugged it."

"Ah, well, the thought had crossed my mind-"

"-let me guess, the wardrobe malfunction was of such offense that the Fashion Police were practically banging down your door, and you had little time to dispose of the evidence."

"That is a lot more fun that what actually happened. Can you tell my landlord that while I go and replace my laundry device and find a carpenter to…" he turned away from her to peer into the metallic ruins at his feet, "…repair my neighbours ceiling?"

Kakashi looked at his right hand in confusion.

"A little overboard perhaps?" He muttered, mostly to himself.

"What actually happened? Tell me, or your landlord is going to hear a completely different story. A MUCH worse one. Believe me."

He turned a close-eyed smile at her and chuckled lightly, scratching the back of his head in a brief display of awkwardness that would have been endearing if the smell of ozone and seared metal wasn't permeating the air. She unfolded her arms and placed her fisted hands firmly on her hips, cocking her head at him expectantly.

"Well?" She prompted.

Kakashi sighed and dropped his arm back down to his side, shoulders slumping in defeat.

"I got back from a mission and put my jacket in the machine."

Sakura looked confused.

"I left something in it."

"And you couldn't just turn it off and take it out?"

"It was a scroll."

Comprehension dawned on her face.

"An explosive scroll?"

He nodded.

"Time delayed, but only for a moment. I didn't have time to open the thing up and deactivate it. I had to destroy it before the seal fully released."

Sakura's hands shot up and fisted in her hair.

"You were so tired that you forgot you left a weapon in your jacket before you tried to wash it?!"

"I woke up pretty sharply afterwards."

"You Chidori'd your washing machine Kakashi! I should report this and have you put on compulsory leave! If it'd been someone else here they'd have you on a psyche-evaluation too!"

The older ninja has the decency to look a little sheepish, but he brightened as she groaned and put her face in her hands.

"Thank you Sakura."

"Don't thank me you idiot."

"Ah, but you really do have my eternal gratitude, Haruno-sama." He says with a grateful crease of his eyes and a quick tug of his hitai-ate.

She tries to hide her smile behind her hands, but the man is infuriatingly charming when he wants to be and she's always been ridiculously overwhelmed by praise, especially from people she respects. Even if they are complete morons occasionally.

______

Omake:

"So you're telling me that it was," pages flip quickly as the kunoichi behind the desk, "an electrical fault with the machine?"

Sakura laughs genially and nods in time with Kakashi who is nursing a bruised hand. She tucks the reason for said injury into her thigh holster under his yearning gaze. He was not going to be reading that right now. Or, from the looks of things, for a while.

Suzume checks and re-checks Sakura's report, face stony and unreadable, even as she moves her focus from the paperwork to the two ninja sitting.

"Electrical fault?" Suzume turns an evaluating gaze on Kakashi, who merely coughs politely behind a closed hand before shrugging nonchalantly.

"I'd had the machine for a while. It was a cheap model, not really designed to take care of the more…interesting stains that are a consequence of the profession."

She studies him not unlike how Sakura remembers Shizune examining blood samples under the microscope. To his credit he doesn't flinch.

She doesn't either when that look turns to scrutinise her. The smirk that follows it, however, catches her completely by surprise.

"Haruno-san, it says here that you were thanked for your prompt arrival to the scene by Hatake-san. I hope he expressed his gratitude for your concern appropriately."

"Yes." She wheezes out, forcing chakra to her face to prevent the reddening she knows is blooming there. "He was nothing if not appreciative considering the situation."

The older woman nods, smirk still firmly in place. She puts the paperwork into a neat stack, taps it on the desk to square it up and pops it into a folder without further comment.

"Your new washing machine will be with you by tomorrow morning. And your floor?"

"Tenz-" a sharp elbow well placed quickly corrects him, "-at ten tonight Yamato-san is coming to see to it personally."

"How kind of him."

"Yes, it certainly is."

#Kakasaku #Sakukaka

[tigerwolfspellbear]

The Uzamakis and the Kurosakis (There Will Be Spoilers)

My Rogerian essay that was due yesterday. I feel like I could have pulled more examples for IchiHime, but it is what it is. This was hard since there aren’t really shipping experts to rely on and there doesn’t really seem to be much online in the way of experts when it comes to defining traits for the different types of sexuality and romantic types.

               Great mangas and animes have ended. Fandoms are divided by shipping wars. In the Naruto fandom, fans were disappointed by the end pairings. Divided between Naruto and Hinata or Naruto and Sakura (and even though everyone knew it wasn’t going to happen, Naruto and Sasuke), many a discourse has been waged over social media sites such as Tumblr and Facebook. The same can be said for Bleach, where the fandom is divided between Ichigo and Orihime or Ichigo and Rukia. Naruto ended up with Hinata and Ichigo ended up with Orihime, but what makes these two relationships different and why is one more in character than the other? What are you talking about, you ask? Naruto’s relationship with Hinata is out of character and Ichigo’s relationship with Orihime is not.

               “Oh, heck no,” you say. That is wrong. Completely, totally wrong. First of all, we should respect the author’s decisions concerning the endings. Yes, we should. Which would mean that Naruto’s relationship with Hinata is in character, because that is what Masashi Kishimoto drew and wrote. Second, what does Bleach have to do with Naruto. The end relationships and the division between fans runs parallel.

The Naruto Relationship

Naruto is the loud, extroverted hero in the Naruto series, while Hinata is quiet and introverted. This is a seen throughout both series, Naruto and Naruto: Shippuuden. Naruto starts out as a young child, neglected and ostracized by the villagers. He seeks to gain attention by being loud, pulling pranks (as seen in the very first chapter), and trying to impress the other children, which often fails (episode 177 and 178 in the Naruto Shippuuden anime). As he grows older, he becomes less prone to pranking, but still is loud and not afraid to show his opinions, especially when it comes to his friends.

               Hinata on the other hand, is shown from the start as very shy and introverted. She is inspired by Naruto’s hard work and she changes to become better. This is shown most clearly during the chuunin exams, where she faces off with her cousin, Neji (chapters 78 – 80 in the manga). She does grow out of her shell some, but remains quiet and polite, mostly sticking in the background compared to the rest of the Konoha Eleven. Her background changes slightly in the anime’s fillers and the movie, The Last: Naruto the Movie. There, she supposedly confesses her love for Naruto for the first time, even though, in chapter 437, she confesses her love as she is squaring off with Pein (plot hole no jutsu!).

               Now, at this point, you are probably (if you don’t ship the canon pairing, that is) not giving a fig leaf. You are more interested in Naruto and Sakura. Sakura is equally outspoken, although not at first. At first, she is somewhat quiet, having an “inner” Sakura that is much bolder and louder. She’s not above being abusive towards Naruto, not wanting to deal with his antics, especially in front of Sasuke. In Naruto: Shippuuden, she changes, and aside from the first chapter, “inner” Sakura disappears and seems to become merged with Sakura’s personality. She’s a lot more violent and outspoken. The relationship between Naruto and Sakura is considered to be a red herring, with Kishimoto himself, saying that he was trying to create a messy love triangle (www.saiyanisland.com/2017/01/naruto-creator-masashi-kishimoto-2017-interview/).

               The problem with the pairing with Sakura is that she herself has completely proven she doesn’t love Naruto. He’s a friend. Naruto knows this as well. In chapter 469, she confesses her love to him and Naruto flat out tells her she’s lying. When Minato (Naruto’s father) joins the war, Sakura is healing Naruto and he asks Naruto if she is his girlfriend. Naruto says yes, but Sakura punches him for his answer. With Hinata, the problem isn’t because she doesn’t love Naruto, because it’s obvious to everyone but Naruto. The problem is that you could substitute Hinata for someone else easily. In the fight with Pein, she is heavily injured, and it causes Naruto to lose control of the nine-tailed fox inside him. If you substituted Sakura in for Hinata, the same thing would have happened. Substitute Sasuke, Shikamaru, or any of his closer friends and he still would have lost control. The only reason he “realizes” his feelings for Hinata is because in The Last: Naruto the Movie, Sakura point blank tells him, and he feels Hinata’s feelings in a genjutsu. However, if you once again substitute another one of his closer friends in for Hinata, he would do the same.

               Naruto is panromantic and polyamorous. “Oh my god, why do you got to bring in sexuality to this?”, you say. Because it is the only answer that makes sense. Why else, crappy writing aside, would you be able to substitute Naruto’s close friends for Hinata in those sorts of situations? On the PsychPedia on GoodTherapy.org, it defines pansexuality as “Individuals who identify as pansexual may describe themselves as being interested in the person more than the person’s gender.” (www.goodtherapy.org/blog/psychpedia/pansexuality). It defines polyamory as “Polyamory, meaning "many loves," can be defined as the practice of having or pursuing multiple romantic relationships with the knowledge and consent of all involved.” (www.goodtherapy.org/learn-about-therapy/issues/polyamory). Naruto loves all his close friends equally and would be willing to do anything for them, from not letting them die during the war (Shikamaru, after he was hit by a life sucking jutsu. Naruto unconsciously kept him alive with the nine-tailed fox’s chakra.), to chasing after them to prevent them from doing something he views as stupid (Kakashi going on a suicide mission in Naruto Shippuuden the Movie: The Will of Fire or Hinata agreeing to be wed to someone else in exchange for her sister (The Last: Naruto the Movie).

The Kurosakis

               In Bleach, we have Ichigo and Orihime as the canon pairing, although the other popular ship is Ichigo and Rukia. Ichigo parallels Naruto as he is the main character and has to work hard for acceptance, since due to his hair color, he is seen as a punk. He will defend his friends and wants to protect as many people as he can (Chapter 47). In times when he is powerless, he becomes depressed and despairs because he can’t do this. Orihime also mirrors Hinata a little in that she is polite and shy, and she really likes Ichigo, to the point that everyone around her knows, except of course, Ichigo. Finally, Rukia, she too mirrors Sakura in that she is the violent one, although not necessarily as violent to Ichigo as Sakura is to Naruto. She is the one that goads him into action when he is too caught up in his own thoughts.

               Rukia does act more as a mentor to Ichigo, teaching him some of the things he needs to know to be a Shinigami (death god) and giving him pep talks. As far as relationships go, however, he treats her equally to his other friends, like Tatsuki, Renji, and Chad. Orihime is a little different, even from the get go. He consistently tries to protect her, from her hollow-turned brother, to apologizing to her for failing to be able to stop her from getting hurt when the Arrancars (the top tier hollows) first show up (Chapter 196). She gets kidnapped and he goes after her, and while he would do that for his other friends as well, her opinion of his mask (a scary source of some of his powers) matters to him (Chapter 281). He is kinder towards her and more worried about her welfare than his other friends.

               This is the difference between the two relationships. Naruto loves everyone equally, eventually coming to view everyone in the village as family (Naruto Gaiden: The Seventh Hokage, Chapter 8). He goes to the same lengths for everyone he considers to be his friends and family. Ichigo, however, doesn’t. He cares for his friends and will protect them, but he shows more care with Orihime, his sisters, and even to some extent, his dad. For Naruto to settle down with Hinata, it is jarring. There is no development through the whole series for their relationship to be different from his relationship with others, whereas with Ichigo and Orihime, a deeper relationship was developed.

Resources

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Kishimoto, Masashi. Mangareader, accessed 5 November 2017, http://www.mangareader.net/naruto/1/5.

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Kishimoto, Masashi. Mangareader, accessed 5 November 2017, www.mangareader.net/naruto.

Naruto Creator, Masashi Kishimoto, 2017 Interview on Boruto, Naruto’s Love Triangle with Hinata/Sakura. Weekly Shonen Jump, 30 January 2017, accessed 5 November 2017, www.saiyanisland.com/2017/01/naruto-creator-masashi-kishimoto-2017-interview/.

Naruto Wiki, accessed 5 November 2017, naruto.wikia.com/wiki/Iruka%27s_Ordeal.

Naruto Wiki, accessed 5 November 2017, naruto.wikia.com/wiki/Narutopedia.

Naruto Wiki, accessed 5 November 2017, naruto.wikia.com/wiki/The_Last%3A_Naruto_the_Movie.

Pansexuality. GoodTherapy.org, 8 January 2016, accessed 5 November 2017, https://www.goodtherapy.org/blog/psychpedia/pansexuality.

Polyamory/Nonmonogamous Relationships. GoodTherapy.org, 5 May 2016, accessed 5 November 2017, https://www.goodtherapy.org/learn-about-therapy/issues/polyamory.

Tite, Kubo. Mangareader, accessed 5 November 2017, http://www.mangareader.net/bleach.

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Tite, Kubo. Mangareader, accessed 5 November 2017, http://www.mangareader.net/bleach/196/.

Tite, Kubo. Mangareader, accessed 5 November 2017, http://www.mangareader.net/bleach/281.

#Bleach #college #Naruto #IchiHime #NaruHina