#at least boruto remembers that its characters can DO THINGS

[deadwooddross]

gonna go ahead and crack pandora’s wasp nest open here—how could naruto have been good/how would u have written it

*begins chewing at my restraints and rips the iron door of my containment unit off its hinges* okay so the SHORT version is that naruto should have ENDED ssssomewhere around the Pain arc, maybe throw in one more, could probably keep..tobi...if you just make it WAY less convoluted, but. like that's it that's the wrap up on the lesson of NINJAS ARE HUMAN WEAPONS IN THE ARSENAL OF ENDLESS WAR. You can get maybe ONE more amp up, but the actual story did like 40, because it's shonen. Also Naruto could have had at least a LITTLE thought put into how he was like. raised. there is so much retroactive storytelling in this manga but apparently naruto has just been living in an apartment off his government provided milk and ramen since he was an infant. Maybe make me give a shit about Sarutobi by having had him go and bottle feed the demon baby or SOMETHING. Is Jiraiya the deadbeat sending child support checks or something? It's extremely hard to have Naruto exist at all as he is the second you put any thought into his childhood- which is why GAARA EXISTS. THAT'S NARUTO WITH 6 SECONDS OF THOUGHT. GIVE THAT BOY A FRIEND TO EXPLAIN HOW HE'S SO PEPPY!! SOME SORT OF GUARDIAN FIGURE BEFORE HE'S 12, Iruka could Almost count if he didn't act like he barely knew the little guy. Teacher Watches Orphan Go To Empty Home While Sad Flute Song Plays and says: Fuck that little kid, cant stand him, oh shit wait the author realized he needs one (1) parental figure in order to not lose his mind okay here i c Anyway, besides all that. Well for one thing Sasuke is RIGHT. Fuck Konoha! And the Government! did you see what they did to his clan!!! That one dude fucking HARVESTED them!! So you have little renegade fuck the system baby, and "If I'm king president I can fix all the problems!" baby. Good end: Naruto goes damn maybe u right and we should make some steps to try and alter the cycle of war and death and genetic eyeball supremacy. Neji voice: yeah i taught you all about weird bloodline family shit, remember that?? Bad end: The Entire Rest Of Naruto and Boruto, And No One Learned Anything. Also, the retroactive addition of GODS and PROPHECY anD REINCARNATION and MORE BLOODLINE SUPER WIZARD POWERS is so. Lame, Boring, Snore. Giving naruto a special baby background DESTROYS the fact he's kind of a nobody! He's just some kid with ONE skill he worked really hard on and he uses it in order to hack his way into doing all the other stuff he wants to do!! His only boon is haaving a LOT of energy to burn and STUBBORNNESS!! Screams in ADHD child Haku, Gaara, the Akatsuki/Orochimaru, and Pain. Are all good. Those are the arcs that stay and every one of them has a PRETTY STRONG POINT point about what happens when you smash children into little nukes. Eats that with a spoon. (PS JIRAIYA WHAT THE FUCK WHY DID YOU LEAVE THOSE INFANTS IN A WAR Z) Oh also there's a lot to be said on how to rewrite uhhh literally Any of the women characters into relevancy because as they are rn they barely even count as such. But if i talk about that I would be here for the entire rest of the y- IMAGINE IF SAKURA'S FUCKING MEDICAL JUTSU MEANT ANYTHING!! WHAT IF SHE COULD HAVE BEEN USEFUL AGAINST KONAN BECAUSE SHE CAN SEE ALL HER NERVES IN HER HORRIFYING PAPER FLESH NO JUTSU, SOMETHING, ANYTHING, AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA *i am dragged back into my cell*

#fun fact Thavu is basically my attempt to make a naruto and she IMMEDIATELY deviated into a gaara the second i thought about it #now they live in warhammer and are becoming an enemy of the state because the state is grinding her into paste and you know what maybe #this is bad and i dont wanna be here #MAYBE!!!!!!!!!!! #IM ALSO TOTALLY HERE FOR A TRAGIC/BITTERSWEET ENDING #LIKE YOU CAN LOSE!! YOU CAN LOSE BUT MAYBE SUCCEED ON A SMALL SCALE #*bites my mug in half* #not art #answers to questions

[tamelee]

Hi)

Did you saw new middle results of voting and if so, do you believe in it?

I can say for myself: the thing that Minato won in different parts (all of 4?) of the world is so unrealistic that it’s even funny. And overall characters who surround him are not realistic either. Especially when i know that some Sakura’s fans will use every chance to vote… i saw how they spam under any official materials with Sakura, they have a lot of free time and a wish. I know Naruto fans, i know Sasuke’s fans, even Kakashi’s and Itachi’s, Madara fans. But Minato? All over the world most popular character?

So I think that Minato was a chosen one maybe even before it all started. I understand that there’s a chance that everyone who vote, before they do this think deeply about what manga they would like to read, about what character, and after remembering they already have Naruto about Naruto, ritsuden and other Kakashi’s adventures, the only character that has no personal manga is… Minato! But chances are small I guess.

What do you think?

Hi @snow124-art 💕~ Yes I saw it and I think the regions were a bit different in results. I went ahead and checked what the Minato-voters had to say and it kind of makes sense?

It seems that the voters are split between OG-Naruto viewers and Sakura fans. Which can be the same category tbh but seeing as majority of the Naruto fans that aren't NH/SS-shippers hate Boruto, I would say that they're not the same. If you know what I mean. People who vote Minato are his fans.. sure, but they also do so because they want nothing to do with NH/SS or in their words: "that stupid romance stuff" and anything Boruto related. They avoid voting for Naruto/Sasuke as well and primarily vote for earlier generations and with that- Minato is the most popular. It's also that he represents hatred towards Boruto the most.. (Hinata fans vote Minato to spite Sakura as well as he is the father of her husband lol and it would prevent Sakura from winning...) It kind of makes sense if you see what's happening. At least from what I can pick up.

So.. if you look at it like that, Minato is getting votes from more people than just his fans. Despite its name, it is not necessarily a "popularity" poll (people vote out of spite too and voting daily can never be accurate) but Sakura's fans are the most dedicated of all and at the moment the most active. (Which also makes sense considering the marketing focus. SS.) They hand out "I voted" pfp-art, host entire give-aways and events just for this poll alone.. most of them don't miss a day of voting. That doesn't happen for any other character. So I'll give em' that for sure. If she does win I wonder what Kishimoto will do though. It'll be interesting. Honestly I'm kind of tired ;-; I think I'm going to make the decision to drop some Naruto-related art and leave it at that soon because I don't have high hopes for this Manga or what's about to come after. And we also have to keep in mind that it was a feature and that it wasn't an entire Manga just about this character right? I do really want to know who's going to write it though..

#asktamelee #snow124-art #I personally wouldn't mind a Minato manga though #as long as it is written by Kishimoto! #but I'll guess we'll have to wait and see #I hope it's not Itachi because what else is there to know

[kiljoius-writes]

Tag - Chapter Twenty Six - BONUS

Ao3 | FFN

Previous Chapter

First Chapter

SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS FOR THE ENTIRE “TAG” FIC

Warning: Headcanons galore ahead.

None of this is required reading for the enjoyment of Tag, it is simply some enrichment, I guess you could say. Clarifies some things possibly, adds backstory for my OCs and how they fit into the Narutoverse. Things I wish I could have put in the fic but were just simply unnecessary to Hanabi and Konohamaru’s stories (who the fic is really about, ofc). As well as the outline of the original story.

Feel free to skip it in case you have specific things in mind for characters never specified in the actual fic. I know sometimes hearing the authors ideas can ruin an image of a character you’ve crafted in your head, so I won’t be offended at all.

Be warned, this is messy and not meant to be taken as "good writing." It's basically me just ranting and raving and sharing my outline. :p Thanks.

Ow. This is painful.

It took me so long to finish that damn epilogue because I just didn’t want it to be the end.

I loved writing this story so, so much. It hurts to end it, but that was its natural conclusion.

Thank you all so, so much for sticking with it and getting to this point with me. I love these two and all the other characters I wrote. I will continue to manifest KonoHana energy into the ether in the hope it will result in something canon. At the very least, we can hope our babies are treated with more respect in the manga/anime.

Regardless, this has been my favorite fic to write at this point. It was the first one I really planned out and put a lot of thought and research into. All of your comments fueled me, every single comment I got compelled me to reread the entire thing to make sure it was good enough for you all because you (we) all deserve the best.

Also, thank you for indulging in my silly little OCs. Hanabi’s background is ambiguous, and I didn’t want to force her into Konohamaru’s team, so I came up with a few OCs (Jun, Eiji, and Tora). Honestly, I ended up loving them by the end of it, and I hope you guys think they were at least okay as her team. I wanted her to be in a female-dominated environment, but with a male who was sensitive to her. They were crafted around her, but honestly, I love them as individuals now and may or may not have more in stock for them as a team in the future. Don’t get me wrong, my proudest part of this fic is the development of Hanabi and Konohamaru HANDS DOWN. But I will admit, I love my silly little OCs (even Maki and Shinjuu, if you remember them, too).

Further, everyone who commented was a godsend, more than I deserve. But everyone who simply left kudos, a bookmark, or just read it from start to finish, are important, too, and I appreciate every one of you.

Finally, if any of you have any KonoHana fics you’d like to recommend (I know lots of my readers have guest accounts) please, please put them in a comment. I’d love to read them, and I know some people reading would love to read them, too! All of the ones I love are in my bookmarks, all you have to do is filter for KonoHana and you’ll find them, and I definitely recommend every single one!

P.S. As a parting gift, in addition to fic recommendations, if you guys have any prompts or general vague ideas you’d like to see a story for these two about, I HIGHLY encourage you to put it in a comment or DM to me on tumblr or discord or whatever you use (all my contact info is in my profile!) I’d love some inspiration and writing for anyone who read my monstrous 260k fic about these idiots would be a treat. Thanks :3

OCs are a contentious subject when writing a shipfic, I know, but I didn’t want to sandwich Hanabi into an existing team that she didn’t belong to or a sensei that wouldn’t realistically be taking on a genin team at the time she would have graduated. I crafted the OCs with her future characterization in “The Last” and “Boruto” in mind.

All ages listed are from the first chapter to the last chapter (not epilogue). Hanabi’s age starts at 10 (3 years after Part I, 1 year before Part II) and ends at 27.

Tadashi (Loyal) Age: 38-55

Probably my favorite OC. I thought it was kind of strange for Hanabi not to have a male guard? So I created one.

He’s branch, but highly respected by the main family anyway. He’s older than Ko and Natsu by over a decade, but younger than Hiashi. As Hinata and Hanabi grew old enough to not really require their help (if they ever did in the first place), the three gravitated towards each other naturally.

I envision him running in the same circles for a brief time with the InoShikaCho parents, sensei to the Naruto era sensei. Tora was on his team, along with two boys who constantly annoyed her.

It was his only stint with being a sensei when Hiashi recalled him to look after his brothers wife while she was pregnant. He remained as a guard for the main family thereafter.

When Hanabi was born, he was the one who carried Hiashi’s wife to the hospital, as Hiashi was gone on a diplomatic mission. He had been close with her before she married Hiashi, and he was charged with watching over her for her pregnancy as well. She begged him to watch over Hanabi like Ko did Hinata, and asked him to work with Natsu on ensuring she doesn’t have to fall into the same role as herself. He was conflicted about this, but made the promise anyway, not knowing if he could actually keep it.

Then she killed herself a few months later, since no one had taken her post-partum depression seriously. No one was allowed to let the girls know, they were simply told she passed from “sadness.” Tadashi and Natsu took comfort in one another, and he knew in his heart he couldn’t allow that to happen to these girls.

He helped Natsu raise Hanabi since Natsu was still a teenager herself when Hanabi was born, then stuck to the shadows for the most part, ensuring their safety.

During the fourth war, he remained behind to keep an eye on Hanabi, at the order of Hiashi, but he had no problems with that (he’s a lover, not a fighter).

When Konohamaru first ‘assaulted’ Hanabi, he was apprehensive of the boy. He knew he was the third’s grandson, but also knew he was prone to trouble. He quickly took a liking to him when Hanabi integrated herself into his group of friends. If forced to admit it, he was fond of the boy. The fondness grew as they grew into adults, and he was truly pleased to hear he’d be Boruto’s sensei.

Speaking of Boruto and Himawari, he favors Himawari, but would never let anyone know that. He’s pretty sure most of the compound agrees.

Yes, Tadashi had absolutely caught them kissing before. He only ever told Natsu, and they agreed to keep it quiet until they were ready to come out about it. They both enjoyed teasing her, though.

And yes, everyone in the Hyuga compound knows Hanabi is not sneaky whatsoever. Never had been, never will be. They let her believe she was so she didn’t try to get better at being sneaky, ensuring they’d be able to keep an eye on her better this way if she thought she was getting away with stuff.

It was a running joke between him, Natsu, and Ko. Even Hiashi got in on the joke once and a while.

Was very happy to see the clan leader soften with the grandchildren. Finally felt like he just might be able to keep that promise to Hanabi’s mother.

Approached Hiashi about it one day after Hanabi had become a sensei. Hiashi told him he was well aware of their relationship, and was simply keeping it in his peripheral for now. Tadashi was the one that told him he had a very difficult choice ahead of him, because the heiress was in love.

He thought Hiashi might be readying to close all his chakra points when he said that, but the man’s face softened with a sigh. Told him they’d cross that road when it came to it.

Incredibly relieved that Konohamaru finally (wo)manned up and spoke to Hiashi the way he needed to be spoken to.

However, Tadashi is a little irritated to admit that Konohamaru was probably the reason their clan changed at all.

Oh well. At least it was changed.

It was probably a little troubling to other clans that the Hyuga now had an Uzumaki Hokage jinchuriki along with the longest running Hokage’s grandson in their family, though.

If Konohamaru tried to get Hanabi to take the Sarutobi name, though, Tadashi wouldn’t stand for that.

Let them keep one, damnit.

Tora (Tigress) Age: 29 - 46

My lovely Nara character. I truly enjoy writing Shikamaru (not really romantically, just generally) and couldn’t resist making up a Nara OC. They’re a big clan, I figure there’s Nara’s floating around in all facets of society.

As she’s not part of the main family, she was never placed with any Yamanaka or Akimichi kids, simply got stuck with two boys she, to this day, is not fond of. She was, however, fond of Tadashi, and continues to be. He was always on her side when the team got into arguments, and often put the boys in their place in favor of her. In return, she was a decent student to him. Despite wanting to nap all the time, she took her role as a genin and eventually a chunin very seriously.

Her father pressured her to promote to jonin, as her older sister was a student of a legendary sannin herself. Tsunade was a familiar face in her household growing up, often coming by to share drinks with her sister when she was in the village. Shizune was also a close friend during those times as well, she had hoped to be on her genin team. Not a fan of Kurenai, found it annoying that boys fell over themselves to get her attention. She wasn’t jealous, okay? It was just dumb. But she really never had problems with her or Asuma. Just didn’t like to be near them, especially with those disgusting googly eyes they made at each other. Plus being around the Hokage’s son was actually kind of intimidating, if she was honest. Did enjoy when Moriko would treat all the academy students to dango after class when she’d pick up Asuma.

Ran in the same circles as the sensei from OG Naruto. Found Kakashi annoying, though did sympathize with him, having lost her mother, too. Found Anko’s antics amusing if they did not involve her, but would quickly disappear if Anko tried to rope her into anything. Had Genma in her ear far too often, and Ebisu was too rambunctious for his own good. Found herself around Ebisu far too often, and she did indeed push him into that ravine. She still denies it. Almost killed Gai one time when he and Kakashi’s battle intruded on her nap out in a nice field of flowers, and Gai came slamming down, nearly crushing her. The only other student besides Shizune she was somewhat close with was Rin. Was part of the group that called Kakashi a friend killer.

In her 20s, she apologized for it once she had matured and realized how wrong she had been. She tried to take him for drinks to somewhat make up for it, but he politely declined and told her they were fine. They still never talked much after that. Her father had been friends with Sakumo, but he never really talked about it, just told her to never let others make her feel unworthy. She never really knew what he meant until she was an adult, and stuck to that as a sensei to her one and only team. She never wanted any of her kids to feel insufficient, not Eiji, not Jun, not Hanabi. All of them always had value, to her.

When Tsunade came to her to become a sensei, she instantly said absolutely not. Then she told her it was specifically Hiashi Hyuga requesting her, as a former student of Tadashi, and Tsunade had to insist. Finally, she was told it was to be sensei to that Hyuga brat. Tora asked if she could think on it, and Tsunade told her that unfortunately, no, she couldn’t, because she was to pick the kids up the very next day.

Tora met with Hiashi that night and told him that if she was gonna take on Hanabi, she couldn’t have her guard leering about, even if she liked Tadashi. The girl needed to learn independence, and that would never happen with Tadashi and Natsu fretting over her.

Encouraged Jun to become a medic, a philosophy hammered into her by aunt Tsunade. Wasn’t totally sure what to do with Eiji, just sort of let her fall into that tracking role.

Was behind the scenes, trying to pull strings so her and her little team could visit Jun when he was hospitalized. Kakashi did tell her how bad the injuries were, and when she heard, decided it was best to wait and not tell Hanabi, lest she bust down the hospital room door.

Treated Shizune to an expensive meal after Jun recovered as thanks for her help in healing him.

Spoke with Kakashi after the fateful Anbu mission that dictated Hanabi kill branch Hyuga. She went to him at Jun’s pleading to find out why Hanabi was so withdrawn, and he didn’t give her the details. Kakashi simply told Tora that Hanabi had endured something he both understood and did not. Something he knew the pain of, but could never be in her shoes about.

What Kakashi meant—was that he understood how horribly painful it was to lose others, and kill others. Especially those that should mean something to you. But he also knew he could never understand what she went through, killing her own clansmen that sought to kill her, too.

Tora never questioned what he meant, simply nodded in understanding. Because Tora knew she could never really understand, either.

As for Konohamaru and Hanabi’s romance, she knew of Konohamaru’s crush after Hanabi’s injury and his mopey demeanor. Knew of Hanabi’s crush the moment she caught them coming out of the weapons store in the Grass. Definitely the first person to catch onto either of them. Admittedly, it was cute, but she was more concerned on Hanabi focusing. Then as they grew up and continued their stupid little game, Tora was just annoyed. Love is stupid. She’d meet with Tadashi once every couple of months to speak about Hanabi’s progress and she was the one who clued Tadashi in on what seemed like an obvious crush. During the battle portion of the chunin exams, when she saw Moegi about to leap into the arena to stop Hanabi, Tora was the one who yelled at Hanabi to stop. She couldn’t gauge whether Hanabi was actually capable of killing to poor kid, and figured it was going too far anyway.

Could understand the attraction between Hanabi and Konohamaru, both spoiled little kids of high standing clans, but not Eiji and Jun. Not that she was against their little relationship, it just confused her. She felt quite bad for Jun, taking on Eiji and her whole family, but he seemed happy, at least. Their happiness was paramount, even if she’d never admit it aloud.

Shizune phoned her one day, long after she’d retired as a sensei (she never took on another team, she refused), asking to meet with her and Tsunade to discuss business (betting on this stupid relationship). Shizune wasn’t a big fan of the betting pool, but did find it funny that Tsunade was so elated to bring gambling into village gossip. Tora immediately agreed, and helped Tsunade organize the whole thing. Had her cousins keep an eye on the pair while she did as well. Caught them kissing on far too many occasions—did they really think this was sneaky? Good gods.

Surprisingly, Shino Aburame had the largest stake. He was a quiet watcher, and was constantly, unintentionally, being fed information during his weekly tea (tea as in the beverage, but also tea as in…well, the gossip 😉) sessions with Hinata. Then when they became sensei, Shino was well aware of how these things were going to play out. Konohamaru was bound to snap, and his prediction was within the month it happened and they became public.

Many were none too pleased to find out he had won the most out of the pool.

Spends her retirement with her books, shows, and whiskey. Fine with not having found love, figured there were too many brats running around anyway and she enjoyed solitude. Still has drinks with Ebisu on occasion to gossip about their idiot high-standing clan kids. Usually ends in an argument and swearing to never speak again. Can’t resist using her shadow jutsu to make his mouth stop yammering.

While most sensei let their teams go once one or more promote to chunin, Tora stuck around longer at Tadashi’s request. Once Hanabi became a jonin, she finally stepped down and let Hanabi be the team leader. She was relieved for it.

She did miss those kids, though.

Eiji (Cheerful) Yorimaru (Trust) Age: 11 - 28

My sweet Inuzuka girl. Again, I flippin love Inuzuka clan stuff, Kiba’s my favorite, Tsume’s my favorite parent, Hana has the potential to be cool as hell, the puppies? Come on. I had to give Hanabi an Inuzuka teammate, and yes, I was very intentional on giving her a primarily female team. I don’t feel like we see it enough in the Naruto series (hence why I was over the moon that Hanabi had an all girls team—lets not talk about that, tho.)

The youngest of six, her oldest sibling is a sister 12 years her senior. She’d been an aunt since she was barely 9, and often loses track of how many nieces and nephews she has. Being around so many kids made her vow to never have her own, though she did fantasize about getting married. Being the runt of her litter forced her to be loud and obnoxious in effort to ensure she got some attention.

Tsume is her aunt, and she often hangs around Hana at the clinic. Kiba took it upon himself to train her since he himself had no one to really help him with Tsume and Hana being busy with their jonin and vet duties, respectively, and all of Eiji’s older siblings were too busy for her, too. Finds Kiba to be stupid, but has to admit he’s nice enough to pay attention to her. Adores Tsume, who adores her back.

Got Yorimaru while in the academy. Had to beat girls back while she trained with him because they all wanted a piece of the adorable pup. Would give her life for the damn dog she loved him so much.

Tough exterior, soft interior, as is typical, I think, of Inuzuka. Like she said on Hinata and Naruto’s wedding day, she loves love and couldn’t wait to be married. She had a crazy amount of crushes when she was in the Academy, Jun not being one of them.

Didn’t realize she had a crush on Jun until he kissed her forehead during the chunin exams. That brought up a lot of weird feelings, good and bad. Began discretely dating shortly after the wedding, especially after spending so much one on one time together after Hanabi’s kidnapping. They weren’t keeping it a secret, Jun just wasn’t a huge fan of public affection and she was trying to respect that. He did eventually come around, and you can often find her clinging to him, jumping on him, riding on his back, and just showering him with general affection. She gave Hanabi the same treatment, too, sometimes, if she’d allow it.

Was thoroughly surprised when she heard her name called alongside the Hyuga princess, as she’d been calling her. She didn’t have any qualms with Hanabi prior, just didn’t see the point in interacting with a spoiled, cold little girl. Same for Jun, he seemed weak and meek and she preferred louder company that could match her energy. But within weeks of being teamed, she found herself loving her teammates. Tora’s personality constantly clashed with her, but they eventually took to each other, too.

She’d always been annoyed by Konohamaru. You’d think they’d get on great as similar personalities as kids, but the way his voice sounded when he cried for Naruto or declared himself the next Hokage was grating to her. He liked to hang around her when his friends were absent, even called her friend, but she never returned the gesture, which he had been oblivious to. Then of course her teammate had to be in love with the idiot. He did eventually grow on her and now she’s happy to see him. Usually.

Cried when Jun proposed. Unashamed, streaks of tears, snot, the works.

Biggest fight between her and Jun is when he proposed getting a cat. Jun didn’t like to indulge in fights, but this was one he felt was just wrong on her part. She managed to convinced him she was allergic (he didn’t believe it, but decided the fight was tired at this point). They eventually agreed he could have a cat at his office in the hospital.

Impatiently awaiting Hanabi’s wedding. It better be as good at Naruto and Hinata’s, if not better. And she would demand to attend this reception, damnit! She can smell certain combinations of pheromones that indicate pregnancy, she’s been around her sisters and brothers wives too often when they were pregnant, she’s very familiar with the scent. And yes, whenever Hanabi comes around, she’s taking a long whiff to make sure. Depending on the timing, she would either kiss Konohamaru for making her an auntie again or murder him.

Jun (Obedient) Age: 12 – 29

My complete original creation I adore. He’s a sweetie and may or may not be distantly related to Sakura. It’s something I considered, but decided not to expand on. As of now, he comes from no notable clan and has no relation to any characters from the manga/show.

Parents died when he was young. Both were jonin who kept to themselves, and were killed in action on a mission. One of the reasons couples going on missions is frowned upon. Jun never found out what came of them.

Gentle nature and medical skills from his mother, sensory ability and reasonable personality from his father, from what he could remember. No one really knew his parents, either. During a one-on-one training session, Tora did tell him she recalled his mother being sweet. Encouraged him to start training as a medic because she knew his mom was one (and of course because of Tsunade’s influence). Decided that was what his calling was the moment she brought him to Shizune.

Though they rarely got to see it, when he wasn’t with his team, he was volunteering in the hospital and studying under Shizune. She was quite fond of him, and he her. She told him once she might have become a sensei herself if she could be guaranteed good kids like him. He reveled in that praise, never really getting it anywhere else except the occasional “good job, kiddos” from Tora.

Moegi was one of the only people to keep him company in the academy if her attention wasn’t on Konohamaru or Udon. She had been his first crush. Udon and he had a respectful friendship, admiring each other’s intelligence. Liked his entire team right away. He considered himself lucky to be on the same team as the Hyuga heiress, and did have some pride in being part of her protection, especially after he healed her during the Grass mission. She often came to him for healing, whether they were on a mission together or not.

It also hit him he might have some sort of feelings for Eiji after he instinctively kissed her in the chunin exams. They both avoided the topic for a long time before he forced himself to be brave after the wedding. She walked him home and he kissed her on the cheek. He found he quite liked the way her markings blended in with the blush on her face, and did it again.

Then she jumped his bones and his face was as pink as his hair.

Did the entire to-do for his proposal leading up to the Hokage inauguration. Took her to dinner, a moonlit walk, and got down on his knee in the midst of the forest. Cleaned her up as she sobbed. Took her last name, didn’t matter to him, anyway. Jun Inuzuka sounded just right. Went to his parents graves to tell them she accepted, and he finally had family, again.

Moegi was visiting her father’s grave when she overheard that shit and damnit if she didn’t cry ugly tears.

Relieved Eiji didn’t want kids. It was a tough topic to broach, but both were incredibly relieved neither wanted them. They’ll grow old without kids, surrounded by dozens of Inuzuka nieces and nephews (and they figure whenever Hanabi and Konohamaru had kids). Is very fond of the kids and has taken it upon himself to teach them medical jutsu at the very least to help with their pups should they need it.

Did eventually take Hanabi up on going in to do lessons at the academy in medical jutsu, where he ended up taking a liking to Wasabi. Reminded him of Eiji. Wasabi, as seen in Boruto, took on the mantle of medic (even though Hanabi initially thought it would be Namida) because of Jun’s influence.

Big KonoHana shipper, probably the biggest just behind Moriko. While he is more outwardly patient than Eiji, he is constantly impatiently waiting for this stupid dance to end so they can go back to just being a damn friend group. Every time Konohamaru and Hanabi had a fight, Jun fought the urge to join Eiji in berating her. Eiji did that enough for both of them. Just imagine this sweet, calm man outwardly smiling and offering comforting words, but in his head he’s cussing them both out and about to explode.

Discovered they were public when he saw Konohamaru shamelessly kissing her all over the face, similar to how Eiji might assault himself. Was a little irritated he had to find out that way, but was happy, regardless.

Finally, Jun was more than ready to move on from this.

Moriko (Forest) Age: 44 – 61 Hoshito (Courage) Age: 3 years younger than Moriko, deceased at 36

I’ve always had the idea that if Konohamaru had any alive parents in Naruto, it would be a doting mother who was much older than Asuma. I also liked the idea she’d be the daughter of the Hokage, honestly its probably just me trying to get more female characters in here. Moriko and to some extent Hoshito’s past were the hardest one for me to write, because these are characters that we know must exist in some form, but have almost zero information on except that they were highly respected, powerful Anbu.

But I liked the idea that she was a stout, round woman who was warm and kind, and her husband was the tall one (where else would Konohamaru get his height, Hiruzen and Biwako were tiny. She resented that Asuma ended up being tall, how the hell did her baby brother end up looking down on her?!), stoic but not cold like Hiashi, and fiercely loyal to his wife and Hokage.

Moriko grew up with her father being Hokage and doted on by Tsunade and Jiraiya. They often brought her treats from their travels. Not a fan of Orochimaru, even before his villainous turn. He always creeped her out and whenever he was around, she tried to play pranks on him to discourage him from coming around.

Wasn’t fond of baby Asuma, being nearly 14 when the kid was born. She was busy working towards jonin and distancing herself from the Honorable Daughter title. Babies sure seemed annoying, she was glad she made the decision not to have kids (oof, sorry Moriko. You were super wrong there). Ended up growing to like him when he could finally talk, and found he was actually kind of funny…kinda cute, she admitted. So she took on the task of walking him to and from the Academy for a few years, then would drop in by surprise to treat the class to treats. She enjoyed feeling like a celebrity to all those silly little kids.

Asuma kind of hated it, because it was always when he got Kurenai to pay attention to him, and then his big sister comes in and grabs everyone’s attention, including Kurenai’s. She was a huge wall in his plans, damnit.

Didn’t really know Hiashi and Hizashi that well, but they ran in the same circles and encountered each other quite often as important figures of the village. Found Hiashi to be her competition on more than one occasion for the top spot in class. Hoshito had been a few years younger than her, so she never knew him prior to her Anbu career. Whenever Hiashi promoted to jonin, she was demanding her father promote her, too. Hiashi was too smug when he joined her on her test mission. Then she decided she couldn’t fall behind, and joined Anbu. The look on his face was priceless and whenever she saw him, she took the opportunity to rub it in his face (even now, as an old man and woman).

As stated, never wanted to be Hokage, despised the idea. She saw how often it took her father from her, rarely seeing him. She only got to really know him when he retired and Minato was inaugurated. She told him, blatantly, that she resented that he was the Hokage and she never had a true father. He was regretful and did his best to make up for it by being a doting grandfather later, even though he had become Hokage once more. Once she had Konohamaru, she had softened her stance against her father and finally began welcoming interaction with him. Never told Konohamaru how much she resented his grandfather as a child, just ensured she wouldn’t repeat his mistakes. Konohamaru has no clue about his mothers strained relationship with his grandfather.

That’s why, when she met Hoshito in Anbu, she immediately pushed him away. Anyone who was a fanboy of her father was no friend of hers.

But he had fallen for her long before.

Hoshito, as stated, comes from no known clan. His parents died in the second war when he was a teenager, like so many others his age. He was three years younger than Moriko and always admired her in the Academy. She was fearless, never let anyone push her around, and skilled as all get out. He fell in love with her from afar at a fairly young age. The Hokage’s daughter had no clue she had an admirer all that time until he confessed it while they were on an Anbu mission.

She pushed him away immediately.

Like, no chances were given. She made it quite clear she wanted absolutely nothing to do with someone who followed her father so blindly. No matter what he said, he was just a fanboy.

And he wasn’t even remarkable in any way! Sure, he was skilled in wind style, complimenting her fire style when they had to battle together, and sure, he was strong, fast, had deep blue eyes, and—wait, no, not that.

He relentlessly pursued her anyway. He never saw her date around, she took her Anbu responsibilities seriously, and so did he. So when one night, they were forced to huddle together next to a fire in a cave in the Rain, relentless downpour, he took his chance and kissed her.

He got a punch in the gut when she confessed that had been her first kiss and he laughed in disbelief. He told her if she let him, he’d be the only one she kissed. She told him she didn’t realize he had such a way with flirting, and maybe he should have been doing that in the first place!

Oh, and he was tall. Moriko had always been a runt, so she often climbed him. Sat on his shoulders while he carried her around. He insisted, who was she to say no?

Hoshito was completely unbothered when Asuma threatened to kick his ass if he hurt his big sister. Asuma also wasn’t fond of fanboys of his dad, he and Moriko had always been on the same page about that. Even if she would pluck his cigarette from his mouth whenever she saw him and promptly stomp it out, threaten to kick his ass if he didn’t quit, damnit. How was Kurenai ever going to love an ashtray?!

Then Hoshito got her pregnant. Sheesh, what a romantic. And she was the one who told him they had to get married, now. He didn’t find anything wrong with that. She told him she’d kill him if he got her pregnant again, and he took that threat quite seriously. He knew she could kill him.

Regardless, they fell in love with Konohamaru the moment he was born, her being 33 and Hoshito being 30 (Asuma would have been 19, for reference). The name was suggested by Hiruzen, and Hoshito agreed. Moriko didn’t really mind, anyway. She did love her village, even if she had problems with her father. It was actually amazing how well it fit him.

Hoshito fell into the father role naturally, and they both retired from Anbu when she became pregnant. She insisted she’d rejoin after giving birth, but Hiruzen refused her, and she found she didn’t actually want to be away from her son, anyway. Being daughter of the Hokage came with perks, and both parents were able to be home with him. Hoshito taught him everything he knew about wind style and she with her fire style. Hoshito brought Konohamaru to Hiruzen often, which made Hiruzen very fond of the man.

Hoshito often told Konohamaru stories about his missions, his time in Anbu, stories of the wars and founding of the Leaf. Emphasized duty to village and it’s people, as well as the Hokage. Really laid it on thick what an honor it was the be grandson of the (in his opinion) most revered Hokage in history. This all shaped Konohamaru’s mindset when it came to the Hokage and becoming one. Moriko reluctantly let all that slide, even if she didn’t necessarily agree with it all.

Phew. When he died, Konohamaru was 6. Moriko greeted him as she normally did, brought him his coffee and paper, and he didn’t wake up. She was the one who had to come to the realization that he was dead.

Worst day of her life, worse than her own fathers and brothers deaths a few years later, worse than her mothers death years before. She had never felt such a horrid, searing, stabbing pain in her chest before. She immediately took Konohamaru to Asuma while she dealt with what this all would mean for her and him going forward. Asuma took over the task of telling Konohamaru that his father was dead as she laid in bed for the next three months. Asuma ended up taking care of Konohamaru during all that time, and it was Kurenai who helped him with it.

Eventually, she recovered, though was somewhat of a shell of her own person for a while. It was her father who told her that she needed to be strong, lean on him and Asuma for support, and move forward for the boys sake. At first, she was furious with him for coming to her like this. The moment her and Asuma’s mother was killed ten years prior, Hiruzen had been made Hokage again, and they had no such support from him in that department, it was just her and Asuma, navigating their mothers death with her having to be the strong one then. All while dealing with the aftermath of Kurama’s attack. But she eventually let that go, too, and simply accepted the help.

With Asuma’s support, she recovered fully. Too bad fate would then take her father from her just as their relationship was mending, and then her brother. She was the only one left, and clung to Konohamaru for dear life in those years. She knew her presence was overbearing, but she couldn’t bear to be away from him for too long. She became withdrawn from the village for a time, wondering if she was cursed to lose everyone she loved.

And then the damn kid took on a Path of Pein and it was the angriest she’d ever been in her entire life.

She laid into Ebisu. How the hell could he let him do that?! Ebisu’s life flashed before his eyes. She laid in Konohamaru’s bed with him for several nights after that, crying over him, berating him, telling him she loved him. He did apologize, but told her he’d do it again, to protect her and everyone else. She told him she knew.

Then Mirai was born and she was in Kurenai’s home whenever Konohamaru wasn’t around.

She thanked the gods she at least had these two. Thanked Asuma posthumously for getting Kurenai pregnant right before he was killed.

By the way, don’t get her started when she saw Shikamaru with a cigarette. “Is that a fucking cigarette, Nara?” Strong language wasn’t characteristic of the woman, so it held power when she used it. She was immediately knocking on his mothers door, and they proceeded to talk mad shit about the recently deceased Sarutobi. It was the only thing that could bring her comfort, to pretend like he wasn’t dead.

Konohamaru’s playful nature comes from her, and his sense of responsibility from his father and the stories he heard about him. Konohamaru remembers his father fondly, and gets teary every time he thinks of his uncle gently telling him his father had passed. He pushed his mother away for a couple of years before Asuma threatened to choke him with his scarf if he didn’t start treating her better.

It was Asuma who made him realize he had to be a man, sooner rather than later.

Moegi and Udon were often in her home when they were children. Moegi’s mother had been a friend from the Academy, who had been friends with Udon’s father, and their children naturally ended up spending time together. She adores both, and was the one to tell Moegi to keep Konohamaru and Udon in line. Eventually realized it was Udon who had to keep them in line and told him as much.

Flashing forward (because Christ, I could write so much about them), when Konohamaru came home one day to say the Hyuga heiress was in his class, she was elated.

Immediately “do you know I was in her fathers class? What a stubborn old fool. Oh, but his daughters are just so cute, don’t you think?”

“Moooom….”

“You don’t think that little firework is a cutie?”

“MOM!”

She had seen the girl around in passing at events, but never really got a chance to interact with her. But the prospect of her son being her friend was interesting, to say the least. Moriko was completely unbothered by Konohamaru’s defeat in the exams by the girl. When he was in his hospital bed, she sat with him dutifully, and when he awoke, she made sure to tell him to go thank her for the riveting match. Perhaps bring her for tea. Then, when she arrived on her doorstep, she was blown away. What an adorable little Hyuga, looking so like Hiashi but so much softer and sweeter. The moment she indulged her in her stories, she decided she liked her.

Then, watching them dance at the Hero of the Leaf’s wedding, well, she was sold. They were destined to be, and the thought highly amused her. So she sauntered up to Hiashi to make sure he knew it, too.

Hyuga were good at feigning indifference, but she saw the way he looked at them, too. He did know it.

Very excited to have Hanabi visiting her after the wedding. Konohamaru became so incredibly busy as he grew into a teenager and eventually an adult, she didn’t see him as often as she wanted to. Moriko had always craved companionship, so having Hanabi visit for tea was welcome. She was delighted she was a good conversationalist (she figured she would be) and was slowly able to pry out information from her about her little love affair with her son (unintentional on Hanabi’s part).

Had too much confidence in her dear son, thinking he would have swept her off her feet far sooner, and ended up losing a healthy amount of money to that damn betting pool.

Has many ideas for their inevitable wedding, and assured Eiji that yes, it would indeed be bigger than Naruto and Hinata’s. She’d make sure of it.

The biggest fight Konohamaru ever had with his mother was when he told her he was joining Anbu. She told him she’d kill Kakashi, then proceeded to not talk to him for the entire time he was training. When he came back, she relented and told him the path forward would be fraught with death. Told him she would personally kick his ass in the afterlife if he died on her, her heart could not take anymore. He promised he wouldn’t, and when he came to tell her he was thinking of retiring, she instantly insisted that he do so. Also insisted he talk to Hanabi about it, too. She didn’t want to see that sweet girl die.

She needed grandchildren, after all. She was getting old, damnit.

Visits Hoshito’s grave sporadically. Doesn’t have a set schedule, just takes off whenever she feels like talking to him. Has caught her son at the gravesite on multiple occasions, and it’s always nice to sit with him and both chat with the headstone.

Honestly, I could do an entire fic about these two and the ideas I have, it’s ridiculous. I can’t fit it all here or else it’ll just turn into it’s own fic lol.

Shinjuu (double suicide, aka Sakaki, evergreen tree) Age: 16 – 29 Maki (obedient, aka Sawara, cypress tree) Age: 10 – 23

Shinjuu is nearly six years older than Hanabi, while Maki is the same age as her. He was actually in her class that first day, having been taken off guard when she walked in. Then she skipped a grade. Typical main family nonsense.

Maki had actually been friends with Hanabi at one point, when they were both small. He remembered thinking she was very pretty and maybe even having a crush on her? They were babies, okay, he didn’t know any better. Then he got his curse mark, and they quit seeing each other. He had no idea why when he was young, but obviously found out why later.

Maki was always soft and kind, he never really resented Hanabi. Thought she was a foolish girl who always had too much to prove, but didn’t dislike her. Even wished maybe they could be friends again one day, though she was busy with that grandson of the Hokage.

Hanabi did remember him, and remembered asking him if he was Natsu’s son. Aside from that, she admitted she didn’t know him well.

Shinjuu was indifferent. He knew what his role was and just accepted it. Did he resent the main family? To some extent, yes, but never took it as far as Neji. He often sparred with Neji and would listen to his tirades about the injustice of it all. Was bewildered when Neji mastered main family techniques, and was secretly tutored by the boy when they were teenagers to become well-versed in some of them. Truly mourned Neji’s death and sacrifice.

Shinjuu actually admired Hanabi, found her older sister to be weak. He was one of the few let in on information when she was kidnapped. He was part of a team that surveilled around the village, along with some of Hinata’s old classmates. He’d never let her know that he was actually concerned about her, because Hanabi probably didn’t even know he existed.

Again, Hanabi knew Shinjuu to be her cousins friend, but not much more than that.

Joining Anbu was one way for branch Hyuga to live relatively removed lives. They still serve the Hyuga to some extent and can be recalled (and chosen for missions specific to Hyuga matters, such as the little rebellion in Chapter 15), but otherwise, they were primarily servants of the Leaf. It’s why Shinjuu and Maki chose the path, to be further removed from the clan.

Both him and Maki just figured the heiress knew nothing about them until they were teamed for that mission to take out branch Hyuga. They had discussed the mission privately after Hanabi had stomped away the night before they were to leave. They agreed that they would both lay down their lives for her, even though they’d never expect her to.

Shinjuu’s last thought was of his mother, and Maki’s of his girlfriend back home. They hoped they’d understand.

Here’s a list of ages of some relevant (to some extent) canon and OC characters starting in the first chapter for age difference reference. First chapter is set 3ish years after Part I, 1 year before Part II These are from databooks and informed guesses.

Tsunade – 54

Hiashi, Moriko – 44

Tadashi – 38

Ebisu - 31

Asuma, Kurenai, Shizune – 30

Kakashi, Gai, Tora - 29

Ko, Natsu - 24

Neji, Shinjuu – 16

Hinata, Naruto (really all of the rookie 9) - 15

Jun - 12

Eiji, Konohamaru, Moegi, Udon – 11

Hanabi, Maki – 10

And finally, here is the original outline, originally created July 23rd, 2022 at 12:30 pm and unchanged since I began writing the first chapter, July 25th, 2022 at 6:08 pm.

Tag Outline

(10) Hanabi tells Hinata she wants to join the academy

Hinata speaks with their father

While Hanabi waits, she continues observing Konohamaru and gang.

Father tells her he decides he accepts her request and she will attend next day.

Her first day is full of people whispering about her.

Iruka is wholly impressed, tells the head of the academy they should promote her to genin

They do, she joins a team – maybe one other girl (Eiji Inuzuka, cheerful, pup is Yorimaru – trust) and a boy (Jun, Obedient)? Think of names and lets have it be a female sensei (Tora Nara, tigress)

Konohamaru takes note of her while she’s training with the boy on her team, but doesn’t approach.

(11) They are assigned a mission together, a c-rank escort for a large party from and back to earth country. They are attacked by some rogue shinobi – Konohamaru saves Hanabi due to her lack of in field experience – training with the Hyuuga always had strict rules to follow, but didn’t prepare her for ambush

Hanabi and Konohamaru purchase a matching set of kunai that they both keep.

(12) They’re both recommended for chuunin exams (possible different viewpoints for both sensei)

They have dinner with all of the other teams recommended a week before the exam

Hanabi and Konohamaru have a moment outside.

Combo of intelligence and team test:

Genjutsu is placed on them, a rough replica of a far off distant village. Each team is given a scroll with very little relevant information, essentially a mission to track down a target. They are told that if they capture the wrong person, they will not be allowed to retake the exams.

The team with the best times will move on (the first half) but won’t know until it’s over, so it may be beneficial to impede others time

But if you do too much, you may scare away your target.

They are chosen to battle (already written from Hinata’s perspective but should be rewritten from Kono’s)

Hanabi freezes when their matching kunai clash. He gives her a little smirk when he shoves to her to ground

He’s flooded with emotion at the sight of the kunai

She’s frozen, realizing he really did cherish their bond

Hanabi joins him in hospital.

(13) Hanabi attempts babysitting but fails- Konohamaru helps her and kisses her.

She accompanies Hinata while she babysits Mirai since her team is busy

She gets to inquire about Konohamaru, which Kurenai says he’s been busy with missions and training under Naruto

Hinata gets called by ANBU to the Hokage’s office

Konohamaru shows up and teases her about her inability to calm the girl, then kisses her

Hanabi accuses him of avoiding her because she’s barely seen him since they graduated to chuunin.

Konohamaru expresses regret over not being there for her when she was kidnapped, expressing how agonizing it was for him not to be able to come to her aid and he has trouble looking at her now due to shame.

Hanabi finds out Moegi is upset with her

Goes to talk to Konohamaru, meets his mom Moriko (Forest) and finds out she knows her

(14) Hanabi avoids him for a while until the wedding, where Konohamaru does his best to stick around her

You ever feel like helping with Mirai, I’m all ears, Hanabi.”

“Big brother Naruto really seems to love your big sis…interesting, huh?”

“I will destroy you.”

She kisses him, initiating the game of “tag”

(15) Boruto’s birth? He and Hanabi have the same birthday

Kono kisses her, asking if they’re still playing.

(17) Her and a few peers are recommended for jounin. The test was an A-Rank mission to successfully deliver a scroll across rebellion territory. She and Konohamaru successfully complete it.

Them, plus Udon and Moegi and two others embark (one being Jun)

They wonder why this scroll needs so many shinobi to deliver

As they try to slip through enemy territory, Hanabi and Udon scout ahead, leaving another sensory type (Jun) behind. While they’re scouting, the rest of the group is attacked.

Hanabi rescues Konohamaru and the other member (A) while Udon comes to Moegi and the other sensory type (Jun) aid.

They end up having to slaughter several people, and it’s bloody.

They are all silent for the rest of the trip. They successfully deliver the scroll to an older woman in a shack, who gave them no details, just a signed scroll indicating she had received it.

They speculate on what the scroll was and who the woman was as they make the four day return trip. They manage to pass through the enemy territory without detection this time.

Hanabi and Konohamaru have a quiet moment together by a river as Hanabi reveals that having to kill the enemy shinobi was affecting her. Konohamaru offers comfort.

When they arrive home, Hanabi offers for Konohamaru to join her while she visits Hinata, Naruto, Boruto and the newly born Himawari.

Hinata admires the two as they dote on Himawari.

Hanabi admires the fact that despite what they just experienced, he can immediately becoming a loving uncle with Himawari.

She kisses him.

(18-19) slice of life as Konohamaru and Hanabi avoid each other

Assigned a mission together

Seeing each other with other people

??????? idk, something cute maybe??? WHY ANGSTY

(20) For her 20th birthday, there is an extravagant party in the Hyuuga mansion.

Hinata and Naruto attend, with Naruto inviting Konohamaru.

Boruto complains, asking when it will be his turn to have a big party for his birthday

Hanabi assures him she wishes it was his party, but will make every effort to ensure next year will be a joint party.

Konohamaru presents her with a necklace that had an aquamarine gemstone pendant (her birthstone).

She questions how he afforded it but he brushes her off, asking to dance.

She questions him about his relationship with someone in the village, which he immediately corrects her to say they broke up.

While dancing, he asks her on a formal date.

He kisses her.

On the date, he reveals he’s formally joining ANBU, so won’t be around as much. The necklace was a sort of ‘goodbye for now.’ She’s confused and ends up leaving him in the restaurant.

ANBU are still a required service in Konoha, as despite peace, threats still lurk in the form of rebellious forces and nin who deflect

Konohamaru joins ANBU, she keeps an eye on him.

(21) Kono escorts her and other Hyuuga on one of their diplomatic journeys.

He’s disguised as ANBU, but she can see through it.

She finds him in a nearby tree, watching over her party, and kisses him.

(22) Two years later, restless and wishing she could see more of him, she requests to join ANBU.

Kakashi quickly accepts it

Konohamaru is shocked to see her and attempts to convince her to quit.

They embark are missions separately for a while, a seemingly intentional move by Kakashi.

After returning from a mission, he corners her and kisses her on the forehead. “tag.”

(23) They are assigned a two man mission escort a young boy from a nearby outskirt village, who accidentally murdered his mother when he transformed into something similar to what Jugo turns into. They’re assigned as to not trigger panic in Konoha, and they’re escorting him to the Orochimaru hideout Jugo is located at.

During their trek back, Konohamaru expresses his regret that things ended before they began between them. She tells him nothing would have began.

She kisses him on the cheek before they part ways.

(24) A few months later, she finds him mindlessly plucking at grass near the Hyuuga complex, Hanabi stumbles on him after returning from her own mission.

She asks what’s wrong, he tells her he’s quitting ANBU. She notices tears in his eyes. She softens. He reveals he had to kill one of his early academy school mates. She comforts him.

He gives her a solemn warning about being in the ANBU

True to his warning, she is sent to subdue a rogue branch Hyuuga. Kakashi and Hiashi both specifically request her to keep it quiet and within the clan only. She is joined by Shinjuu (double suicide, aka Sakaki, evergreen tree) and Maki (obedient, aka Sawara, cypress tree)

Hanabi has to face her toughest opponent yet, and after killing the branch Hyuuga, she returns with a broken spirit.

Konohamaru visits her in the hospital. He holds her as she sobs for almost an hour, and stays with her, despite not knowing what happened.

He kisses her.

A month later, she turns in her notice of retirement, citing clan obligations, though Kakashi understands the true reason.

(24) Tanabata

Meets with Konohamaru as she’s escorting Himawari, him Mirai

Pregnancy scare

Eiji protective of Hanabi

(25) Slice of life style for several scenes from 25-26

Konohamaru babysits Boruto and Himawari (10 and 8) in Hinata and Naruto’s home, Hanabi comes over without knowing

She finds he’s built them a forte, which Boruto claims is too kiddish but ends up joining them

They tease Boruto about Academy, telling him he wont need babysitting once he becomes a genin

He expresses that he is considering training to be a jounin instructor. Though it’s a lie, she expresses that she’s also considering it.

She visits his mother and gets him Ramen when she tells her he’s sick

When she witnesses the state of his home, she forces her way in to take care of him.

“You always take care of me. Let me take care of you.”

“If you’re gonna get all sick like me, you might as well c’mere.”

“I draw the line at sick sex.”

(26) Hokage ceremony. She anxiously awaits with Konohamaru, only for him to be pulled aside by Iruka. He later confides in her that he had to take use a transformation jutsu to pretend to be Naruto because Himawari incapacitated him. Hanabi nearly sheds a tear of pride along with lots of laughter.

She gives him a little peck on the cheek and congratulates him for finally attaining his “dream”.

(27) Upon learning Konohamaru was accepted as a jounin instructor from Hinata, she puts her application in with Iruka

Naruto discusses it with Iruka, finding it funny that Hanabi always ends up where Konohamaru does.

Naruto decides to deliver the news by visiting the Hyuuga compound with the kids. He asks her if she’s excited to work alongside Konohamaru, causing her to blush and warn him.

They excitedly discuss their acceptance of becoming jounin instructors and speculate what their teams might be like.

Once they find out their teams, They exchange comments on their teams,

Konohamaru says he was expecting the InoShikaCho group but figures big brother Naruto wanted him to personally train his son.

Hanabi expresses that she’s happy that Konohamaru is Boruto’s sensei.

Hanabi warns Boruto that Konohamaru will not be going easy on them

Hinata muses on Konohamaru and Hanabi with Naruto

(27-28) Jun and Eiji wedding

Big, rowdy Inuzuka wedding

Moegi pushes Hanabi forward when Eiji throws her bouquet, forcing her to catch it. Cut scene of Hanabi locking eyes with Konohamaru.

Hanabi dances with Jun, Konohamaru with Eiji

Eiji berates Kono

Jun berates Hanabi

"stop being stupid"

“Hanabi…be happy. Please.”

Drunken Hanabi telling him to get her pregnant so they can just definitively be together

He swiftly rejects the idea. Drunken crying from Hanabi about him not wanting her, devolving into her feeling like she’ll never escape her fate.

The next day, Hanabi’s already gone. Moegi and Udon bring him breakfast.

“Figure it out,” Moegi tells him sharply as she tries to shove rice in his mouth, “you have to secure this.”

“For all of our sake,” Udon adds, grabbing him water, “if there was two people who are meant to be, it’s you two. And gods you know, I don’t believe in any of that.”

Just as Konohamaru tried to protest, Moegi closed his mouth to chew, “shut up. You have nothing to say.”

“Be a little easier,” Udon tried to interject to her irritated look, “c’mon! He’s an idiot in love.”

“Fine,” Moegi mumbled.

Konohamaru wondered how he could possibly end up in this position, with his childhood best friends shoveling food and water into his mouth to placate him as he moped over a girl.

“Eat, you idiot,” Moegi mumbled, shoveling more food into his mouth as Udon looked in amusement.

“You better not be thinking of arguing, are you?” Udon asked.

(28) Drunken scene with the debating of whether to recommend for the chuunin exams

They walk home together, eventually arriving at Konohamaru’s unit, far passed the Hyuuga compound.

He apologizes, insisting on walking her back. She insists she go inside. Konohamaru is caught off guard, blushing as he questions her. She insists and he obliges.

He offers she take the bed, and she drunkenly kisses him.

After some heavy stuff, he insists they’re too drunk to continue. She tries to say she doesn’t care, but he puts her to bed regardless and takes the couch for the night.

In the morning, he’s gone and she seeks him out at the training grounds. She apologizes for her behavior and he gives her a comforting embrace. She insists it was just a fluke moment, but he grabs her by the face and tells her he didn’t want their first time to be like that. She questions him when she asks about ‘first time’. This needs to be reworked unfortunately, smut brain took over.

“Hanabi. I’m in love with you.”

Epilogue?

Summary:

She was the firework, sparking in the shadow of his leaves. He was the brat, bathing in her sun. Somehow, she was always following after him. And he was always waiting for her.

Or: Watching Konohamaru and his team wreak havoc around town, Hanabi desperately wants to know what it’s like to be a kid. Follow Hanabi and Konohamaru from academy students to sensei, a fully fleshed out story.

I’m so, so incredibly lucky that I had such a strong base of support for this silly little pairing. Receiving any sort of feedback is always a euphoric experience (at least for me) and I was and continue to be so deeply grateful anyone took time to let me know they liked what I wrote.

Thank you, all of you. My heart is full even as it breaks. Be well, and maybe I’ll see you soon.

#i cry #bonus #naruto #konohana #konohamaru x hanabi #konohamaru sarutobi #hanabi hyuuga #hyuuga hanabi #sarutobi konohamaru #hanakono #naruto fanfic #naruto fanfiction #konohana fanfic #my fic #Tag #hanabi hyuga #hyuga hanabi #smut #fic update #naruto smut #complete

[secret-engima]

Today in “SE works through the Chuunin Exam Arc and gets increasingly incredulous over how a show so beloved can have so many GAPING PLOT HOLES and also wow you can actually tell when the animators were getting paid to be enthusiastic or not can’t you”:

1. Sarutobi why did it take you so long to realize that the stadium and village were under attack.

2. Sarutobi why did you let Orochimoron take you hostage for even a hot second KAWARIMI IS A LITERAL ACADEMY BASIC TECHNIQUE JUST SWAP OUT WITH A NEARBY TILE YOU IDIOT I’VE SEEN IT DONE BEFORE FROM THAT CLOSE RANGE. KAKASHI DID IT. SO CAN YOU.

3. Sarutobi I don’t want to say you DESERVE to be trapped in a giant purple death box with your failed student and two dead guys trying to kill you but honestly you deserve to be trapped in a giant purple death box with your failed student and two dead guys trying to kill you.

4. Anbu. My guys. My dudes. I KNOW that the barrier is deadly and made of horrible purple fire and you can’t jump in but like- the barrier holders are right there. Wasting chakra to make an extra barrier around themselves. The barrier protecting them can’t be that thick. You have these lovely things call FLAME RESISTANT STEEL SWORDS you could be using to try to crack open the barrier. Or if you were REALLY smart you could, I don’t know, TUNNEL UP THROUGH THE CEILING??? The barrier is just a box that’s been turned upside down, there is no sign of a barrier floor underneath the tiles and even if there is you guys could have checked. You don’t need to just- sit there. Watching an old man, two dead guys, and a snake wearing makeup beat each other up.

5. Who let Kakashi make the plan. Why did Kakashi decide that it would be better to send the civilian girl he hasn’t bothered to train, the loud blond who he also hasn’t bothered to train, and the boy who tried to fake sleep to get out of helping go alone with just a tiny pug as escort. There were other genin RIGHT THERE who could both help AND be conveniently out of the line of fire in Kakashi’s fight. He was sending them after Sasuke, who was chasing three genin we’ve already seen wipe the FLOOR with the average genin. Having more numbers would be HIGHLY ADVANTAGEOUS.

6. And don’t tell me “he did it because Stealth” he sent the girl with bubblegum hair and the boy in neon orange out there, stealth is a non-factor and also it’s AN INVASION, nobody is going to care about a bunch of wacky kids running by they’re too busy trying not to die to the blur of green spandex that is Gai.

7. Where is Lee in all this anyway he just kinda vanished from the screen. Or was he passed out on the floor and I just missed him. I know he can’t fight, I just wanna know if he’s okay.

8. Was it bad that I didn’t know Asuma could actually fight? I knew he was one of the Guardian Twelve or whatever but mostly fans only talk about him getting owned by Itachi or murdered by Hidan so I guess I just assumed he was ... kinda a sucky fighter. I have been proven wrong. Nice job saving your deer boy, Asuma, I’m impressed.

9. There’s an actual budget for the Hokage fight? Nice. Also who gave Sarutobi the right to actually be cool NOW when he’s been acting senile for the past 10+ episodes excuse you.

10. EXCUSE YOU SARUTOBI YOU DON’T GET TO MAKE EPIC FEELS-INDUCING SPEECHES ABOUT THE WILL OF FIRE AND THE VILLAGE AS YOUR FAMILY, NOT WHEN YOU HAVE FAILED ON BOTH THOSE ASPECTS SO HARD.

11. How dare you make me regret your impending death even a little bit Sarutobi. How dare.

12. There’s a monkey king? That’s an actual THING? I mean I knew there was a monkey king but I didn’t expect him to be so amazing. Now if he would just stop waiting for Sarutobi to grow a spine (because we all know he won’t) and actually kick Orochimaru while the snake was distracted taunting his old sensei maybe we’d actually get somewhere with this show.

13. Seriously Monkey King you turn into a adamantine pole or whatever that can change shape and size, just play dead on the ground for a minute then expand and extend to the size and length of a tree. You don’t even have to do any damage yourself you just have to shove him/wack him into his own barrier and let him go up in flames. It probably won’t kill him, since Plot and also Orochimoron, but hey at least it will do damage and distract him for a few seconds.

14. Turning to Naruto real quick because clearly Sarutobi���s Senile Damsel Syndrome is contagious- Naruto. You are an Uzumaki. You have so much chakra you can barely do chakra control exercises. I know you’re tired from the Neji fight, but I ALSO know via fandom that you’re going to summon a freaking Boss Summon in a few episodes. When Shikamaru says “someone needs to stay behind and be a diversion” why didn’t you, I don’t know, SPAM A FEW SHADOW CLONES? You didn’t even have to use only shadow clones for the diversion, you could have just dropped off a few to help out Shika in his rare moment of self-sacrifice. Half a dozen screaming orange genin would go such a long way in providing a distraction so Shika could make a plan (may I suggest, catch the sound ninja in shadow possession and then have the Naruto’s slit their throats before their ninth member has a chance to catch up?). But no. We can’t possibly spam clones the one time a comrade could find them terribly useful, let’s go back to running through the trees worrying about the boy who knows an A-Rank assassination jutsu and would be totally fine surviving on his own for another several episodes of dialogue and reaction shots ten minutes.

15. Where the ACTUAL freak is Jiraiya. He came to Konoha specifically because he heard Orochimaru was planning something. There is an INVASION HAPPENING. GIANT SNAKES. BUSTING DOWN THE WALL. ENEMY NINJA EVERYWHERE. YOUR SENSEI IS TRAPPED IN A BARRIER JUTSU WITH THE GUY YOU SPECIFICALLY CAME HERE TO LOOK FOR. You don’t suppose you could leave your drinks and women and pity party long enough to- I don’t know- HELP? I mean I know it would be hard for someone who has such niche skills like SUMMONING GIANT TOADS and USING FUUNJUTSU THAT COULD PROBABLY BREAK THE BARRIER YOUR SENSEI IS TRAPPED IN but come on man, put forth a little effort.

Maybe you show up in a later episode miraculously doing something important to help stop the invasion, who knows.

Pros of this arc tho:

1. When they decide to actually use their animation budget THEY REALLY GO FOR IT. The fights that have a budget are epic.

2. Sakura got to be useful! For 20 seconds! She fended off a genjutsu and woke up Naruto and told him what was going on! That counts as useful! *devolves into sobbing because why are the girl characters not allowed to be both good guys AND competent onscreen*

3. I genuinely cheered when Asuma swooped in to save Shika. That was cool.

4. Some of the exam fight bits were cool. Naruto vs Neji dragged on a bit but the ending tactic was as rewarding as I’d hoped it would be from reading about it in the fandom. Also I really enjoyed the Shikamaru vs Temari fight. A-tier victory from the resident Deer Boi.

5. Sasuke using Chidori first time on screen was cool, and even though I’d read about it ahead of time, Gaara wigging out over seeing his own blood genuinely startled me.

6. I was glad to see that Sasuke still remembers how to use other jutsu than Chidori. When Temari started fighting him I was afraid the show writers would forget he HAD any jutsu other than Chidori tbh. Like Naruto and his many versions of the same jutsu (see: all the clone spam variations, all the harem jutsu variations, and all the many MANY different rasengan variations).

#Secret Engima Rambles #SE rants #naruto #SE watches anime #Salty SE is Salty #surprisingly I am actually enjoying the show #i just get a steady build up of salt and eyerolling over the plot holes #and need to expel it before continuing to watch the show #still confused why people think this is somehow better than boruto #at least boruto remembers that its characters can DO THINGS #other than sit and look shocked at different angles for minutes on end

[6ubble-gum]

“i do recognize a strong female character, and it’s not mikasa, it’s historia” PREACHHH!!! up until that last chapter, historia was the best written female character. she had her own struggles and development. i don’t know if it’s just me, but as a woman, i feel like i could relate so much to her “wanting to be liked by everyone as krista, and becoming a martyr because of it.” her overcoming that in the uprising arc, and embracing her true self as historia along with the “worst girl” speech and breaking the literal chains off instantly made her one of my favs. she had an amazing arc, and we got to see so many facets of her personality. as opposed to m*kasa who i genuinely cannot name 1 single thing about her personality besides EREH. like seriously, TRY. it’s so hard. i guarantee if she didn’t have the ackerman strength genes and didn’t know how to fight, she’d get the sakura treatment from the fandom from naruto. their characters are pretty much virtually the same anyways, both obsessed with a guy which defines their whole character, the guy swerves them the whole story, and then last minute reciprocates their feelings. except even sakura has some personality traits outside of sasuke, and at least is a good mother and fighter in boruto. i always held out hope m*kasa could break her obsession w eren and would develop as a character past that, and it looked to be going that way somewhat, but then was rectonned last second :/ a shame bc she could’ve been a great character w an awesome arc like historia, but she’ll always be remembered for her obsession with a guy that treated her like shit.

HONESTLY i have tried so many times to think of something to like about m-kasa and i just. can't??? i cannot think of anything about her that i particularly like tbfh. everything that i could possibly say about her eventually boils down to "eren eren eren eren" and its just incredibly insulting frankly. she probably wouldve become one of my favored characters if she had ACTUALLY given up on eren like had been teased so fuckign many times before but that was all washed down the drain in one fell swoop and now here we are, literally back at square one lmao.

historia on the other hand is genuinely probably one of my favorite characters in any media ever. shes incredibly interesting, and her character arc is definitely my favorite in the series-no character's theme ost gets me quite as pumped as Zero Eclipse does lmao. she just has such an interesting story to her and unlike with m-kasa's, historia's story only begun to involve eren toward the end. she's interesting on her own, which is way more than i can say about m-kasa.

i really hate comparing female characters because it just feels misogynistic inherently but with people acting like m-kasa is the peak of character writing and putting historia down in the process, i just can't keep my mouth shut here-a chunk of this fandom has bad opinions and im gonna tell em as much lmao

#thinking about historia makes me happy. #thinking about m-kasa does Not. #anti eremika #snk #snk 139 #snk spoilers #erehisu #anti snk ending

[shartingan]

I'm new here and I personally would LOVE to hear more about your trans headcanons and your reasoning

OK YAYYY !! i’ll just go over the characters i mentioned in that ask. but also just remember every single naruto character is transgender unless i dislike them ^_^

its kind of a long list w explanations so its under read more!!

starting off strong with haku............. what do i even say. we all read land of the waves. just google image search ‘haku naruto’ and if it doesnt click idk what i could even tell you. theyre every type of transgender at once.

neji. it’s neji. sorry for no elaboration if i talk about neji too much i will literally fucking explode. next question.

gai & lee have their fun relationship with youth and masculinity that i personally see reflected in a lot of my irl trans masc/trans man friends. their relationship with not being able to do nin/genjutsu, not caring about that fact, and instead focusing on training themselves and being a shinobi in a completely different way than the society as a whole, even if they get shit for that is also very transgender to me. there’s also that post that went around that was like “lee really looked at gai and thought ‘gender envy’ and completely restyled himself“ or something along those lines.

naruto & hinata i talked about in another ask which can be found here, but originally i just had naruto listed here because i think he’s got to have such an interesting relationship with gender. i know sexy jutsu is played off as a gag like “haha horny 12 year old boy LOL!!” but also naruto’s first jutsu is a way to make him into a hot “female” version of himself...... ok. very cis of u. also i know kurama uses male pronouns, but theyre literally a giant fox made of chakra. i refuse to believe that wouldn’t influence naruto or at the very least open an avenue for naruto to talk about gender with someone.

sasori is a freak w red hair. transmasc.

orochimaru is vaguely canonically nonbinary in boruto, but never said with those words. they just say they’ve been both a man and a woman and so gender doesnt really matter to them. make of that what you will but regardless of gender they serve cunt sooooo #swag. we could get into a big discussion of orochimaru being gay/trans coded and how detrimental that is, but just know before u say anything im aware of it and im just saying this glibly. same thing for sasori.

yamato... YAMATO YAMATO YAMATO........ the whole crux of his rebellion from danzo and root being about his name and choosing it for himself rather than the one he was assigned..... EXQUISITE. he also just has very pleasant vibes and hes got a great design so i think hes transgender. there’s also also this

the rest are based on vibes and i really have no other explanation other than look at them. they are transgender because i know and perceive the truth.

#ask #anon #rono.txt

[animegarbage-iam]

Okay, so I'm gonna put this out there. Personally I hate the ending of Naruto and the creation of Boruto. And no its not because "sasuke and naruto didn't end up together." I'm more upset because it was lazy.

Okay, so to get this part out of the way. The whole sasunaru thing Kishimoto brought on himself in the very beginning when they had their FIRST accidental kiss. And lowkey making them a focus because they're 'rivals' or whatever. Who remembers the relay race? I'd say that counts a bit as queerbaiting but I digress.

From team 7 times Sakura was obsessed with Sasuke because so was everyone and he was dreadfully uninterested (in everyone). Naruto, crushing on Sakura, and undoubtedly jealous that someone (sasuke) was getting noticed and didn't even care while all he wanted was for someone to not treat him like garbage. However, Sasuke never warms up to Sakura past being forced to work with her, then continues to tell her how much he despises her and tries to kill her multiple occasions. Once she gets older she kinda gets over him, quite honestly, and seems to follow Naruto because the poor boy is destroying himself trying to essentially save Sasuke from himself. *Don't forget about his panic attack in the snow. Or the fact that he officially rebuffs Hinata telling her he sees her as a friend and she has been pining equally as long as Sakura.

****Regardless of the boys' feelings, those girls should have gotten better. Both girls had to fight years for the other person to notice them, and it wasn't like they got beautiful confessions that had been building for years. It honestly seems like those pairings went together simply because one side had/has feelings and the other person was like, "fuck it, I guess?" That's fucking tragic. Those girls are warriors and deserve to be loved by someone that has and will treat them like a treasure.

-admittedly I didn't like either of them when they were introduced. I didn't like that their main contribution seemed to be to gushing. I liked them better when they weren't seeking the constant approval from their unrequited crushes. Sakura turned into a baddy when she stopped pining and focused on herself. And lowkey so does Hinata once Naru's like, "friend?" It stops being, 'ooo ima do this and maybe he'll notice me' and she grows into focusing on becoming her own baddy.

Alright, the children. I'm not even gonna touch the obvious bullshit of their half-assed names. But like really serious fucking question here guys. What the fuck kind of sense does it makes that Naru's kids have fucking 9-tails whiskers? Like, maybe, passably, if Hinata was the one that had Kurama trapped inside her body. But honestly, even then it wouldn't make sense. Like, did Kurama clone himself and then inject his clones into the the fetuses? No? Then why they got whiskers? Can they use the power of the 9-tails? Cause they shouldn't.

-After all Kurama is a demon fox trapped inside of a shinobi, he is his own physical person, as opposed to some ideal. He is not so much a part of Naruto as Naruto is his unwilling prisoner. As we all know, its over time the two become okay with eachother, and I do mean okay because Kurama has pretty much resigned to being kept prisoner inside of Naruto. *At least Naruto utilizes his power so Kurama probably doesn't feel completely restricted. Though its not on his terms he does get to essentially "stretch his legs" which is better than being completely used, killed, or 1000% restricted.

If you read interviews with Kishimoto, it confirms what you could guess if you're reading his series close enough; He was winging it. Not necessarily a bad thing, but it does answer why a lot of things get muddled or blown over. Honestly, that's why I hate Boruto, it was slapped together to keep the Naruto hype going, but dammit I wish it was done better. The creation feels thoughtless and rushed, if I wanted to watch Naruto again, I would watch Naruto again. They didn't have to rush a B-movie spinoff just to try and keep the hype going.

Like, do y'all remember when we got to know more about the clones? And how they're not just expendable but living parts of Naruto? Like, he went to some deep Star Wars Storm Trooper level type shit. There was thought, it fit, it gives us more. It was done with heart, but thats not the same type of heart or attention he gave to the end.

All in all, I guess I'm just sad because I was left disappointed. After the world he created and all the characters and backstories he brought to life, it felt like a cop-out. It was easy, simple, but it doesn't fit.

So that's my opinion, feel free to express your own.

#naruto #naruto shippuden #kishimoto #boruto #naruto ending #sasuke #hinata #sakura #the girls deserve better #everyone deserves better #many questions #sasunaru #sasusaku #naruhina #kurama #nine tailed fox

[uzuma-take]

I don’t wanna be seem as I’m being rude and disrespecting anyone with this post. This is my opinion on some characters that where never confirmed nor denied being LGBTQ however they have had strong moments within there respective series that hints to them being LGBTQ. Let’s start with...

Joey ... I’ve been really into friends as of recently . And a lot of scenes with Joey make me think he’s either Gay or Bisexual. There’s a couple of moments that make stop and go oi that’s interesting. Let’s go through them

The biggest moment is Emma’s birthday episode when they are discussing the cake and Joey says something along the lines of “oi man I why did I like more as a penis.

Then there’s the gif below

Both him and chandler are enjoying that a bit too much for them to not like each other at least a little. Then there’s a bathroom scene I can remember it exactly but joey is very interested in seeing Chandler and Ross with no pants by looking over there stools.

Unfortunately back then TV shows weren’t a load to air any lgbtq stuff it would have been awesome to see joey in a loving relationship that didn’t seemed forced .

The next character is from friends too

Pheobe had more moments the Joey did flirting with the girls of the group she even had a massive falling out with Monica and Rachel when she picked Rachel as the person she’d date. There’s moments where she openly (unlike Joey accidentally) mentions how sexy some of the women are and mention there breast ect. However in the end she got married to Mike I think it was.

Lister and Rimmer what can I say I’ve shipped this for a while now . There is literally a Kiss scene albeit was a dream Lister had after rimmer left in season 7 but there have been other moments as recently as 9 April 2020 in the promised never land they had an extremely touching moment with Lister even stating the He was the sun the that was shining on Rimmers moon. “You can’t have Moonlight with out sunlight” that’s what a couple would say to someone the loved as it basically translates to I can live without you.

Oi he may be a science experiment but if you watch the show then you know he pretty much ignores Sarada unless she’s in danger it’s about his Sun Boruto the light that is guiding him I personally ship him and Chocho as I don’t think Boruto is into Mitsuki like that but I can see where people are going with it.

These two are my hardcore ship there is so much evidence even within Boruto / The novels. Out of every episode in shippuden there is only one ep I don’t consider canon and it doesn’t feature Kakashi or Gai. So my thoughts Kakashi is Bisexual cause of his heavy crush on the warden from his novel and Hanere .

Gai is at least Gay. I think the reason they didn’t get together at first is because after each of there traumatic experiences (Kakashi with Rin and Obito’s death . Gai with the eight inner gates) they pushed each other away Kakashi felt like he was gonna kill Gai and Gai being depressed not wanting to show Kakashi him being weak. (I feel he pushed Lee away for the same reason see the ep where he trains Metal Its heavily implied he hadn’t seen metal in a long time and Lee is very short with Gai later in the episode)

I also like to think that the movies are mostly canon unless stated otherwise (every ep unless stated) as we have had surprise confirmation from the manga and novels before . There’s a couple of moments in the third shippuden movie where they think Kakashi is implied to be gay . Near the end of the movie He actually makes a face of ‘well what did you think Naruto’ this causing Naruto to flee. Kakashi denies liking Naruto but not about liking other men . It’s also Lee who first points it out using Gai as an example stating “Gai sensei told me this was the spring time of youth” . Tenten replying with “I knew it” implying again Gai had that talk with Lee.

There’s also the whole Steam Ninja Scrolls arc where Kakashi literally gives Gai his food . The conversation at the end basically solidified the ship when Kakashi admitted that he’d make a dumbass move to save Gais leg even if it killed him . And we know for a fact he wouldn’t do that for anyone else at all. OK ENOUGH RAMBLING ABOUT MY FAVE SHIP... I need to talk about the last couples.

This is jus a shit posting ship but I think it’s cute so Toshi and Aizawa. Personally I don’t see any thing canon but it’s my personal fave ship in BHNA .

LOOK AT THEM . They are so cute yes Bakugou gets easily upset (but he does it with anyone) I DO NOT SHIP IZUBAKU OR DYNAKU (Dynamite x Deku) until recently that was a really abusive relationship. Kirishima was the only one Bakugou grabbed the hand of and Deku knew that. There’s been subtle hints but I unfortunately have the feeling if Bakugou ends up with anyone it’ll be Tsui as there’s been a lot of drawings with them together let’s hope KiriBaku wins tho.

Last one

These two are cute but it’s already been pretty much confirmed Deku and Uraraka will end up together

😭😞

#friends #bnha #boruto #bnha deku #naruto #bnha spoilers #kakagai #red dwarf #david lister #arnold rimmer #joey tribbiani #todoroki shōto #pheobe buffay #might guy #hatake kakashi #bnha kirishima #katsuki bakugō #mitsuki #mha aizawa #mha toshinori

[uchihha]

My thoughts from boruto chapter 49:

This episode was basically a prelude to what's next in chapter 50. The next issue is when the shit goes down.

Isshiki was looking for Kawaki with the Byakugan, and then he is asking people where Kawaki is. I like the fact that he is polite. Gives him an aura of a fancy alien.

I feel like a fool for not having seen it well before, but now I do. Isshiki is not going to destroy the village if Kawaki is in it and cannot find him. He wouldn't risk killing Kawaki like that, especially considering he doesn't have the Karma to defend himself. Now, it's another story if he gets Kawaki. I guess thats why he is asking so politly where is kawaki instead of just destroying everything. The fact that he is in his physical form about to die I suppose it also influences for not doing it yet?

Damn Shikamaru, chill! The boy is struggling too 😂😂

Kawaki is still passed out. I find it curious what Sai mentioned earlier. They are going to hide it underground, where not even the Byakugan can reach it. I remember the place because of Danzo. But I wonder if the unseen thing has always been like this or is it something they developed with ninja technology. I can't remember if it was mentioned before 🤔

Kawaki is going to loose his shit when he wakes up, by the way. Maybe he meets Sarada and Mitsuki there and they team up?

He say that, but can you actually do it, Sasuke?

Damn. I hate these death flags. They have been showing up for a while. I think at this point it is more than obvious that they want to kill Sasuke or Naruto 😔 Although I am almost sure that it is still too early. I'm praying to be wrong about them dying

So this is basically Isshiki kicking Naruto. I dont really like it. I know the point is to demonstrate the power of Isshiki but I have to admit that I don't like them doing it like that. I mean, at least in the last 10 chapters, our Naruto has not been able to do anything and it's like 🙄🙄 I still don't want to make too many judgments about it because I know this is the building up yet. And Im expecting to see something more elaborate and complex in the battle. Like they did with the Delta fight. I really liked what they did there with the slow start and then Naruto kicking her ass. It's a monthly manga and I know they take time to climb so I'm still waiting.

Sasuke saving the day 🥰🥰🥰 🥰 such a maaaaaaan 😍😍😍😍😍

Papasuke 🥺 Sasuke is such an emotional character. It may be because of his Uchiha blood or simply because he is Sasuke, but he has always been someone who can see through people's emotions as he feels too much. He knows that Boruto is struggling between what he can and cannot do, and in a way he must understand that Boruto is worried and scared. I really like how they are doing this teacher-disciple relationship. Sasuke experience on the past and how he have changed since then its so important in their dinamic and how he wants to guide him. It is a relationship based on understanding and pure trust and I think it is beautiful. It is probably the development that I am enjoying the most.

This panel with Boruto look broke my heart. You can see how little he is yet.

And then we have this. This is it. Resolution. I already said it but Boruto with Sasuke’s headband is 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥

This means that Boruto is going to stay in this space with Naruto and Sasuke and that we could see him take an important role.

We will probably see Momoshiki again too and new things from Karma.

Isshiki you need to chill. If you are going to use the body of a human to continue living you need to be more humble.

Lets not kill Naruto and Sasuke pliz🤞🏿🤞🏿

#boruto spoilers #boruto manga #boruto 49 #boruto chapter 49

[natsubeatsrock]

So, I’ve been watching Black Clover, and...

I’m so glad that this show is back from hiatus! I don’t care that we’re in an anime original arc, I’m having fun with this arc. The only show that I’ve watched as its aired for as long as this... is Fairy Tail. And while I got into Fairy Tail well into season 2, I’ve been watching Black Clover almost weekly since episode 1.

It’s also cool to see that people have warmed up to Black Clover. It’s been crazy to see so many people that I knew from Fairy Tail got into Black Clover. When this show came out, it was hailed as “the New King of Shonen”. While that may not have been true at the time, it’s slowly becoming one of the biggest shows in the community.

Though, that’s probably weird to say now.

I remember when this show first came out. This show was slammed by the anime community. After a few episodes, the series  “Asta’s voice is annoying! This show has filler! The animation isn’t weird! The story is uninspired! The pacing is slow!” This show as the butt of so many jokes when it aired. Most of them “yelling Asta” related.

Of course, it wasn’t as if this show came out in a vacuum. This show did come out just off the heels of My Hero Academia’s 2nd season, which finished one of its biggest arcs in the series and made the show more of a household name. A lot of people went from that to this and saw a similar show without the flash and intrigue the show had garnered. Though, it’s unfair to not like shows because they’re not like other shows, least of all one of the best anime adaptations of any WSJ manga.

As you can imagine, I didn’t understand where that came from. The show took an interesting approach to the underdog narrative, never letting up on its main character having magic abilities. He succeeded because he was training his body and his power benefited from that training. And Yuno never thought of Asta as an unworthy rival. This was a better show then I felt people were giving it credit for.

Though, it’s hard to deny that, especially early on, the show was rough. First impressions are important, and asking anyone to get into a series that originally was supposed to last a full year is serious. With this show’s first few episodes, it was hard to imagine that this show would blow up and continue past its first year.

There are reasons for this behind the scenes. The director of Black Clover, Tatsuya Yoshihara, wasn’t given the type of support that any normally functioning show would be given. The show doesn’t have an animation producer. The man ran himself ragged trying to get the show to work on even a decent schedule with what he had. Early on, he’d tweet regularly about not having enough people working on the show.

Keep in mind, Black Clover is being handled by Studio Pierrot. You could say they were also working on Boruto before this. If this were a smaller name studio with less experience adapting long-running series like Black Clover, this kind of thing could be understood and forgiven as poor oversight and taking on more than they could handle. But this was the studio responsible for animating two of the Big 3 simultaneously.

But, through hard work and guts, the show has persevered. Yoshihara managed to keep the show running. And as the show continued, more and more people began to respect the show. It’s gone from one of the community laughing stocks to one of its biggest shows.

The story of this anime feels similar to the story in the anime. Asta started out with no magic and a lot of ambition. He ended up becoming one of the most powerful magic knights of his rank and has saved the Clover Kingdom on a number of occasions. The best thing about this is seeing people begrudgingly admit they might have unfairly pegged the show in real time.

Mother’s Basement, a popular anime Youtuber, made a video after a few episodes of the series aired. His video boils down to making the same points I mentioned earlier. (I’d link it here, but it’s no longer public.) Over a year later, he’d have to admit that OP 3 was one of the best openings of 2018, even if he wasn’t willing to get back into the show for it.

Another popular anime Youtuber named Gigguk also made a video about Black Clover after its first few episodes. He came to the conclusion that, while the manga is okay, the anime wasn’t a good. About a year later, he’d make a video admitting that he was wrong to judge the show. Though, his argument was that it got better.

I don’t get how that’s become such a big point of contention for so many people. Part of it has to do with so many shows being released most seasons. I honestly believe that a show shouldn’t need to reveal everything great about itself episode one. Gigguk would end up making that exact point in his defense of the first episode of Goblin Slayer, a show with a more controversial beginning.

It’s fine if you don’t like a show after one episode or don’t continue with it. But the first episode of almost every show ever isn’t going to establish everything great about the show. I don’t think it’s right to judge a show two episodes in for being generic if it’s based on a series over a hundred chapters long. Heck, this is a trap a lot of writers set up for series even shorter than Black Clover. (Who wants to watch some Madoka Magica?)

We all do well to learn some patience. Not every great show becomes great immediately. Many have to earn their popularity years after they start or even end. Sometimes we do well to hold off on throwing stones (hah) every time shows do things we don’t expect. We might prove ourselves to have been wrong.

And yes, there’s going to be an example of this on my case coming this week.

#not fairy tail month: crisis on infinite fandoms #black clover #people were wack #they thought this show #would never get big #this show was a meme #people questioned it going on toonami #and now it's huge

[duckielover151]

A SasukexSakura, MaixNaru Note

Let me just take a minute to sort out my thoughts (ramble) a bit about two anime ships that I love and that I just recently saw a connection to.

So. Naruto is one of my oldest anime loves. And I shipped Sakura and Sasuke from day one. And never wavered from that. Even through the times in the series when I knew it couldn’t really be justified. 

(Remember that time he almost killed her? And would have, without a second thought, if he hadn’t been interrupted?

Which time, you ask?

Exactly.)

And I’m not entirely sure what it was at first. Maybe just my own penchant towards fairytale endings. She was so passionate about him--and neither of them seemed like bad people, at their core-- that even when it was in an obnoxious way, I just wanted it to work out for her. 

So you can imagine what a fucking fantastic day it was for me when the series finally ended... And every single one of the major pairings that I shipped were proven canon. All of them. And honestly, I was pretty confident that I could tell where Kishimoto was leading those romances, but if there was any one that I was a little on the fence about, it was Sasuke and Sakura. Because for a while there, I had a hard time picturing an ending that didn’t kill off Sasuke entirely.

 And since then... We’ve gotten a few good couple-y moments from them. Through Boruto, the light novels, that one-shot sidestory manga... And he never turned into her perfect, fairytale prince. It was clear that their relationship was always going to be a little complicated and atypical, but I appreciated it all the more for that. It wouldn’t have felt genuine any other way. 

But there was still something missing. And I think I can finally put my finger on what was lacking for me. Thank you, Ghost Hunt.

So let’s fast-forward to a series I found and fell in love with much later down the road, which also had a complicated ‘romance’ that the story never really addresses to completion. (In its defense, Ghost Hunt is much shorter.) But I saw some similarities. I could always see Mai and Naru getting together. The main thing holding that back was all the shit he had going on in his life... which prevented him from having the emotional capacity/understanding to sort through any feelings he might have for her. 

The big thing I felt from Ghost Hunt that was really missing from the early SasuSaku days was closure. Ghost Hunt ends with the agency being shut down (albeit only temporarily) and everyone going their separate ways. Naru’s dead brother has been found, Mai’s accepted her feelings for him and acknowledged that he’s not in a place where he can reciprocate them just yet. And we just get the sense that she’s really content with where things are between them right now.

She ends it on the note that it is possible to “fall in love alone.” Really rejecting this idea that fiction loves to have that real love happens all at once, in equal measures from both (or all) parties. It really stuck with me even before I related it back to Sasuke and Sakura. It was the first time I’d seen unrequited (or at least, not fully requited) love depicted as anything other than suffering. 

And it feels almost inconsequential now, because it was such a short, unexplored stage of their lives, and it’s unlikely that we’re going to see them as anything other than the established, Boruto-era, married couple thing they’ve got going on now. (Really looking forward to what the Retsuden novel could do for that, by the way.) But I really, really wish we’d gotten to see more of them coming together and figuring things out. 

Because I never saw that sort of acceptance/contentment from Sakura. Even when it felt like that’s what they were trying for. (The Sakura-centric light novel especially was really terrible. Both because I feel like her character regressed rather than grew... And also because I got the feeling the translator had no idea what the fuck was going on in the story most of the time. The number of times their names are mixed up is just at a point where it’s negligent.) And I really wanted that for her.

 Like, yes. Their relationship is always going to be a little messed up. There are definitely some things she shouldn’t have forgiven. But at the end of the day, it still makes my heart sing a bit to see things work out for them. 

But if I could ask anything of the Naruto franchise, it would be to explore that era of their lives a little more thoroughly. In a way that does them justice.

#shipping #anime connections #Naruto #Ghost Hunt #SasuSaku #Mai/Naru #spoilers #rambles

[secret-engima]

Are you in the One Piece Fandom? Wait what fandoms are you in? Overlord?? Akatsuki No Yona?? (THAT ONE IS A GREAT READ AND WATCH TBH—its so underappreciated!!) Undertale?? (Throws hands up)

Uhhhhhhhhh depends on your definition of “in”. If by “in” you mean “have consumed the canon content enough to know what’s up” then I am in a lot less fandoms than you’d think. If you mean “have absorbed enough of the canon and fanon via osmosis to kinda get the gist and enjoy the fanfic while ignoring the actual source material” then I’m in … enough fandoms I literally can’t remember them all off the top of my head but here’s a list of what I can think of rn:

Transformers (Animated, Prime-verse, Bay-verse, SORTA G1 but only for like- two fanfics and a couple one-shots)

Final Fantasy XV (obviously)

Final Fantasy 7 (this is one of those osmosis ones, the only canon content I have actually owned is the Advent Children movie. Have watched Crisis Core walkthroughs tho)

How to Train Your Dragon (movies only)

My Hero Academia (manga, anime, and vigilantes but I’m not up to date so no spoilers pls)

Katekyo Hitman Reborn (osmosis that led to watching some of the show. The fanfics are better. Hands down. Still glad the show exists tho, otherwise the fanfic would not.)

Harry Potter (solely via crossovers, I don’t tend to enjoy straight HP fanfic, but yeeting Harry into fandoms I do know is funny)

Naruto (I have watched exactly three eps of the original and up to the Diedara mocking Naruto with Gaara’s body in Shippuuden. Everything else is pure fandom Osmosis.)

Boruto (counting this as a separate thing because Naruto fans tend to be mean over the show (????). Which is a shame cause I adore it. Ninja school/youth slice of life with end of the world drama thrown in for flavor? Heck yeah. Also Mitsuki is My Bby Boi™ and I will hear no dissent)

Akatsuki No Yona (anime, slowly collecting the manga, it is The Best™)

One Piece (pure fandom osmosis. Have watched maybe the earliest eps before I got a headache from the animation/voice acting, after that I quit and live in fanfic only)

Undertale (have never played the game, no desire to, have absorbed plot through wiki entries and fanfic osmosis. Mostly I just adore the concept of a character who knows about save points and uses them for good or evil, as well as the whole “different runs” thing and the potential Angst and Hurt/Comfort having a Frisk with multiple runs under their belt could bring. Also Papyrus and Sans are the cutest things and I love them even though I hate skeleton characters as a general rule).

Sword Art Online (this is the anime that got me into fantasy anime. Period. My Fairy Tail fanfic would not exist without this anime making me interested in non-Case Closed and Detective School Q anime. SAO Progressive Light Novels are *chef’s kiss*.)

Log Horizon (anime is fun. I like the more political/economic take that makes it so different from SAO. Also the potential Shenanigans between Adventurers and Landers and the Lander POV potential is cool).

Star Wars (I have watched all the movies at least once barring Rise of Skywalker so no spoilers, am working through older Clone Wars seasons and gleefully have enjoyed Rebels and several of the games. I do NOT write for this fandom as a general rule because I have no desire to get involved in the flame wars, especially since the original trilogy was not my entry point? So I actually really enjoy a lot of the characters and shows outside the original trilogy and apparently my ability to like content that isn’t *raises imaginary holy grail* “the OG trilogy” is a crime against Star Wars and nature and possibly humanity. Let me enjoy my blind jedi and his crew of misfit pseudo-kids you puritans. Also Rey.)

Fairy Tail (anime, have yet to watch the last season, love this show with all my heart).

Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood (have yet to watch more than a few eps on the show, for all its on my reading list, so most of what I know is fanfic osmosis).

Fruits Basket (I … actually have not read fanfic of this? But I adore the books with all my heart and am so stoked to see the remade anime).

Case Closed/Magic Kaito (anime and fanfic. Treating these as the same since they’re in the same universe and spot of timeline, just have different MCs and premises).

Detective School Q (My first anime! Thank you youtube for the collection of pirated anime eps I got to binge before they all got deleted. As far as I am aware, there is no fandom still living for this show, which is a shame because it was good).

Rurouni Kenshin (the original anime! Never got past the arc with the burned villain but I still enjoyed it up to that point. No idea what the arcs after it are like. Don’t really care.)

Hobbit/LOTR (read the Hobbit, have watched all the movies. AU fanfics ftw.)

Bleach (this … is pure fanfic osmosis. I blame @wolfsrainrules @north-peach and @akaluan they got me curious. Still a little iffy on the show itself but like- I enjoy the fanfic. I’m a sucker Akaluan’s Dragon Eclipse fanfic especially.)

Princess Tutu (haven’t been in the fandom in forever? But I have a few fav fics and the show is *chef’s kiss*).

Voltron: Legendary Defender (started with the fanfics out of accident and curiosity, then hopped over to the show because the crossover potential it had with TF got me interested. Am currently in the second season so pls no spoilers).

Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes (show, fanfic, I enjoy crossovers. Someone did the world’s most epic TF:P crossover with this show and I have loved it ever since.)

MCU (osmosis that led to watching the movies. I think I liked all of the ones I watched barring Guardians of the Galaxy and Antman. Tellingly, I have made a point not to watch Endgame, Infinity War, GoG 2 or Antman 2. I can tell that the first two are just- no. I haven’t seen a fandom go up in fire that fast in years I have no desire to experience WHY.)

Edit: AVATAR. Why did I forget Avatar: The Last Airbender? hgdhgf. Anyway I like both A:TLA and Korra.

Uhhhh that’s all I can think of atm. I’m definitely missing some but yeah. Brief rundown of fandoms I am able to at least hold a basic conversation about and a brief bio of how/why I know them.

#SE asks #oliverslewty asks #Secret Engima Rambles #fandom things #fandom list #i know i'm in more fandoms #but for the life of me i'm blanking on them rn

[ftcoye]

number 1 for the salty ask thing?

1. What OTPs in your fandom(s) do you just not get?

S*susaku, hands down. Like... what??? what???? There’s NO romance there’s NO chemistry. I understand shipping it WAY back when because when they were teeny lil baby genin, I could see it, they were cute kiddos but as they got older there’s just..... dude there’s nothing. there’s absolutely fucking nothing.

honestly like 90% of sakura ships. multis*ku shit, it*saku, fucking k*kasaku as IF kakashi is her TEACHER. also kakashi ships like... wtf is k*kairu. no. they talked like a single time and if it were like... idk they were Both Naruto’s Dads i’d get it more but it’s not like that... also k*kanaru is apparently a thing and fuck off with that even if ur pulling the whole uwu naruto time traveled!!! shit That’s Gross

M*datobi i don’t get at all but unlike many ppl in the fandom i have no strong feelings towards the founder characters aside from a love of hashirama. i feel like a lot of the love towards the founders comes from fans who came into the series later? but i could be wrong on this, idk i’ve been here since the beginning.

ngl i filter out virtually all of the most popular naruto ships when i’m looking for fics. wtf is sh*katema temari is too old for him and also deserves SO much better she’s a lesbian. i’m like 99% sasuke didn’t talk to hinata until boruto so why is s*suhina on the top 10 ships on ao3. wtf. can we uhhh stop shipping itachi with his brother, his cousin, or his partner whose like a decade older than him? same with like, most akatsuki ships. why do people always ship the young ones with the majorly fucking old ones. deidara’s a teen he should not be macking on some 35-year-old.

i don’t LIKE kak*obi cause i’m not a huge obito fan and kkg said gay rights but i at least understand where it comes from even if i don’t LIKE it. so i will give it that. nh is boring and badly written in canon but i remember being a baby naruto fan and loving them so i also get where nh fans come from and its tolerable if u ignore canon writing

i’m gonna be real you could probably send me literally any popular naruto ship and i could go off on how much i hate it. the only one i don’t is sns and m*nakushi is fine with me even tho it’s not a pairing i really feel an emotional connection/caring to

#asks #incest tw #csa tw #Anonymous

[greekbros]

My current thoughts on Boruto. It's long and hard please be patient.

(please note, this is MY personal opinion, it doesn't matter and it will effect nothing in your life, we're all mature rational people. If you plan on sending me death threats over an anime, you really shouldn't be on the internet. This is an extremely long post, don't try to be a smartass and say "lol too long not going to read" in the comment section, you're not proving that you're more smarter than me or have a better argument, you're just kind of proving that you're not intellectually stimulated enough to have a decent conversation or discuss about the issue oh, it's also not a good way to win an argument because that just kind of makes you out to look like an idiot. And the last thing you need when making an argument is look like an idiot of yourself.)

So, as the Boruto series progresses...it's...not... improving....and I'm now starting to realize that there was a reason why nobody actually talked about the written novelisation of Gai, Kakashi and Asuma's daughter's mission.... because it was balls.

The shows development at this point is now solely depending on filling up a quota of episodes before they can officially start making episodes based on the manga, as a result, the show is now purely just filler and arguably filled with unnecessary development. The issue is that this development should be coming in at a gradual and moderate pace. Unfortunately most of the development is going towards characters that may not actually affect the series as a whole, unlike in the Naruto and Naruto Shippuden series, the development of the characters went directly towards individuals that were affecting the story at the moment. I'm starting to realize that this type of development in Access can create and effect I like to call "the procrastinated essay" effective writing.

It just basically means that they're just throwing in pointless character, World, and story development that may be harmful to the end result of the story. Character development isn't bad, the problem is when it's starting to become so vapid and it starts to pollute the basic plot of the story. If all of these filler episodes were appearing sometime in the middle of the initial manga story, this wouldn't be a problem. In fact this may be a reason as to why some of the filler episodes in the original Naruto series may have been more enjoyable and bearable than it was now. This is a real shame because this is also in invertedly ruining the development of the characters, we have an entirely new cast of characters but it seems that the entire show is depending on rehashing the characters Andre casting them as old characters from the series. Basically giving the newest characters the same kind of silly issues that were originally resolved in the original series, bringing in villain characters that are practically identical to the original villain characters we were presented, and even presenting the same issues there were in the original series but in a different guise. so what were actually seeing is a very poorly written in poorly constructed version of the original series in the end, which is why everything feels so boring, cringy and arguably comes off as repetitive. We have four arcs that are completely dedicated to the same issues we were given in the original series but given to us any vapid and somewhat disjointed manner. It also presents the characters as far too developed for their age, I understand that the constant argument people have given me for this is that they're supposed to be the children of the main characters those they're supposed to surpass them, but that just makes the newest cast of characters to be overpowered and also present the question of "if they're the newest generation and they have to surpass the eldest generation, why are they so powerful if they grew up in a time of Peace, why did they surpass their parents without any real effort and why do they need it even surprised their parents if they don't even need to fight".... This ultimately creates a situation where it is extremely unrealistic that an individual will surpass a previous generation if they have no need to surpass them.

This brings up the type of theme, growing up in a time of peace, instead of focusing on issues that may stem from this kind of theme, we're focusing on basically stuff that may not be even that important rivers ends or maybe it doesn't even happen in a situation like this. There are characters who literally do not know what a Jutsu is and yet for some strange reason it's still being taught, there are characters who don't even do anything yet there in ninja teams and they are expected to perform ninja duties. Instead of a look into a world where now basically becoming a ninja isn't a necessity, we're being treated to the same type of story that we previously had but now we're put into a situation that this would have never happened in the first place.

As for both the story itself, it's clearly going on solutely nowhere, the manga itself does have a plot and I will acknowledge that there is something going on. However, seeing how the series is just going off on a filler tangent, I'm wondering if all this unnecessary story development will affect the primary plot. the original reason why the Naruto series was so good was because that it began with a very basic quest based plot and gradually started to present itself with a deeper story, The fillers were just a break from that and also to create a breath within story writing. this is going to be extremely important for the readers to remember, the fillers aren't meant to waste time, they're meant to create enough time for the writer to create Amore organized story.

boruto is heading towards a wall with all of these fillers and I'm pretty certain that it's going to be its downfall, as for animating the novels, this should have been something they've done at the end of Shippuden and not within more than a hundred episodes of boruto. At first I thought it was going to actually enjoy the animated novels, however I'm starting to realize how extremely pointless and they are. I don't really have any gripes or ill contempt towards any of the characters, I just find it that there is a lot of unnecessary pieces of information that the series is trying to peddle towards the audience.

This brings me to my next point, the whole purpose of all these pointless filler episodes is purely to fill in for time for the manga to start having some growth to it. Which kind of bothers me because Naruto in the original since never actually had the luxury of having a bunch of filler episodes before Kishimoto could come up with a few novels. In fact which brings me to another detail of my point, Kishimoto had to write new chapters almost every two weeks or less in order to keep up with scheduling. Towards the end of the series this may have affected the quality of the story to a very small extent but overall it never truly affected the series as a whole, in fact it may have helped it. Ikemoto is going on the same route as the Steven universe writers, they're taking way too much time to come up with a story those creating a really poorly constructed in poorly organized story.

So for those were reading the manga, you all are obligated to wait for new information for the manga by having to succumb to watching really poor quality writing for the anime, which goes back to the manga itself as it can also suffer from poor writing.

do not get me wrong, I really wanted to like the series, I really wanted it to be the next step in my life as a fan of the show, unfortunately it is starting to kind of proved to me that it's not only not up to the same quality as the original series and Shippuden but it is also going through basically what creates a mundane and mediocre anime. Instead of coming up with an animated boruto series so early on in its development, it should have waited for a few volumes to come out before I could even come up with a fully-fledged anime. Will we have currently now is basically an entire anime consisting of fillers that are not only ruining the Canon of the series but are sort of a massive waste of time.

To make a long story short and I deeply apologize for such an unnecessarily long post, but my point is that the series is going to crash and by the time it's getting to its primary plot, it's going to lose a lot of popularity, and it's ultimately going to fail. it's depending way too much on the previous material to even focus on its own story and it is simultaneously ruining the previous series by presenting information that is contradictory to what the original rules were. unfortunately, there is a chance that the boruto series may never improve, it is just going to continue driving itself into the mud until nobody watches it anymore. There is a chance for it to improve by ceasing these endless filler episodes and just start getting on with the original plot of the series, they may lose a few people waiting, but at least it'll get to its points and I'll get to actually tell the story has been meaning to tell for a while. what they should probably do is stop now, reorganize the story with what ridiculous information they've already given us, and maybe even focus on making an animated series on the other novels. Now I understand that a previous point I made in this post was what was going wrong with this idea, however there could be some form of benefit to go back into the series and answer a few questions before going on to boruto. Basically, what I'm trying to say is maybe even doing this will lighten the amount of information the series is giving us by presenting us with a proper transitioning explanation. You can't give us a character like Hidan, then at one point in the novel say that he just made up the religion on his own accord then give us an entirely new character to replace him but at the same time using the aspects that made Hidan so unique. That's called character recycling, that's not introducing us to a new villain, that's just pissing everyone off. Especially me because I've taken enough writing classes to smell a bad plot of mile away.

P.s) I'm just extremely tired of really inappropriately annoying people tell me that I'm too stupid to understand boruto and that I need a 300-point IQ to like it. seriously this isn't Rick and Morty, it's a spin-off of Naruto for fucksake it's supposed to be a little more of a higher standard

#naruto #boruto #naruto the next generation #naruto Shippuden

[maybells]

naruto :O

haven’t heard of it | absolutely never watching | might watch | currently watching | dropped | hated it | meh | a positive okay | liked it | liked it a lot! | loved it | a favorite but its complicated

don’t watch period | drop if not interested within 2-3 episodes | give it a go, could be your thing | 5 star recommendation

fav characters: okay well mc privilege naruto is just very little and i love him a lot. i love gaara and lee too..... okay i’m forgetting a lot of characters rn but there are a lot so this is sufficient for now

least fav characters: uhhhh orochimaru jiraiya third hokage and also tobirama he just kinda sucks :-p

fav relationship: INO AND SAKURA INVENTED LOOOOOOOVE like yes sns but ino and sakura. SAKURA IS NAMED AFTER A FLOWER AND INO IS THE DAUGHTER OF A FLORIST HELLO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! HELLO

fav moment: oh okay in the original series not to be generic but. the gaara lee fight yes. yes okay but also more than the gaara lee fight at the end of the zabuza haku arc where sns is fighting haku on the bridge and SASUKE ACTUALLY DIES FOR NARUTO ino and sakura invented love but that moment rivals literally anything else in the series like once you finish that arc thats it. you dont even need to watch the chunin exams you can stop right there

in shippuden uhhhhh personally i think shippuden was a hot mess but sakura beating the absolute living hell out of sasori was so GOOD kishimoto should have done a lot of things but he should have had sakura do more of that. also when naruto met kushina for the first time and they were talking and he was so HAPPY JUST TO SEE HIS MOM that moment was like. i need to lie down just REMEMBERING i cried so so hard its one of my top [hysterical noises] scenes in anime in general like its up there with the alluka nanika killua scene & gonsan

headcanons/theories: i dont have any!

unpopular opinion: please dont k word me for this but i thought the pain arc was boring PLEASE DONT K WORD ME i cried a lot at the part where naruto met minato for the first time but like. thats it i think. maybe im forgetting smth idk

how’d you find it: its naruto lol

random thoughts: i tried watching boruto but made it only like 30 episodes in before getting bored i think i left right off at the class field trip to the mist village

#asks #anon #long post #Anonymous

[bodegacowboy]

Chasing the sun director’s cut

In case you don’t like FF.net for some reason. I’m posting the story here as well This is the Director’s cut version to a story I first posted here a few years ago. Enjoy (P.S This is a really long post)

So what do you need to know about this fic? It was based sort of on canon about 3 years ago. By that I mean it mostly tried to fit within "canon" with a few of the more unnecessary details tossed out. For example I didn't bother dealing with SaiIno so that doesn't exist here. Obviously if you've continued to follow the canon story line (I haven't) much more lore has been added via Boruto. I considered researching the current lore to further modify the story but in the end I decided against it.

If this story had to take place on a timeline it would have been maybe around two years after chapter 700 but whatever.

Disclaimer: There is an affair in this fic so y'know don't read it and get your feelings hurt.

I don't condone cheating in real life and if cheating occurred in canon I'd go "hey that 's a little weird for kid's story and its really out of character"

But this is a fanfic. And I think canon broke many of the characters so...

So without further ado, please enjoy.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Shame engulfed him the moment he regained consciousness. Physical discomfort soon arrived mercifully distracting Naruto from his emotional distress. This was a hangover that would have made his godfather and Tsunade proud. After rallying the willpower to combat his pounding headache Naruto took a moment to assess his situation. Once again his mind returned to Jiraiya and words of wisdom from the toad sage bubbled up from the muddy depths of his mind.

If you ever find yourself waking up in a strange place after a night of hard drinking you need to try and remember three things. As soon as possible make sure you can remember where you should be, what you were doing before you blacked out and who you should be waking up with. Don't even move until you can answer at least two out of three of those questions.

Dozens of questions galloped through his head but Naruto willed himself to concentrate on Jiraiya's three. Bits and pieces of his long term memory resumed functioning and what he remembered brought a smile to his face.

He was in Amegakure. He was in the village's recently built Imperial hotel. He was here because he had been witnessing history. He was here for the first ever chunin exam sponsored by the United Shinobi Forces. The chunin exam was now a multinational biennial examination featuring hundreds of genin gathered from every shinobi village that was a current member of the ever-growing shinobi alliance. If that wasn't impressive enough it also doubled as a Kage Summit.

The kages of each nation of the alliance would come together to discuss worldly matters while the youngsters of their villages attempted to advance in the ranks. It was an unprecedented event and a significant step towards peace talks on a continental scale.

And it was all his idea.

Naruto sat up sporting a smile that ran from ear to ear. He had spent a tremendous part of his first years as Hokage working diligently to convince the others kages and daimyos to support this project. His smile widened to a grin when he recalled the grand festivities of the opening ceremonies. Indeed his hard work had paid off. So why had he had been black-out drunk again?

His grinned faded when the answer surfaced in his consciousness. Picking himself off the hotel room floor Naruto staggered over to the nearby couch. After drawing in a deep breath he thanked his lucky stars that the kages had voted against bringing their families to this first event for safety reasons.

"This is not exactly Hokage behavior" He muttered himself. Though upon further reflection Tsunade drank like a fish and she did a great job.

"I should ask her for tips" Naruto said with a chuckle that tapered off into a heavy sigh. "Now I'm talking to myself. What a mess."

A knock on the hotel room door reverberated through his entire body.

"Who is it?!" Naruto called out as he massaged his forehead.

"Sai."

"The door is open...I think"

The door indeed was open. Carrying a small briefcase in his hand Sai slid into the room with the quiet precision of a thief. Naruto annoyed by Sai's slow and methodical tiptoe towards him cut right to the elephant in the room.

"How drunk was I last night Sai?"

Sai looked his Hokage over. "Good morning, how are you feeling?"

"How drunk was I last night Sai?"

"Very"

"In public?"

"No."

"Good." Naruto studied his friend and current bodyguard. He glanced at the briefcase in Sai's hand.

"What's that?"

Sai placed the briefcase down on the coffee table before Naruto. He then deftly thumbed the briefcase's combination lock before popping it open and revealing the treasure within.

"This is Sakura's journal" Sai said.

Eyes widened Naruto asked. "Why did you have that?"

"You ordered me to take it from her room."

In response Naruto hung his head in shame.

Sai shifted uncomfortably on his feet. "So I take this to be a prank?"

Confused Naruto glanced up at his friend.

"I noticed you and Sakura had regained your past playfulness."

"You noticed that huh?" Naruto said with a snort.

"It is a shinobi's duty to pay attention."

"Well yes-this is a prank gone horribly wrong" Naruto said solemnly. He met Sai's gaze "Alcohol and pranking should never mix."

Sai nodded. "Yes, this is a very brave prank"

"A stupid prank Sai. From now on don't take orders from me when I am drunk."

Sai considered this for a moment. "So if you are drunk and we are attacked and you order me to save your life I should not follow those orders."

Naruto sighed. "Okay let's revise that. If I am drunk and I give you an order that could get us both killed, just don't do it. For example stealing from Sakura is very very very foolish. So don't follow foolish orders blindly, use your better judgment."

Sai nodded again this time in acquiescence. "I understand. So what do I do with this? She may have already noticed that it's missing."

Naruto held his hand out. "Give it to me. I'll give it back to her...when y'know the prank is over. I might as well go through with it now that I have it."

Sai hesitated.

"I won't tell her you helped me," Naruto said

Sai let out a sigh of relief and handed the notebook over to the Hokage. Naruto casually placed the book beside him on the couch before dismissing Sai from the room. When Sai's presence had vanished from Naruto's immediate senses he glanced at the journal. He stared long and hard at the journal as beads of sweat materialized on his forehead. With trembling hands Naruto picked up the journal and quickly scanned its interior. He noticed that each page was dated so he quickly skimmed to the latest entry. According to the date listed Sakura had jotted it down early last night.

Naruto began to read

XXXXXXXX

Jul 15:

"What do you want Uchiha-san?" Naruto slurred at me when I entered his room.

I suppose "Uchiha-san" was supposed to hurt me but it was he that flinched in the wake of this supposed slur. It was as if he had tossed explosives at me but he had been standing too close to avoid the shrapnel.

XXXXXX

With a loud groan Naruto put his face into his hands. Then he shook like a dog fresh from a bath. A long silence followed that he eventually broke with a heavy sigh. With a specific date in his mind Naruto returned to the journal.

XXXXXX

February 9th

It's hard not to be surprised by the appearance of the Hokage at your front door. In many villages such an event would call for bowing or the recitation of oaths and other such expressions of loyalty and subordination. I am however one of the few people in any village who is fortunate enough to be able to greet my Kage at the door with a warm hug. I then led him to the kitchen where I served him tea as if he were a neighbor stopping by for the latest gossip.

Naruto and I spoke of irreverent things at first. Simple chi-chat. Then the topic switched to our families well our children specifically. We found it amusing how none of the rigorous training we'd experienced in our lives had come close to preparing us for the trials of parenthood. As we talked, I found that I was very aware of how long it had been since we last had a private conversation. For years the majority of our interactions had been in the midst of a crowd. Festivals, school, group dates, missions, friends, fans, husbands, wives, children, there had been always someone else around. I'm sure we have talked on the phone over the years but those were not conversations worth remembering.

So for the first time in a long we were alone. Why this mattered to me I didn't know. But I didn't have too long to dwell on the thought. As I was serving him a second cup of tea Naruto asked me to be part of a historic event, his pet project a revamping of the chunin exams. According to Naruto the medical staff that will treat injured genin during the exam will be a coalition of different medics from different villages. Apparently my Hokage had it in his mind to suggest to the alliance that I lead this medical team.

Naruto seemed to be missing the obvious so I guided him towards it. Besides the occasional emergency I hadn't done any consistent medical work in years. Naruto's response was to reveal that the council had said the same thing when he had suggested my name. He tried to suppress the mischievous grin on his face when he told me "they gave me a list of better options"

I admit Naruto had played a good hand. The idea that there was an entire list of ninja supposedly "better" than me at the practice of medical ninjutsu was absurd. But this slight on me by the council was not enough to entice me back to active duty. I had stepped away from being a full-time kunoichi so I could raise my daughter.

"Well if your skills have diminished it's fine..." Naruto said. He knew he had struck a nerve and seemed intent to keep hammering at it. Time had done little to dull my skills but still, I told Naruto that either Tsunade or Shizune would be better fits at this time.

"Of course they are good fits...if you say no" Naruto said.

To that point, I had been saying "no" in a very polite way. However though inactive I was still a ninja and Naruto was my boss, my leader. If he insisted I go my continued refusal would be insubordination.

As if reading my mind he continued, "Sakura I am not ordering you to do this. I came here personally to ask that you to do me a favor. I am asking you this because I wish to rely on your..." He paused, I suppose he was searching for the right words. Eventually he looked me in the eyes and finished the thought "tremendously valuable expertise."

Yes Naruto played a great hand. I was far from immune to such high quality professional flattery. So I said yes despite the bit of maternal guilt. My parents could watch Sarada while I was away. I do not regret agreeing to leading the alliance medical staff but I do regret what happened next

I walked Naruto to the door and just as he had finished saying goodbye I kissed him.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Naruto glared dumbfounded at the journal.

"That's all she had to say about that?"

He thought back to the kiss. The problem was that the kiss had been too good. No, that wasn't right, saying it was good created comparisons with the kisses he had shared with his wife. No, "good" wasn't the right word to use. Besides good wouldn't have affected him so much. This kiss had a lot of weight to it, a lot of history attached to it. It was exactly how he had used to imagine kissing Sakura would feel. It was something undefinable and his longing for it had been lost so long ago.

Hadn't it?

He drew in a deep breath calming his thoughts and his nerves. His perspective didn't matter. It didn't matter then it didn't matter now. If the kiss was meaningless to Sakura he could accept it as a fluke. Everything would be okay. All he had to do was confirm that the kiss meant nothing. Then things would go back to normal. He continued reading, skimming quickly through any entries that did not appear to offer any clues to the answer he was seeking.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

April 9th:

I've forced myself to face the reality of what happened. I admit that I'm somewhat embarrassed that it has taken me two months to process it all. It's taken a considerable amount of my mental resources to go over what happened, why it happened and what would happen next. The saying "better late than never" was truly appropriate for this occasion.

After the kiss I thought our friendship was done. I had stood frozen in my kitchen watching Naruto wordlessly stumble out the door. When I dared to breathe again, I considered going to his office and apologizing, I then thought about going to his home and apologizing to Hinata. But I didn't do anything. For a week or so I was draped in pessimism and doubt and I haunted my own house like a brooding spirit not quite sure whether it was dead of alive. When Sarada began to notice my occasional absentmindedness I realized I'd had to chase the distressing thoughts from my mind.

That is until today. This morning it hit me that I had gone two months without any word from Naruto. But that wasn't at all unusual. The reality is after two months I am not sure the kiss has changed anything. And really I couldn't hope for any more than that. That nothing would change, that the kiss would simply fade into history. The best case scenario for everyone was if it were ignored. Maybe that's what Naruto was doing while I brooded. He was letting it fade. I don't fear the end of our friendship anymore. That type of steel is not easily shattered.

So I am not afraid but I am bothered. The kiss had been nothing but a mistake yet it still lingered with me. When I allow myself to think about it my mind goes back not to the kiss itself but the moment our lips broke. In the immediate aftermath of the kiss I felt awash in sensuality. I felt a womanly glow from head to toe that had been missing in my life for a long time. How do I sincerely apologize for something that I enjoyed?

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Naruto's face navigated successfully from a look of surprise to astonishment, from astonishment to joy, from joy to shame, from shame to worry. However he hadn't the time to asses his emotions. Answers first, emotions later. He flipped through the pages of the journal again with another specific date in mind

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

June 16: The road to Amegakure

Naruto had insisted on everyone leaving at the same time. His entourage including his administrative staff, the genin, would be spectators, everyone marched out of the village in unison creating the effect of a mini-parade. Villagers cheered on our departure and the faces of the genin flushed with pride and excitement.

Instant morale.

Being Hokage isn't just about being strong. You need to understand people. Naruto understands people. Very few realize that Naruto has put as much if not more effort into trying to understand others as he has into expanding his strength as a ninja. Whether he agrees or disagrees with your ideology, whether you are trying to kill him or not, Naruto tries to understand. It is an underrated aspect of his personality.

I have yet to speak with Naruto face to face since our last encounter. I am not sure if he's avoiding me or if I am avoiding him. All of our communications in the last few weeks have been via phone calls, messengers, or emails from his secretarial staff.

On a more enjoyable note, I used most of the day to refresh my friendship with Sai. To be honest things started out a little rocky since he had greeted me this morning with what I suppose he considered a compliment

"I've noticed that you've lost a lot of weight. I am very impressed, since you had Sarada and stopped being on active duty I never thought I'd see you this thin again."

I gave him a friendly tap against the skull with my fist. Our conversations from then on were much more amiable.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

June 17th

Met with Naruto, finally, unexpectedly.

We were a day away from the village hidden by rain and I had spent most of the morning being pleasantly surprised by the sights of the very scenic route we were taking. It seems the perception of Amegakure being located in the middle of a bleak, sunless, miserable depressing swamp was unfounded. This nation's best held secret is its amazing rural landscape. The rolling hills, the winding country roads. the ancient woodlands, I was quickly enraptured by the natural beauty and serenity of life in this foreign land. It was a wonder to me how such a serene atmosphere could blossom in a country that has been the battlefield for three shinboi wars. This country was a miracle to anyone who saw it through a historian's eyes.

Anyway I was strolling besides a lovely river when Naruto arrived. I had been caught up in my own thoughts that I hadn't sensed his approach. Time and old age had yet to work their magic on Naruto's speed.

He greeted me with practiced stoicism as we walked shoulder to shoulder. "Sakura I would like to converse with you."

Though I was caught off guard by his statuesque stiffness I consented to this impromptu meeting. I looked around the nearest shinobi was well out of earshot. This was as private as it was going to get.

I turned to Naruto but he stared forward his eyes on the trail ahead. He was at that moment essentially The Seventh.

Of the many brief but complaisant conversations I've had with Sasuke over the years quite a few of them were about the changes in Naruto. I wondered if Sasuke had noticed that Naruto was less boisterous, less energetic. Sasuke had noticed, but he hadn't been too concerned. As he put it, Naruto's change was the unfortunate cost of leading men.

"Nothing stays the same forever Sakura" Sasuke had told me.

From a practical standpoint I knew Sasuke had been right about Naruto, some change was to be expected, but how much was too much?

"I wanted to thank you for coming Sakura. This will be the first time that you've spent such a considerable amount of time away from your daughter. I know that will be hard."

I told him the truth that I missed her a ton already. That I knew if she were here right now she would have likely told the Hokage to his face that this parade of shinobi was silly.

I mimicked Sarada's voice

"Everyone walking to Amegakure like this is silly. Why does the Hokage wear that hat? It's silly. Mom you're silly."

I looked over at Naruto to see that he had managed half a smile. And just like that we were good friends again. I asked him if he had ever cried when leaving behind Boruto and Himawari.

He cleared his throat. "I may have teared up a little...once or twice"

Here was arguably the strongest man in the world admitting to tearing up over his children. I found the image sweet and I told him that. Visibly embarrassed he changed the subject.

"I just wanted to say that your village thanks you for your service."

I replied that if the village was ever in any serious need I would be glad to offer my services, that said if I were to be honest, I was only going to Amegakure because he had asked. I was doing him a favor.

"Now if can you do me a favor Naruto, please stop it with the too-serious face. I am finding it very distracting."

Naruto snorted and looked off for a moment. When he turned his attention back to me he had a familiar playful smile on his face.

"One day Sakura you will notice that I am your boss."

I parried back that I had no problem having him as my boss. I just preferred he talk to me with his normal face.

He conceded the point and carried on.

"I am just trying to say I am glad you came."

I revealed a bit of insight that had dawned on me when we left the village. I figured that part of the reason he had dragged me out of my home was so he can brag to someone about this grand historic event.

Naruto's face shone with childish delight. "Why would I brag about this? It wasn't all my idea."

Though Shikamaru had a hand in it, this was mostly Naruto's idea and it was not what people expected from him. Of course if there were a super strong tyrant or monster out there, people would expect Naruto to go out and punch him-it in the face. This was different, this was about ideas, culture, diplomacy, this was proof that he was not just a near limitless source of chakra.

After explaining my reasoning I looked over at Naruto to see him barely able to contain his glee.

So I continued. "I can see it now. We are going to get to this huge event and you are going to point at the crowd and say Sakura 'this is my baby.' Then I am going to say Naruto you are the coolest guy. Because that's what you want to hear me say."

He laughed. His laughter was contagious and I caught the bug moments after. Well I couldn't really fight it off if I had wanted. Unfortunately the laughter had to settle and things had to get serious. I noticed that he wasn't getting enough sleep.

"There are shadows beneath your eyes. You also seem a little restless" I said to him.

"There has been a lot on my mind recently" Naruto said.

It was an open secret that Naruto and Shikamaru had spent the better part of the entire year leading up to the exam burning candles at both ends in the office. The fruits of their labor were dozens of revolutionary proposals to present to the other Kages at the summit.

His voice lowered to just a cut above a whisper.

"You know what hasn't helped me sleep? Thinking about that kiss."

I felts some color spring up to my cheeks but I suppressed it. I think. I hope I did.

"You should be angry with me" I told him.

"I am not angry. I am just confused."

"You shouldn't be confused."

"I shouldn't be, but I am."

"Please don't be confused. It shouldn't have happened."

"It shouldn't have but it did."

"You shouldn't even think about it"

"I shouldn't but I do."

That was the totality of our conversation about this kiss give or take thirty to forty seconds of awkward silence in between each statement. I gathered my thoughts and then I, as softly as I could, reiterated that it had been a mistake-an awful mistake and I was sorry that I betrayed him in such away.

Naruto cocked his head to the side and looked at me. His eyes were searching. For what I don't know.

"Don't worry about it," he said eventually. "Let's consider it a joke between friends."

"A joke?" I asked.

"A private joke, something we can laugh about later...privately"

I agreed to these guiltless terms and we continued walking in silence. Naruto turned towards the river and it took me a moment to see what caught his eye. A trio of children steering their raft down the river.

"Sakura did you enjoy the daffodil valley we passed earlier today?" Naruto asked

"It was beautiful. There's nothing like it near Konohagakure."

"I knew you'd enjoy it."

I asked him how he knew that and he answered that he had recalled t I liked to go on walks and the valley seemed like the perfect walking spot. He was right, I did like walking and it was an almost perfect spot for a romantic stroll. Naruto then surprised me with what he said next.

"You should come back here. With Sasuke. You know-go walking in the moonlight."

That did sound nice if one ignored the looming fact that neither of us really knew when we'd see my husband next. Well I should say I don't know when I'll see Sasuke next. I am sure there are measures in place for Naruto and Sasuke to come in contact with each other in case of emergencies.

"You should bring Hinata here as well. You know go walking in the moonlight."

Naruto gestured towards the river. "She's more of a swimmer than a walker."

"Oh, well then take her swimming!" I said with much force than was appropriate for the conversation.

Naruto turned his attention back to me. He seemed very amused by my unexpected command.

"Would that be something a good husband would do?"

"Yes." I said while trying to hide the fact that I was embarrassed by my outburst. "A good husband should do everything he can to keep his wife happy."

"Oh, I didn't know that."

"Well now you know."

"So what does a good wife do?"

I told Naruto that a good wife should do everything she can to try and keep her husband from doing something stupid.

He chuckled, then he started to say "so how come Sasuke has-" but he stopped halfway through. I am not sure what annoyed me more that he stopped or that he apologized afterwards.

"Sorry..."

Curious I asked him what he was apologizing for and he shrugged.

"Sasuke is your husband..."

I knew that, we both knew that.

"Yes, and?"

He shrugged again.

"How come Sasuke has what?" I asked.

Naruto paused and then finished the thought. "That hairstyle...I mean..come on"

"I like it" I told him.

"You do? Ah I guess you kind of have to don't you?"

"What's wrong with it?"

"Nothing is wrong. You have a very pretty husband Sakura and you should be proud."

"Oh you're just a jerk" I said

Naruto laughed openly at my defense of my husband's flowing locks.

"You're just jealous" I countered.

Naruto's laughter wound down and the color in his cheeks bloomed.

"Maybe" he said just above a whisper.

I changed the subject.

"Are you nervous?"

"About what?" Naruto asked

"The success of these exams."

"The exams will definitely be a success. Whether they will have the lingering affect I hope that they will..." Naruto shook his head as his words trailed. "The exams were always a good idea. But under the disguise of improving relationships between villages it had become an excuse for espionage. Now going forward it'll be a celebration. We invite the rest of the world to our world."

Naruto scratched at his cheek and a boyish excitement broke through the surface of his face. "We celebrate our nations and our villages, but more importantly we celebrate our shinobi, if we celebrate the humanity of a shinobi maybe...Maybe I can show them the world the way I see it."

I pointed out to him that a troop of shinobi stomping through the countryside of a foreign land would normally be called an invasion. I interpreted that to mean that things had already changed significantly. Naruto seemed happy to hear that.

I think that it was clear to anyone on that march-especially those of us who had fought in the war that something special was going on here. I was contemplating on how much the world had changed when Naruto tapped my shoulder and turned my attention back to the river, the children had spotted us and they waved excitedly at us. We matched their enthusiasm, throwing both of our hands up in the air as we waved back. With his eyes still on the children Naruto remarked how much he wanted to believe Nagato had once stood on the same spot he was standing on. He wondered if, and he wanted to believe, that Nagato had admired and valued the beauty of this land as much as Naruto did now.

He looked at my expectantly and I searched myself for words of wisdom or comfort. At a loss for words I just smiled at him. He smiled back.

"We should talk more Sakura."

"Sure, but you'll have to stop being busy."

"Well..." he started.

"I get it" I interrupted. "You're the Hokage, and a father and a husband."

Naruto nodded.

"Plus I'm busy too," I added. "Sarada is a handful and a half."

"I'm sure" Naruto said.

For a few breaths we just looked at each other.

"I should go" Naruto said his voice a Hokage's voice now, measured and collected. The Seventh had returned and I was in the process of being dismissed

"Enjoy the scenery Sakura."

"Is that an order?"

He smiled. "A direct order."

"Well you're the boss" I replied.

"Oh you remembered." With that said Naruto quickened his pace to break away from me.

"Try and get some rest tonight." I called out to his back.

He slowed his pace for a step or two and then turned to me. "Jiraiya used to say there is no rest for the wicked Sakura. But maybe he should have said there is no way to rest with wicked thoughts."

This time I believe color did rise to my face but luckily Naruto had already turned away likely grinning like a fool.

I saw then that his intent was to tease me about the kiss, likely for the rest of our lives. He was a monster but we were still great friends.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Naruto placed his open palm over his face and groaned into it. What a time for his juvenile sense of humor to reemerge. The perverted antics, the pranks, the impulsive behavior, these were things he thought he had left behind in adolescence.

What kind of man...what kind of Hokage loses his mind after being kissed?

Naruto ran his hand up his face, across his forehead, and through his hair. That stupid kiss. He'd felt its lingering burn for far too many weeks now. How many nights had he shamefully awoken from sleep stunned at the good fortune that he hadn't called out Sakura's name while his wife slept. There were times when the ache was overbearing and he reached out to Hinata to satisfy the need. Their lovemaking would be furious then, fiery and explosive. But it was at best a temporary fix, the burn continued to cry out for a soothing salve.

Naruto laughed, any experience of shame, embarrassment or guilt he'd felt before was nothing in comparison to what he was feeling now. Despite the fact that he felt awful, he still needed an answer. So he kept reading.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

Jun 19th 11 PM: The road to Amegakure

Can't sleep

Why did that idiot have to say that?

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Jun 21: 1:30 AM: Amegakure : Imperial Hotel

I came to Amegakure knowing two things. One, being a part of the Hokage's inner circle would land me in midst of celebrities, diplomats, kages, and pure blooded nobility. Two the entire event would be one long festival with the occasional breaks for the examination, the kage summit, and maybe sleep if time permitted. With consideration of these facts I made sure I packed the proper attire necessary for both formal and informal festivities. Despite my foresight I was not prepared for the level of celebration Amergakure had in store for us. I did not have any clothes with me or at home that could have matched the gallantry of the opening night party. However that fact didn't discourage me at all. Years ago Ino gave me the backhanded compliment of having a talent for doing a whole lot with very little. She was technically right but that insight didn't just apply to my sense of fashion. Doing so much with so little was the overarching theme of my life.

I reacquainted myself with an old classic. A short strapless black dress with open toed shoes that was simple but elegant enough for this sort of grand affair. That dress is my go to when I really wanted to look good, to be beautiful. I've never lacked confidence wearing it. Considering how long its been since I was last at a party that wasn't centered around a child I needed that confidence. The night started off well I flitted from conversation to conversation like a social butterfly all the while I kept an eye out for Naruto. He had been stalking the other side of the room with a paradoxical look of predatory stoicism on his face. He held the posture of a shinobi of great importance, relaxed enough to be approachable without subverting the fact that he could wipe out most if not the entire room if came to that. It wasn't until Gaara joined his company that the gentle light returned to his eyes. Besides Gaara or Sai the only person Naruto seemed to really have a solid report with was the man who appeared by his side to refill his champagne glass.

As I was making a mental note of that Naruto looked up from the bottom of an emptied glass catching me in a stare.

His mouth spread into a pleased grin and I felt mine do the same. We maintained eye contact from across the room until some VIPs invited themselves to Naruto's personal space. He greeted them and I turned away to search for a bite to eat. Before the party I had tried to embrace the guilt as punishment for leaving Sarada behind. It had been hard to sleep with the knowledge that my daughter was not within walking distance of my bed. How many nights did she crawl into my bed when the roar of thunder outside her window scared her? Countless. Then there the nights I went to her, when the silence inside the house scared me. She needed me and I needed her. Those were the facts.

But once the party started it didn't take long for me to surrender to the creeping notion that that I was having a good time. Especially when I was pounced upon by a group of medics from Amegakure. They were young men, energetic and enthusiastic about medical ninjutsu. They were the future of Amegakure's medical field and they knew it. They also knew Tsunade and they I knew had been her protege. Initially they picked my brain about Tsunade's methodology during surgery then we ventured into a fascinating discussion on the current breakthroughs in medical research, and then somehow we wandered into what it meant to be a medical ninja. How important were we really? Ninja who focused on the art of saving lives rather then taking them.

It was an enjoyable conversation though it was hard to avoid the fact that I was the only female in the group. I was also the only one in our mini party sporting a wedding ring. It didn't really surprise me at all when the occasional subtly suggestive remark was floated in between talks of medicine and anatomy. A few of them were them were testing the waters, gauging my interest or lack thereof. They where bold but young men, I deflected their inquiries with grace and politeness. Yes they were harmless, the real troublemaker arrived forty minutes into the conversation.

"Excuse me gentlemen may I speak to my medic for a moment."

The young medics scattered like lowly bureaucrats before a lord when Naruto butted into our conversation. Seeing the immediate consequence of his presence Naruto said rather sheepishly "I didn't mean for them to take off like that."

"Your medic? I thought I was working for the Alliance?" I asked

"No you're still min-the village's medic I am simply showing you off."

"Oh like a pony" I retorted.

"A prized pony" He chuckled.

A question occurred to me then but I kept it to myself. Instead I asked what Naruto wanted to talk to me about. He replied without looking directly at me that he simply wanted to know if I was enjoying the party. I was articulating my enjoyment when his eyes flickered suddenly. I sensed him look me over more than I saw the total movement of his eyes. That kind of subtlety of movement would have gotten top marks from Iruka. As I was trying wrap my mind around the implication of this. He excused himself politely but abruptly from my company. When he rejoined Gaara and melted back into a crowd of diplomats I assumed that would be the last I saw of him this night.

I was wrong.

When I returned to the floor of my hotel room a few hours later I found him waiting just outside my door.

"I left early" he said answering the obvious question in the air.

"And you came here?"

"No, I went to my room first."

"And then you pigged out on some ramen?"

"How did you know?" he asked.

I told him about the piece of noodle that lingered in the corner of his mouth. I reached out to wipe it away but I realized how much of an intimate gesture that would have been. This sudden onset of self awareness paralyzed me and my hand just hovered in the air between us.

I pointed to his mouth, "You've got some noodle on your lips"

"Oh" Naruto swiped at his mouth and I willed my hand down to my sides. I shook my head and wondered aloud how was it that Naruto had mastered senjutsu training but he didn't have the discipline to keep a healthier diet.

"It's really simple Sakura, I wanted to master senjutsu."

"Fair enough. So why are you here Naruto?" I asked

"Why did you kiss me?"

I let out a long slow breath before I answered. "You caught me at a bad time."

Skepticism clouded his eyes.

Words flowed out of my mouth. "Sarada was asleep, she wasn't going to wake up for another hour. The house is bigger than it looks Naruto. Sometimes it echoes."

I waited for Naruto to reply but he remained silent. He was wearing the face of the Hokage again.

"I was lonely. It was a mistake"

"Okay" He said dispassionately. "I understand.'

I had a question for him.

With my voice tinged with irritation I said "I've been thinking about it since it happened. When you broke up the enjoyable conversation I was having with the Amegakure medics, were you doing your duty and watching over your best friend's wife?"

He cringed and it broke his serious Hokage face.

"I am just wondering if you were protecting the virtue and honor of your best friend's wife."

Naruto cleared his throat. "I admit I noticed some of them flirting with you. I admit that. But imagine this, I do nothing, one of them gets fresh, all of a sudden I hear "shannaro" right before I see a Amegakure medic being transported across the room with a broken jaw via your first. Now Amegakure demands you be arrested, I decline their request, they declare war on us, I have to declare war on them. They attack us and our defense obliterates their forces. Losing the war affects their economy and they fall into a depression. If I was protecting anyone here it's Amegakure."

It was a deflection but it was a very amusing one. Amusing enough to sway me towards forgiveness. Whatever Naruto's intentions were at the very least I was sure they came from a good place.

"So you are not here to watch my door like a guard dog?"

He sighed. "Never even crossed my mind."

"Good. I can take care of myself."

He put his hands in the air as if to surrender. "I know, I know. I am sorry if it came across that way."

I smiled. "Now Naruto wouldn't fighting a war over me extend the cycle of hatred?"

He thought about this. He actually paused to consider this.

"There are exceptions to every rule."

"Doesn't your administration support pacifism?"

"Sakura it's closer to a non-aggression principle." He gave me a cheeky look that seemed to say "I've come a long way. Are you impressed?"

I was impressed for the record.

"Alright Naruto if by chance I assault a foreign ally, I give you permission to allow me to be arrested. If I happen to break a decade long peace treaty feel free to just let me go."

He said "I may not be able to let you go..." before he paused and quickly tagged on "as a Hokage I have an obligation to protect my people."

Something about the tone of the first half of his statement had an immediate affect on me. His said it low enough for it register as a whisper and it sent goosebumps running up and down my flesh. I responded with a general but true statement about how his loyalty to his people was what made him a good leader. I then slipped my key into the door and unlocked it just to do something other than stare awkwardly at him.

I heard him say over my shoulder, "You looked beau-nice tonight."

I turned to face him.

"Well you are just being kind."

His eyes softened. "No I am not."

"Thank you, I guess-its not bad for a mama huh? You also looked nice tonight, very handsome actually. If I were single well...I mean..If we were both single...y'know...maybe. Who knows right? If things were completely different than how they are now..."

The light chuckle of an embarrassed woman escaped my lips. I laughed at myself, at my anxiousness. I must have looked a mess because Naruto just stared at me. He appeared confused maybe even worried, as if I had broken the married man and married woman's neutral compliment pact.

"Sakura, may I ask another question?"

I nodded to him.

"Why am I having a hard time believing you?"

"About what?"

"The kiss."

He took a half step forward me. My instinctual response to this was to lean my back against the door for support. Of course it popped open and I stumbled backwards inside. I floundered for about three stumbling steps before I caught myself with as much grace as I could muster. I looked up at Naruto and asked, as if it was what I had in mind all along, if he wanted to come inside to talk.

He considered it for a long, long, long time. Then he smiled before backing away from the doorway, apologizing for his interruption, and announcing that it was best for him to go get some sleep.

I agreed and I even recommended a minimum of eight hours. I didn't let go of my breath until Naruto was gone and I had locked the door .

Overall, I can say I had a good time.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

With the journal in hand Naruto paced about his hotel room. He remembered the night of the opening ceremony very well. He had never seen Sakura looking as lovely as she did that night. Or maybe he had, maybe she had looked as lovely at her wedding. Back then, it hadn't been that long ago, he had felt legitimately happy for his friends and there was nothing more to it. There was definitely something more going on now, something more than friendly.

Naruto had spent the initial moments of the party disoriented, like a man regaining his sight after being blind for many years. Rather than allowing himself to be drawn to Sakura like a month to a flame Naruto deliberately avoided her. His tactic had worked until the Amegakure medics arrived to the scene. When they had surrounded Sakura, when she had happily become lost in the conversation and lost to the room. He felt something he had not felt in a long time.

At first it had manifested itself in amusement.

These guys are pretty lucky that Sasuke isn't here

As the conversation continued it became impatience.

Talking for so long to another man's wife those guys are pretty lucky I'm not Sasuke

As the conversation continued it became irritation.

If I were Sasuke, I would be using my eyes to ignite things from across the room by now

And then.

If I were Sasuke...

The visual came to him immediately, he saw himself henging into Sasuke taking Sakura by the hand, leading her away from the wolves and back to their room. Where he would breathe her in, taste her, touch her like she wanted to be touched. Naruto stopped the visual now as he had then with a vigorous shake of his head. He had been jealous, passionately jealous. And then what did he do? He waited for her at her hotel room. Somehow he'd gotten it into his mind that it was a good idea to be standing beside her right outside her room, him smelling of ramen and her of sweet perfume.

A moth to the flame.

When a husband is jealous, he worries that he might be losing his wife. Sakura was not his wife. How could he be worried about losing something he never had?

Naruto returned to the journal.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

June 25th:

Descriptions such as captivating or inspiring are what I've heard people use to describe a speech by Naruto. But those words fail to capture the intimate connection that takes between Naruto and his audience. Whether it's an impromptu rally to the troops or a scripted event at a formal venue his innate skill at public speaking always shined through. Today was no exception, Naruto's optimism, his compassion, his emotional intelligence were put on display and I found myself in silent awe.

We've known each other for so long and he still surprises me.

I hadn't planned on being a part of such a moment. In fact my intention was just to drop in and greet the Leaf students before they set off for the first stage of the exams. I was about to leave when Naruto arrived and he went to work quickly. Initially it started as one might expect "you represent the village, make your families proud, you are the future of Konohagakure." The genin of course gave Naruto the kind of attention one would give a living legend. But he really grabbed their hearts and minds when he told them a fable once told to him by Jiraiya.

It was a tale about a race of sage birds who dwelled deep within the darkest rain-forest in the world. Generations earlier the sage birds had secured this rain-forest as their homeland because of its abundance of resources and it's lack of predators. The sage birds had everything they needed in the rain-forest except consistent sunlight. Because the top canopy of the rain-forest blocked over ninety percent of the sunlight the sage birds learned to thrive on the forest floor. They lived peacefully, comfortably and without the need of flight. After some decades the sage birds had stopped teaching to their young how to fly and so soon enough many had forgotten this ability altogether.

There however came one sage bird who loved the sunlight. On the rare occasions that a stream of light managed to reach the forest floor this bird bathed in it's warm touch. When he heard tales of how his people used to fly he began to dream of soaring above the trees and being embraced by the delicious rays of the sun. This bird studied under all the sage elders, he unearthed the lost histories of his people, and he rediscovered the ability of flight. As soon as he had trained his body to be physically capable the sage bird took off into the air and burst through the canopy.

Unfortunately a storm had been brewing over the rain forest and the sage bird once again found himself shielded from the light. This time not by leaves but by ever growing dark clouds. Distraught but not deterred the sage bird realized he was certain of only two things. One, beyond those storm clouds awaited the warming glow of the sun. Two, he could not imagine a more joyous event than spreading his wings and being engulfed in that warm glow. With the dreams of gliding between sun-rays in his heart the sage bird soared right into the heart of the storm.

And he was never seen or heard from again.

After the story Naruto announced that there were a number of morals to the tale. It was traditionally a cautionary fable against impulsive behavior, against impatience, against arrogance and greed. On a deeper level still it was a simple observation on human nature, on how some people are never content or satisfied with what they have. Naruto conceded that all of these wise interpretations were valid. However when he had first heard the story from Jiraiya he had not considered any of that. He had in fact admired the bird, he thought it was courageous for the bird to risk the dangers of the storm for his dream.

Naruto had grinned broadly at the genin. He told them how as an adult he could see the wisdom of the traditional interpretations yet he could also still see the merits in his youthful interpretation.

"You will all learn soon enough that the line between courageousness and foolishness, selfishness and selflessness easily blur" Naruto told the students.

"I say consider this what if the life of a sage bird was far less than that of a human. What if I told you the sage bird spent most of his life learning how to fly and he knew he only had weeks left to live, no, days? Would it change the way you think about the story? Would it change the way you think about the Sage Bird?"

Naruto continued by telling the genin that there would be a moment during the exam where they would think to themselves that it was oaky to quit now. That they could just try again later. That the two years until the next exam would go by quickly. He went on to say depending on the situation this could be the most reasonable point of of view in the world. The wisest position to take. But they assume, and it was a reasonable assumption to make, that the exams would be around in two years. That they would be around in two years. Sometimes, he said, whether you know it or not you only get one chance.

"If you get that chance, the opportunity to fulfill a dream..."

He paused.

"Some birds are happy singing and dancing on the forest floor. That can be a happy and fulfilling life for many birds. But if you are the type of bird that dreams of the sun. You may have to face the rain and the thunder. It's up to you to decide if it's worth the risk."

The genin departed for the first phase of the exam with gallantry and vigor in their hearts. It was unexpectedly the Hokage that lingered tentatively in their wake. I followed him for a little bit as he walked about aimlessly around the campus grounds. When there was a comfortable distance between us and anyone else I matched his pace and nudged him playfully with my shoulder. I told him that I also got that bittersweet feeling every time the exams came around. Naruto appeared surprised by my presence for a moment. Then he chuckled warmly. "I'm glad you are here Sakura."

He then craned his head back, looked up into the sky and he said. "I wish Sasuke was here as well."

Despite the currently flawed state of my marriage and the currently awkward status of my relationship with Naruto, there would always be an "us" in some way or some form. "We," "Team Seven," would always exist. I suppose neither of us had anymore to say about my husband so we continued walking for awhile.

Naruto sighed. "When I was younger I would try and break every single rule if it got me some attention. Then I felt like there wasn't a rule I wouldn't break to protect my friends. Now, well life can be so complicated. I am starting to think-"

He glanced at me, unemotional.

"-No I do think that maybe the only way to keep it simple is to keep to the rules."

Not knowing exactly how to respond I said, "Funny how things change."

Naruto caught my eyes,"so you think I've changed?"

I considered the question for some time before answering. "I think-your priorities, naturally, have changed a lot but your heart is always in the right place."

Naruto gave me an odd mixture of surprise and hurt mingled with appreciation. I can only assume in hindsight that this had been the first time anyone had acknowledged Naruto's change, at least to his face.

"I couldn't be the Hokage and still be...I had to mature into the kind of man a Hokage should be."

"Oh you've matured? I hadn't noticed." I said teasing him.

He looked at me with amusement in his eyes. "I am mature, I read books in my spare time."

I asked him what kind of books he read.

"Literature" he said a grin forming on his face.

"Oh what kind of literature?"

"The classics."

"Like what?"

He looked off to the side. "The Lighthouse-on-the-Mountaintop. Its not a well known book but it's a classic."

I laughed out loud. "You just made that up."

He snorted. "Sakura do not be jealous that I am more well read than you are."

"You are not!" I challenged. "Who is the author of The Lighthouse on the Mountaintop?"

"Questioning your Hokage is insubordination" He replied.

"Have mercy on your lowly subordinate Hokage-sama" I said wiping tears of laughter from my eyes.

After a quiet moment Naruto turned to me with a smirk on his face and said, "What did you do to me?"

I asked him what he meant by that. So he leaned in close and whispered conspiratorially. "Ever since you kissed me my mind has been cluttered with unnecessary thoughts."

Abruptly Naruto's stomach collided with my fist.

"That's the kind of joke you want to crack in public?" I whispered back to him.

Naruto half laughed, half coughed as he double over at the waist. Still trying to catch his breath, Naruto plopped down onto the ground to collect himself. I did likewise and I sat facing him

He continued laughing "You know how long its been since someone has hit me?"

"I didn't hit you that hard." I said now slightly embarrassed.

He laughed again and I was struck by nostalgia.

"Naruto, don't change too much okay?"

"That is a promise I can't make." He said pointing to his hat. " He sighed and smiled at me.

"Some things may change Sakura, but you will always be sorta scary to me."

I scoffed. "And you will always be an idiot to me."

He grinned. "That's fine. I don't think I mind that at all."

It was one of Naruto's better grins. It flashed and reflected the Amegakure sun and I was infused with a vibrant energy that I think will carry me through the rest of the day.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

June 27th:

The second stage of the exam took place in Amegakure's version of the Forest Death. The village hidden in the rain had in it's back pocket an immense swamp-like arena that according to the locals had been the only part of the village to be untouched by the civil war. Apparently it was too hot and humid, and the smell too pungent to house rebels or loyalists at any stage of the war. I suppose if anyone could find value in the swamp it would be the Aburame clan. The vast array of hideous insects that claimed the swamp as their home would have surely delighted them.

Knowing from firsthand experience that the exams weren't designed for comfort I still felt genuine pity for the genin having to wade through all that muck. Luckily they were up for the challenge. The harsh environment offered the genin their first opportunities to truly shine as a shinobi and many of them took advantage of the spotlight. The highlights of the second stage, the moments where the genin put on displays of courage, toughness or pride, were broadcast to all the villages of the Alliance. But the general populace only got the replays for this portion of the exam. The entire event however was streamed live to the big wigs and VIPs.

Once again I was in the room with VIPs. The usual suspects were there, the diplomats, the captains of industry, kages, daiyamos. It was a star studded room with six long tables set up with a variety of specialty snacks from all of the villages within the alliance. The dozens or so monitors on the walls showed the genin, giving it all, putting their egos and lives on the line and the VIPs simply nodded approvingly or clapped politely when something amazing happened. There were long stretches of time were the room was so quiet that you would have thought you walked into a library. Although I'd earned the right to be there I still didn't exactly feel like it was my crowd. I tried my best to keep the peace so to speak but I had underestimated the potency of Amegakure's candy flavored liquor. The delicious drinks, in combination with a plucky young genin showing serious guts, got me in some trouble.

"SHANNARO!"

I threw in a fist pump to emphasize my less than refined behavior.

I was pretty sure every head in the room turned to me. From me the crowd then turned, to my mortification, to Naruto. Naruto who had been in a group featuring Gaara and nobles from the Land of Fire and Earth looked over at me and I turned away sheepish. I kept my head down and made a beeline for the tables and grabbed myself a small bowl of mixed fruit. I was spearing some blueberries with a fork when Naruto appeared beside me.

"Sakura"

"Sorry I got caught up in the action." I slurred without looking up from my forkful of berries.

"Right...that's why I am here to scold you for your barbarian-like behavior."

Looking up at him, I was surprised to see the touch of amusement on his face. I started to apologize. I tried to make the case that I couldn't help but be moved by the display of young valor on the screen before me, but Naruto interrupted me.

"You okay?"

"Fine." I said catching myself from swaying.

"I see. You know it's funny I just realized that I never really thanked you."

"Thanked me for what?" I said catching myself from swaying.

"My fight during the final rounds-all those many moons ago. Before all hell broke loose" he sighed. "I heard you in the crowd, through the noise of the crowd. I don't think I told you how much I appreciated that."

"Naruto we were friends, we were a team, you would have done the same for me."

Naruto nodded. "Still I'm not sure you understand how much that meant to me...at the time. I should have thanked you."

I patted him on the shoulder, "Naruto there's an old saying what's understood never needs to be explained."

He smiled. "Is that so?"

"By the way aren't you supposed to be scolding me?"

"Consider yourself scolded."

I shook my head head. "But Naruto politically speaking as our leader you should consider kicking me out for embarrassing you."

Naruto scratched at his chin. "If I kick you out it would be me admitting it was wrong to have you here."

"Oh! You are thinking politically" I said with alcohol laced cheer. "If I stay it would imply I'm here because you want me here-despite my behavior."

"It would imply I enjoy your company."

"On the other hand Naruto, it may also imply that you have an impudent subordinate around you that you can't control."

Naruto shrugged, "or it would imply that I enjoy your company and people will have to deal with that."

I studied him for a moment. At that moment I truly wanted to believe what he said was true.

"Do you enjoy my company Naruto?" I asked. "Really?"

"Of course."

I couldn't contain my smile even if I had tried. But then I looked over Naruto's shoulders to see some of the Raikage's entourage side-eying me. "I think I annoyed them."

Naruto rolled his eyes. "That's their problem. My problem is that-technically in a situations like this the Kage have to be...circumspect."

"Naruto...I mean this with all due respect, But you're vocabulary has come a really really long way." I declared. "I'm not saying you were a dumb kid but-I'll just say this, the gap between your strength from back then to know is parallel to the gap in your vocabulary from back then to now."

"I'll take that as a compliment."

"It is. It really is. I am very impressed with you right now."

A soft laughter escaped Naruto's mouth. "They've got really tasty drinks here don't they?"

"Oh my gosh they do" I aggressively agreed.

"They can sneak up on you though."

"Yep" I said taking in a deep breath,

"As I was saying Sakura I as the Hokage -have to be circumspect but..."

"Way ahead of you Naruto. I'm not the Hokage. So I can cheer for our kids-on your behalf. Since that is your will than I shall comply Hokage-sama."

Naruto gestured towards Gaara's direction with his head. "Come and join us."

As Naruto led me towards the center of the room I ignored the glares of those who preferred to show support for their ninja in prudish silence.

"That genin was very impressive wasn't she? You know she reminded me of someone." Naruto remarked.

"Did she?" I asked. "I wonder who?"

Since I was following Naruto I couldn't see his face but I knew he was smiling. I'd like to say I managed to restrain myself from any additional outbursts for the rest of the night but that would be a lie. I am not the type of ninja to go counter to the will of my Hokage.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

All of it came vividly to Naruto's mind. Their laughter, their easy conversation, the warm glances exchanged. He could remember it all without much effort. A child, a young man would make ridiculous interpretations of those memories. A wise man, a leader, could see those moments for they are. Of course he and Sakura got along well there were years of friendship to back that up. Of course she made him smile, of course he enjoyed her company, she was a close friend.

Except she kissed him

It was her kiss that had started to twist his perspective. What was she thinking? She gave him some answers to that question but he didn't know if he believed her. Why couldn't he believe her? Her actions had forced him to doubt her-doubt her what? What was he doubting?

So many stupid childish questions. But he needed the answers, no matter how stupid or childish they may be.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

June 29:

The life of a medical ninja is such that startling discoveries are routinely made in emergency rooms before the sun has even had a chance to crack a peek over the horizon. Fairly confident of the results of a night of research I made a beeline for Naruto's room. Only to find a line waiting outside his door. Luckily as I arrived Sai stepped out of the room to presumably inspect the line. I let him know I had an urgent message to deliver and Sai did not hesitate to usher me through Naruto's door to the dismay of the others on the line.

"He's being fitted for a custom robe right now, it's a gift from the Amegakure council, but since you say it's urgent..." Sai mentioned as he led me through Naruto's bedroom door, without bothering to knock. We walked in on a scene featuring two geriatric women fussing over the Hokage. Ignoring our sudden presence in the room they stretched cloth measuring tape across the width and length of his body.

Oh and Naruto was dressed only in his boxers.

Surprise flashed on his face when he was saw me but he reined it in with impressive swiftness. Then he addressed us as if were a normal occurrence for people to burst into his room.

"Is there a problem Sai?"

Sai related quickly that I had some urgent news for him. But by the time Naruto turned to me I had completely lost my train of thoughts. Or I should say my train of thoughts had left me behind.

"What is your news Sakura?" Naruto asked.

I told him that I had two questions for him first.

"Are you wearing silk boxers?"

He nodded, embarrassment briefly coloring his face.

Silk boxers, form fitting, obviously a wife's gift to her husband. Hinata had gone shopping for these boxers and picked them out knowing his exact measurements, knowing for sure what looked good on him. These thoughts simply bloomed in my mind as pure facts rather than speculation. Exposed to these facts I should have been amused or indifferent to them but I found myself in a confusing state of ambivalence.

I went on to my next question.

"If you spend most of your time in your office how is that you are in better shape now then you were during the war?"

Naruto's eyes shone with sudden mischief when he looked at me. He explained that it wasn't enough to simply train one's mind for politics. The village head had to be in top physical shape at all times. So his exercise routine was as vigorous now as it had ever been. When one of the elderly tailors wrapped a measuring tape around Naruto's right arm. He flexed and his arm confessed to the room that it was indeed heavy with well defined muscle.

The old woman hanging on his arm cooed playfully while Naruto locked eyes with me.

"Not bad for a papa huh?" Naruto asked with a grin.

At that moment an odd comparison came to my mind. Sasuke and Naruto's body matched their personalities fairly well. Sasuke was, wiry, lean, elusive. Of the two Naruto's overall body had a bit more mass, he was sturdy, sinewy, dependable.

"I have to say I am very impressed by how you've kept so fit" Sai said abruptly bringing me back down to earth.

Naruto gave Sai a look that seemed to express surprise at the fact of Sai still being in the room. He thanked Sai for the compliment and returned his attention to me. "The message Sakura?"

I glanced at the old women. Naruto took the hint and they were politely escorted out of the room a moment later. When they were gone I asked Naruto if it had been necessary for him to have been measured while in his boxers. Seemingly confused by the question Naruto replied that the old women had insisted so it must have been necessary.

I kept my thoughts about that to myself. There were more pressing concerns now anyway.

I informed Naruto that at that moment there was a genin team in the emergency room that had been deemed too injured to continue on with second stage of the exam. The genin team had claimed that they had lost their scrolls to a team from Kirigakure who entrapped them in a poisonous mist.

Naruto noted that Kirigakure had a considerable reputation for the usage of poison.

"Was it an unnecessarily lethal dosage?" He asked.

I told Naruto that the genin hadn't been poisoned the way they thought they had been poisoned. They had instead been attacked with a nerve agent.

Naruto asked if I doubted the genin's story. I did not. Indeed there was enough traces of the poison on them to say that someone had used a poison technique. But their symptoms had not matched what should have happened to victims of such an attack. What they had described seeing was C-rank technique that caused coma like paralysis within seconds of exposure. But the normal process for that is that first one's lips and tongue deaden, then comes dizziness and vomiting, followed by numbness and muscle paralysis.

"It's quite a frightening process. But it's fairly common" I said to Naruto.

"What really happened to the genin?" He asked.

I explained.

The genin had remembered salivating profusely then losing consciousness and then coming in and out of sleep dimly aware that most of their muscles had gone completely numb. I checked their clothing and found a very small concentration of a unique toxic compound that was not found in any known poison mist technique in use. The genin had somehow been tagged with the substance beforehand.

"So the poison mist was a coverup. To mask the actual attack. Those kids were being experimented on?"

"It looks like that." I said solemnly. "It would have taken some time for the substance to seep in from their clothes onto their skin. The poison mist attack was probably timed to match up with that."

I added to the bad news. "These genin might experience some long term effects once the recover. Most of it will be psychological."

Then I piled on some more. "This is new Naruto, I've never seen this before. And in larger doses an advanced variation of this has the potential to be devastating on a battlefield."

"It's your impression Sakura that this was developed after the war?" Naruto inquired.

"I would think so."

I saw something flash in Naruto's eyes, something caught between hurt and anger. Then as quickly as it came it was gone. "Can quick-acting antidotes be created?"

I hesitated

"In your opinion" Naruto added.

I answered sincerely. "I haven't looked into it too deeply but I have some ideas. There are other poisons that may actually be used as a countermeasure since they block acetylcholine receptors that..."

Naruto put his hand up. "You can keep the technical details Sakura. When we get home you can lead a research team to develop antidotes for this or any future surprises Kirigakure may have."

I hesitated again.

Naruto grinned. "You've brought some very critical information to my attention. I was right to put my confidence in you."

I told him that I was honored and flattered but I'd have to decline. I would share my thoughts with Tsunade and Shizune but I reiterated that I was committed to raising my daughter full time.

"And that is admirable. It is truly is. But maybe some kind of schedule can be worked out..." Naruto said.

I asked who would take care of Sarada while I was working.

"When Sasuke comes back..."Naruto started

I cut him off. "When Sasuke comes back he won't stay. He doesn't stay."

"In time...I'll talk to him."

There was an unspoken "again" at the end of that statement. But I found myself wondering in a amused way what could Naruto possibly have said that Sasuke couldn't see for himself when he said goodbye to his wife and child every few months?

I rattled off some obvious truths to Naruto. As hard is it might have been to believe I was not the wounded bird in my marriage. Sasuke needed to go out to find himself. Yes, he would come home to a stable family to reset but needed to find the answers out there, answers that couldn't be found at home.

"That's a separate issue. Right now, I can't help but feel that you are wasting something special. You are special Sakura. One day you will wake up and notice this but it'll be too late!"

By then I was infuriated by the path the conversation had taken.

"I don't need you to save me Naruto?"

Sounding tired Naruto said, "Sometimes Sakura there is a pretty large difference between what you assume about my motivations and what my motivations actually are."

I snapped at him. "Does Hinata wake up every morning to this lecture?"

"Apples and oranges" Naruto growled.

"How do you figure that?"

"We're talking about two different people. What makes her happy might not make you happy, what you makes you happy might not make her happy."

"And you think you know what makes me happy?" I shouted at him.

"I know what used to make you happy and that used to be medical ninjutsu."

"Maybe you are not the only one who has changed Naruto!"

It was then that Sai chimed in.

"It's interesting. Naruto has sacrificed his personal time including time spent with his family to dedicate himself to being a Hokage. Sakura has sacrificed her desire to practice medical ninjutsu to dedicate herself to her daughter. Similar ideals two different destinations."

I locked eyes with Naruto for a moment and then we both turned to Sai.

"Sai you're still here?" Naruto asked.

"Was I not supposed to be here?"

I knew exactly what Naruto was feeling. I had been so focused on the conversation I had completely forgotten that Sai had been in the room. I replayed the conversation in my head almost in a blind panic. I was terrified that something intimate might have been said in Sai's presence.

"Was that supposed to be a private moment?" Sai asked

Naruto's face was then caught in some odd transitional state between being himself and so being frustrated and being the Seventh and taking it in stride. The Seventh won out.

"Anyway thank you Sakura. This information that you've presented is invaluable."

With as much rigid formality I could muster I managed to squeak out some form of "it was my pleasure."

Naruto cleared his throat before announcing that he would definitely have a long talk with the Mizukage. After that we were dismissed. I was at the door when Naruto called out to me.

"Sakura if you can honestly say you don't enjoy it anymore, I'll let it go."

I didn't answer Naruto. I didn't have an answer for him. I continued through the door. As we stood outside of Naruto's room Sai turned to me with a very pleased look on his face and said; "I enjoy when we as a group have these frank and introspective discussions. It implies a closeness in our bond that I truly appreciate."

At that point I was too emotionally raw to contemplate what Sai was talking about. I agreed with him and called it a day.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

July 1

Not sure what to make of what just happened. I was helping prep the emergency room for the coming preliminaries when I saw Sai patrolling the area. The moment he caught sight of me he had rushed over.

"He seems very troubled. Perhaps you can help." Was all Sai said before gesturing for me to follow him.

"He" of course was Naruto. Sai brought me to the featured restaurant in the hotel where we found Naruto sitting alone in VIP section clicking away at his laptop. I mentioned to Sai that Naruto didn't seem all that upset.

"Do you know what he hates the most when he is working? When someone breaks his concentration."

Sai pretended to trip and knocked a lone glass from an empty table to the ground. The glass shattered against the ground, breaking the quiet stillness of the restaurant. Naruto's head snapped up and his blue eyes blazed with shadowed intensity. When his eyes focused on us they cooled considerably.

For as long as I've known Naruto it was generally never too difficult to figure out what he thought or how he felt about most things. However, the reality was that the more passionate versions of his emotions rarely broke through the surface. During our childhood the first impressions many had of Naruto was that he wore his heart out on his sleeve. If that was the impression you got of him you'd be right and wrong at the same time. Or perhaps it's better to say your insight would have been shallow. The water on the surface of Naruto's lake was crystal clear, transparent even, but it ran deeper than you could imagine. If you paid attention you'd realize he knew how to govern his passions to an enviable degree. If he wanted you to know he was angry you would see his anger. If he didn't want you to know he was sad you'd see a near genuine smile. What he expressed emotionally was completely contingent on what Naruto felt really mattered in any given situation. Countless people had imagined they had Naruto figured out from their first impression of him, and he would of course surprise them, time and time again.

I include myself in that group.

After Sai helped a staff member of the restaurant clean up his mess. Naruto beckoned us to his table.

"Just in time for lunch."

As we ate I couldn't help but notice that Naruto was being unusually quiet. I pointed this, among other subtle signs of his frustration, out to him but Naruto deflected my observations. As we neared the end of the meal Sai blurted out what I had been dancing around. "Naruto you seem upset"

Caution came upon Naruto's face. "I am fine."

Before either of us could respond Naruto gestured to a passing waiter who was carrying a tray of drinks. He then asked if either of us wanted a drink.

"A little early for that don't you think." I remarked.

He laughed and told me that I sounded like Shikamaru. This did not deter him from ordering a cup of wine.

"You should watch yourself with the drinks in this village Naruto. They can sneak up on you."

Naruto smiled. "Your concern is noted."

He then took a mouthful of wine.

By the time we had finished lunch Naruto had made the decision to confide in us. Well he told us as much as he could considering that what was discussed at Kage summit's was supremely confidential. It'd been obvious to the public that factions had sprung up among the Kages, mini alliances within the Alliance. Some of the new Kages from the more recent villages had decided that it was in their best interest to curb Naruto's influence on the shinobi world. So they undermined his proposals forcing him to have to present them again after adding significant concessions or amendments he rarely cared for.

"When I was saving their lives they loved me. Now that I have ideas that may change their lives they are scared of me."

"Some people want peace on their own terms" Sai said to Naruto.

It was very profound point. Unfortunately Sai continued to talk.

"Have you considered that your influence can reach beyond the Kages, to their council, to their people? With your status as a living legend many shinobi would prefer to be in your shadow rather than that of a typical Kage who is clearly inferior to you in strength. You can create factions in their village setting up the foundations for a coup d'etat. In two years time at the next summit meeting you reveal to the Kages that they can either submit to your will and stay as figurehead rulers of their village or they can face the humiliation of being stripped of their power by their village council."

Naruto leaned back in his seat. "I had not considered that Sai probably because I am not Danzo. Sometimes I forget that you used to be in ROOT."

"I am just presenting the obvious Naruto. The easiest route for you and everyone to lasting peace would be to either single highhandedly or with Sasuke's help wipe them all out in a magnificent display of power at the next summit, except for the Kazekage of course, then you declare yourself the Hokage of all Kages and have Sasuke as your-"

I interrupted Sai with a kick to his shins from beneath the table.

"Sai's just trying to help" I told Naruto.

Naruto nodded patiently. "Sai's not that far away from what some people think I am capable of. That's the frustrating thing about politics...it's still a war just without bloodshed."

After lunch we were dismissed by the Seventh. Sai and I loitered at the table for a moment but Naruto's focus was now completely on his laptop. We'd gotten as far as the entrance before I doubled back to Naruto's table. Upon reaching him I jumped right into my rant. I told Naruto a brief story about Tsunade's work ethic. Whenever Tsunade was working on a difficult project and things weren't really clicking for her she'd end the night by saying "I have not failed I've actually discovered five hundred ways that won't work." The night after if things still didn't go well she'd say "I have not failed I've actually discovered five hundred and one ways that won't work." She'd keep on going like that until she found the way that worked.

Naruto tilted his head away from the screen just enough to show that he acknowledged my presence.

"I know you will find the right way Naruto because I still believe in you." I blurted out to him. "Well I'm sure a lot of people still believe in you. I am definitely not claiming that I hold exclusive belief in you Naruto, I just wanted to remind you that I am still among those who still believe in you. And there are many who do."

Naruto turned away from the screen a grin making its way across his lips.

"I am trying to figure out how to order you to stop."

"Stop what?" I asked

"No it's impossible, you just do it naturally."

"Do what?"

"Being around you makes me feel very nostalgic. Sakura-c..." He swallowed his words, cleared his throat, swallowed again and chuckled.

"Thank you for the kind words Sakura. You may go now."

Once again I found myself in Naruto's presence with nothing meaningful to say to him. I left and reconnected with Sai outside the restaurant. After talking it over for awhile. We agreed to keep a closer eye on Naruto.

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The problem was nostalgia. For whatever reasons, conscious or unconscious, lately whenever Sakura was around the air became heavy with nostalgia. After rising from the couch and stretching his limbs, Naruto drew in a deep breath. It was perfectly understandable he thought, perfectly natural if he were honest. Certain moods always descended upon him during chuunin-exams. Certain events triggered certain memories and those memories seldom come without baggage.

He let out a breath. Neji came to mind. Neji often came to mind when he attended a chunnin exam. His memories of their fight, of Neji's death, of Neji's life, they always carried what? Sorrow, regret and gratitude in their wakes. In somewhat similar fashion since Sakura had kissed him old feelings had resurfaced.

Naruto ran his palms across his face. Feelings, no he wouldn't go that far. Fantasies-memories of an old love? Love? No, not even that. Unrequited infatuation? Yes of course. Like a tired old man he was replaying-reliving the springtime of youth. Naruto laughed to himself. Gai and Lee would be proud.

He took another deep breath. The stress of the summit and the excitement of the exam had led to the reemergence of a past life. Was something similar occurring with Sakura? She did mention that he had caught her in a bad mood. Was a perfect wave of stress and nostalgia the explanation for the kiss? A possible answer but not a satisfying one. Desiring satisfaction that he wasn't even sure he could find returned to Sakura's journal.

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July 3

First time in two days that I've had the free time to write. Despite the harsh environment the kids really battled hard in the second stage and so too many genin end up passing on. The consequence of this has been an unprecedented and epic multi-day event of randomly selected one-on-one matches. Generational talent had been put on display during the preliminaries and any red-bloodied shinobi could only be excited for the level of skill we were sure to see at the finals.

Still even as we look forward to seeing more of the winners we should still acknowledge those who hadn't be as triumphant. When the preliminaries had ended I found myself treating a despondent genin from the Konoha. Although he'd managed to make it out of a close and engaging fight with only bruised ribs his loss had bruised his self esteem. While I was examining him for any possible head injuries he started to cry. After administering some kindness along with a sedative, I got him to confide in me. Despite having come this far, the boy felt like a failure, a disgrace to his team and village. He'd taken his loss hard so as I treated his ribs I gave him some advice that I'd gleamed over the years.

What I have learned in my life is that there was no such thing as failure to a person that had no lost his guts, character and self respect. A ninja that does the best he or she could do under a given circumstance is a true ninja. Besides there never existed a ninja who succeeded at every objective before him. The great ones however understood that glory came in the rising after every fall. As I talked the boy had remained quiet, when I looked to see if he was being receptive to my words I noticed the wide eyed expression on his face. I followed his gaze beyond my shoulder only to turn to find Naruto.

"Sorry to interrupt" he said staring at me. "It's been awhile since I've watched you work."

I looked a bit to see all the medics and technicians had stopped to stare at him. No one had anticipated that any of the Kages would come down to the medical rooms.

He asked me about the genin. I revealed that as of today no one had suffered any permanent injuries, and there were no casualties either. Naruto found this to be excellent news. I added that I was still a little concerned about him. By the looks of it he was still not getting enough sleep.

He smirked while narrowing his eyes playfully "I appreciate your concern but sleep is a luxury for a Hokage."

I raised my fist. "Naruto if you insist on not getting adequate rest. I'll put you to sleep myself."

He laughed, and then following his cue the eavesdroppers chuckled.

"I will definitely take that into consideration. I am sorry to have concerned you, but I will be fine."

"Of course you will be fine sir, you are the strongest man I know" I said.

Naruto glanced at the still wide-eyed genin. "Take good care of this one Sakura, I need guys like him. Gutsy guys. The future of our village is bright with ninja like him around to support me."

With that said Naruto left and after a few breaths the awestruck genin asked "That was the Hokage right?"

"Yep" I said.

The genin cried again for more joyous reasons this time. A young medic from Takigakure approached me tentatively and asked "You can call your Kage by his first name?"

I hope the next time Naruto wants to tell me he is okay he'll call rather than drop by the medical labs. It took me ten minutes to get everyone back to work.

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July 5th

Naruto and I have fallen into some strange kind of routine. At least "routine" is the only word I can think of at the moment to describe these successive encounters. There is a pause before the final rounds of the exam but we see each other frequently between the summit meetings. And yet we barely utter more than a few phrases to each other.

Maybe I am being too generous calling them actual interactions. Especially if the majority of them consist of us passing by each other as we head off in opposite directions. He would be the Seventh then, surrounded by important people chattering in his ear. They would stop at random intervals so Naruto could make some concise authoritative statement to no one in particular. The moment he stopped talking the chatter would start up again.

Whenever I got close enough to this cavalcade Naruto's eyes would cut towards me and I'd see a smile dance at the corners of her lips. I don't know why but I don't say "hello", I don't wave, I simply meet his gaze. And in the time it takes to draw in a breath we've turned away from each other.

The discreetness of the entire exchange is fascinating but odd. I'm not sure how to describe the tangible undercurrent of these moments. Is it it residual awkwardness from the kiss? Why would it manifest itself like this? The strangeness of these banal moments is that they somehow leave me terrified and elated.

I am a grown woman, a wife and a mother, what is wrong with me?

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Naruto stared at the journal. He contemplated destroying it or perhaps it would be better to order Sakura to destroy it. Could he do that? Could he ask that of her? Anyone who read the entry he just read may get the wrong idea. Was he getting the wrong idea? No, not after that last entry. With the damning evidence down on paper it all seemed obvious.

But where did this, where did it all come from? It still didn't make any sense. He kept reading.

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July 6th:

Quiet day today, thankfully. Heaven willing the rest our time in Amegakure will be as rational. Speaking of the village hidden by rain, I realized today that it hasn't rained a bit since we entered the village. I guess we're lucky for that. People may find it odd but a part of me was looking forward to experiencing some of this village's infamous gloomy weather. I've always found there to be a sad beauty in rainfall. I admit it's strange but to me the rain is quite beautiful to look at especially as it hits the surface of a windowsill. Little drops from the heavens, are they diamonds or teardrops? It depends on your mood.

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July 7th:

I just had a dirty dream.

I haven't had a dirty dream in a long time.

I am a grown woman, married, with a child. My days of dirty dreams should be long behind me. Yet it seems I had underestimated the effects of seeing Naruto half naked would have on me. In the dream I wore the same black dress that I had worn at the opening ceremony except that I was now matching it with knee-high black leather boots. I strutted right into the Hokage's office like I owned the place and no one in the receptionist's area had the nerve to say anything to me. When Naruto saw me come in he looked like he was ready to jump up from behind his desk.

I brought a lone finger to my lips gesturing for him to be still and be silent. I quietly locked the door behind me and then I sauntered over to him. With one sweep of my hand I knocked Naruto's laptop, his lamp, and most of his papers off his desk. I laid down on top of it with my right leg bent and my left extended.

Naruto placed his hand on my knee and ran his fingertips slowly along the inside of my thigh. I moaned softly when he leaned forward and kissed me on the side of my neck. I shivered when his fingers found their way beneath my dress and traced along the edges of my panties. They patiently took the scenic route towards my core. I called out his name and in response Naruto kissed my neck again and bit gently into my skin.

I reached out and pulled his face roughly to mine. His hand slid into my panties.

He whispered my name into my mouth slowly and with promise just as fingers slipped inside me.

Then I woke up.

With my heart pounding and my breathing ragged I ran towards the shower. I spent a while in the shower.

I am not sure how I will able to look Naruto in the eyes today.

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Putting the journal to the side, Naruto marched to the kitchen, poured himself a cup of cold water, and then proceeded to dump the water over his head.

The truth now.

He had never stopped being physically attracted to Sakura. Growing close to Hinata had not made Sakura less appealing to him, it hadn't made her hideous. But his attraction became a distant one. When Naruto saw a picture of a beautiful woman he could objectively feel that the woman was alluring or captivating without feeling the pull, the longing to be with that woman. He could have said the same for Sakura for years now. Attraction without the desire for more than he had.

But then the kiss. Just with that it was as if recalling specific details of a once vague memory.

The desire for more returned. No it hadn't simply returned. It had returned with a vengeance. The attractions of his youth, wanting to get a kiss from her or take a peep at her in the baths carried with them an underlying innocence. All of that was a product of wanting to get to know her, to get close to her, to be by her side. His attraction had once been limited by experience. When you knew how it feels to have a woman's body press against yours, when you know firsthand how the female body can soften and sigh and accommodate you, the feeling of her body syncing with yours and what it means to get lost inside her...

Once you know...It made attraction a very different beast. Naruto swiped at his wet fce with his arms. He wondered if Sakura made love with her eyes closed or did her partner get to see her eyes cloud with desire. Did soft moans escape her lips or did she cry out in ecstasy?

He poured himself another glass of water, dumped it over his head, and returned to the journal.

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Jul 8:

I look Naruto directly in the eyes whenever I see him. If I look anywhere else I flashback to him in his boxers.

Not looking forward to sleeping tonight. If I have another dirty dream I'll wake up feeling guilty again. If I don't have another dirty dream I might wake up disappointed.

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Jul 9:

Tonight started off well enough. But of course as expected with my luck recently, it took an unpredicatable turn. The Kage's meeting ended early so Sai and I were invited to have dinner with Naruto and we were soon joined by the Raikage and the Kazekage. As we shared food and drinks we covered every predictable topic under the sun. I found it adorable how Naruto's eyes lit up when he spoke of Himawari and Boruto. He was a proud papa. Eventually we moved to more familiar grounds, the past. Or more specifically the chunin exam Naruto, Gaara, and I had participated in. Gaara ended up apologizing to us over his actions for about the hundredth time since we had become friends. A few gulps of wine made Gaara insistent so the only thing either of us could do was gracefully accept his apology as if it were the first time either of us had heard it

Then things got strange. Naruto had inquired about Bee.

"He's in love," The Raikage had frowned. "Well to be more accurate he's obsessed."

Naruto took this revelation with amusement. The Raikage was not as happy about it. Quite frankly he seemed somewhat irritated by Bee's antics during his apparently fevered courtship.

"It's all he talks about at dinner tables or mission briefings." The Raikage declared.

"Bee did strike me as a romantic" Naruto stated.

"Really? I think this came out of nowhere. I don't remember him ever desiring to be in a-commited relationship."

"Such desires do not materialize out of thin air. He always had it you just never noticed." Gaara told the Raikage.

"Actually" Sai began. "It could have been spontaneous. No one is immune to the sudden arrival or departure of desire."

"That's an interesting point Sai" I said. "It's possible Bee may have had a sudden change of heart."

"Change for the worst." The Raikage sighed. "It's like he's lost his mind."

Taking this cue I told the group an amusing bit of medical history. Centuries ago love sickness had been listed as a medical condition. Of all the passions listed love was considered the most violent and troubling of all. Though not fatal it had considerable mental and physical effects on the people.

"So what did our ancestors think was the cure for this condition?" Naruto asked me.

"Well according to the scrolls when no other means will take effect. Let the patient go off and be with his lover."

"Sounds effective." Naruto said with a smirk.

"If I were perfectly honest...I don't know what Bee sees in her." The Raikage groused.

Naruto nodded. "Well what's that old saying, 'the heart has its reasons, which reason does now know.'"

Gaara aglow from his last cup of wine glanced across the dinner table at me and then Naruto. Sighing contently he announced, "Shukaku and I were a little surprised when we heard you married Hinata, Naruto. You had fought really hard to protect Sakura during our fight both of us thought you'd two would get together."

Naruto was seated to my left and I turned to him just as he turned to the right. I waited for him to comment but I suppose he'd been waiting for me to comment because Gaara's statement was met by absolute silence.

So of course Sai jumped, "That is interesting because I too once believed Naruto held strong feelings for Sakura."

Naruto addressed the table.

"I still do have strong feelings for Sakura...just not in the way you once thought Sai. Life is complicated. There was a confusing mix of emotion, angst, anger and hormones flying around our team and when you are young you think you were feeling one thing and it isn't until you get a little older that your realize it might have been something else."

Sai seemed to consider this. "So you are saying your feelings weren't real?"

"Sakura and I discussed it and we concluded that my feelings at the time may have stemmed from something other than love. Something inferior."

"Compared to Sakura's love for Sasuke" Sai added.

"Let's just say my feelings were not as big as her love for Sasuke."

Naruto laughed good naturedly. "So its easy to see why Sakura never considered me."

Despite my better judgment I said. "That's not true. I did consider you. I mean it did cross my mind."

"Really?" Sai asked.

Naruto returned his attention to me. His eyes were as steady as his voice.

"Sai, I think Sakura is just trying to spare my feelings."

He stared right into my eyes as he talked.

"Sasuke was-is the only love I've known that is true. But I did consider Naruto."

I was addressing the table as well but I didn't break our eye contact.

"Naruto was the strongest of the three of us-not just in a physical sense. In the sense of keeping himself together. Naruto is sweet and kind and he just naturally tries to take care of those around him. Of course I did consider Naruto but..."

I paused.

My brain might have been in overdrive but my mouth was still way ahead of it. The words formed in my mouth before they registered in my thoughts.

"Well...He didn't need me."

I broke our eye contact and stared down at my hands. It took me a moment to regain the courage to look back up at him.

"I wanted to be needed."

I barely heard Sai's voice over the sound my blood, rushing to my ears, I'm not sure what he said. I stared into Naruto's eyes with such intensity the only color I saw was blue.

"...So just like Hinata needed me." I had heard someone say.

And it took me a half a second to recognize it had been Naruto's voice. He broke our eye contract and turned back to the rest of the table and dispelled the tense atmosphere with a jovial smile. Naruto was one of those rare people who could alter moods with the twitch of his lips and and the twinkle of mischief in his eyes.

"In the end it all worked out for the best. We're both with the loves our lives, we're still friends, everyone is happy."

Sai nodded. "There's also a saying that true love like cream in homogenized milk will always rise to the surface. "

"I am not sure anyone has ever said those exact words Sai but the sentiment is sweet" I laughed.

The entire table broke out into laughter. No one laughed with more enthusiasm than Gaara whom right up to Sai's "quotation" had a guilty, embarrassed look on his face. It's obvious that he had no idea that his casual statement would have opened up such a can of worms. So of course he eagerly accepted this lighter tone. The conversation shifted to safer grounds as we snacked on dessert. After some cake and icecream our little party broke up for the night. In the process of bidding everyone goodnight I let it slip that I was going to the medical labs to pick up some notes I had left behind.

Well what happened at dinner was quite an emotional experience for me. But that turned out to be just the tip of the iceberg. What happened next was for better or worse the emotional highlight of the night. In the lab there were a handful of medics and technicians looking over some equipment. No one who would be really surprised to see me there during the night shift hours. I went to my office and waited for the inevitable knock on the door. It came about fifteen minutes after my arrival.

I took in a deep breath before calling out that the door was open,

Naruto eased into the room and shut the door quietly behind him. I waited for him to say something else but he simply studied me.

"There was no reason for me to lie" I said anticipating his thoughts. "Not this time..."

He didn't respond but I noticed his breathing was irregular. It was relatively shallow and swift, not usual from someone with Naruto's level of fitness or his demeanor. It was subtle though and would have escaped the notice of most people. But as a medic it would have been harder for me not to notice. He was, I realized, making a very good attempt to relax himself and regain his composure. What I could not tell by his breathing was if he was angry or simply hurt.

I stepped closer to Naruto and put a hand on his shoulder.

"Nothing has changed Naruto."

He licked his lips, "I don't even know if I believe anything you say anymore."

"What?"

"I hear you but I can't tell..." The impact of his gaze on me was so intense that I took a half step back. "When you kissed me it-."

He cut himself off mid sentence and he let his eyes roam around the office.

"Why did you come to your office instead of going to your hotel room?"

"I figured you would want to talk. I thought I'd save us the trouble of having to explain you knocking on my door during the night."

"You thought you'd save us the trouble?"

He smiled.

"Am I that predictable Sakura?"

"It depends. When you get your mind to do something, you tend to just go and do i-"

Naruto interrupted me by pulling me close and giving me a long lingering kiss. I suppose if he wanted me to shut up that was one way to get me to do it. He broke the kiss and pulled back. I think now, in hindsight, that he was gauging my reaction. I was a little too stunned to speak but my body knew exactly what to do. I arched closer to him and Naruto dove in for seconds. This kiss was an explosion compared to the last two kisses. Urgency replaced sweetness when his lips covered, well I should say claimed my own. An anything but tentative tongue brushed past my lips and explored the world beyond. Once I got over my initial shock I responded with equal ferocity knocking the Hokage hat right off his head as I drove my fingers into his blonde hair. Then like a river meeting the sea I simply flowed into him.

Instinct and need drove me to edge both of us towards my desk. I was just about to push Naruto on top of a pile of injury reports when I heard heavy footsteps in the lab outside the door. Somebody coughed and we froze. Naruto's hands stalled on the first knotted button on my dress and my fingers stilled on the waistband of his pants.

We stood there for a minute, holding on tightly, breathing each other in. The footsteps faded away.

I think I made a noise between a giggle and a sigh right before I said, "That should not have happened."

"I shouldn't eat ramen, I shouldn't drink, I shouldn't kiss you. Sakura tell me why all the bad stuff are so addictive?"

I lowered my voice to a raspy tone. "In my professional medical opinion I think you just have an addictive personality. You get a taste of something good and you just want more."

Naruto gave me a wolfish grin. "I think you're right doctor I just can't help myself."

Heaven help me I giggled again when our lips met for a third and fourth time.

When the chuckles subsided Naruto pulled back. We just looked at each other, neither of us saying a word. I reached out and gently caressed his face, outlining his whiskers with my fingertips. In the silence of the room the moment passed and reality settled in for both of us.

"I think we've crossed a line." He said.

We released our grips on each other. Naruto glanced at the desk I followed his gaze. I believe it dawned on us both at the same time what would have happened had we been in a less public area. In the moment of silence that followed we readjusted our clothing, smoothed out our hair and buttoned what had been unbuttoned. All these actions occurred beneath a shared cloud of guilt.

Soon enough Naruto back to respectable form with his hat on and his spine straight and I found to courage to apologize.

He shook his head, apologizing to me "I should be...better than this"

"We both should be better...than this" I conceded.

Naruto walked towards the door but stopped with his hand on the knob. "Before I met you, I wanted to be the Hokage. I don't recall much about my life befor that dream was part of my life. I can't even imagine what a Uzumaki Naruto who didn't want to be a Hokage would look like. I knew from a very early age that nothing, nothing on this earth would get in the way of my dream."

He look over his shoulder at me. "Sakura you and I are very similar. Was-Am I wrong to think that?"

I felt a hard lump in my throat and I did my best to swallow it. "We are similar in many ways."

Naruto waited a beat before adding, "I thought so."

He studied me for a moment before leaving. No more words were exchanged, no secretive touch, no discreet eye contact-no goodbye smooch.

I took a moment then to assess myself. I waited for guilt, and shame to engulf me. They came in time. I felt shame when I thought of Sarada and the kind of woman I wanted to be in her eyes. I felt guilty when I thought about the vows that I had made and the promises I had broken if not physically but mentally. I regretted that my life had reached a point where the kiss of a man other than my husband would leave a song humming in my veins.

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Naruto recalled the moment after the second kiss when Sakura had pushing up against him. It was then that it had dawned on him what was happening. At that moment in time he had wanted nothing more than for it to happen. It was like losing himself to Kurama the way he had lost his senses.

In the aftermath, while he was in his room and with reason returned to him, he found himself overwhelmed by guilt. He considered calling to his wife. Coming clean to Hinata, letting her know what had happened, how he felt. He wanted to tell the truth. But what had been the truth? What could he tell her? Was it lust, love? When did he fall in love with Sakura? When did he have time to fall in love with his busy schedule?

He didn't call her. He was supposed to make her happy, supposed to keep her happy, that was his role as a husband. He had an obligation to Hinata, she was his wife, the mother of his children, his greatest fan. He hated to disappoint her.

Naruto had no intention of breaking up his marriage. However in a moment of clarity, even when his lust had abated, he was aware that the temptation to go back to Sakura was a real one. It was something more that just a physical reaction. This feeling though familiar frightened him. It frightened him more than any enemy combatant ever could.

Naruto laughed as he flipped the next page in Sakura's journal, he was in the same position that he had been many years ago. Of his feelings he was sure of Sakura's he could not be certain.

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Jul 10:

Infidelity is an ugly word.

An even uglier act

Nothing good can come from it.

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Jul 10:

There were times while Sarada was at the academy that I would lay down in bed and think to myself. There must be more to love than this. If I were to find something more in the arms of someone other than my husband would that really make me a monster? Perhaps

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Jul 11

Naruto forgets that he and Sasuke are also alike. Sasuke also had a dream that no one would get in the way of. Sasuke lived out his dream and has yet to forgive himself for its completion.

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Jul 12:

If I can just keep everything contained to my private thoughts. Then it isn't all that bad. If it's all a fantasy than I haven't betrayed anyone.

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Jul 13:

Sai came to me while I was on my lunch break.

"He's upset again."

We got to Naruto's hotel room just as Gaara was stepping out. The Kazekage closed the door behind him with a heavy sigh. I threw questions at him. I managed to only get a vague and cryptic answer, which was all things considered a victory.

"The further we get from the war the easier it is for idealism to be replaced by everyday."

It wasn't much but it shed a little light on what I could expect from Naruto's mindset. We entered the hotel room to find Naruto scolding his laptop.

"I needed the revision yesterday! Not today, not tomorrow, not next week, I needed it yesterday!"

Shikamaru's voice came through speakers. "I'll try and get it to you tonight."

"Don't try, get it to me Shikamaru! Get me that revision because I am drowning here and you are supposed to be my lifeboat!"

Naruto slammed the lid of the laptop shut. He turned to us his eyes wild with passionate fury.

"What do you want?" He grunted.

Before we could say anything Naruto cut us off with a wave of his hand.

"Actually no, I am headed out. I need some air."

Sai stepped forward. "Are you leaving the hotel? I have to alert securirty when you leave..."

Naruto shook his head. "I don't have time for that"

"But the Alliance has set rather definite regulations about moving around-"

Naruto interrupted Sai with a spat.

"If there is someone out there who is strong enough to kill me Sai what can you or Amegakure's security protocol do against him? I'd have to protect you guys! You guys would be burdens to me. You are useless Sai, can't you see that?!"

I slapped Naruto across the face with my open hand. It wasn't something I consciously thought about doing. It just happened and I heard Sai gasp.

"Ask me again if I think you've changed." I said to Naruto.

The Seventh stepped back. He was hurt, he was humiliated. But mostly the slap had startled him. He put his hands up toward his face and looked at me with sad puppy dog eyes. I've hit Naruto so many times over the years and I think this was the first time I had ever truly hurt him.

He wasn't alone. I felt tears rolling down my cheeks

After a moment he closed his eyes and when he reopened them he offered me and Sai an oddly composed stare.

"Anyone who is still in this room when I get back will be stripped of their rank."

He maqrched out of the room leaving me and Sai alone.

"I suppose we should just give him some space for now" Sai mused. He was surprisingly unfazed by what just happened. I took a bit of confidence from that.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Jul 15:

"What do you want Uchiha-san?" Naruto slurred at me when I first approached him.

I suppose "Uchiha-san" was supposed to hurt me but he was the one who flinched at his own words. As if he had tossed explosives at me but was standing too close to the explosion to avoid the sharpnel.

Unlike Tsunade and Lee, Naruto was a mellow drunk. A certain amount of liquor made him docile, it made him slower. Booze always seemed to curb his personality. However, it also made him less inclined to guard some of his more private thoughts.

"They've got really tasty drinks here don't they?"

"It's something else" Naruto answered.

"Sai told me you apologized to him. He also said that you were brooding in your room."

Naruto had been sitting in a reclining chair on the balcony of his room when I entered. We were on the thirtieth floor so he was staring out into the horizon with a bottle of sake at his side.

"I do not brood Sakura. I am reflecting on my life."

"You are drunk."

"I reflect better when I am drunk."

"Well brooding, reflecting, I am here to cheer you up."

"You really shouldn't be here" he said.

I asked why not.

He looked me up and down in an exaggerated manner and said, "Because like you said I am drunk. And you might think you know what I need. But I know what I want."

He fell abruptly silent, as if he felt he had said too much. He turned away embarrassed.

"Sorry about that. That was-I don't know what that was."

I stepped deeper into the balcony. "That was you being drunk. It doesn't matter though I probably trust you more than anyone."

Naruto offered me a skeptical look. "Really, even after what happened in your office?"

"I am fairly sure I actively participated in that incident."

"I might drunkenly fondle you."

"Only if I let you."

Naruto's right eyebrow rose suggestively.

"No."

"It would cheer me up though."

"You are a married man Naruto. I am a married woman."

"Yeah we were married two days ago in your office and look how that turned out..."

I conceded his point as he sipped from the bottle.

He then sighed. "I'm sorry about the other day Sakura. I was projecting my own uselessness on someone else. Projecting is the right word right?"

I answered that though the usage was correct the context seemed questionable.

"I am failing as the Hokage Sakura," Naruto told me as if it were the most obvious news in the world.

"How can you possibly think that?"

He explained that when it was becoming clear that Naruto's time to be Hokage was fast approaching he asked Shikamaru to calculate the chances of a war breaking out during his tenure. Shikamaru came to him the next week with troubling news.

Naruto quoted Shikamaru's exact words to me very dramatically.

"These are all estimations of course. But based on the current political climate as long as you remain as strong as you are for the rest of your life there will be less than twenty percent chance of a war breaking out between the villages while you live. If you lost your power or died of natural causes in office there's a Fifty five percent chance there will be a war between at least two village within fifteen years of your death or loss of power. War will break out within one year if you are assassinated and Sasuke is still alive."

"Sasuke would probably not react to your assassination in a reasonable manner" I told Naruto.

Naruto snorted "A fine mess for my successor to clean up."

Naruto had asked Shikamaru to elaborate on the report. And his future councilor did. It seemed the fighting hadn't stopped because of any serious idealism forged by camaraderie discovered during the war. The reality was nothing at the moment had been worth fighting for to risk Naruto and Sasuke intervening. At best in a conflict between nations or villages Naruto and Sasuke could stop a fight and humiliate the combatants in front of the entire world. At worst if either Naruto or Sasuke picked a side during a conflict the other side faced the prospect of complete destruction. The scales would realign themselves when one of them died. With better odds they would take more risks.

"So I thought to myself I have to change the way people think about certain things. But I needed to do something without being the big stick hovering over everyone. Without being the weapon that Nagato left behind to keep people in check. I needed people to be open to change without me having to flex first."

Immediately after becoming Hokage, Naruto had Shikamaru began to work around the clock to come up with ways to further the international peace movement. However whenever Naruto presented some of his ideas to other Kages, the newer ones especially, the Daimyos, or other heads of state, they talked over him, they talked down to him, they talked through him. They talked to him about economics, history, geography, they had many legitimate reasons and many excuses to paint him as just an idealistic dreamer. A very strong dreamer though, worth meeting, worth respecting for his battle prowess, worth going to for protection if need be, but a dreamer nonetheless. So they did their best to keep information from him, to leave him confused and misinformed, they chuckled right in his face if he was caught lacking in knowledge of the current topic of discussion. In some instances he had found himself feeling as if he had been transported back to his "deadlast" days in the academy.

"To change a political climate you've got to be political right? I needed to think like them, I needed to be able to maneuver around words and people, to read between lines like them, I need to know what they knew. I worked hard at that for a long long time. I learned how to be a politician Sakura, and I used what I learned over the years to get this chunin exam."

"It's a tremendous achievement," I said.

"You would think that. Except that it's scared some people. Some of the kages don't trust me anymore. They think I have too much influence on the world stage. Sakura this whole time I thought I was working with them towards achieving the chunin exams. It turns out I had been fighting them, I fought with politics instead of my fist to get this. There's more tension now then there was when I got into office. All these years and I've made it worse."

He took another swig of sake.

"With the way things are now if I die tonight within fifteen years there is a better than fifty percent chance of a war breaking out. That means Boruto, Sarada, Himawari will have to fight, they'll have to watch their friends die. What is the point of anything I've ever done if I can't even keep our children out of war Sakura?!"

I asked Naruto if he thought he could stop wars forever. He didn't think so, but he had pledged to himself that he would at least minimize the possibility that his children would experience the horrors of war.

"I am the Hokage, I should be making a better future for the next generation."

I mentioned to him that I thought he had been changing the world by just being him. To me he had been changing the world before he even became Hokage. I told him how Sarada will look to her father and try to decipher what being a shinobi really means. She'll learn from him that a shinobi loves and protects her village and her family and she should never give up on them. When she comes to me for the same thing, I'll tell her that a shinobi tries to understand others, even her enemies. That compassion is not a weakness and love is a strength. Both of our answers will come from our personal experiences with the same man. Hopefully Sarada will pass this example on to her children, just like Boruto and Himawari will pass it on to their children. Ino's children, Shikamaru's children, Konohamaru's children hopefully they will all pass it down.

"That sounds like the Will of Fire" Naruto said.

I insisted that it was different. This was new. The First was only thinking about Konohagakure. If one percent of the people who felt Naruto's feelings during the war pass it on to their children and they pass it on to their own. one day then what it means to be a shinobi will be completely different than what Hashirama even imagined. And the world would be a better place for it.

"Hopefully" Naruto said. "Maybe you are giving me too much credit Sakura "

"No I don't think so Naruto. You are actually the coolest guy."

Naruto tried to suppress a smile, but he did not quite make it.

"Hey don't hide it from me, I like that smile."

He grinned. He then brought the half finished bottle of sake to his mouth but stopped himself and placed it back down on the ground beside him.

"Thank you."

"No, I should thank you for inviting me here. I really enjoyed working with medical ninjutsu again. Naruto I really do love being a medic."

"Give me a phone, I'll reinstate you as the lead medic in Konoha right now."

It made me really happy to know that Naruto believed in me so much. I said that to him. But I had to decline. Sarada needed me, I may be an ineffectual wife but I've devoted myself to being a great mother.

Naruto started to say something, but seemed to think better of it, "...I understand."

"I've made my choices and I'll stick to them."

Naruto looked at me, considering. "Sakura, are we going to have an affair?"

I was standing still and yet somehow I almost tripped over my own feet.

"Who said anything about an affair?!"

Naruto shrugged. "No one has said anything about an affair. There's just this thing going on between us."

"A thing?" I asked.

"A thing. And it keeps me up at night."

He paused.

"I didn't mean for it to sound like that."

I draw in three deep breaths. Then I gave Naruto my opinion on our "thing."

"It was like you explained at dinner. Life is complicated. There was a confusing mix of emotion, angst, anger and hormones flying around when we were younger. It could be happening again. I had been feeling really lonely lately and Naruto had been feeling very stressed. The circumstances we found ourselves in, created fantasies in our minds. Fantasies that we might be able to turn the clock back, return to a time when we were young and fresh and innocent and we only had our dreams. When we feel any sort of distance between ourselves and our spouses we build intimate connections with people whom we believe we might be able to relive our lives, it's an impossible but attractive dream."

Naruto stared at me his reddened eyes wide. "Wow, you've given this a lot of thought."

"I-I've been thinking things through since the scene in my office. I don't want to make a mistake based on poor judgment and wishful thinking." I said.

"So if we were in love, right now, it wouldn't be a mistake?"

"It would still be a mistake" I pointed out. "We would simply have a better excuse for making a mistake than we do now."

"You are smart Sakura you should have been Hokage."

Naruto looked me over again. This time without the exaggerated lust that was meant to scare me off. When he spoke again his voice had changed, it was kind and generous and cheerful, like the Naruto of old.

"You know the truth is, it would have never worked out between us. You would have been mean to me all the time."

I smiled. "You would annoy me all the time."

"I bet you snore Sakura."

"I do not snore!"

"Not only do you snore you hog all the blankets."

"I bet you eat in bed and leave crumbs all over the place," I countered.

"You don't even know how to cook ramen do you?"

"You don't know how to eat anything besides ramen do you?"

"It's obvious Sakura, you and I were not meant to be."

Naruto smiled. The slightest kindest smile. He looked at me the same way he had looked at me while standing on my doorstep in Konohagakure months ago. I knew then that I was in love with Naruto. I was on the verge of my own emotional breakdown. But the moment wasn't about me, It was about Naruto. We chatted and laughed some more our conversation colored meticulously in between platonic lines. Eventually he began dropping hints that I should leave. I suspected he had some more "reflecting" to do so I dragged the conversation until he announced that he intended to go to bed. I didn't believe him but I couldn't babysit him.

Before I left I said to him that he really had no need to redefine himself to be a good Hokage. If anything he should redefine what it means to be a good Hokage. He nodded to me in silent acknowledgment of the statement. I do not know if my words had any impact on him or if he simply just wanted me leave. I left reluctantly and I retreated back to my room where I granted myself the opportunity to shatter properly.

I had told Naruto the truth when I said that he had caught me at a bad time right before I kissed him. I had been indeed, at that moment, vulnerable to his presence. But as history has proven its when I am at my most vulnerable that my relationship with Naruto clarifies itself. I can admit it to myself now I kissed him because I love my stupid Hokage. As much as it sounds like the plot of a trashy novel I am a woman, mother, wife, who is in love with her boss. I didn't tell Naruto this because he would want to know how, and why now? After all these years, after all that has happened. What could I say really? Could I really tell him it's because of the way he looked at me. Naruto probably doesn't even know he does it.

I am reminded now of cryptic remarks uttered to me by Tsunade randomly for years when in her most inebriated states

"Naruto still looks at you like you're a woman."

She would ay this to me and I would simply nod my head at her. How else was Naruto supposed to look at me? I was a woman after all. I didn't get it, I had stopped paying attention long ago. Then he invited me to be part of the chunin exams. Naruto stood at my door and his warm eyes washed over me. He didn't just simply see me as a woman like Tsunade had said. I was a mother, I was a trusted friend, I was someone who had talent, who had skill, someone who he admired, someone beautiful and sexy, someone who was worth being looked at with love by someone like him.

That wasn't the first time he had looked at me that way. I can remember now bits and pieces, moments in time, the look had been there. It had always been there. I kissed Uzumaki Naruto, my friend, my Hokage, a married man I now love, six months ago, and fifteen years too late.

After the war I had concluded his feelings for me were rooted in his rivalry with Sasuke, that made more sense to me at the time than anything else. And it made things much easier. No would get hurt if that were the truth. So for years this was our truth. Naruto was happy with Hinata and I was happy with Sasuke, everyone got what they wanted.

So what right did I have to love Naruto now?

In years these kisses will be harmless kisses between friends. This will again be our truth and it will become the truth. Naruto will continue to be happy with his family, and I will be happy with my family.

Everyone will be happy.

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

Of all the emotions that swelled beneath him anger was the first to break through. In a fury Naruto slammed Sakura's journal on the coffee table. He then sat back on the couch and waited for his rage to settle. Whom was he mad at? Himself, Sakura, the universe?

Love he had always known was a powerful individual driving force. But was a person driven by that force obligated to respect the personal force driving another? This is what Naruto had considered in a far less sophisticated manner years ago when he had first seen signs of Sasuke reciprocating Sakura's affection. Sakura was in love. Naruto was in love too. There was an obvious conflict. When Naruto considered Sakura's love. When he considered how it had remained intact through various trials and tribulations. When he considered how much she was willing to sacrifice for Sasuke. He didn't think he could win, he wasn't even sure if he wanted to win. Why cut Sasuke from a potential source of happiness? Truth be told he admired the depth of Sakura's feelings. In many ways he could have related. So for the first time in his life Naruto conceded defeat without trying his best.

When Sasuke had gone on the first of his many journeys Sakura measured their friendship for any sign of hard feelings. Naruto downplayed his intentions and she was left with her assumptions. He didn't fight her on it. It didn't matter whether they, her assumptions, were true or not. The results would be the same. Perception became reality and he opened his heart to alternatives.

Naruto sighed as he lifted himself off the couch

An alternative had presented itself. And he fell in love again. No, it had been a different feeling with Hinata, he didn't fall, he accepted love. He wanted to protect and take care of her. He wanted to be there for her. It seemed inevitable. He thought it was mature, a mature love that would carry him through the rest of his life. He made a home with Hinata. They had established a future.

As Naruto headed to the bathroom memories of his visit to the Uchiha household floated to his mind. Even before the kiss when they were just talking about the chunin exam the familiarity had been there. But he was being disingenuous. Familiarity wasn't the right word to use. It was chemistry. The conversation had been like a dance, he dipped, she dipped, they matched each other's stride, it was fun. He gone over to give her a briefing of sorts, a mission with objectives and it was fun. When it was over he hadn't wanted to leave. He couldn't stay so he just took a moment to look at her. She noticed his look, closed her eyes, lifted her head and their lips collided.

In hindsight there had been other moments like that in the past. Of course none of them had ended with a kiss but the atmosphere had been similar. Brief moments during birthday parties, village festivals, and the occasional double date. A glance here, an affectionate touch there, the occasional playful conversation, a smile seen from the corner of his eyes. Platonic moments of course since they were old friends.

Naruto turned the tap in the bathroom sink and allowed the cold water to pool in his hands. He splashed the water across his face and the bracing cold shocked his system.

He had reset. Now it was time to decide what kind of a man Uzumaki Naruto was.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Sakura was disheveled in appearance and emotion when she entered Naruto's room later that evening. She noted immediately that he appeared to be in no better shape at least in his outward appearance. Any sleep he had gotten had not been a restful one. But at least he wasn't wet.

"You were out in that rain?" Naruto asked.

"Yep. It's cats and dogs out there" she replied. The downpour had hit her out of the blue. Within minutes, she was soaked through. Now water dripped from her hair onto the hotel room's carpet.

"Out for a walk?" He asked.

"Trying to clear my head. Should have brought an umbrella."

The chunin exams had not been easy on either of them. But it was almost over. When they got home in a few days, when they were around the safety net of their friends and family things would go back to normal.

Naruto had been standing near the glass doors that led out into the balconly. When she started to move deeper into the living room Naruto stopped her by putting his hand up.

"I am sorry" He stated.

She stared at him quizzically"For what?"

Naruto pointed to the notebook that lay on the coffee table.

"I stole your journal from your room. I read it."

She charged.

Naruto slipped away from her blow in a blast of chakra.

Now standing a few feet away from her he said, "As sorry as I am and I am truly sorry. I can't let you kill me Sakura."

She turned to him her fists clenching. "It'll be okay as long as I restart your heart within four to six minutes.."

Naruto scratched at his cheek. "Let's talk about this reasonably."

"Reasonably? You ass!You broke into my room and stole my journal!"

"Okay there's nothing reasonable about what I did. But still let's talk."

She turned away from him and walked towards the balcony. She drew in three quick breaths while watchig sporadic raindrops collect on the glass doors.

"Sakura...I needed to know."

"Well now you know. And it doesn't mean anything. It doesn't change anything. What was the point?"

"I had to know" Naruto repeated.

She turned to him. "And?"

"And I fell for you again, no maybe I never stopped loving you I don't know. Maybe you are right, maybe its was triggered by stress or some other psychological thing whatever. All I know is it's real, my feelings are real."

"And what good do all these revelations do for us?" Sakura asked with her eyes misting over.

"With everything out in the open we can now proceed accordingly."

Naruto straightened his posture and drew in a massive breath.

"Sakura it's very simple we are going to ignore it all. Live our lives as if none of this ever happened"

"It's that easy?" Sakura asked.

"I never said it would be easy Sakura I said it's simple. The answer to this problem is a simple one, living it out is hard. In time it'll just fade away like a hard to remember dream."

"Poetic" Sakura smiled. "You know I used to believe that feelings couldn't change."

"Sakura even if it's true that feelings can't change, the fact is they can be ignored. "

The Seventh walked over to the coffee table and picked up the notebook. He took a few steps towards Sakura and extended the journal out to her.

"Sakura the path I've walked has given me Boruto and Himawari. If I were sent back and given the choice I'd walk down the same path again. I'm sure you feel the same way about Sarada."

"Absolutely." Sakura took notebook from him, and in the exchange she perceived the wisdom of Naruto's words. Though there was a slight coldness in them. An accurate if not harsh assessment of their reality. Clutching her journal in her hands she understood that Naruto was right, her options were crystal clear. Love or loss, similar words, four letters, one syllable each.

"You know I think I was scared" Naruto said.

"Scared?"

"I knew how you felt about Sasuke. But I could have confessed anyway just for the closure if nothing else. But it's easier not to knock than to have the door close on your face."

"You were scared? You mister defier of impossible odds, the legendary Stubborn Fox of Konohakagure?"

Naruto shook his head, "I never liked that nickname. Yeah I guess I was scared but I knew it would work out for the best and it has."

"What would you have said to me?" Sakura inquired.

Confusion masked Naruto's face.

"If you had back then, if you had a chance to tell me how you felt, what would you have said?"

Naruto turned away and chuckled. "I wrote it down you know...back then, I had it all down. I used to practice in front of a mirror. Then I throw it out."

"Do you remember any of it?"

"I don't understand..."

"I think this will help." Sakura said. "It's closure..."

"Closure?"

"Trust me."

After a moment of contemplation or hesitation Naruto began "I would have said-I would have said that Sakura I spent a lot of time trying to read your mind. I can't read it but I still try all the time. I think I know what would make you happy. But I can''t really know. Can you really know everything about someone else? Probably not. You Sakura, you don't know much I want to love you..But I know how much I love you. I know that if were together I would get on your nerves, and we would fight a lot. And I can't be the type of cool guy that you want. But I know that I can love you constantly with everything I have. Because I want too. I know I am selfish and I am greedy, because I want to be the one to make you happy, I want to wipe away your tears, I want be the one to make you smile."

Naruto paused, interrupted seemingly by a sudden memory. He then sighed "And that's what I would have said to you."

"What do you think I would-How would I have answered your confession?"

"I expected you to say 'thank you for your feelings Naruto. I appreciate them but I am in love with Sasuke.'"

Sakura drew in a deep breath and looked Naruto in the eyes. "Thank you for your feelings Naruto. I appreciate them but I am in love with Sasuke."

Naruto studied her but said nothing.

"Naruto am I telling the truth? Can you tell? Do you believe me?"

"I don't" he said, his voice slightly cracked.

With her heart beating with a rapidness that frightened her. Sakura deftly slipped her wedding ring off her finger and placed it down on the coffee table. She looked back at Naruto.

"I'll face the rain. For a touch of the sun" Her voice quivered with such vulnerability, that it made Naruto ache. Looking carefully he could see the resolve and passion of her stubborn nature burning behind her eyes.

"Ah" he sighed. "I remember why I love you."

Naruto lifted his hand and glanced at his fingers. He slid the ring from his finger, walked stiffly over to the coffee table, and put his ring down next to Sakura's. He cupped her face with both hands and kissed her once, briefly, before he put one hand behind her neck and the other at the small of her back, pulling her into a deeper kiss. Sakura reached over, running a hand from his arm to his chest then down to rest on his waist line.

With no desk in the hotel room, Naruto reasoned he would have to make do with a bed. Walking her backwards he guided her towards the bedroom. They stumbled out of the living room running into furniture and almost tripping over each others feet multiple times in their frenzied need to cling to each other. Locked in a ceaseless kiss they bounced against the walls of the hall leading to his bedroom until they pushed through the door.

They finally broke apart when they were mere steps away from his bed.

"We're here" Naruto laughed.

"Almost didn't make it" Sakura laughed back.

Naruto reached to her and started slowing unbuttoning her clothes. Anxious she licked her lips as her dress began to slip from her shoulders. When he reached the last button he whispered her name. A question not a statement, an opportunity for her to pull back and retreat.

She pressed her hand against the back of his neck and brought his mouth to hers. So the dress fell to the floor leaving her in her boots bra and panties. Naruto picked her up as if she were light as a feather and laid her down on his bed. With one hand he removed her bra. His tongue moved down her torso before he slipped off her panties and finally her boots. Sakura stretched out in his bed completely naked and Naruto straightened to take the sight in. She took pleasure in the fact that he liked what he saw. It was her turn now so she reached up and undressed him kissing every inch that was uncovered

When he was fully nude she kissed his chest and dropped lower pausing briefly at his nipple then inching closer to his belly. When her tongue caressed the tip of him his whole body grew rigid.

"Sakura" he said. Not really knowing why. Was he trying to stop her? Was he encouraging her. He didn't know, his brain wasn't functioning properly.

She took him in her mouth. As deep as she could before sucking hard all the way back to the tip.

"Okay" Naruto heard himself mutter. He rested his hands on her head. This time for sure to encourage her. He ran his fingers through her hair as she worked her mouth up and down his shaft.

"Slow down Sakura" he warned after a few more blissful moments.

She either didn't hear him or she didn't care. She began humming so her lips vibrated as she worked her way down the shaft to the groin and his eyes started to lose focus.

"Sakura I am going..."

Sakura pulled up. "It's alright I want you to.."

She went back down to take him in again but this time he pulled away almost falling completely off the bed.

"No, no, not yet." he said to her.

He kissed her and let his hands cup her breasts. He kneaded her gently as he maneuvered her down onto her back. Then he nudged her legs apart and knelt between them. He bent down and his tongue parted her lips. She arched towards him. He braced his hand on her thighs and held her steady as long deep thorough licks aross her hypersensitive nub set her on her fire. His pride swelled when she began to babble gibberish at him. Nonsensical phrases and wordless moans with his name interposed between them filled his ear when his tongue circled her. In time she strained upwards with her fist clenching his hair and her head thrown back. When her legs wrapped tightly around his head and her body quaked he knew he had her.

Naruto pulled up over Sakura and he rained he kisses down on her face as she caught her breath. He then kissed around her breasts the left and the right, each nipple hardened the moment his tongue slipped over it. Abruptly she reached down and grabbed him by the back of his head

"Okay it's been fifteen years of foreplay Naruto. I want to feel you" She growled.

He grinned. "

When he entered her she was soaking wet. He pulled out almost all the way and returned with one great thrust. At first he wanted to tease her a bit but when he was sheathed completely in her slickness he felt the overwhelming sensation that this was where he belonged. He closed his eyes and the weight of the world seemed to lift right off his shoulders. Years of weariness melted away from his body. He felt a soft hand caress his cheek and he opened his eyes.

Sakura looked up at him. "Hey, let me in."

He smiled as their gazes locked. Naruto moved in and out in a slow steady rhythm. Deeper, harder. inch by heated inch he buried himself inside her. She squeezed him using her inside muscles to pull on him. He shuddered feeling the fire build. He shook it off willing himself to maintain control. He took her shoulder in his mouth gently grazing it with his teeth and sucking on it until she gasped out loud.

He felt her body tighten and relax against him. She was tipping over the edge losing herself. He smiled knowing for sure that he had her again. But then she wrapped her legs around him bringing him impossible closer, and she kissed along his chest and neck

He lost it

His steady rhythm collapsed into a frantic frenzied pace. He sent her over the edge but he followed right after. Naruto shuddered violently as he came inside her.

When he could think again Naruto dropped his sweaty forehead down to hers. "Sakura"

"Yeah?" She said riding her own wave.

"That's two to one."

"I see."

Sakura braced her elbow onto the bed and placed her open palm against his chest. She pushed while simultaneously sliding out from beneath him. Suddenly Naruto found himself flipped onto his back.

Sakura straddled his body. She took a hold of him in her hand and within a few gentle strokes he was hard again.

"All I know is I'm going to put you to sleep"

She guided him into her. Then she plunged downward fully impaling herself onto him. Sakura contracted her muscles around him. Then she moved her hips once testing. Naruto's eyes squeezed shut and his fingers dug into the skin of her buttocks. She braced her hands on her knees and lifted her pelvis, then dropped it back down again slowly, rising and falling.

Increasing the intensity she braced her hand on his shoulders and increased her pace. She positioned herself in a way that Naruto could more effectively rub against her. Pleasure slammed against her as she rode him with fast movements of her hips. Naruto threw his head back on the pillow his face twisted in pleasure and it only encouraged her further.

She tooks his hands and leaned back creating new friction at a new angle. Naruto was sweating profusely now desperately tried to regain control before he lost it completely. He had to make her go first. He locked his hand on her waist as his body leapt beneath her. His body bridged upward violently, Sakura wrapped her legs tightly around his buttocks, grabbed his shoulders and held on, riding him furiously. Naruto's body buckled. If he was going to go he wouldn't go alone. He used every ounce of willpower he had to latch on to her body and he thrust upwards relentlessly. Sakura dug her nails into his back as she emitted a silent scream and she abandoned herself to a series of continuous explosions. As her body rocked against his Naruto erupted into her and fell back onto the bed climaxing with a deep guttural moan.

He almost gave himself over to the light. But he thought to himself that the night was still young, He wasn't one to give up that easy. He shook the fog from his head when he felt Sakura nibbling at his ear.

XXXXXXXXXXX

Naruto woke several hours later.

In fact when he woke up he woke all at once with his eyes popping open and him being keenly aware of his environment. He felt more refreshed and alive than he had in some time. It was the complete opposite of the hangover fueled morning the day before.

"I told you I'd put you to sleep" Sakura said.

Naruto turned his head and looked at her. Sakura sat up in bed with her knees pulled up to her chest. She appeared to be wide awake.

"More like you were trying to give me a heart attack."

She grinned. "I would have revived you."

"Did you sleep at all?' He asked.

"I woke up a few minutes before you did. Don't worry I slept like a baby as well. You did real goooood Naruto."

He laughed. "That's good to know."

She turned away and drew in a deep breath. "We should probably talk about...everything."

"We should," he replied.

Sakura began to speak. "Around Sarada's fourth birthday Sasuke came home and it was an usually extended stay. He brought her a ton of books and read to her every night for four consecutive months. This was their father-daughter time together and I rarely intruded. By the time he left again he had gone through all the books. She enjoyed them all but there was one that was their personal favorite. Sarada always requested it by name, and after reading it Sasuke always came out of her room with reddened eyes. I thought it was sweet."

Sakura paused. "When Sasuke left Sarada asked me to read her the book. The book was about sailor who left all the people he cared about because he was called by the sea. The sailor had a song that...Well there ws a verse then went um-"

She sang.

"I'm leavin' my famly, leavin' all my friends. My body's at home, but my heart's in the wind."

Sakura sniffed before continuing. "So please call my missus. Gotta tell her not to cry 'Cause my goodbye is written...By the moon in the sky."

Sakura paused once again. "I almost wept in front of Sarada, I would have hated myself if I had. I've never let her see me cry. I finished the book, tucked her in, went to my room and cried into my pillow. It might have started then because the next morning things felt different. Sarada she adores her father as she should. I know why he does it and I pray for his safety every night"

Swiping her her hand against her eyes Sakura continued. "One day, a few years ago, I woke up, I had breakfast, I took Sarada to to school and I was walking home I realized that it didn't hurt anymore. Well not like it used."

She turned to Naruto and tapped her heart before tapping her forehead. "You might have noticed that it takes a long time before the news can get from point A to Point B"

Naruto grasped Sakura's hand and brought it to his lips. He kissed the back of her palm as he stared at the ceiling. It seemed to him now that he had always been a selfish man. He was lucky in the fact that many of the things he had most desired in the world had created positive outcomes when he satisfied those desires. He wanted to save Sasuke, he wanted to be Hokage, he wanted a sustained period of peace.

"Do you still..." Sakura said.

Naruto blinked. "If I was dying of thirst Hinata would cry so I could drink her tears. She made me feel loved in a way I had never felt before. It was powerful."

"What do you feel now?"

"Loved, and scared."

"Scared?"

"Yeah but in a good way like a roller coaster."

Sakura sighed. "Are you comparing me to a roller coaster?"

"I told you before you're kind of scary Sakura-chan."

She closed her eyes as twin streaks of tears slipped from beneath the closed eyelids.

He continued. "I think love is supposed to be kind of scary."

Sakura smiled as she wiped at her eyelids.

"Don't smile like that. I might fall for you more."

"Is that even possible." She asked.

"I don't want to risk it do you?"

Sakura gave his hand a little squeeze before interlocking their fingers.

"Hinata is my wife and I've got nothing but good things to say about her. But my relationship with her, it's not you and me."

Naruto pulled Sakura down to him and wrapped his arms around her. Sakura placed her head against his chest.

"We can't be together you know. It'll hurt t0o many people" Sakura said.

Naruto said nothing as he placed his hand against the back of Sakura's head. His mind was desperately searching for solutions and remedies to these rising issues. Nothing he had thought so far was anywhere near satisfactory. Everything ended with pain and heartache.

"But you're the Hokage. If you send for me I'll have to come."

Naruto remained silent.

"You heartbeat sounds like a melody" he heard Sakura sigh before falling asleep again.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Naruto met Sai at the door.

"You are finally awake."

"Not feeling so hot so I decided to stay in bed."

"Will you be able to make it to the final summit meeting this evening?"

"Of course"

"Good, I've gotten a message from the Kazekage. He's been asking around and it seems that the Kage are set to approve your revised proposals."

"Oh."

Sai studied Naruto's face.

"I thought you would be happy. You are getting what you wanted right?"

"At a price, some feathers were ruffled."

Sai shrugged. "Well what will be, will be, as some people may say. Let us enjoy the moment because for now the world is in theory a more peaceful happier place."

Naruto nodded. "Yes you are right Sai."

Sai smiled. "May I come in?"

"No" Naruto said. "I am going back to bed."

Sai glanced over Naruto's head beyond the crack in the door into the room. "Well have you seen Sakura? I didn't see her go back to her room after she went into yours."

Naruto looked his friend in the eyes and with composure befitting of a Hoakge he asked, "Did you check the medical labs? She mentioned something about a night shift to me last night."

"I see."

"You must have missed her when she left." Naruto said. The realization that he had forgotten he had asked Sai to call Sakura up to his room caused his stomach to flip.

But in contrast to his troubled insides on the surface Naruto was cool and collected.

Sai frowned. "That's a bad thing for me to miss. Someone coming out of the Hokage's room. You should have me replaced for my uselessness Hokage-sama."

Naruto caught himself before he flinched. "No Sai...I didn't mean..."

Sai grinned. "I am teasing you Naruto. I am positive I didn't miss her because she spent the night in your room. But don't worry I am the only one who knows and the good thing about no longer being in ROOT, I get to personally choose what secrets are worth keeping to myself."

Naruto shook his head. "You don't have to hold these kind of secrets for me Sai."

Sai considered this. "There is a village far in the east where not telling secrets is an act of respect. These people feel that revealing painful secrets isn't a sign of intimacy, it's an act of aggression. You tell secrets not for the good of another but to make yourself feel better. To absolve yourself of your burdens. It's an interesting concept though bizarre to us."

"It is bizarre" Naruto agreed.

"Yes it is but its still interesting. Anyway if you want me to judge you I will. But since you two are my friends I will just hope for your happiness. "

With that said Sai excused himself. Naruto waited for a moment before closing the door. Already he was spinning a web of lies to cover himself.

As he walked back to his bedroom the thoughts of all the things he and Sakura had been putting at risk weighed him down with each step. The seeming loss of their family's love, the loss of respect of their friends and colleagues, all of it terrified him. How could anything good be built on the foundation of so much potential destruction? Naruto stepped into his bedroom feeling a spasm of anxiety. He felt out of place as if he walked into an alternate world. Any happiness he found in this room ran contrary to the world he had built outside these walls. This was something separate from his actual life, something that conflicted with what his life was supposed to be.

He looked towards his bed. Sunlight drifted in through the transparent curtains and washed over Sakura's sleeping form. Naruto watched her sleep for a moment. She had most of his sheets wrapped completely around her. He chuckled to himself, she really did hog the blankets. One of her hands reached across the empty side of the bed as if she were searching for him. Moving swiftly Naruto slid beneath the covers beside her. As if aware of his presence, Sakura cuddled against his side her fingers splayed over his torso, her cheek resting on his shoulder. She smiled a brilliant smile.

Naruto covered her hand with his and pressed her palm against his chest so could feel the steady beat of his heart. He inhaled her scent as a shaft of light from the window warmed his face. He closed his eyes, in time his breathing matched hers and a gentle peace settled over him.

His mind cleared and he felt convinced that this was real and it was meant to be. Even if in the end it would turn "meant to be" for this one moment only.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Hope you liked it let me know if you did. If you have any questions about the changes I've made feel free to ask, I may have an answer. The original story before any revisions will be found in the next chapter.

The song lyrics from Sarada's book is from Shiver me Timbers by Tom Waits

P.S NaruSaku 4 life

#NaruSaku #narusaku fanfiction #narusaku fanfic #long post #really long post