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darkdevasofdestruction · 3 years

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My Clarity ~ Shikamaru x Kitsune

A little fic in which Shikamaru isn’t the only kid who gets advice from his dad through Shogi.

Honestly tho, I’m in my exam session, 9 exams, thankfully, only 2 more to go next week, and I have a burning urge to re-watch all of Naruto for some reason, and my love for this beautiful Deer boy resurfaced very VERY powerfully.

Oops.

Little fox, little fox, what are you hiding behind that sly, cheerful smile of yours?

Little fox, little fox, why are you all alone?

Little fox, little fox, what's going on through your mind?

Little fox, little fox...Do you wanna play?

---

Shikamaru always knew there was something off with the red haired girl in his class -

She just seemed too perfect.

She was beautiful, she was smart, she was talented, she was kind, she was helpful, she was selfless..

And his parents were best friends with her parents, so they would often meet up for play dates and whatever.

No matter how much he tried to avoid her like the plague, she didn’t give up, and whenever he asked her why the hell she wanted to hang out with him so bad, she’d just say

“Because I like you, little fawn.”

That stupid nickname, that soon turned into “Deer boy” irked him big time...But in a way...

He was the only one to whom she gave nicknames, so he felt kinda special.

Actually, he was the only one with whom she actually seemed completely genuine...So maybe he should actually enjoy it?

Yeah, why not, right?

She’s not so bad, after all, and if he gets to learn something form her, all the better!

----

“Scrub it off. Clean it off. Take it off. Claw it off. Rip it off. Saw it off. Carve it off. Rinse it off. Wash it off. Cut it off –“ the obsessive mutterings went on and on like grating. She was trembling, not even realizing her cheeks were soaked, not from the rain, but from the tears her beautiful green eyes that now resembled a rainforest, were producing.

What was going on? This can’t be happening…This was supposed to be a simple mission with her dad and her dad’s best friend…It was just a B mission at most…How could things escalate this much?

Being a ninja, she knew things are dangerous and would put you in impossible situations…That you can even lose your life or your friends and comrades…But…

Why now…? Why so soon…?

She’s barely 10 years old…She wanted to go on this mission to see how beautiful the world outside the Country of Fire is…But this…?

“Scrub it off. Clean it off. Take it off. Claw it off. Rip it off. Saw it off. Carve it off. Rinse it off. Wash it off. Cut it off –“ she continued rambling, standing there, on her knees, on the wet grass, all muddy, all bloody, not having moved from there for at least a whole hour, so much that she almost thought she started growing roots into the ground.

“Scrub it off. Clean it off. Take it off. Claw it off. Rip it off. Saw it off. Carve it off. Rinse it off. Wash it off. Cut it off –“ she went on and on and on with no stopping, with no equivalent of time and space, of self, of body, of identity. She was lost. She was not only broken, but completely shattered. She was blank.

“Kitsune, that’s enough. Snap out of it. He’s dead. We have to get out of here before the enemies find us. We’ve been here enough.” the man who was her dad’s best friend went on his knees in front of her and grasped her wrists, pulling her hands away from her eye sight so she will stop looking at her father’s blood. “He’s not…He’s not…He can’t be…He can’t…He won’t…He wouldn’t…Leave me…No…He’s just…R-Resting…Don’t mess around with me…” instead of focusing on her hands that were painted with clotted blood, her eyes were now in the vision of the body laying in a pool of its own blood, its chest being cut to access the heart. “I know it’s impossible to accept this, but your parents wouldn’t want you to die here because you froze up. Let’s go home. We’ll get his body in a scroll and I’ll arrange for a funeral.” the man tried to reason with the child, who, in turn, moved for the first time since the incident. “HE’S NOT FUCKING DEAD! STOP LYING TO ME, SHIKAKU, HE’S NOT DEAD!!! HE CAN’T BE DEAD! HE’S NOT! I HEALED HIM! I RESTARTED HIS HEART! HE’S NOT DEAD! I DIDN’T LET HIM DIE! HE’S TOO STRONG TO DIE! HE WOULDN’T LEAVE ME AND MUM! I’M TELLING YOU, HE’LL GET UP ANY MINUTE NOW! I DID EVERYTHING BY THE BOOK! JUST AS THE MEDICAL NINS TAUGHT ME! I DID NO MISTAKE! I DID NOTHING WRONG! I’M SURE!” the red haired girl lashed out at the man, shrieking so loud that her throat felt raw, almost bleeding, her emotions pouring down harder than the rain as she shook hit the man’s chest and shoulder, but he could only look at her with pity in his dark eyes, almost imagining his own son, should that have been him on the ground. “It’s not your fault, Kitsune. You did everything you could, but sometimes, there is nothing anyone can do. Some injuries are so severe that they can’t be healed, even if you are the most skilled healer. It wasn’t your fault, it was the enemies’ fault. I promise you.” the Nara put the ANBU captain’s corpse in a scroll and picked the girl up, running back to the village and reporting to the Hokage.

The girl was lost, had no idea what to say, what to do, what to feel – Not when Shikaku was explaining what happened to the Hokage, not when he broke the news to her mum, hell, not even when she was staring at a beautiful picture of the three of them together, at his funeral.

No children were allowed at the funeral, as per her request – She didn’t want any pity, and she wanted to give no explanations.

She wanted nobody involved. Things were bad enough as they were.

So the only people from the school who knew were the teachers.

Not Shikamaru, not Hinata, not Sasuke, not Shino…

Nobody.

Definitely nobody.

Her dad wasn’t dead, after all.

She didn’t kill him.

She did everything she was taught to do.

She did the cardiac massage, she was sure she felt his heart pumping again, she definitely saw him breathing…

…Right?

She did, didn’t she?

She didn’t imagine it, right?

She didn’t try to get his heart to pump again when he was already irreversibly dead…

…Right?

----

The little red haired girl smiled dazzlingly at the children in her class, who were also her friends. She knew she was the most popular girl in the whole Academy, but she didn't let it bother her, or change the way she behaved with everyone - Everyone was equal in her eyes, even if they were obnoxious or annoying - And in turn, she got invited to everyone's birthday parties or hang outs, and so on.

But most of the time, she couldn't go to those hang outs because she was constantly training with her parents to become an excellent ninja, and in the future, a member of the ANBU - It wasn't only her dream, but her parents jobs too.

ANBU captains

What greater honour could there be?

While other 10 year olds were playing around, she was hanging around adults, learning how to perfect her fighting styles, ninjutsu and genjutsu, but not only -

She wanted to learn medical ninjutsu, she wanted to help people, to save them, for all the times she heard all those scary stories from her parents and their friends...How they lost people, comrades, partners, friends...Because in the Great War, there was barely any medical ninja around to save them...

She couldn't allow that to happen - Not on her watch.

"Okay, class. Today, we are going to do a team activity, and we need 2 captains. Who wants that position?" Iruka-sensei asked his class, and, as expected, most of the kids nominated Kitsune, while Sasuke, Naruto and Kiba wanted to be captains themselves, and Sakura and Ino nomitated the Uchiha. This class' dynamic was always the same, and in a way, this exhausting routine was sort of comforting for the red haired fox-like girl. "Kitsune, Sasuke, step forward. As Kitsune was nominated by the most of you, she will choose first."

"I choose Shika!" in front of the class, the girl with sparkling green eyes grinned enthusiastically as she extended her arms in front of her, as a way of cordially inviting the friend she cherished the most, despite all the gasps of shock she received.

"Sh-Shikamaru? Kitsune, why not choose me first?! I'm so much stronger than that guy who just sleeps all day and is too lazy to move!" Naruto yelled at her, but she merely sweat dropped and chuckled awkwardly.

"But Shikamaru is the smartest in this class and I believe we get along very well. When forming a team, you don't have to always get the ones who are more energetic or physically stronger, but the best strategists and those with whom you can create a perfect synergy and your abilities and skills compliment each other. Having Shika on my team means that we're definitely going to win against Sasuke's team!" the girl shrugged casually, ending her explanation with a sly, incredibly fox-like smirk - One that screamed 'Victory'.

"Uh...Thanks for picking me, I guess." Shikamaru awkwardly scratched the back of his neck, before muttering his usual catch phrase "What a drag..."

Sasuke glared at the girl, despite knowing very well there was barely anyone with any kind of potential in this class, but he got around to choosing Kiba. Then, Kitsune chose Shino, while Sasuke got Choji. Kitsune got Hinata and Sasuke could barely stop himself from facepalming, but chose Sakura. Grinning at the brunet captain, Kitsune chose Ino, so Naruto was stuck with Sasuke - It was the perfect plan.

The two groups went out in the forest, in the opposite parts, and had 15 minutes to come up with a plan to steal the Captain's bandana.

"First of all, I'd like to apologise to Shika for not being able to get Choji as well. I know that the Ino-Shika-Cho formation is incredibly powerful, and that the three of you would have had an amazing synergy, but there's that. However, I'm happy that we have Shino with us, I'm sure the insects are going to scare off both Sakura and Naruto...Which reminds me, Naruto an Sasuke are going to work against each other most of the time. With Shikamaru and I as the strategist, Hinata’s Byakugan and the maturity and knowledge of Shino and Ino, we are going to make the perfect team. Besides…Ino, if you show off how strong you are, and you beat Sakura in the process, I’m sure you’re going to impress Sasuke!” Kitsune clapped her hands together, charming all of her team mates, as per usual. “Oh, but Sakura doesn’t stand a chance! She will swoon over Sasuke-kun all the time and will be completely useless! That Naruto will screw everything up for Sasuke-kun and will be loud enough to give away their position, and I’m sure he’ll argue with everyone, especially Kiba. And Choji eats all the time, I doubt he’ll do much, especially if he sees how everyone argues among themselves and does nothing good. He’s a pacifist, y’know.” Ino grinned condescendingly as she berated almost everyone in the enemy team. “Very well, then I will tell you my plan, and when I’m done, I’d like you to tell me your insight and how to perfect it, if you have any ideas. The main idea is to distract Sasuke while Shika uses his shadow to immobilize Sasuke, so I can steal away the bandana. Ino, you have to stay away from Sakura, so you won’t bicker. I need your Mind Transfer jutsu. Hinata, your Byakugan will be detrimental in finding out everyone’s location, and I have faith in your fighting abilities. Shino, of course, apart from the fact that I’m sure your insects are going to scare away some of those guys, you are a very strong fighter and very intelligent as well.” Kitsune explained simply, and everyone seemed to nod in agreement. “Actually, I think Ino, Hinata and Shino should stay together, at least in the beginning. Ino can incapacitate one person for a short amount of time, so if she stops Sasuke, I can catch him in my shadows, and you can steal away the bandana, while Shino and Hinata fight the others. Those two are sensory types, so they can find out everyone’s positions and the bugs can guide us to them.” Shika pointed out, which made the red haired girl widen her eyes at him in shock for a few seconds, only to grin widely and almost literally glow in happiness. “You’re the best, Shika! It’s always so great hanging out with you! Come on, 15 minutes passed, let’s go and win this!” she cheered to hype the others up, and it worked well enough, and it seemed to give them a little boost of confidence.

And so, they went to the middle of the forest while Hinata and Shino searched for the enemies – Who they easily found – And Kitsune and Shikamaru split up around Sasuke in a pincer formation. Just as planned, Naruto easily gave away his position, so Shino and Hinata went to fight or scare away Sakura and the others who went down faster than expected, considering they were all split up, not in groups.

When Sasuke was the last one standing, Ino used her Mind Transfer jutsu on him, Sasuke immobilized him and the fox girl stole away the bandana.

However, just as they were making their escape, Sasuke got out of his immobilized state and went to attack the group – The fox girl gave shadow boy the token of victory and told him to take the team away and make their escape, while she quickly beat the Uchiha and went back to them, only to see the Nara didn’t actually go with the others, but returned to make sure she was okay.

“Very well played, everyone. Now, the 2 captains, shake hands, and you can all go home for today.” Their teacher smiled at them, while also pointing out the obvious problems in the other team. “Hey, about about we go to the BBQ place to celebrate our win?” Ino asked, smiling triumphantly. “We can invite Sasuke too, since he tried his best, but he didn’t have a team.” Was her plan, and everyone seemed to agree – Of course, the other team wanted to join as well, so there was that, but…

“Oh, uh-uhm…S-Sorry, but I can’t come. I, uh…My parents and I are pretty busy today, haha. But I hope you have fun for me as well! Take care, guys, see ya tomorrow!” Kitsune chuckled awkwardly, rushing to go home and train with her parents.

However, she didn’t come to school the next day. Or the one after…Or the whole week, for the matter.

She was absent for almost 2 whole weeks, for the matter.

Until she wasn’t anymore.

But when she returned, she was as radiant as always.

For those who weren’t as observant as Shikamaru, that is…

What was he supposed to do, anyway? Go and confront her? No way, that would be a drag…And besides, if she wanted to talk, she’d come to him…Or someone, right?

The biggest shock of his life was, however, to come home one day from school and finding a certain red haired girl playing Shogi with his own father, and they seemed to be very comfortable with each other? And they were smiling?

“Hey, Shika! Welcome home! Oh, you got here just in time, I and your mum managed to finish cooking earlier! Go and eat something, you don’t want the food to get cold, right?” Kitsune waved at him, smiling sweetly, but the boy could only stare at both of them, incredibly confused, his eyebrows raised so far up that they almost got into his hairline. “Wh-What are you doing here? Dad, what’s going on? Why are you playing Shogi with Kitsune?” the poor boy asked, his head almost snapping from going back and forth. “Oh, w-well…I was pleasantly impressed with your intelligence and strategy, so I came here to praise you to your dad! Also, my mum said she always enjoyed learning and playing Shogi with him, so I thought I’d give it a shot too! You should have heard her, honestly, Shikaku beat me again at Shogi, you should have seen the new stunt he pulled today! It was completely revolutionary, we could totally use it in our next mission!” Kitsune laughed lightly, trying to calm the boy down a bit. “You have to be careful, son, she might just win against you if you slack off too much.” Shikaku teased his son, who could only groan and leave to eat. “Tsk…What a drag…Troublesome woman…” the boy muttered, leaving the place that got immediately much darker. “You can stay for dinner, Kitsune. We can call your mother as well, if you want. I doubt she’d have been up to cooking anything after what happened.” the Nara sighed deeply, crossing his arms and looking attentively at the frail girl in front of him, who may as well be close to shattering. “N-No…I-I…I couldn’t…Do this to her…I’m afraid…Something’s coming…Something incredibly bad…If I’m not there, who knows what will happen…Uhm…Thanks for today, Shikaku. I appreciate it. And he would have as well. See you tomorrow.” She got up and left the place in a hurry, going back home.

However, as soon as she opened the door, she called out to tell her mother…Who didn’t answer. Worried, the red haired girl went to the kitchen, hoping to do some cooking for her mother, who may have been still resting in her room…

But the sight in front of her shook her to the core, for the rest of her life… And since then, the last thing Shikamaru saw of her was her fox necklace that she left over to Shikaku the next day she went for a Shogi play.

He hated to admit it, but this woman…This woman, he actually missed, but no matter how much he pestered his father for an answer, he would only say “Soon”.

What was such an enigmatic and vague answer supposed to do to reassure and inform him in any way that he will meet her ever again?

He never even had the time to play Shogi with her, or chat properly, hang out by the field to watch the clouds go by…And graduate together, maybe even get put in the same team…

He couldn’t believe this was really happening, and for a while, he actually hated the girl for just leaving like that, without even saying goodbye to him.

Oh, if only the poor boy knew the truth…

----

Years passed, Shikamaru was already the first Chunin from his class, they already went in enough missions as teams, and were old enough to see the world in new eyes…Yet nothing could compare to what their parents saw in the Great War, so they were still green ninjas, unaware of the true horrors of this world.

He was already 16…He couldn’t believe 6 years passed since he last saw that little firecracker named after a cute fox that he used to call “friend” in his Academy days. Every year, when the day of her departure came by, he’d take the day off and go to the spot they would both spend time, watching the clouds – And for some reason, he would always see a fox shaped cloud.

It was such a drag.

However, on the 6th year, his father stopped him from going to the field, instead, asking to play Shogi, something that confused the boy greatly, but he decided he should listen to what his father had to say.

But never, in his life, would he have expected that his father finally saw him as old enough to tell him what happened to that mysterious girl who disappeared so suddenly.

He told Shikamaru everything that happened on that mission gone wrong – The Kirigakure ninjas attacking them, Kitsune’s father saving her and dying in the process, and the little girl snapping, going on a rampage, and when returning to her father’s side, she tried to revive him for so long, that he thought he wasn’t going to be able to pry her away from his body. The shock that completely stunned her, seeing herself in the reflection of the cold water, trying to scrub away the blood from her hands – Blood that wasn’t there anymore, but she kept seeing it – She tried and tried and tried to wash it off – To even claw it off – aggressively scrubbing away with her nails, leaving trails all over her arms.

And that day, when Shikamaru caught them playing Shogi – When she got home, she saw her mother hanging in the kitchen – She couldn’t take it anymore. Her mother loved her husband so much, that she couldn’t handle being without him anymore, nor could she handle staying in the same house with the daughter who looked so much like him.

Her mother committed suicide.

It was a clear sign to Kitsune that she should get the hell out of Konoha, before she would lose herself completely.

But even then, she held Shikamaru in her heart, which is why she asked Shikaku to give him her necklace before she left.

She had no idea where she wanted to go, but she had to.

And that day, when she played Shogi, the strategies she took, influenced by Shikaku’s aggressiveness in the game, made the both of them realize that the deer boy was too precious to her to sacrifice, as a mere Shogi piece.

So she left to get better and protect the last person she loved who was still alive.

And Shikamaru felt guilty for resenting her for 6 years.

---

“I wonder who’s our other team mate. Lady Tsunade didn’t say much about this person.” Ino asked, dangling her feet, bored, staying on a tree branch. “I heard it’s a girl!” Choji munched on his crisps, not really caring much. “Dad said it’s some ANBU captain or something. What a drag, that means this mission’s going to be more difficult than before…” Shikamaru groaned, slouching down. “As usual, you come up with the best strategies. It’s weirdly nice working with you again, and –“ the angelic voice of a woman was heard by the trio, who immediately perked up in curiosity, as in their field of vision, Shikamaru’s father walked by, wearing a relaxed and joking smile on his face, side by side with a much shorter individual, with long hair, kissed by fire, dressed in the usual ANBU outfit, with a fox mask covering her face, and a few weapons strapped to her back. “Is…Is this our team mate?” Ino gasped at the beauty in front of her. “I sure hope so.” Choji chuckled, nudging Shikamaru, but the boy could only stare at her, frowning, unable to utter any word. “Here’s your team, Kitsune. I’m sure you missed being around your friends –“ but Shikaku couldn’t finish his sentence, for as soon as the girl saw the brunet boy, she got rooted to the spot for a few seconds, before squealing and throwing herself in his arms, hugging him as tight as possible. “Shika!!!” she cried out, twirling around with him, not wanting to let him go. “I missed you so much, Shika~!” “K-Kitsune…? Is that really you…?” poor Shikamaru couldn’t even hug the girl back because of the extreme shock he was in, but his father’s chuckle snapped him back to reality. “Yes, silly, it’s me! I’m back.” The girl quickly took off her mask, putting it to her waist belt, flashing the same dazzling white smile of hers – The same one that completely stole his heart many years ago. “Remember me?” “Y-Yeah, ‘course I do, uhmm…” he tried to stumble over his words, despite the blush creeping on his face. “My…! You grew up so much! And you’re absolutely gorgeous! …Eh…~? Look at you, you’re so cute with red cheeks! And you’re even wearing my necklace! I’m so happy, Shika…! Your parents must be so proud to have the smartest and prettiest child in the whole Country of Fire, right Shikaku~?” the red haired girl giggled teasingly, making the poor deer boy so flustered that he had to fry her off and look away, while his friends and dad were laughing at him. “What a troublesome woman…! Tsk…Stop being so familiar with me, you’re annoying.” Shika tried to fend off, but the girl feigned that annoying puppy dog eyes that she always did when she was little and she wanted to spend time with him. “Th-Then…You didn’t miss me, Shika? At all? Not even a tiny bit?” she asked in the most pitiful voice, pouting and getting closer to his face, which in turn, killed him instantly. “…Fine, yeah, maybe, whatever. Let’s go on our mission.” The poor boy grumbled, walking ahead of everyone, not even bothering to say goodbye to his dad, as his friends were already teasing him and laughing. “He’s so cute~!” the girl grinned, carefree, following his lead.

The road to the mission’s point was filled with light chatting and some catching up, but for Shikamaru, the situation was different – Every word she uttered, he analysed and scanned, as if looking for any string of white lie that sewed together a perfectly made up story.

She wanted to learn a more diverse range of skills so she went to learn from other Ninja villages and random renowned rouge ninjas and samurais…

And, allegedly, 2 years prior, she returned and joined the ANBU, and chose only the longest missions that led farthest away from the Country of Fire.

How dubious…

“Shh, stop, here we are.” Kitsune stopped abruptly, crouching down on the branch carefully, squinting and watching like a hawk every one of the grouped up ninjas, almost as if she was peering at them under a microscope – Every micronic detail, she sketched in her mind and carefully created a plan to take them down, before snapping her fingers once to draw her team’s attention towards her. “See that guy with blue hair, tied up, and black eyes? That’s our guy. We capture him, and kill everyone else. Easy enough?” despite muttering in a low voice, her piercing gaze didn’t move for not even a single pico-second. “But…Kitsune…? I don’t mean to sound doubting…But there must be at least 50 ninjas out there, and they seem to be at least Chuunin level. And weren’t Kirigakure ninjas supposed to be bloodthirsty and to be using poison?” Ino asked, obviously very worried. “They aren’t Kirigakure ninjas, but yeah, you are right about those guys. These ones are in disguise, but not great ones, I’d have to say. See that guy with orange hair? His sleeve is raised up, and a brown tattoo can be seen, which indicates they are from Iwa. Very annoying and strong. Those stupid guys have an Iwakage who can eradicate everything in sight with that stupid particle-something jutsu of his…And they have an explosion department…Thank God I didn’t remain in Konoha…” Kitsune muttered, the corner of her mouth raising into a triumphant smirk that meant she was going to create a blood bath. “Explosions?! How can we protect ourselves against that?” Choji was almost comically trembling, eating crisps even more rapidly than before. “Unfortunately for you, neither has a Lightning chakra nature, so we can’t actively deactivate them…However…I trained with the best puppet master in the world, who so happens to have as a partner the most fanatic, yet talented bomb artist, so I know how to go against these guys. Shika, Ino, I want you to make sure you get the leader away from the group. Since you can get in his body, just say you need to pee or something, and that you’ll be back, which is when Shikamaru will use his shadows to get him towards us, and then three of you will protect him, while I kill this lot, got it?” she asked, finally snapping from her hawk-like self and taking out her weapons, soaking them in poison with a wet cloth. “That’s not the best strategy, I’d say. We do nothing, while you do all the work. I am more than one-man hit, y’know? I grew up and trained too. I can get at least 20 of those guys.” Shikamaru’s annoyed voice perked up, surprising the girl, who could only blink and look at him with big, almost fawn-like eyes. “I never doubted any of you for a second, and if it seemed that way, I apologise sincerely. Thing is, I’m an ANBU, and out of all of you, only you, Shikamaru, promoted to Chuunin. Now, I’m not saying that these grades matter, because they don’t, but at the same time, I’m responsible for you, and I don’t want to go home with one of you dead in my arms, and having to hold your funeral. I told Tsunade to let me do this alone, but she insisted I pair up with you. I want you all to promise you won’t get in my way and attack, unless necessary, got it? As I said, I absolutely REFUSE to get your blood on my hands, capiche?” Kitsune’s voice became very dry, dark and poisonous very fast, which made the blonde and chestnut haired ninjas gulp and nod fiercely, while the brunet only frowned in anger. “We aren’t 10 year old anymore, Kitsune, and neither are you. This ain’t the mission you went to 6 years ago, and nobody will die on your watch, got it? If you keep being afraid of taking risks, you’ll fail.” Shikamaru got closer to her face, arguing her plan. “Shikaku told you what happened, didn’t he? Well, I should have known, it was bound to happen. Nonetheless, as I said, I’m the leader of the team. You do as I say, or you go home. I will have NOBODY’S blood on my hands. Now go do your jobs and do NOT put yourselves in danger unless I say so.” Kitsune, for the last time, warned the trio, then got up, took off her konoha forehead protector and switched it to a rogue-one, then put back her fox mask and raising her arms up, she attached chakra string to each and every ninja, except the target. “Now, Ino, Shikamaru, go get him.” She commanded in such a dark and monotone voice, almost as if she suddenly transformed into the villain of the series.

Despite disagreeing with the plan, the two did as were told, and very easily, lured their victim into the perfectly placed trap, and now, the trio were his guard.

Further, Kitsune grinne widely behind her mask, chuckling and jumping down from the tall tree, as she used her fire chakra to burn the string, and in turn, the victims they were attached to. With incredible speed and agility, she jumped in the middle of the group and started slicing left and right mercilessly, losing herself in the bloodlust that was surging through her veins, her mind completely away from reality, but in a whole new universe – Of killing strategy.

…That is, until familiar voices – Screams, rather – Resounded through the forest, which completely snapped her away from her concentration, and in turn, getting cut and scratched in various places.

Her eyes saw it easily – The leader escaped their grasp and ran to attempt to kill her, but Shikamaru tried to fight him, and failed, and now Ino was trying heal him. But she was crying. She wasn’t a good enough medical ninja yet. Kitsune knew that feeling all too well.

“Scrub it off. Clean it off. Take it off. Claw it off. Rip it off. Saw it off. Carve it off. Rinse it off. Wash it off. Cut it off –“ kept going into her mind, unusually loud, almost throwing her off her game.

With a raw growl, close to animalistic, she saw red in front of her, and burnt everything in her paths, slashing, dashing, cutting and ripping apart every living being there, sans the leader, whom she managed to immobilize and knock out with the help of Choji. Without sparing any second, she ran to Shikamaru’s side and fell to her knees, roughly pushing Ino aside.

It was an impulsive rush of rage, for she snatched away her mask and forehead protector and threw them as far away as possible, before shrieking at the deer boy for being so stupid.

“Scrub it off. Clean it off. Take it off. Claw it off. Rip it off. Saw it off. Carve it off. Rinse it off. Wash it off. Cut it off –“ those words just wouldn’t stop screeching at her.

“YOU FUCKING IDIOT, SHIKAMARU, I TOLD YOU TO BE CAREFUL, DAMN IT! I TOLD YOU! I TOLD YOU! I TOLD YOU!” she gripped so tightly at her hair that Ino thought she was going to rip it all off. “If you dare die…I will never forgive you. Never, you get it? Never. Not you. Of all people…You’re the last one alive…So you can’t. I refuse to allow you that. You don’t have the permission to leave me. Ever. Got it?” the red head growled lowly, getting one of her hands inside his chest, performing cardiac massage, and cursed herself for remembering that mission long ago, when she had to do the same thing with her father – But this time, Shikamaru was still alive, and she was sure this time around – No more lies or delusions.

“Scrub it off. Clean it off. Take it off. Claw it off. Rip it off. Saw it off. Carve it off. Rinse it off. Wash it off. Cut it off –“ she needed bloody therapy, she knew that, otherwise those words were going to be the death of her.

With her other hand, she used her other hand to prop up his head and give him CPR, once again, cursing herself for having to do something like this, when she hoped everyone would remain safe and she would, one day, share a sweet kiss with him – Not have to save his life like that.

“Scrub it off. Clean it off. Take it off. Claw it off. Rip it off. Saw it off. Carve it off. Rinse it off. Wash it off. Cut it off –“ they were louder and louder, causing almost a physical discomfort, as if someone was grating her brain.

Once, twice, thrice, and more, so much more – Sasori taught her healing ninjutsu well, and she was confident in her abilities, but there was always that speck of fear and PTSD that was creeping in the back of her mind, reminding her of her past failure.

But the puppet master was an excellent teacher, and she, in turn, was a hard-working and diligent student, so there was no way she was going to put the man she loved on the list of people she let die.

“Scrub it off. Clean it off. Take it off. Claw it off. Rip it off. Saw it off. Carve it off. Rinse it off. Wash it off. Cut it off –“ SHUTUPSHUTUPSHUTUPSHUTUPSHUTUPSHUTUPSHUTUP

“Argh…Too close…” a hand suddenly pushed her aside weakly, and a cough snapped her out of her focused mindset – And blinking away to reality, she realized that the Nara boy was sitting in front of her, breathing normally, and coughing a bit, wearing a scowl on his face.

“Scrub it off. Clean it off. Take it off. Claw it off. Rip it off. Saw it off. Carve it off. Rinse it off. Wash it off. Cut it off –“ the threat is over now, you can stop already, he’s not dead...Like your parents.

“…Oh thank goodness…” Kitsune groaned, letting herself fall on her back, looking up at the sky, her nails digging into her arms now, trying to snap herself back to reality completely. “I won’t forgive you for the stunt you pulled.” She muttered absent-minded, not caring about anyone around her anymore. “…What a troublesome woman. She’s gonna scold me all the way back home. Great.” Shika tried to chuckle, lighting up the mood, but the red haired girl was already on her feet, tying up the target and carrying it, walking in the direction of the village, without saying another word – Her face now again, covered with her mask, showing that she didn’t want to be approached in any way. “Shikamaru, you insensitive idiot! You, jerk! Is that how you treat the woman you love?! She was just worried about you, and you throw away words like that?! Go and apologise right now!” Ino shouted at him, nagging him like she was his mum, so much that the boy could only sigh and drag his hands down his face in annoyance and resentment.

And he actually tried, for once, to reconcile properly, but the only words that she told him were “You have to rest properly when you get home.” And then she just rushed farther and farther ahead.

And that’s just what he did, as the girl guided him home, let the others go to theirs as well, while she went to the Hokage to report to the mission.

After taking a nap and resting, as advised, he left his bedroom and went to the kitchen, seeing his mother frowning, which confused him.

“What happened?” he asked, knowing something was up. “Well…Nothing, really. Your dad is playing Shogi with Kitsune…And I just remembered her mother and the good times when we were friends. Too bad the good ones always die first.” Yoshino sighed, sweeping absent-minded. “Uhm…Y-Yeah…I guess.” He muttered, not having a clue what to say in such a situation. “Won’t you be a dear and tell her to remain for dinner? Poor girl, she’s been all alone since she was 10…I can’t imagine how horrible it must have been…” but she stopped herself before saying anything more that would have upset her, so Shikamaru left the room, believing that letting her just be would have been better.

However, instead of making his presence known, he decided to just open the door ever so slightly, enough to peep from behind and watch the interaction going –

Kitsune was sitting in front of the Shogi table, her head slightly hung, her outfit still unchanged – And she said no word, but it wasn’t clear if she was listening to his father either.

“You can take off your mask now, Kitsune. The mission is over. You can get dressed in Shikamaru’s clothes. Why don’t you sleep over?” Shikaku tried to get a response out of her, even beginning the match, but she seemed to be in her own mind. “No.” she finally muttered after a while, yet she made her move as well, almost robotically. “Kitsune. The mission is over. You can relax now. You are allowed to. You did well and nobody got hurt. Get out of your mission-mind, you’re home now.” The man tried again, but it was clear the aura around the girl became more and more agitated. “Shikamaru almost died.” She pointed out bitterly. “As far as I’m concerned, my son is sleeping in his room as usual. He didn’t complain about his team leader, nor of any injury or danger. If he is fine, so should you be. You can’t take anyone’s pain.” His father spoke again, and with each word, he found himself nodding in agreement. “I ALMOST KILLED YOUR FUCKING SON, SHIKAKU! ARE YOU DEAD? ARE YOU BRAIN-DEAD?! GET ANGRY! YELL AT ME! BEAT ME UP! SCOWL, CURSE ME, INSULT ME…FUCKING DO SOMETHING! YOU ALMOST HELD YOUR SON’S FUNERAL BECAUSE OF ME! I am the one who killed your 2 best friends, and now I almost killed your son too! Why aren’t you reacting in any way?!” the fire outburst of the girl scared the boy out of his wits, flinching when she slammed her fist on the Shogi table, breaking it in two, all pieces getting propelled in different directions, as she shouted at the irritatingly-calm man in front of her. “I will do no such thing, Kitsune, because, first of all, I am not mad at you. It was not your fault, I tell you now, the same as I told you before. It wasn’t you who killed your parents, nor was it you who endangered my son. We are all ninjas, and we serve with our lives on the line. Unexpected surprises always happen, and we can’t predict everything, but we can do our best to avoid them.” Shikamaru’s heart was close to bursting with emotions and words that he wanted to let out, as he felt his fingers digging deep into the wood of the sliding door. “I. Almost. Killed. Shikamaru.” The girl hung her head down, prying away her mask and throwing it away in disgust, her long, fire-red hair completely hiding her tear-stained face. “I argued with him. I insulted him. I cursed him. I yelled at him. In the end, he almost died…Because of me. And…It was just like back then. Almost perfectly like back then. They weren’t paying attention, the enemy escaped, he tried to protect me and got hurt…And I got soaked in his blood. My hands was grasping his heart, and I was helping it pump more and more blood…I was helping him breathe…And all I could do was pray…And pray…And pray again…That he won’t end up like them…But I’m selfish, Shikaku. I didn’t think of you, nor that I almost killed your son. I was only thinking about my own self. I’m selfish and I don’t deserve him.” Her voice become so soft, so broken, as she trembled and sobbed in her hands, not being able to stop the flow of tears and emotions from running astray. “Kitsune…Shikamaru doesn’t hate you, nor is he blaming you for what happened. Stop blaming yourself for things that were inevitable. The most important thing is that you were able to save him and bring him back home safely.” His father sighed, yet his eyes were looking with understanding at the pitiful girl – He knew very well the heartbreak of loss and he didn’t wish it upon anyone, especially such a sensitive young girl. “Scrub it off. Clean it off. Take it off. Claw it off. Rip it off. Saw it off. Carve it off. Rinse it off. Wash it off. Cut it off...That’s the only thing that kept going through my mind, over and over and over again, and I couldn’t stop it! Just like back then...I couldn’t control it. I swore I was going crazy. I was sure he was going to die, and I would remain with his blood on my hands for ages, no matter how hard I’d try to wash it off or even burn away the skin on my hands.” she was shaking so much now, digging her claw-like nails deep into her arms, dragging down and scratching her skin, almost giving herself a sort of comfort, knowing she was still alive, and so was Shikamaru. ”You have nobody’s blood on your hands, Kitsune, understand that. It wasn’t you who killed your parents, no matter how you put it. You tried to save them, but they were beyond saving from anyone. There was nothing you could have done.” Shikaku tried to remind the catatonic girl once again. “…If Shikamaru dies, all the people I ever loved won’t be on this Earth anymore…So there is no reason to live anymore…No matter what, Shikamaru, out of all the people in the world, MUST live. If he gets in danger again, I think I’ll go insane.” She gritted her teeth as her hands made her way into her hair, gripping at it painfully, until the whole world stopped – And once again, time and space were absent from this house –

“I think he feels the same about you.” Shikaku smiled, seeing his son frowning at the girl from behind the door, and motioning to him to get out of there and take the reigns properly, like a man. “What would you know?!” she sneered at him, snapping her head up, only to see the man getting up to leave, and, to her surprise, a pair of arms sneaking around her, pulling her into a tight hug from behind. It was the deer boy, nuzzling his face into the crook of her neck.

“You’re such a troublesome woman, you know that, right? When I said you were going to scold me, I was hoping you’d do that. I hoped it would help you relax and vent away your frustrations. I never imagined you’d get so upset over it. Sorry I screwed up your plan, neither of us were paying attention to our target…We were worried about you so we were looking at you…I’m sorry.” He spoke in the most sincere voice she ever heard him speaking, and she couldn’t help but start crying again, turning around and letting herself melt in his embrace, burying her face into his chest and gripping tightly at his shirt. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry. I screwed up everything – From 6 years ago, to even now, I’m so sorry, Shika. I should have told you everything, but I couldn’t and I screwed up everything.” She kept apologizing over and over, but the boy couldn’t understand why, so instead of saying anything, he cupped her face and placed a short, yet very soft and sweet kiss on her lips, hoping to snap her out of it. “Stop blaming yourself for nothing. I won’t die, and you won’t die, okay? We’re the smartest people around, I’m sure we can screw with everyone. Just the two of us, together. Now, come on, get up, fox girl. It’s getting late, and mum’s gonna yell at me if we don’t go eat dinner while it’s still hot. Let’s find you some comfy clothes.” He helped her get up and guided her to his room, giving her a loose white Tshirt and some comfy pants. “Well…I guess I make even leisure clothes look fashion.” She admired herself in the mirror, posing and grinning in amusement, making the boy chuckle. “Yeah, ‘course you do. But, before that…Here. It just wouldn’t be fair if I was the only one wearing one.” Saying that, Shikamaru took out a deer necklace from his pocket and put it around her slender neck, before taking his own fox necklace from under his shirt, and letting it dangle out to compliment hers. “…Haha, you kept it. How nice. I don’t know about you, but if you ask me, we can’t get more soulmate-y than that.” She chuckled, squishing his cheeks and pulling him into a deep kiss that was more playful than anything, yet still dazed him a bit, as he let himself get dragged to the kitchen where his parents were waiting for them. They smiled at each other seeing the two teenagers smiling so carefree, so happy at each other – And those symbolic animal necklaces, almost dangling towards each other, like Yin tried to get closer to Yang, and vice versa. “Tomorrow, we are SO going to go and make fun of Ino and Sakura for being obsessed over Sasuke, when we have the perfect relationship right here! Ha! They’re gonna be so jealous!” she smirked mischievously, and the boy could only shake his head, but chuckle at her nonetheless. “What did I get myself into…You troublesome woman.” He nudged her playfully, and it was one of the first times that anyone around saw him not so lazy. “Fine, fine, we can go to BBQ after with Choji, if you want. Sounds fair enough, doesn’t it? My treat.” She flashed him a charming smile, and he could only shrug in agreement. “You’ll get broke, but you said it, can’t take it back now. You clearly forgot how much Choji eats.” Shikamaru teased her, but she only smirked wider. “I lived as a bounty hunter for years before I got back, Shikamaru. I could buy a villa right now. I’m sure I can afford a meal for my friends.” She flipped her hair and winked playfully at the boy next to her.

The next day, just as promised, she dragged her new boyfriend around to brag about him and how awesome he is, and all that, all while he would just blush and grumble in the background, but at least the BBQ hang out was fun and they had a good laugh, as all friends do.

When all was over, she had him go by to her home to get a neatly wrapped, big gift from her living room, and then went back to his home, before handing him the present.

“Here, open it. It’s not the best…But I’m sorry for my outburst. It was uncalled for, and I’m really, really sorry for destroying it. This…This was my parents’ Shogi table and…You should have it. And my parents were best friends with your parents…So yeah. Please take it. And I’m sorry again.” She urged him to open it already, and inside, as she mentione, a beautiful Shogi table, on the back of it, her parents names being carved, inside a heart. “O-Oh, yeah, I forgot about that. You can have your dad shave it off, cover it, or something, I don’t mind. It’s yours now.” She awkwardly scratched the back of her head, but the boy merely shook his head. “No, it’s perfect as it is. Come on, why don’t we go out in the forest? I’m sure you want to see the deer.” He carefully placed the Shogi table on his futon and guided her out. “And we can watch the stars in your garden tonight?” she smiled at him sweetly. “Yeah, sure, we can do that. Sounds nice.”

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keepyourpantsongohan · 5 years

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Ayesha Liveblogs Naruto Shippuden S21

What a tender intro omg also why is this filler so well animated

The introduction of modern technology will never not be funny to me. Kakashi on a laptop. Gaara sending emails. What has the ninja world come to

I know it’s just superfluous background motion but that angry little cat design was amazing. Takes me tf out

Hello again New English Iruka Voice time to feel slightly uncomfortable

Doesn’t Inuyasha have a monopoly on this baby with a red ball imagery

Why! Is! No one! Making sure! Naruto is fed! He’s a baby!!!!!!

Naruto and Sasuke were such adorable children my heart

SOMEONE PLEASE EXPLAIN THE FAMILY WHERE ONE OF THE CHILDREN IS JUST A FROG? WHO IS DOING THESE BACKGROUND ANIMATIONS?????

In case you thought I wasn’t being literal:

[Accompanying dialogue to this image: “Did you hear the rumours that Lord Fourth died because of him?” WHO IS THIS FROG CHILD WITH A VENDETTA AGAINST MINATO]

This ninja cowboy music seems slightly misplaced but okay

Hiruzen. U r the literal ninja president. Naruto is foraging in the forest for food bc no one is taking care of him! How r u like ‘Hahah I’m hungry too :D’

“The things that we inconsequential humans worry about are often very petty indeed” “You’re right” It’s Philosophy Hours ft. Pre-Schoolers

“Are you sure these mushrooms are safe to eat? “Won’t know ‘til we eat ‘em” HIRUZEN PICK UP THE PHONE

SCREAMS FIVE YEAR OLD NARUTO JUST JUMPED OFF THE HOKAGE MONUMENT AHHHHHH

I miss Neji :((((((((((((((((

“Please make sure that you look after Neji” show us Neji’s mum you cowards!!!

“You have to be more positive, and confident!” Nejiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii my boy

“I wish that I could switch places with you, big brother” There’s a lot to unpack here and I’m wildly concerned about all of it. This episode ought to be titled Konoha Desperately Requires Child Welfare Programs

Making an mini-episode which largely depicts Neji’s tragic backstory and centring its ending on Hinata seems like an odd angle to take

“I’m alone. I don’t have anyone, but I never cry” NARUTOOOOO

KJHFKJHG THIS NINJA BASEBALL OUTRO I LOVE IT

SASUKE USING HIS SHARINGAN TO CHEAT AT BASEBALL I WHEEZE

Also not that I don’t like Genma but why is he a central figure in this ending. Has he had more than a single conversation with Naruto in his life

Lmao @ Sasuke and Itachi’s child versions going back to having their adult voices. Pick a lane SP!!!

“Things in season are always cheap and tasty” “Oh, is that so, Sasuke? Hahaha” Sasuke learning about the ninja economy

“We’re going to visit your mother’s family” Two questions: 1) Aren’t your families the same family (eep) and 2) Don’t they all live in the same part of the village

90% of this dialogue is recycled from prior episodes except delivered more slowly and it’s a little confusing

Itachi sure knows a lot about cooking for an eleven-year-old

Sasuke being a clumsy child is such a cute character detail ahhhh I love him so much 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

“[Confused laughter] You want to be like me?” What a Mood Itachi

Sakura’s hideout in the woods is so sweet yes 2 semi-normal childhoods

Poor little Sakura already concerned about her appearance they never let girls live do they

“You’re really cute Sakura, don’t hide it” Ino and Sakura are the most adorable children in the WORLD I love their relationship 4ever

“If she’s cute like you say, then I would love to meet her” who will stop all men

“But Ino, aren’t you good friends with Sakura?” “No, not really” Okay not to project but. I have a lot of thoughts on this narrative

GASP Inner Sakura’s first appearance!!

Tiny Team 7 is all I need in the world honestly I would watch a whole show that was just those three growing up

I have only just now noticed Suigetsu as third baseman. This ninja baseball game and season in general raise so many questions

Noooo Gaara don’t cry you are gonna be so loved in the future

Rasa, can I just say, from the bottom of my heart, I’m going to yeet you into the sun

“When I look up at the sky, the pain inside my heart feels a little bit better” He’s like 4!!!!!!! >:(

“Instead of a mother, you get to have me, Lord Gaara” Yashamaru: Self-Diagnosed Mumncle

Ngl baby Gaara’s recollection of Karura is nothing like she looked like

I really don’t care for this new Iruka voice I just keep listening to him like ‘that’s not the sound of Naruto’s dad!!’

I will admit him spooking the sleeping children was cute I don’t know why I always find that so funny kjhgkjhg

“Let me buy into this fight” who taught seven-year-old Naruto to gamble

Christ alive the implication that Naruto has been doing the sexy jutsu since he was seven who will put this boy in ninja therapy

If Orochimaru had just continued to be Jiraiya’s long-suffering friend he might be half-endearing but alas he is fecal matter personified

“Come on out, I made plenty, so you might as well stay and eat” Hjgjfjgfgffg I’m not sure what’s funnier about this scene the implication that Obito and Rin both independently followed Kakashi home without noticing each other, or that Kakashi did notice and rather than question this turn of events was just like “Guess I should make more fish”

“When you’re older, do you think you’ll become a chef” I would pay to see the AU where Kakashi becomes a professional chef why couldn’t that have been his Road to Ninja persona

Ngl I spent the first half of Kakashi’s minisode wondering if Sakumo was dead or simply too depressed to take care of Kakashi and I think dead is the less upsetting outcome

“It’s no fun when you’re not around, Kakashi” Obitooooooooooooooo

I’m not saying it’s suspicious that Sakumo is given two different depictions of his grave site in the anime but Sakumo fucked an alien and I stand by that statement

All I remember from Sasuke Shinden is that a character called Sasuke “Sassy” as a nickname and if they do that in the Eng dub I won’t survive

“[Deep sigh] Alright Sakura, what is it?” Fhfjhfkjh what’s your damage Kakashi can’t your kids come to visit when people start exploding

God Sakura and Ino’s relationship is the realest.... she went to the Hokage bc her gal was worried abt her family friend and then comforted her from her loss... the looooooooove

Hinata not to devalue your work in any way but why did u collapse after poking one (1) man in the chakra point isn’t gentle fist based in taijutsu

Fhjfhkjhf I’ve seen that gif before of Kakashi knowing that Sakura was thinking about Sasuke but it’s still funny

Sasuke just hanging in the woods with kittycats what kinda redemption journey is this lmao

Ehehehe I’m still not over the fact that Sasuke recognizes Sai’s jutsu and Kakashi uses it to communicate like there are six members of team 7 and this arc PROVES IT HELL YEAH

I can’t believe I forgot the circus ninja oh my god

“There’s good money to be found for performers like us” MOVE OVER EXPLODING HUMANS WHERE’S MY EPISODE ABOUT THE NINJA CIRCUS

Everyone always commenting on the pupils and sclera of the Hyuga and Uchiha but nobody caring about Old Man Demon Eyes from the Bamboo Village:

You’d think at this point no amount of genjutsu could traumatize Sasuke

They’re leaning wholeheartedly into the ninja cowboy music

That is not how I thought they would pronounce “Sassy” this show is full of twists and turns

“What about reviving the Uchiha clan? You’re the lone survivor right?” said Chino, inquiring about when Sasuke was planning to have vaginal sex

“You really think you’re going to find him inside that seriously scary looking cave?” GASP IT’S TENZO TIME

AIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIE IT’S MY BOYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY

“You’re Sasuke, right?” asked Yamato, as if Sasuke had not provided the memorable introduction of stabbing a seasoned ANBU in the shoulder as a sixteen-year-old during a dramatic reunion with his team

“It would be easier for us to keep things coordinated, if you sent us progress reports as you went...” Okay not to be that gal but I love that Tenzo and Kakashi are an “us” in this mini-lecture about how Sasuke should call his father (Kakashi) more often

P sure that’s Yamato’s last speaking role goodbye sweet man we knew ye well

“So does this mean that you trust me?” GO TO JAIL OROCHIMARU

Every time that Orochimaru touches Sasuke I want to leap through the screen you leave that boy alone!!! Go! To! Jail!

Sasuke having to explain his social life to Taka is a dynamic I never knew I needed. What more do I want from Naruto than frames like this:

"By showing everyone that Sasuke isn’t in the Hidden Leaf Village and that he’s still out journeying around the world, it reduces the possibility that the village will be harmed” “So are you saying that Sasuke has to keep travelling forever” “That might be so” I can’t believe the entirety of Taka came up with a better explanation for Sasuke staying outside Konoha than Kishimoto himself

“Compared to me, the likelihood that Kabuto will return to evil is extremely low”

He still helped kill......... 40,000 people????? Okay dude

I CAN’T BELIEVE OROCHIMARU IS ACKNOWLEDGING HE IS STILL EVIL!!!! GO TO JAIL!!

I’m gonna pretend I don’t see Tenzo following Stranger Danger and he’s on vacation on a beach where he belongs

Fhjkhfkjhfkj what’s the meaning of this Orochimaru you’ve looked the same since you were 25:

Sasuke: No. She’s older than I am

Orochimaru: [Soft gasp] What?

Man I remember vaguely Sasuke being involved in this fight based on the Tenzo novel scene later on but hoo boy I do not like this

SCREAMMMM TENZO TRYING TO PROTECT PPL IN THE AREA HE’S HELPING

“I can’t make direct contact with him, so I better go now” I hope it is because you filed a restraining order, Yamato

“To increase the rarity, what I’ve even done is, had all but one person in a clan killed” at this point En Oyashiro is just trying to bait Sasuke

God I love how righteous Sasuke is being rn like this is the kind of dismantling of oppression I wanted for him instead of sad murder times

This battle is bonkers:

Villain: Looks like you brought a sword to a dodgeball fight

Sasuke: Looks like you brought a dodgeball to a magic eyes fight!!

Well I certainly breezed past this part of Sasuke Shinden hello Fushin

I find it hard to believe that anyone but Naruto could best Sasuke rn

I keep joking that those eyes in the sky look like Tenzo but I’m right and I should say it

What a long, drawn-out and slightly suspicious backstory for Chino (looking at you, Fushin of two personality types)

“But now you’re still able to travel freely... and that is all because you have people who love and protect you” Team 7 cutaway with closeups of Sakura and Naruto, Narusasusaku game strong

“For the Leaf’s nourishment, your entire clan was absorbed by your village’s Roots” wow what a shitty time for such an excellent pun

Unbelievable kkhkjhfk and by this I mean completely believable:

Chino: Please explain your change of heart re: village corruption

Sasuke: I got a boyfriend

Unbelievable x2:

Chino: KILL ME

Sasuke: Consider this.... you have.... boy who is friend. Good enough

Chino: Wow Sasuke, you’re right

Lmao @ Kakashi proudly announcing that Sasuke is about to enter an unsanctioned jutsu fight in a bet to free enslaved people how did this letter go “Dear Hokage-dad-Kakashi, I am writing to inform you...”

Even funnier: If Tenzo wrote the letter bc Sasuke is shite at contacting people: “Dear Kakashi-senpai, Brace yourself to be worried and proud—”

“Are you Sasuke’s...” yes Chino, whatever the end of that sentence is, you’re correct

Huh I could’ve sworn at least a good chunk of these freed people go to the Leaf. I didn’t make that conversation up. I have discussed it many times!!! My poor Tenzo cut out for more logical story lines I guess

Omggggggg the Raikage is telling Sasuke about Naruto’s most vulnerable Sasuke moment..... the love!!! Is this the only reason they invited A lmao

En Oyashiro joining Rasa and Hiashi in the Bad Dad Club

I’ve said this before but Naruto and Sakura going on a date to talk about Sasuke is the most legit representation for their relationship I’ve ever seen that’s it that’s what them dating would be like

“You’re just like a one man police force” lol @ them cutting out the fact that Sakura said this bc Sakura’s not allowed to have individual connections to Sasuke and also just like....... how much Sasuke still wants to be a cop kjhgkjhgk baby stop

I’ve belatedly realized that Kakashi types to the beat of the intro music and it makes me giggle

“The adult world can be complicated” is that ur way of saying ‘nepotism’ Kakashi

“I’m startin’ to get a belly” “I don’t want to hear about all that” PLS

“You two are really the only ones who are special to me” aw Shikamaru

That slap was A Lot, Temari, surely there are better ways to tell Shikamaru you want him to be your boyfriend

“You don’t really think that Sai has—” “Well, he is very innocent.”

Kakashi about Sai: He’s the baby of the family

Sai: I’m the oldest and most experienced of all the youth???

Kakashi: I mark ur ages by when I got you xoxo ur legal age is 3

I’m not sure that that’s the intonation I expected for Hinoko but I guess that’s on me for stereotyping teen girls hahah

“That’s my ninja way” “Our ninja way” I feel like this is shinobi flirtation

The outro with Little Team 7 fading to Big Team 7... I have but one heart

Also the implication that they took a photo immediately post war jhgkjhgkj. Kakashi still has a barely healed stab wound and twenty years of trauma. Sasuke and Naruto both just lost an arm. Also who brought a camera to the battlefield. Who took this picture. (Tenzo waking up from a 224 episode coma: We gotta take a family photo)

“You might consider yourself a member of Team 7, but I wonder if they think the same of you” [Naruto voice] Believe it!!!!!!

“If we just kill the lookouts, it’ll be like easy to get past the checkpoint” okay calm down Soku

Lmao Shikamaru struggling to deal with rebellious teens jhghjkg why are the anime episodes I watch so fitting to my own life

Man not to get 2 real it’s fucked up that Soku fears peace wyd militarism

I don’t really believe that Soku is deserting the village but it’s a good tactic

[Panning to the bird scene at the beginning of this arc] We call that foreshadowing

Komori’s judgement seems to be clouded by his lowkey crush on Soku

“I’ve just been having these really bizarre dreams lately” that’s PTSD Shikamaru

“Feudal lords are always [tyrants] no matter where you go” then why.... do you have.... feudalism.......... [Tobirama screams in the afterlife]

Not to judge these guys so much but like.... ur ANBU and a veteran ninja surely you should have a disguise after faking your death??????? Kakashi, Iruka, what shinobi standards are you teaching exactly?? U didn’t even change ur hairstyles???

“Something similar happened to me as well” what are you... are you talking about when you pretended to be asleep during the Chunin exams because that’s not the same thing as sleeping under a pile of corpses Shikamaru

NOOOOOOOOOO SAI WHY ARE THEY HANGING MY ANGEL FROM A CRUCIFIX

AHHHHHHH I don’t like seeing Sai like this, Kakashi’s right he’s a baby!!

“Let’s just say I’ve found the place where I belong” Fhdjskhfksjhf this is definitely Root Code for something because Kakashi uses this line on Tenzo in his Tsukuyomi dream

“Then why didn’t Naruto come to get me? You and I have never been particularly close, so why were you the one who came here?” LMAO SAI ‘you’re not on my list of eligible rescuers Shikamaru 😒😒😒😒’

“Fret not, to me this is but a trifle” said Ro, lying prostrate on the ground in between groans of pain (same)

I mean... Gengo makes some pretty compelling arguments abt the shinobi system

“The alliance of nations that the Leaf is currently a part of... is only going to maintain a dark, tenuous peace” I mean... Gengo’s right even if he is a dick

“Lord Hokage told me everything... and I had a hell of a time getting it out of him too” “I don’t want to know what you did... I don’t even want to imagine it” JHGKJHGKJHG I WANNA SEE TEMARI INTERROGATING A FORMER ANBU, KAGE-LEVEL NINJA I LOVE IT

Wait are these last twelve outros dedicated to each of the rookie teams + Team Guy bc that would be adorable

JHGJHGGHGJHG DO WE ACTUALLY GET TO SEE TEMARI YELL AT KAKASHI

Update from 3 seconds later: We don’t but Kakashi’s “Euh?” sound as she knocks down his door is still very funny

“Friendship is useless” “If that’s true, then why are you crying right now” he’s been taking Sasuke lessons in his spare time

“Do you know of a man named ‘Zabuza Momochi’” !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

“These are my only friends” said Sai, about two giant cartoon lions

Sai’s genjutsu scene was actually much sweeter in the book bc Naruto, Sakura, Kakashi and Yamato’s chakra were all protecting him inside his own mind but I don’t mind my boy getting a hug

HAHAHAHAHA WHAT IS THIS CUTAWAY TO NARUTO BATHED IN GOLDEN LIGHT ANNOUNCING “RAMEN” LIKE IT’S A WHOLE SENTENCE OKAY STUDIO PIERROT U NEED A BREAK I GET IT

“What in the hell was that?” that was also my question Shikamaru

Shikamaru with full conviction: To be lazy.... that is my dream

Hahahaha it’s Ninja Teen Romance Hours I guess

“Oh, you don’t want to [go out on a date]?” No that’s not what I’m saying” [walks away] TEMARI PLS

“Going on a date without a strategy, would be like trying to fight a tailed beast unarmed” [Nodding] “You have zero chance of winning, that way” I suddenly understand Kakashi’s dating life a lot more

They really rely on you being aware of Naruto the Last huh gjkhgkjhgk there’s been no mention in any of this filler of Naruto and Hinata even being in a relationship to this point as far as I remember

Fhjkfhkjhfkfh poor Iruka none of the kids know he’s President of the Naruto’s Dad Society

“I know I’m supposed to be striving to get ahead in my career, but there’s also a part of me that really wants to just continue teaching kids, one on one” Irukaaaaa <3333333

Looool even as Hokage, Kakashi just drops out of nowhere to give cryptic life advice and then leaves

Smash the statue, Tsukune, don’t let the establishment tell u what to do!!

“Eating ramen everyday isn’t healthy you know” am I to believe that Kakashi, the man who told Naruto, ‘if you're going to be a ninja, you need to eat your vegetables’ is on a ramen-only diet?? Falsehoods

“And it’s all thanks to you Iruka” khjhgkjhgjhg alright.... you win this round KKIR shippers

WHO IS ANIMATING THIS SCENE IT IS BUCKWILD??? There is no character model to speak of, most of the kids don’t have noses, everyone’s upside down or spinning around, and Iruka is... hiding in a frog sign???

There is no English translation of this caption???? EXPLAIN JAPAN. TELL ME YOUR FROG SECRETS YOU KNOW I LOVE FROGS [INSERT PICTURE OF TENZO HERE]

(Update I looked it up in the sub and the caption offers no more insight. “IRUKA UMINO, AROUND 30 YEARS OLD. STEALTHILY”)

“This is for Hinata, so let’s all try our hardest” Kiba loves Hinata MOST

You know how if you pause in the middle of an animated action, you sometimes linger on an in-between image that looks goofy because it was meant to add to the motion rather than be focused on? This whole episode is animated like one of those images

It’s okay Lee the only dumbbell Naruto is fixated on is Sasuke Uchiha

I know don’t usually post so many images in these liveblogs, but I really need anyone reading this to see the Leaf Village’s semi-canonical Unofficial Mascot Konorin:

He is??? The love of my life???

“I don’t even have a boyfriend and train every day from morning til night” yes you do. His name is Neji Hyuga and he’s very alive and he’s a jonin sensei and he will buy you all the knives you want after he takes all of Hiashi’s money and redistributes it. In this essay I will—

You see what I mean??? Neji wants to be there for Tenten (and Lee)!!!

Tenten: What would Neji do if he were here now

Neji: [starts manifesting]

“It’s you since you’re a taijutsu specialist, but Naruto and Hinata aren’t” yes????? Hinata is???? She doesn’t use weapons but Gentle Fist is entirely taijutsu??? Why does everyone keep forgetting

KHKGJHKJHGKFHKJHFKJ I CAN’T GET OVER NEJI JUST. MANIFESTING ABOVE LEE’S BED TO GIVE HIM SHITTY WEDDING GIFT IDEAS

“And don’t forget: Hyuga” Neji........ what.... does this mean!!!!!!!!

Why say “Neji” like that Orochimaru and in fact why say anything at all [Konan voice] I’m the Hokage now, the entire criminal justice system is on its way you are going to jail!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I really can’t believe that the Naruto writers looked at Tenzo’s role in Naruto SD and decided “let’s do that.... but worse”

They animated?????????? A smaller Lee??????????? Into Lee’s mouth???????????? As if the animation style wasn’t enough. I need a minute

They are really going full Naruto SD huh??? Cut away skit like a ‘genjutsu’ scne. Lee and Guy playing a married couple and Tenten a baby. Neji in drag. This is a choice

“How can you misunderstand Neji so much” “Even if it’s only as a ghost, I’m sure that Neji would appear” I need. Several minutes

Fhjkhfkjfh Shikamaru’s vision of Gaara, Bee, Kakashi and Tsunade hanging out at this fancy restaurant. Is this who he thinks Kakashi’s social circle is these days (he might be right)

“Okay, I’ll hear you out!” Is this implication of this scene that Temari thinks Shikamaru’s idea of a first date is marriage... and she’s WILLING TO GO ALONG WITH THAT. TEMARI PLS

“Hey Ino, why would you go out of your way to make something I love? Bc she looooves you Sakura

“Sakura, I thought the same thing” GOD JUST GET MARRIED

“It’ll be too late once we go in, I could get all caught up in the mood or something like that” wait........ does Temari think Shikamaru wants to get married or fuck???? Or both??? OH MY GOD

Gaara: Naruto’s getting married.... without meeeeeeeeeee

God I love Gaara’s Blank Period hair it is truly careless and happy hair

“His ramen’s extravagent?” JKGHKHKJH everyone in the Leaf Village trying to convince Gaara that Naruto’s taste is incredibly obnoxious which is true but not in the way being described

Kankuro what’s your damage let Gaara buy a nice and personal present for the love of his life

Every time I think this arc can’t get more ridiculous it exceeds my expectations:

[Vaguely horrified accompanying dialogue: “The Raikage—” “—Will do the Hidden Cloud Dance?”]

“Well then, Gaara is just going to have to do the Hidden Sand Samba” Ah. Of course. The Hidden Sand Samba. Why didn’t anyone think of this plan before

Gaara is blushing because his new dream is just to samba dance with Naruto into the night

Ahhhhhhhhhhhh Teuchi giving Naruto an “all you can eat forever” coupon that’s cute our sweet boy is so loved

Gaara: My wedding gift to you, Naruto... is me :)

“I’m just disappointed that we aren’t going to get to see you dance, Gaara” you know what that’s fair Kankuro me too

Hahahaha Shino dissing Kiba’s plight for becoming Hokage to these random kids

I can’t pay attention to anything this ninja cat is saying because they’ve got Naruto’s voice and it is very distracting

There’s something to be curious about how it would be if Kiba married into a family that has a contract with the Uchiha lmao

Literally the girl who Kiba is supposed to be in love with is given Hinata’s voice #kibahinarights

“Oh, just take it. Money means nothing to me” the Beekeeper is truly one of the strangest characters in the Naruto universe just conceptually. Why are they wearing a giant bee stinger on their butt?

LMAO @ Kiba having absolutely no self-doubt whatsoever. Goals!!

Shino becoming a teacher after the war is actually one of the post-699 futures I like, good for him!

Iruka sweet man Naruto has compared you to a father like 1500 times have you not overheard him one (1) time

Kakashi is such a dumb stubborn bitch trying to find a way for Naruto to have a happy wedding... I love him

“This is my fault, I never taught him how to treat women! Not that I even really know about that kind of thing of course” Iruka Umino confirmed canonically gay

“I just have to bow my head a little” KKIR: 2; Me: 0

I love this tradition of Hokage boys bowing their heads for cooperation between villages yesssssssssssss

Outro for the whole OG Team 7.... I’m fine everything’s fine I’m good cool cool cool cool cool

The implication that they just sell Kakashi wigs in the village... amazing

I know this is about to be an emotionally poignant moment but what Naruto’s presence is reminding is that the only word he has said in the past 6 episodes is “ramen” LMAO

“I’m going to have to apologize to her for raising you as a such a thoughtless, inconsiderate man” raising you... RAISING YOU..................... TRULY PRESIDENT OF THE NARUTO’S DAD SOCIETY GOD BLESS IRUKA UMINO

LOOK AT THIS CRYBABY NINJA THIS IS WHAT I’M TALKING ABOUT ONE OF MY FAVOURITE PARTS OF KONOHA HIDEN WAS HOW IRUKA KEPT BURSTING INTO TEARS OVER NARUTO EVERY OTHER MINUTE THIS IS WHAT BONDS LOOK LIKE

God..................... the Team 7 lover in me just despairs of this final episode bc they’re all separated and also Tenzo needs justice 4 being Kakashi’s co-wedding planner it’s in the book I read it!!!!

I will set aside my feelings to recognize that Kakashi looks very handsome

Goodbye Naruto you were certainly an experience and I mean that in every possible intonation

#decided to watch the last animated season i'm truly done!!!#ayesha talks anime #ayesha liveblogs nahruto shipduden #liveblogging #naruto series #long post

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nyodrite · 6 years

Text

@becausemyfriendskeptasking said:

BYE IM YELLING THIS IS ABSOLUTELY THE GREATEST THING

THANKS I'M GLAD YOU LIKED IT

@kunoichi-ume said:

okay I am onboard.

Yessss, join usssss

@kitsune0neko said:

Yyyaaaaaaaaaaaay! I really like this. Especialky bc dragons r awesome and a love for them would totally transcend death.

This is absolute truth, dragons are awesome and love of dragons transcends such flimsy barriers such as d e a t h

@seladorie said:

... i didn't know i needed this but i do

i want this so bad

i wanna see this team 7 meet kakashi

i want charlie!sakura to needle sasuke ONLY to see his fire dragon technique

plz

*CACKLES* REVENGE!

Kura meeting Kakashi would be a bit like, "HAVE YOU BEEN TO KIRI? DO YOU KNOW THE MIZUCHI MYTH? HAVE YOU SEEN OTHER DRAGON-BASED JUSTU? WHERE DID THEY ORIGINATE? HAVE YOU HEARD OF THE EXISTENCE OF A REAL LIVE DRAGON?"

While Kakashi is internally just,,,okay so apparently this one is obsessed with scaly, sparky flapper cryptids but at least she's not a fangirl??

@ruelukas22 said:

oh wow O.O senpai noticed me!

Does this mean you’re actually going to fic it? Because that could be amazing!

Would anyone else be reincarnations?!

How does Charlie like being an only child?

Does he refer to himself as a he in actual conversations sometimes?

Does he get a wild hair cut?

Does he like kunoichi classes?

We see the beginning of him interacting with Naruto, how does that continue, does he like Kurama and the other Bijuu? (“Giant, village destroying creatures. I love them.” “Honestly Sakura…”)

What does he think of giant summons? (“Sakura! The snake is trying to kill you, stop fawning over it!”)

.....sen...pai..? .....suddenly i feel more powerful then ever before.

Tentative yes on a fic but, whoa do I get distracted easily.

As for any other reincarnations, no? Not here, but @owldork1998 and @cassandrasdreamworld and I did talk about two people being reincarnated as Sakura around the same time. In fact there was talk about Charlie being reincarnated as Sakura while Newt Scamander was reincarnated as Inner Sakura.

Being an only child after being one of many is kind of lonely, but there's Ino whose kind of like a sister and who comes as part of a package deal with Shikamaru and Chouji so Kura makes do with pseudo-siblings.

While it wouldn't really matter or be noticed in English, since personal pronouns like don't lean towards a gender, Kura does do that. Kura's personal pronoun is "ore" all around instead of the expected "watashi", it's chosen simply because it's shorter and thus easier to say. This does, however, kind of affect things.

it's been, due to the time spent together at the academy, normalized for Kura's generation - in fact some of the younger girls at the academy start doing the same

ninja, on a whole, really don't care because there could be worse quirks for the kid to have - like peeping in bath houses, or wearing green spandex

clanfolk, even ninja ones, kinda do a double take but are generally just huh, alright then.

older people, even ninja, like the Council are disapproving it's partially about propriety but mostly about this fool kunoichi will endanger the mission if she is ever to go undercover or otherwise infiltrate some place

civilians range from shrugging it off as "ninja weirdness" or being scandalized, Kura's parents (who are in fact civilian in this) are on both sides - father shrugs it off and is even amused, mother is Not Happy

there's also little, awkward side conversations with first Iruka then Kakashi about if Kura is experiencing gender dysphoria and if it were better to use different pronouns or look into having a sex change

Wild hair? Kind of? Less cut though. Kura's hair is long, it is messy and pulled into a ponytail until it eventually grows so long - takes so long to clean in the shower - that Kura just hacks it off with a kunai. So, yep! Wild hair cut! (eventually)

Kura is ambivalient about kunoichi classes; sewings only practical, as is cooking, tea ceramonies and kimono are interesting in a foriegn way, make-up is kind of weird but mostly tedious given he was still around when little Ginny wanted to play with their mum's make-up and demanded he let her make him "pretty" and is now resigned to it, but he's actually good with flowers - entirely Bill's fault who once tried to impress a girl be carefully selecting flowers that were meaningful

Bijuu, yes Kura loves them. Once he finds out that they are actually real - and how are giant chakra monsters more believable then dragons?!? - he's stoked and all NO INO/NARUTO/SASUKE/SENSEI YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND I HAVE TO MEET ONE I WILL LITERALLY DIE IF I DO NOT. Then he finds out about them being sealed away and is just WAT NO YOU CAN'T CAGE SUCH WONDERFUL CREATURES THIS IS A CRIME OF THE HIGHEST CALIBER

Giant summon, he loves them also and yes that's pretty much how it goes - that and a mix of frantically taking down notes because there's no Newt Scamander here to learn and write about the creatures of this world so now it is obviously my solemn duty to do so in his absence

and yes! i love you're tags - these ones also! sasuke is definitely the one shoved into the place of the Voice Of Reason between his two teammates - Let's Be Friends! and Can I Pet It Sensei, Please!? - and Kakashi is despairing the the tiny, traumatized ball of rage is the voice of reason out of his genin

kit123 said:

This was so much fun! Lol Ino acting like she is too popular to read but secretly being super smart. Hahaha Charlie "I don't have time for that stuff when I have to find dragons" Weasley KILLED me. He's going to annoy every Uchiha ever figuring out how that fire dragon came to be. I bet Shisui ends up semi-adopting him. The Uchiha massacre is averted just because a seven year old was obsessed with dragons.

nooOO YOU WEREN'T SUPPOSED TO K N O W

more seriously, yes i was toying with the idea that the massacre is averted because Kura is just PLEASE CAN YOU TELL ME ABOUT DRAGONS I NEED TO KNOW and shadowing random Uchiha who are too bewildered by this - usually people want to know about their eyes??? not??? dragons???????? - to do anything can even be misinterpreted as negative so the entire village sees the Uchiha tolerating a tiny, pink haired civilian girl following them around and pestering them and are just maybe they're not all bad???

on the other hand if the massacre were to happen and Sasuke gets his same team 7 intro, Kura would just be "Mate, don't lose you're nose" while thinking about Voldemort while everyone else is jusy "???"

#the threads of an old life au #Charlie Weasley #sakura haruno #team 7

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ramennoodlesandnarusasu · 6 years

Text

A kiss never forgotten

*Chap 1: A drunken night*

*Chap 2: A blurred night*

*Chap 3: The bath house*

*Chap 4: A Thousand pieces*

*Chap 5: Heart beat*

*Chap 6: Surprise*

*Chap 7: Sunsets, trees and you*

*Chap 8: What now?*

*Chap 9: Healing the unfixable*

*Chap 10: So, this is it?*

*Chap 11: What now?*

*Chap 12: Kids and kisses*

*Chap 13: Its time*

*Chap 14: Tears*

*Chap 15: Somethings different?*

*Chap 16: Its time*

*Chap 17: At peace*

*Chap 18: Pancakes, kids and headaches*

*Chap 19: Will you stay or will you go?*

Chap 20: The end of the Aisle- FINAL CHAPTER

Naruto stared at the white tiles, shaking, almost hyperventilating. The tiles were a shinny white colour and Naruto meet his own eyes on the shiny reflection. He looked at himself also dressed in white and started re-stressing about today so he got up and started to look around for any form of distraction.

“Oh, look what pretty white curtains…”

Naruto started to concentrating on his breathing, he couldn’t tell why was he so nervous? He known this day was coming for 12 months. Then why was he freaking out so much right now?

He started circling the room, admiring the beautiful features of the of the room. There was ancient Japanese scripture around the walls and photos of the shrine when it was constructed many years ago. Golden flower embellishments almost vined around the room, soft golden flowers dripping into the white soft features of the room.

He smiled thinking too himself; he never thought he would be here again, this time with someone he was hundred times more excited about. He vaguely remembered the day he was here with Hinata, on that day he didn’t felt stressed, he didn’t really feel anything. He was extremely relaxed, he chuckled under his breath looking back now the signs were so obvious from the beginning.

Naruto heard the soft clink of a Japanese bamboo shot, water flowing softly and birds chirping in unison. He was so excited but at the same time so nervous, it had been a bumpy road leading to this day, but it was finally here.

Naruto’s thoughts were interrupted by the sound of a soft knock at the door.

“Naruto are you ready?” Kakashi asked as he closed the door behind him.

Naruto turned around with small tears forming in the corners in his eyes, a wide smile that just wouldn't disappear from his face

“More than I will ever be Kakashi.”

Kakashi came forward, he himself was feeling a bit emotional since he had considered himself Naruto’s father.

“My god Naruto, I must say you look amazing.”

Naruto spun around to face the mirror, looking at himself in all white. He wore a modern white tuxedo with a crème top underneath. He accompanied the entire look with the Hokage cloak hanging off both his shoulders, he was truly a sight.

“If only your parents could see you.”

Naruto started to tear up even more, “oh no! No crying on your big day Naruto.”

“Well stop saying emotional shit that’s going to make me cry.”

Kakashi came forward to embrace Naruto, he didn’t care how mushy he was acting, today he was basically filling in for Minato, he had seen this boy grow up from a tiny little kid, abandoned, alone, craving attention, to this man. A man who had conquered so much in his lifetime, a man worthy of the title Hokage.

“I am so proud of you Naruto, I know it wasn’t easy for you and Sasuke to get married, but it was all worth it in the end.”

“Hmph” Naruto mumbled quietly under his breath as he let his tears start fall down his cheeks and onto Kakashi’s shoulder.

“Okay before we both start bawling our eyes out, let’s get you down this alter.”

Naruto nodded, wiping his tears away in the process. He looked around for his bouquet, he found it next to the seat he was using before. He picked up the beautiful bouquet which held white roses and lilies. He started following Kakashi to the door, as Kakashi went to open it, Naruto lingered for just two more seconds.

“You coming Naruto?”

Naruto looked back into the white washed room, as though waiting for answers. And it was in that second that the almost clear white curtains brushed upwards from the wind that he saw his mum and dad standing behind it, clear as day.

They smiled as they stared at their son, and as quick as the curtain went up the curtain would soon fall down. It was as the curtain started floating down, that Naruto heard the soft voice of Kushina in the air, telling him she loved him. And then they were gone, the room looked the same, and Naruto knew it was time. He turned around to face Kakashi and smiled, the most confident smile he had ever produced in his lifetime.

“Yep! Let’s do this.”

Naruto and Sasuke had agreed on a modern slash traditional wedding, so the venue was still held in one of the most spiritually old shrines in Konoha;but Naruto wanted to add a modern influences to the wedding, which Sasuke didn’t go extremely against. This meant that there was a band to coordinate the music for the evening, which had been playing typical wedding songs all day long.

Naruto had heard them from his room, but as he walked closer and closer to where everyone was sitting, he started to hear the music getting louder and louder. The soft tunes of a piano and harp started coursing into Naruto’s body, he was starting to get more flustered the louder the music.

As if the music was exciting every cell in his body, the soft tunes pulled him forward to his new life.

Naruto slowly followed Kakashi who lead him to the main event, soon they both reached a golden door. Naruto was fully aware that behind this golden door was an exquisite garden. A garden which currently had over one hundred people sitting down in chairs waiting for Naruto to appear, and a man, so special, so beautiful, waiting for him at the end of the aisle.

Naruto started to hyperventilate properly this time, feeling like his heart was just short of collapsing. His face was going all red and the sound of the band intruding Naruto was literally pulsating in his skin.

“Naruto, breathe, you will be fine.” Kakashi said whilst taking Naruto’s arm to assume the father position.

Naruto nodded, feeling one million emotions at that very second.

But as the doors started opening, allowing the bright light from the sun to enter Naruto’s eyes something in Naruto’s body changed, he started to calm, his lungs relaxed and he un-clenched his nervous fist. His heart stopped in pure awe. He didn’t see the gardens which had been so beautifully decorated with white silk ribbons, he didn’t see the guest all standing up for him and smiling. He only saw one thing that shined brighter than the ten suns combined.

Sasuke.

There he was smiling at Naruto, a genuinely large smile, which he couldn’t wipe off his face. Dressed in a gorgeous deep black. He was looking at Naruto like he was the only one in the entire garden and Naruto looked at him in the exact same way.

As the band starting playing Bridal March from the opera Lohengrin, Naruto started to slowly walk forwards, one foot after another, slowly walking over white petals that were scattered all over the floor. He started to think to himself as he stepped forwards towards his future, how much he had struggle to get here and how it was all worth it in then end. If he knew back then what his future held, he would hug everyone around him and say thank you, because for every argument, for every single late night, for every emotional grieve, he is able to stand where he is today.

Naruto started to remines of that day, that horrible yet beautiful day he got proposed too.

*1 year before*

“So, Naruto will you marry me?” Sasuke looked at him, whilst starting to get a worried expression on his face.

Naruto looked down in shock, not knowing what to do. His anger and worry had completely slipped away, Sasuke was right here, safe from harm and asking for his hand in marriage. What was he meant to do?

Naruto heard Kurama's voice in his head., “say yes you fool!”

“YES!” Naruto said whilst still in a state of shook.

Sasuke let out a breath and relaxed his whole body, “oh thank god.” He got up and placed a silver ring on Naruto’s left hand, he threw the box over his shoulder not caring where it landed. He took Naruto into a deep long and passionate kiss, a kiss attempting to make up for being away for nearly 2 months.

Naruto started to cry whilst aggressively kissing him back, he missed him so much, he couldn’t believe that Sasuke was in his arms. He had been so worried for so long, not knowing if he would return had been killing him, but finally all that stress and worry could finally float away.

It was as though somehow Naruto found peace in that kiss, like the stress and anger which had piled up had been burnt away slowly by the soft touch of Sasuke’s kiss.

Naruto pulled away, looking into Sasuke’s eyes longingly. He saw that he had a few cuts on his face, which had left their damage on Sasuke’s porcelain perfect skin. Naruto started to trace them with his fingers, as though attempting his best to clear them away from his skin.

“I’ve missed you Sasuke… I thought you were leaving me. You don’t understand what I went through these past two months, I was going crazy.”

Sasuke looked down to the ground as though he was guilty, he back away slowly from Naruto, as though preparing for something.

“What are you doing?”

Sasuke bit his lip and looked at Naruto with the purest puppy dog eyes he could summon, “well, would you kill me if I said I planned it to be like that?”

Naruto’s eyebrow started twitching, his fist starting to clench so hard that his knuckles all simultaneously cracked.

“What do you mean Sasuke?” Naruto said in an increasingly aggressive voice.

Sasuke started running for the door, “it wasn’t my idea it was Kakashi’s.”

Naruto started chasing him outside, ready to attack Sasuke with everything he got, but then he stopped right in his tracks. As he stepped outside his house, he was struck with another round of shock.

“CONGRATULATIONS!”

Naruto could see everyone he knew, Ino, Sai, Kiba, Kakashi and Iruka, Lady Tsunade, and basically the entire village.

Naruto’s mouth was on the ground. “What the hell? I LITERALLY JUST WALKED PAST HERE? AND NONE-OF THIS WAS HERE.”

“What do you expect from Konoha’s best trained Ninjas?” Konohamaru said in a confident tone.

“Oh my gosh Naruto! You're engaged!” Everyone started running towards him to see the ring and Naruto just stood there as still as a statue in shock.

Everyone started surrounding him to have a view of the new shiny silver ring on his left hand which bonded him to Sasuke.

Naruto smiled at everyone who came to look at his ring ;thanking them as they congratulated him on his new engagement. Until sooner or later it was Sakura’s and Hinata’s turn to come and congratulate him

He looked at them with worry but gratitude that they even came, “guys, you didn’t have to come, I would have understood.” Hinata looked at him with tears nearly falling from her eyes.Sakura gave him a warm smile to ease his concerned. .

“Naruto, I am happy for you, if you are happy, so am I. I just I really want you to live the life you have always wanted and I hope Sasuke helps you fulfil that.” Hinata came in and hugged Naruto so aggressively as though trying to find some security in Naruto’s arms.

Naruto let go off Hinata and wiped away a tear that escaped the corner of her eye. “Thank you, to the both of you…truly, thank you.”

Sakura and Hinata looked at each other and smiled and then looked back at Naruto with the same warm expression.

“But are you guys as shocked as I am? Because I did not see this coming.” Naruto said whilst looking at his new shiny band on his finger.

Sakura started laughing and Hinata followed, “not really, I am pretty sure everyone in the village knew besides you Naruto.” Naruto looked at them like he was desperate for answers, “If you want the mastermind behind this go ask our crazy sensei.” Sakura said as she pointed to Kakashi which had overheard and was already scurrying away in fear.

Naruto walked over to Kakashi with such a large pout on his face, “so... oh wise teacher, please tell me how making me think Sasuke was leaving me, leads to a good engagement story, huh?”

Kakashi chuckled like he was in trouble, “well... you see, I thought if we made you think he was leaving for good that the engagement would be more of a surprise and it was, was it not?”

Naruto gave Kakashi an angered look , but he was right, he didn’t see this coming in a million years.

“ Why is everything so complicated with you Kakashi?”

Kakashi just smiled innocently. “Hey, Sasuke was totally on board, I didn’t even have to convince him, he thought it was hilarious.”

Sasuke had overheard their conversation and also started to bolt away.

“Oh no you don’t mister come back here right now!” Naruto pointed Sasuke forward. And grudgingly like a kid in trouble Sasuke obeyed.

Naruto crossed his arms like he was a disappointed parent “so, care to tell me the whole story?”

“Fine… you know how we had that big fight before I left?”

Naruto nodded, pursing his lips like it still hurt to think about it.

“Well when we were over there in the Mist, I saw a lot of shit Naruto, families torn apart, people taken from their love ones forever and in the haze of blood shed I realized I couldn’t afford to lose you. I decided then and there that when I came back I wanted to marry you. It was only after the immediate threat had passed and we started the evacuations and rebuilding the city did I told Kakashi about my plans about wanting to send you a message that I wanted to marry you. He told me no, instead to seem like I was still angry and make you believe I was leaving, so when I actually asked for your hand in marriage it would come as a giant surprise. . I thought it was kind of cruel at first but after a few drinks I thought it was hilarious and went along with Kakashi’s plans.”

Naruto looked at him with disbelief, “you two are basically children. What am I going to do with you guys?”

Both Kakashi and Sasuke started to chuckle, “it was evil, but it did its job, you did not see it coming.”

Naruto smiled, “that’s true, but it doesn’t mean I still won’t kill you both.”

Kakashi’s eyes widened, “well I didn’t account for that, so I will be running now, good luck Sasuke, you can’t run away you live here.” Kakashi quickly bolted to the trees and away from Naruto.

Sasuke looked at Naruto with a scared smile, “have sympathy oh lord Hokage.”

Naruto came forward seductively and pulled Sasuke in close by the waist, “there will be no sympathy, Naruto leaned in to capture Sasuke in a deep kiss, suddenly craving something much more, something he hadn't had in so long.

“Can you guys not.” Konohamaru said behind them, “gross”.

Naruto laughed as he let go off Sasuke, “your face is gross.”

“Well let’s fight this out then old man.”

Naruto proceeded to pretend he was throwing shuriken at Konohamaru, making weird ninja swishing noises as he did so. Konohamaru pretended to dodge and flip around the attacks, “you will never catch me, ass wipe.”

Naruto smiled at Konohamaru who still acted like a kid even though he was an adult now.

He saw Himawari and Boruto run up to him, “dad!” Himawari screamed as she tackled her dad to the ground. , “congratulations papa!”

Naruto smiled and smothered Himawari in kisses, “thank you my angel.” He looked at Boruto who had his arms crossed. Boruto looked at his father with a struggling expression on his face as though attempting to say something. Naruto reached t out his hand to request Boruto to bump fist with him.

He waited for a second and Boruto grudgingly replied back by bumping his fist in return, “congrats dad.” Naruto felt like a huge wave of happiness past through him, “thank you son, it really means a lot.”

“Hmph.” Boruto turned around not wanting to act all mushy, but Naruto was able to catch a glimpse of the small smile he allowed to surface on his face.

In the midst of being attacked by a giant bear hug by Himawari, Naruto saw Sasuke walk away towards someone, he couldn’t see who. Himawari kept getting in the way.

“Sweety do you want to go play with Akamaru?”

“Yes, let’s go daddy, can I ride on your back?”

“Sure, hop on the train express.”

As Naruto chugged forward pretending to be a train, he tried to eye Sasuke from a far, seeing him speak to someone. He crept forwards towards Kiba and Akamaru who thankfully were near Sasuke anyways.

As he got closer and closer, Sasuke started to get down in his knees.. It was there in that moment that Naruto’s heart completely paused. That solid few seconds would be engraved in his mind for the rest of his life.

It was there in the woods, under the moon and the stars that he saw Sasuke, softly crying as he hugged his daughter Sarada. He could see Sasuke mouth the words, thank you.

If Naruto could love this man even more, then today, this moment would make him fall completely head over heels for him.

Naruto started to tear up slightly, he smiling and stared at the floor, hoping no one would see him.

“Daddy why are you crying?”

“No Himawari, these are happy tears.”

“Oh, do you want teddy to wipe them off?”

Naruto chuckled lightly, “yes please.” Naruto turned his head, so Himawari could reach over and wipe Naruto’s tears away with her teddy.

Naruto would remember that night for the rest of his life, he would remember sharing drinks, laughter and joy with his friends and family over the unison of him and Sasuke. Everything would have been perfect from now on till the wedding he hoped.

But unfortunately, the year to follow would not be an easy one, for changing the system in Konoha to allow for Gay marriage was going to be tougher than Naruto had anticipated. .

*6 months before the wedding*

Naruto was pacing back and forth, going from one end of the room to the next.

He was beyond fuming and he could see Kakashi in the corner of his eye telling him to calm down, but simmering down at this point would be null, he was already on his breaking point.

“I don’t understand your backwards way of thinking. Can you for once give me a good fucking reason why we cannot legalize it? Because all the reasons I’m hearing right now are absolute bullshit.”

One of the male elders aggressively stood up, “that is no way to speak to the panel of elders, Naruto. I would watch your language if I were you.”

“What for? If you are going to consider me scum of the society, then I shall do the same for you.”

Naruto could see Kakashi palm his head in response to the way he was acting.

“Naruto, I have already explained, we do not approve because it goes against tradition, and what kind of advisors would we be if we did not protect ancient tradition?”

Naruto started steaming from his ears, his blood pumping at a rapid rate, “you mean the traditions that allowed young ninjas to be treated as test subjects? Do you mean the traditions that allowed the segregation of an entire clan? Is this the traditions you so wish to keep?”

The elders looked baffled, as though they were stuck in his own mind trying to figure out how to respond.

“Tell me elders!”

“No.” The main elder said whilst sitting down in defeat.

“Exactly, the old traditions are outdated. I was appointed Hokage because the people trust my judgement, can’t you see that this is for all of Konoha, not just me. Don’t you think it’s unfair to all those who can’t marry because of stupid tradition?”

“But it’s just not pure, it’s a sin and a monstrosity.”

Naruto started to look at the elder who said that with such hurt in his eyes, he wasn’t even angry but sorry for them all. How they could be so stuck in traditions that they didn’t look at human value. “Look elder Mai, if I were to tell you that your grandson was gay and he was in love with another boy, what would you do?”

She looked at Naruto and couldn’t say a word, she just had her mouth open, unable to produce any form of sound.

“Everyone in this room, think about your grandkids, your daughters, sons, neighbours and friends, someone is gay. Just imagine saying to someone you love that they are not allowed to marry someone they cherish because of some old tradition that should have been taken down a long time ago.”

Naruto took a long breath to calm himself, “really think about it, imagine yourself saying the words, you are a monster to your grandchild, imagine the look of hurt, pain and sadness on their faces.”

The elders looked at each other with concerned faces, they looked like they were experiencing the pain themselves.

Naruto pushed his chest forward and walked confidently forward to the front of the conference room, “we have been debating this issue for nearly 3 months now and I say this as Hokage, I am not afraid of change and I will not stand here waiting patiently for you to finally realize you are wrong, so either you are willing to except the future or you can stay behind.”

Naruto cracked his neck for the next words, “but I will not tolerate those who decide to stay behind, so If you wish to get up and leave the panel of advisors, I would do so, if I were you. Because from today onwards, I will not tolerate for this nonsense, you are my advisors because I trust in your judgment, but if your judgement is clouded in hate and wrongfulness then you are no better than Danzo and I will not blink an eye to kick you off the panel. So, choose wisely, those in favour may stay, those who disagree may go.”

Everyone looked around in shock and disbelief as to what they just heard. Naruto was never one to use his position as Hokage, but today he was not going to tolerate it anymore. He was sick of hearing he was disgusting and that what he was doing was wrong for 3 months, today he stood proud. They could either follow him or not, but he wasn’t going to be pushed around anymore. And if everyone went against him, then he didn’t want to be Hokage anymore, because he refused to be the head of such a rotten system and panel of advisors.

Kakashi was also looking at Naruto in disbelief in the corner of the room, but his eyes also shined with pride for his Hokage, it took guts to do what Naruto just did, because he could be ultimately kicked out of the job if all the elders went against him.

It was undecided, everyone was still murmuring to each other, contemplating what to do. One of the gentlemen that was going against Naruto quickly got up and stormed out. Before he left the room, he turned to face Naruto, “I cannot support this system Naruto, old tradition will always be better. It’s what binds us to be humble, if we stray from the path we fall into hell.”

“As you wish, Elder Sun Yu.”

Naruto looked at everyone else who seemed to be confused.

“Will the rest of you leave as well or will you make the smart choice and follow me into a brighter future?”

Mai stood up again, “Naruto, I apologies, you are not a monster, I spoke out of anger… you are right, I could never say those words to my grandson, I will follow you.”

Naruto smiled, feeling his heart warm up slightly.

“I too will follow Naruto”

“Me too.”

“May you lead us into the future.”

Naruto’s smile was as wide a beam, he couldn’t believe after so many months of debating, it took one courage’s and job threatening speech to convince them. He was glad that it was Sun Yu who left, he was always against Naruto, never agreeing, stuck in his traditional and out-dated ways.

“May you all continue to guide me in the future.”

Kakashi started applauding in the back and then everyone followed, Naruto looked at the room and smiled. He knew that legalizing gay marriage was only the beginning t so much more needed to be fixed in Konoha, and he realized he couldn’t be scared anymore, he needed to confront the elders about every issue that stained Konoha and changed the village for the better.

That day he would also remember, because if he didn’t put his job on the line he wouldn’t be standing in this white paradise today walking towards Sasuke.

*Wedding day- current time*

Naruto smiled, tears forming in the corners of his eyes as he looked into Sasuke’s black dreamy eyes.

Sasuke had never been one to show emotions, but that day, their wedding day, he had shed the extinct version of himself and just let go. On that day, there were no more walls, there was no reason to hide. The many feelings and emotions he had bottled inside since his early teens were finally are released. . His tears were falling quickly and freely. His smile was bright in the presence of his future. On this day Sasuke found the peace he had longed for since he feel into darkness. It was in that white washed wedding that the sun and bright shine from Naruto had finally painted over everlast black stain that lingered in Sasuke’s soul. He wasn’t scared anymore, to cry, to laugh and smile, he was truly happy, and it was all due to this blonde headed man which smiled at him so lovingly, blue eyes sparkling with joy, looking at his love.

-FLASHBACK-

*5 months before the wedding*

“Naruto for Christ sake, its just flowers, will you just pick one already?”

Naruto fumbled over a pile of flowers, still unsure which ones he likes the most.

“Sasuke don’t pressure my process.”

Sasuke let out an irritating sigh, “Naruto, I love you. But right now, I also want to chidori your face into the ground, we have been here for over an hour, just pick the roses or something, we still have cakes to go decide, and then go over the decorations with the wedding planner, seriously Naruto.”

Naruto pouted, “fine… I'll have the…hmm, roses and lavender…on second thought no, the roses and the lilies.” Naruto smiled in triumph, “happy, grumpy ass?”

“Delighted. Okay, let’s go it's cake picking time.”

Naruto jumped on the spot, “this is going to be the best, I love cake.”

“I know you do, because you ate the entire sample cake last night.”

“I was stress eating okay! It’s because you are stressing the bride, I blame you.”

“Oh, my god. I am slightly regretting asking you to marry me, is it still too late to run out of the village?”

Naruto shot Sasuke an evil glare, “you are mean to me, I am the Hokage, I’ll just order everyone to go get you.”

Sasuke let out a huff, “just keep walking we are already late.”

“Race you there my dear fiance.” Naruto increased his chakra flow to his legs and feet and quickly bounced off the ground towards the roof tops, with each swift push forwards he could sense the warm and powerful energy of chakra flow in his legs. He thought he had Sasuke, but in a flash, he saw him whiz past with lighting streaks exuding out of his body.

“SHOW OFF!’

“Slow poke!”

*Wedding day- current time*

Naruto chuckled under his breath, whilst the Celebrant kept rambling on about loves true power, and how it binds us all.

“What are you laughing about?” Sasuke whispered as to not interrupt the Celebrant.

“Just remembering the day, I made you do two hours of cake sampling and one hour of floral choices.”

Sasuke looked at Naruto with a very unimpressed face, “yes that was annoying.”

Naruto chuckled whilst smiling at Sasuke, looking at his hair flow slowly with the breeze that rushed by. His lips rose as he smirked back at Naruto, rosy cheeks that softly painted pink tones on such porcelain skin. His deep black eyes looked into blue ones with such love. Those eyes stared into Naruto’s soul, knowing that Naruto was feeling the exact same way.

“And now I will ask for the exchange of vows.”

Naruto nervously scrunched his hands, his throat felt like it was starting to clench in response to his nerves flexing in his entire body. He took a deep breath in and out and closed his eyes for just a moment to calm himself. He felt soft hands wrap around his.

He jolted his eyes up and looked at Sasuke’s hands securing his, he smiled at Naruto, and in that moment Naruto knew he could do this.

“I Naruto Uzumaki, Lord 7th of Konoha, hereby vow to love and protect Sasuke Uchiha for the rest of my life. , I vow here and now that the Uchiha crest will forever be a symbol associated to Konoha and its strength and unity will shine bright alongside the Uzumaki crest.” Naruto struggled to get the next words out, he forcibly gulped down a ball of anxiety forming in his throat.

“I Naruto Uzumaki believe that Sasuke is worthy of this title because…”

Naruto started to choke on his own words, emotions finally starting to get the best of him, “he has not only been a pivotal point in helping the Hokage get better but he also has been the soul reason the Hokage is standing here today, alive and happy. I Naruto respect, love and find this man more than fit of the title, as Hokage I thank him for the outstanding work he has down for the people in this village, and as his soon to be husband, I want to thank him for bringing color back into my life and helping me stand proud as Hokage. Because behind me, the hokage will always be Sasuke Uchiha and for that I believe his name and his family crest should be as important as mine.” Naruto took a deep breath out and smiled at Sasuke ever so softly, only letting one or two tears fall down before trying to collect himself again.

Sasuke’s eyes widened in disbelief from what he was hearing. He had no idea Naruto was going to say these vows, what did he mean by his family crest being a symbol associated to Konoha?

*FLASH BACK*

*3 months before the wedding*

Naruto looked at the plane white piece of paper in front of him, he just stared at it, like he was at some war with this innocent piece of paper. His forehead was creased with stress and his constant tapping of his pencil against his desk could be heard from out the street.

“Will you stop fucking tapping that pencil Naruto? You are going to drive me insane.”

“Kakashi, it helps me focus.”

“What the fuck are you working on?” Kakashi grumbled as he stood up to look at what Naruto had on his desk.

“I don’t get it, it’s a blank piece of paper?”

Naruto looked at him with anger in his eyes, “I know that , these are meant to be my vows, I just can’t think of the right thing to say.”

Kakashi looked at him with worrying eyes, “oh, well… uh, tell him you love him and that… uh… he is a good ninja?”

Naruto started to hit his head against the table, “a good ninja? Really? My god, you are one million times worse than me, and that’s saying something.”

Kakashi started to grumpily walk back to his desk which was in the corner of the Hokage’s office now. “Look, I’m not good with mushy stuff Naruto, just make sure it actually comes from your heart, don’t just say typical bullshit, actually write things you mean. When you make a vow, it’s a promise. So, make promises you will keep.”

“Wow, that was actually useful, thanks Kakashi.”

“Glad I could help, now stop with the fucking tapping.”

Naruto got out from behind his desk and went out the door with an idea in his head.

“Where are you going? We still have this contract to finish.”

Naruto was racing down the corridor as he screamed back at Kakashi in the room, “You gave me an idea, I'll be back later. Finish the contract yourself.”

Kakashi mumbled angrily under his breath, “thinks he can boss me around, hmph, if I stayed Hokage I could boot the little shit out of here.”

“Did you say something?” Naruto said from the far away distance

“Nope.”

*Wedding day- Current time*

“Naruto what do you mean about the Uchiha crest what are you talking about?”

Naruto smiled cheekily, “well 3 months ago when I started writing your vows, someone made me realize I should only make promises I could keep.”

Naruto quickly glanced at Kakashi who was chuckling under his breath.

“And so, I basically joined our family trees, it took me a very long time. But I guess being the Hokage has its perks, so you are now officially one of the head leaders in Konoha. This means the Uchiha crest along side the Uzumaki crest will be symbols of pride, strength, wealth and power within Konoha and thus the entire world.

Sasuke looked at Naruto like he was going crazy, “but Naruto, you’re only doing this because you're marrying me, you have no right to do that. I don’t deserve the title, I…”

“Sasuke calm yourself, just because I am the Hokage doesn't mean I decided this on my own. You do realize that becoming a top leader in Konoha means you must have the majority vote from everybody in the village right?”

Sasuke started to look around at all the guest, he couldn’t believe that the village voted him into this position.

Sakura looked at Sasuke with a warm smile and a small tear falling down her face. She stood up and started walking towards Sasuke.

“This was Naruto’s and the whole villages surprise to you. Come out everyone.”

The little kids from the ninja academy started coming out in their ninja uniform. Typical green jackets with the Uzumaki crest on the top right corner of their jackets. Sasuke had no idea what was happening, but his heart was not ready for what he would see next.

“Turn around kids.”

The kids started turning around, and there it was, proudly sitting directly in the centre of the jackets, an Uchiha crest. Burning bright red for the entire world to see.

“Starting next week these vest will be worn by every shinobi and training ninja. So, when we represent Konoha outside these walls, the Uchiha crest will be as visible as the Uzumaki crest.”

Sasuke looked at Naruto in disbelief, his eyes started burning red, tears forming rapidly in the corner of his eyes.

“Thank you, Naruto.” Sasuke walked forward and took Naruto into a passionate kiss. He didn’t care that they were not up to that part of the ceremony, he needed Naruto to know how much he felt for him. He needed his lips to show Naruto how grateful he was, that he was forever in debt to this man from saving him from darkness, from saving his family name burning into a crisp alongside with Sasuke.

The audience started to applause, and cheers starting beckoning from the crowd.

“Ahem…” The Celebrant cough under his breath.

“Sorry, please continue.” Naruto said whilst laughing under his breath.

“We shall continue then…”-

After continuing with their vowes the Celebrant continued with the rest of the ceremony.

“Do you Naruto take this man to be your lawfully wedded husband, to have and to hold, in sickness and in health, till death do you part?”

“I do.” Naruto said whilst choking up from all the feelings which were swelling up in his throat.

“Do you Sasuke take this man to be your lawfully wedded husband, to have and to hold, in sickness and in health, till death do you part?”

Sasuke breathed out slowly and smiled softly and looked at Naruto like he was his entire world “I do.”

“With the power vested in me, I now pronounce you, Husband and Husband, you may kiss your groom.”

Naruto smiled so widely, and for the first time in his life, he kissed his Husband. Many kisses would follow after, but that first kiss as newly weds will be the one that both Naruto and Sasuke will remember on their deathbeds. It will be this moment, under the radiating sun, under fire trees and in a sea of applause and cheers that they will remember forever. How it felt to kiss his Husband, how it felt to kiss the man he would spend the rest of his living days with. And by god, was it not the most amazing kiss he had ever had. It was a kiss never forgotten.

Because that kiss would lead him to the next part of his life with Sasuke by his side. Together they will change Konoha for the better, but not only Konoha but the world too. . Sasuke and Naruto would be considered some of the most influential and powerful ninjas in their world, with their teachings and guidance they would not only change Konoha but many other villages.

Till their dying days, the teachings of Naruto and Sasuke lived on throughout many others, their values of nurturing ninjas and creating a world without war, were peace is achieved by all villages and no child or person is expected to lay down their lives for the betterment of a village. Where people were not shunned or hidden for their differences and everyone was as equal as each other.

But even as bright as the sun may shine, darkness will follow. And with that darkness, light will shine a new.

A balance which is always occurring. But it is with Naruto’s and Sasuke’s teachings and guidance, that a hero will always rise against that darkness and will re-shine light onto the world once again.

Naruto and Sasuke spent the rest of their 50 years together, raising Boruto, Himawari and Sarada together, who all now act as main pillars in Konoha. Sasuke’s last words before his untimely death at 82 where proudly beautiful and where carried out perfectly by Naruto, who followed through with every single one of his dyeing wishes.

*10 minutes before Sasuke’s death*

“Naruto, my dear, .” Sasuke raised his frail hand to Naruto’s face. Opening his eyes as wide as he could to look into crystal blue eyes, “you look as beautiful as you did on our wedding day.”

Naruto smiled, “I’ve aged a bit since then I think. I could still take you in a match back then.”

Sasuke starting laughing, but his lungs couldn’t keep up, he starting coughing heavily, body slowly starting to shut down.

“Don’t push yourself, Sasuke. Your too ill to be laughing.”

“Listen Naruto, it will be my time to go soon.”

Naruto looked at him with utter pain in his eyes, “no Sasuke please. The doctor will be here soon, you will be fine, you will see.”

Sasuke softly smiled with the little energy he had left, “always optimistic my dear, but please my darling listen, I need you to know that you have made me the happiest man in this world and when I die, I want you to understand that you have given me a life I never knew I could have before. When we were younger, you saved me Naruto, it was you from the beginning, no one else. It was always you. Please continue our alliance and make sure our teachings of a better world are spread Naruto, make sure no child has to suffer the way we did as kids. Please promise me?”

Naruto started to tear up as he held onto Sasuke’s small and nearly lifeless hand. “I will I promise, but that’s no way to speak, you will live my dear, you will.”

Sasuke knew it was time, he could feel it, his lungs started slowing down and his heart beats started decreasing. “You will forever be my sun, thank you Naruto for showing me the light. I love you, I always have, since I was a little boy. I have always loved you.” Sasuke’s eyes started to close, until finally his hand went completely limp.

“Sasuke, no! No! No! No!” Naruto started to cry heavily as he embraced his departed husband. “Please, Sasuke, wake up… I’m not ready… Please.”

In the next couple of years after Sasuke’s death, Naruto would spend all his time and energy into making sure he fulfilled Sasuke’s wishes. And it wasn’t till he was 102 did Naruto finally die in his sleep peacefully, dreaming of his husband Sasuke.

The last thing Naruto remembered before blackness took over was when he and Sasuke were young and newly in love. He remembered the slow dance in the bar surrounded by his friends and family, he remembered the first time they kissed as a dare and he remembered the first time he told Sasuke he loved him. It all came back to him that night.

And it was Sasuke who was there waiting for him, when he opened his eyes to a white heaven. He was right there in a garden, flowers so colourful, sky shining so brightly, . He was smiling as bright as the moon on a dark night.

“Naruto I’ve been waiting for you.”

Naruto started to smile, “come here!”

Naruto ran towards Sasuke, realizing he had his old strength back, his fit muscles strode him forward to his youthful partner, he jumped into Sasuke’s arms and leaned in for a deep kiss, a kiss he so longed for.

“I’ve missed you.”

“I’ve missed you even more.” Sasuke replied softly.

Naruto and Sasuke hugged for what felt like hours, not wanted to let go, hugging each other like it had been years, and for Naruto it had been years. They both cried into each-others strong embrace, letting tears float down softly onto the ground. The sun shined brightly on the scene, and the soft wind whistled past. Finally two men, more like two puzzle pieces re-joined, and everything seemed brighter, and the world once again felt balanced.

Naruto pulled away for only a moment to look at Sasuke as he knew him when he was 28, he couldn’t believe he had him in his arms. He quickly went forward wanted to kiss Sasuke one million times to make up for 20 years of missing half of his heart.

“I love you.” Naruto said.

“I love you more.” Sasuke said.

It seemed as though as they kissed the flowers grew and the more they smiled the brighter things got. And it was strange, that even though they were no longer alive, precisely the moment Sasuke and Naruto touched in the afterlife, people on earth could have sworn they saw the sun shine a little brighter, the flowers on earth shine colours so beautifully day and at night, the sky was lit with many more stars and the moon seemed like it was illuminating against the dark sky canvas.

The end

I want to thank you for reading and finishing A KISS NEVER FORGOTTEN.

It was a long wait for this too finish, but i am so glad you stuck it out till the end.

FROM THE BOTTOM OF MY HEART THANK YOU FOR READING XX

LOTS OF LOVE FROM ME XXX

I hope you continue to follow my other stories xx

#sns #sasunaru #narusasu #sasunarusasu #a kiss never forgotten #chapter 20: a kiss never forgotten #by:narutoandsasukearecanon #fanfic #fanfiction #sns fanfic #narusasu fanfic #sasunaru fanfic #i hope you have enjoyed this story #the final chapter #im so sad but happy #good bye this fanfic

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artlessictoan · 7 years

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How I’d do Naruto Next Gen

okok I’ve been wanting to do something more in depth and organised than my usual ranting about how everything is terrible now, so here we go! (though lbr this is just my usual ranting but 10x longer)

for the sake of brevity ha and my own piece of mind I’m not gonna go into how unnecessarily hetro the ending was and how everyone should’ve been gay and hey not every couple absolutely had to get married and/or have kids and also nart should’ve gotten the opportunity to realise that becoming hokage wasn’t necessary to achieve his real goal of becoming someone loved and accepted by others and he deserved so much better tbh and why isn’t sak just running the whole show and why isn’t there more sand sibs, bc let’s face it none of that was ever gonna happen, so these ideas are mostly built with the premise that all the canon couples stay canon and all the kids are still around and the product of those ships and the big plot things that happened (like nart becoming hokage and the like) stay roughly the same

forewarning bc else someone’s bound to say something; if you enjoy the next gen stuff? not a problem! that’s great, people enjoying stuff is a good thing! I wish I could enjoy more stuff, bc enjoying things is far more fun than not enjoying things! everyone has a different taste though and for me – and a lot of other people – the way that the next gen has turned out has been a disappointment, this post is for those people, so we can talk about why we think it’s failed and what we would’ve like to see instead, if you don’t feel that way about it.. well just scroll on past this post and keep enjoying the things you enjoy! have an absolute blast, you’ve earned it!

under the cut bc I am apparently incapable of keeping my rambling concise, there’s 2000 words of only vaguely coherent thoughts and tangents, so maybe get yourself a cuppa and a snack before trudging through it (some of this I’ve said in other posts before but w/e)

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first off lets change some of the kids’ personalities, there’s nothing intrinsically wrong with any of them, but like….. 90% are carbon copies of one of their parents (and mostly their dads but I won’t get into that issue rn) which is ridiculous, bc personality traits aren’t genetic?? like my mum is super chill and sensible and my dad is short-tempered, but I’m an anxious mess and my bro is an anti-social control freak.. we didn’t get any of that from either of our parents

while it’s certainly true that you might be influenced by them (me and mum share a lot of interests and tastes), it’s not a hard and fast rule and I don’t find it realistic that EVERY kid takes after their parents, though I probably wouldn’t have such a problem with it if they were more a mix of both parents than just their dads, so here’s some potential alterations:

Boruto. good fucking lord, no, we did not need a clone of Naruto heading another series, if we wanted to see a rambunctious scamp who gets into trouble but loves his friends a whole lot and has a knack for giving inspirational speeches, then there’s already a whole 700 chap manga for that! one with a far more likable and interesting rambunctious scamp tbqh. so how about we make a few alterations, maybe instead of taking after Nart, Bolt takes a bit more after Hinata? a little quiet and a bit of a pushover, but someone who’ll quickly stick up for a friend and has an ease of communication that’s a bit more Nart? not shy so much as laidback and composed, maybe he isn’t all that interested in being a ninja too, like he’s quite skilled but is a pacifist and would much rather get a civilian job as idk a baker or gardener or something

Shikadai. only a few minor changes here bc I really do like the kid as he is, I’d just like to see him using Tema’s abilities too (and maybe also being just a bit more snarky and unyielding like his mum)

Inojin. I’m kinda torn on this one, bc I do like that he’s a lot like Sai (at least in the anime, he seems to have a pretty different personality from what little we’ve seen of him in the manga???), but I think it’d be pretty interesting if he was just not like either of his parents, maybe if he was very quiet and subdued, but also the mastermind behind all the kid’s pranks, has a mischievous streak that often shocks people, but his friends always love hanging out with him bc of it. also why doesn’t he have Ino’s powers? let’s give him Ino’s powers too

Sand Kids 2.0. ok so at this point we haven’t seen nearly enough of them to say much either way but I have negative faith in kishi and ike so I’ll just say that I want them all to be Gaara’s adopted kids (since it’s still unclear if it’s just Shinki or all of ‘em atm) and I want them to be exactly like this shameless plug for me and @spellfire01‘s versions of them which are the best fucking versions and I will protect my children with my life

now some changes to the original cast (this is where I’m gonna get proper bitter, prepare yourselves):

OH NARUTO MY POOR CHILD WHAT HAVE THEY DONE TO YOU I’ve already talked about this but let me just reiterate in as eloquent a way as I can; Naruto would never become a neglectful father. N e v e r. not after the childhood he went through, no matter how much work he had to do as kage, don’t dare fucking try and tell me that Naruto – "It's almost unbearable, isn't it… the pain of being all alone. I know that feeling; I've been there, in that dark and lonely place, but now there are others, other people who mean a lot to me. I care more about them than I do myself, and I won't let anyone hurt them… They rescued me from my loneliness" – Uzumaki would EVER neglect his kids. just fucking don’t. in this version Nart is a doting and involved dad (perhaps a little too much, to the point that his kids find him kinda exhausting and have to ask him to leave them alone sometimes) who sends his clones to work at the office while he hangs out with his family.. I honestly don’t know why he doesn’t already do that

let all the girls out of their houses to do some ninja work for the love of god

poor put-upon Shino-sensei is alright.. but we’ve already had that with Iruka, I’d honestly much rather see the Cool Sensei who keeps all the kids in line without even doing much of anything and has a knack for inspiring them and always has a line of students trailing after him asking to hear more of his awesome ninja stories and everyone always trying to show off when he’s around, bc Shino is literally The Best

have Sauce and Saku be divorcees. seriously, are even the people who ship them happy with how their relationship has turned out? they barely see each other and apparently it’s been that way since chap 699, so why not just have them split up? it really wouldn’t change much, just say that, at some point after Sarada was born, they realised that they were both gay incompatible personality-wise and they were both so busy with their individual work that there wasn’t much of a relationship to lose. not only would this be good for both their characters (there’s no reason they couldn’t still be good friends) and just more sensible all-round, but it would also be a nice way to show that not every childhood romance/first love works out and that’s perfectly fine and normal and they can still live happy, full lives afterwards!

speaking of Sauce, let him spend at least a little bit of time interacting with his friends and family in Konoha, even if he’s still mostly travelling around on important missions he should at least be taking every opportunity to visit his daughter when he’s in the area, seriously, c’mon

Temari got done so dirty in that one episode.. here’re some much better words than I could ever muster but generally I’d want her to be less the ‘scary, overbearing, harsh’ mother and more the ‘strict but cool and sneaky’ mother, like she’d honestly be the type to use reverse psychology and gentle manipulation, she’d make her boy do some seemingly meaningless task that somehow makes him have an epiphany and come back to her when he’s done like “I know what I did wrong now and I’m sorry” than just shout at him and refuse to make dinner (also I just really like to hc that she’s a terrible cook so it’s Shikamaru who does all the cooking anyway)

it’d be really great to see Hina either being the new clan head or at least otherwise involved in Hyuuga clan politics, so we could actually see how she’s working to destroy that whole slavery thing they’ve got going, rather than that plotline just being dropped somewhere around the end of the chunin exam arc and never picked up again (I mean I assume that it��s all supposed to be fixed by now, but that’s not the kinda thing that should happen entirely off-screen) and so we can see her life revolving around something other than Nart and her kids, she’s remarkably capable and had so much potential but she’s been denied every opportunity to really exist as her own character by the writers

Kiba…… what the hell is going on with Kiba? where is he? what is he doing? how’s he feeling these days? is he supposed to be married to that nameless cat lady we saw for a single panel? these are things we shall never know I guess. tbh what I’d really LOVE to see would be Kiba-sensei, just imagine him and Shino both being teachers who work in completely opposite ways, Shino is the quiet, inspiring, lowkey scary one and Kiba is the gigantic fucking dork one who cheers his students on way too loud and makes the classes super fun and joins in the kids games, him and Shino have a class rivalry and Kiba is constantly roping students into joining his attempts to prank Shino (they’ve never once succeeded but oNE DAY)

Ino should be the next head of Konoha’s intelligence division, I will fight kishi on this one

why the actual fuck is oroch still happily living it up in his penthouse lab?? kill the fucker. or at the very least imprison the fucker. just say that Mitsuki was an old project of his that somehow kept developing in his absence, or was a product of research carried out by some lackeys’ years after he’s gone, anything that means I don’t have to accept that everyone has apparently forgiven him for everything and knows that he’s still experimenting on kids but just don’t care

and on that last note: Justice for Yamato 2k17

right now let’s get onto the actual plot/story for this very self-pandering au

make Sarada the main char. while I can see why they would choose to go with Boruto, honestly Salad’s more interesting a character and! A Girl!! Main Character!!!! I NEED IT!!!!!! focus on her goal to be hokage and her struggles with her parents and follow up on that ‘restoring the Uchiha’ plot thread that just.. dropped right off the map somewhere between 699 and 700, her reconciling what her clan was with what she wants to make it

get rid of that weird demon-sensing eye thing that’s going on. and the demon thing in general. and also that jarring post-apocalypse future thing they’re building up. I didn’t slog through over a decade of kishi’s bullshit just so my kids didn’t get to live long, happy lives. make the plot just slice-of-life fluff, nothing more dangerous than a bully, just some kids trying to be awesome ninja in a world that doesn’t really need ninja anymore bc peace and all that

waaay more of Chocho, Himawari and Inojin (at least enough so they all get equal billing)

show how the ninja world has grown and developed since the end of the original series (not just technologically), what do ninja do now that there aren’t any wars and international relationships are at an all-time high? have missions completely gone from being combat and intel based to more about construction and assistance? are ninja numbers actually dropping, favouring civilian jobs in these more peaceful times? how well are people – ninja or not – adjusting to these changes? is learning ninja techniques still encouraged but in a way that’s more about culture and traditions than actual use in combat (in the same way that swordplay today is mostly practiced for performance, fun and sport, rather than out of any real-life practicality)? there are so many interesting things to explore that you don’t even need to be adding in new threats to keep the series entertaining

I’ve said this before, but I think it’d be really cool and cute if after the end of the war and with some drastic changes to the ninja world’s politics, this next gen is less about becoming ninja, than realising that they’ll never be ninja (at least not in the way that their parents were) and how they react to that. maybe they’re frustrated because they hear so many cool stories about the grand battles of the previous generation and they want to be able to do those things too damnit! so the kids are just going around trying to be super-awesome ninja in a world that doesn’t really need ninja anymore, picking fights and trying to make their boring d-rank missions seem more important and dangerous than they really are, maybe at some point they learn a bit more about how hard and traumatising that life was for their parents and why the world had to change, until they eventually decide that if the role of a ninja has to change, then together they’re gonna discover what that new role will be, what will being a ninja really mean in this new, peaceful world?

and, a final ending note: fuck ike’s sickening treatment of Sarada with regards to her sexualised presentation and the disgusting reveal that someone taught Boruto (a young child!) the sexy jutsu. Let The Kids Be Kids 2k17

#ictoan whines about boruto #boruto #anti-boruto #i spent way too long on this #apparently the way to start doing more meta is to just spew all your bile onto the keyboard and hope for the best #i'm super open to hearing people's thoughts on what they'd like to see in their ideal versions of the next gen!!#i just want someone to wail about missed opportunities with tbh #and it might give me more #writing ideas #ugh why do i always wait til i'm about to go to bed to post this shit #i'm bad at this i apologise

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