#naruhina fairy tale au | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

dayseternal-blog · 5 years

Link

She's a nameless girl. Strange in dress, appearance, and accent in a foreign kingdom. She stowed away on a merchant ship, running from a certain future much worse than just losing her name.

An NH retelling of the fairytale Catskin.

Inspired by Tumblr's NaruHina Week 2019 Days 4-7 Day 4: Promises Day 5: Family Day 6: Forgotten Day 7: Yesterday

Rating: M

Chapter 5: Deceit/Honesty

She can’t go.

The thought is silly.

She’s a maid. She serves his family. She’s employed by his parents.

She could get caught. She could get sent home. She would have to face all of Konoha in shame.

But what if he discovers her a year from now? Five years from now? Ten years from now?

It seems practically inevitable that he would eventually discover her. She didn’t say a single word to him the last time he saw her, and he nearly recognized her.

It’s just a matter of time, one unlucky encounter, for him to realize, stare at her in shock, reject her, and send her home.

...Would he reject her?

The days toward the Summer Solstice Ball dwindle, and these thoughts plague her constantly.

Naruto…Naruto…

Master Naruto.

Can she handle watching him from afar for the rest of her life? Certainly his life will move on. Marriage, a family, the eventual lord of the province.

What’s worse?

Never knowing what could be, living safely, but constantly in fear of discovery?

Or his rejection, returning to Konoha, facing her father, and the scorn of the rest of the town?

There is an upside. She would see Hanabi again.

Either way, she will never know anything like him ever again. Whether she stays a servant or is sent back to Konoha, she is destined to grow to be an old spinster. At some point, she will be discovered, and that could go three ways. The first, that he accepts her, mysterious background and all. A thought she doesn’t dwell on for its implausibility. The second, that he rejects her but lets her stay on staff, condemning her to another kind of eternal shame, albeit one without fear. The third, that he rejects her and sends her away, condemning her to a sad life with her father.

She would see Hanabi again.

These thoughts circulate, over and over, day after day.

The avoiding and hiding doesn’t help.

She wants to see him.

A part of her wants to know if he would recognize her. A test of his feelings. Can he see her past the drab clothing, or did he only see her dolled-up appearance?

How much does he like her? As much as she likes him?

...What if she just told him?

What if I told him? What would he say? How would he react? Would he not believe me? Would he accuse me of stealing the gowns? Would he hate me? Or would he not care and still like me?

What if she just went up to him one day when he’s alone in the library? What if she just told him herself? Then she wouldn’t have to wait for him to recognize her. She wouldn’t have to wonder and wait in fear. She could take her fate into her own hands, at least a little.

But days pass, and she can’t muster up the courage to face him.

She’s not a cultured young lady anymore. She’s just a maid. Her hands are cracked and dry. Her hair hangs in tangles that can only be hidden in buns. Her clothes are not just plain now--they’re stained, used, and worn, too. She has no money, no family, no connections.

There’s no way he would believe her.

“Bucchi” is a far-cry from the “Miss.”

He would probably think that she’s trying to be sly. He would probably think that “Bucchi” is trying to pretend to be the lady he met.

Or even if he did believe her, he would be so shocked, he would be disgusted. There he was, spending all of his attention on a maid! He would feel humiliated to have spent all his time on a messy girl like her.

She can’t face him as Bucchi…

But what if he weren’t disgusted? What if he were just happy to find her?...

The week of the ball arrives, and she isn’t any closer to a solution than she was three weeks ago.

“Shizuka,” she murmurs. “I don’t know what to do.”

Her friend sits with her in Hinata’s dark room. “Do?” she asks, encouraging Hinata to share. She knows, though, that her secretive friend has been worrying about the young lord.

Hinata nods. She explains her predicament as quietly and as simply as she can.

“So you want to tell him?” Shizuka whispers, just as quietly.

“I...I think I need to...I don’t think I can hide forever.”

“...I don’t think he would send you away...Master Naruto isn’t like that…” She doesn’t share, though, that he can have a temper. She thinks that itis possible that he would get angry, or at least feel hurt at the deception. “I’m sorry, Bucchi. This is all my fault. I shouldn’t have forced you to go to the ball.”

Hinata shakes her head. “I could have refused. You wouldn’t have really forced me to go. I wanted to go.” She sighs. “It’s my own fault,” she says regretfully.

“It’s not...I pushed you to go. If I hadn’t done that…”

The two girls look at each other sadly.

“...I think the sooner you tell him, the better.”

“I know, but I’m too scared.”

“What if you told him at the ball? He would have to believe you.”

Hinata nods. If she told him at the ball, he would have to believe that the Miss is the same as Bucchi. She considered this possibility, too, but it seems underhanded, like she would be trying to sway his opinion of her while dressed nicely.

But isn’t that what she wants?

The morality of the situation is too confusing. And she realizes, even now, she’s trying to get Shizuka to make the decision for her. She’s being manipulative, a side of herself she never knew before.

Because hasn’t she already decided what she wants to do?

Hinata buries her face in her hands. “I really like him, Shizuka,” she whispers. “I-I just want to see him.”

Shizuka doesn’t know what would be best for the shy maid, but she does know that she shouldn’t try to influence her decisions anymore. “...Whatever you decide to do, Bucchi, I’ll support you in any way I can.”

The ball draws ever closer, and she only finds reasons that persuade her to follow her heart.

“I saw him pull out her glove from his pocket this morning.”

“He says his parents will have to force him to dance.”

“Oh, I’m sure after dancing with that lady all night, he wouldn’t want to dance with another.”

“Shion said he looks at her shoes every night.”

“He sighs too much these days.”

“Our poor young master. He’s too innocent in the ways of love.”

“He has always been too trusting.”

The gossip surrounding the servants’ favorite topic fills her with equal parts longing and guilt. How she wishes she could reassure him of her affection!

How she knows that she needs to make things right.

…“Right.”

She doesn’t know what’s right. She only knows that she wants to see him and spend time with him. Is that wrong?

Is it wrong for her to remember the way he talked so freely with her? The way he let her talk about herself? The way he allowed her to share herself and keep other parts secret? Never pressing too much, never forcing her to do or say anything..or nothing.

Being with him felt so right. How could it be wrong?

Is it wrong for her to want to catch his attention?

To want to be pretty for him?

To be the only girl to have his time?

“So you’re going to tell him?” Shizuka whispers as she pins the feather hairpiece in place.

Hinata nods. “...I’m scared.”

“Master Naruto is a good man. He won’t hurt you.”

“I’m not afraid of getting hurt. I’m afraid...of hurting him…”

Shizuka takes a careful breath. “...It would hurt him more the later he finds out.” She nods in affirmation of her own words. “It’s best to tell him tonight....there.” She pulls the ribbon of the dress once more for good measure. “You’re ready.”

Hinata looks down at herself. She’s never worn this dress before. The blue is nearly as dark as her hair. The bodice fits tightly, dipping down in the back slightly lower than conventions. Soft feathers adorn the full skirt, and she can’t imagine how much dye was used for such an expensive color.

Shizuka smiles. “Even if you tell him, he might have a hard time believing it.” She doesn’t know if she’s ever seen such an extravagant dress before. It’s hard to connect Bucchi with the magnificent sight before her. And again, she wonders about Bucchi’s past. To have come from such wealth, why would anyone run away to a completely new country?

“Thank you,” Hinata softly says. “Shizuka, I wanted to tell you...in case I don’t get a chance to later...thank you for being my friend. Thank you for always cheering me up and helping me when I didn’t know what to do.”

“What is this all of a sudden?” Shizuka asks, shaking her head. “Don’t say that! Everything will be alright, Bucchi. Everything will be alright.”

Hinata nervously smiles at Shizuka. She hopes everything will be alright. She doesn’t know what’s going to happen after tonight or how Naruto will react, but the one constant she has had since arriving at the Namikaze estate has been Shizuka’s camaraderie. She grabs her friend’s hands and squeezes them. “Thank you.”

“Stop that, Bucchi. Now go! Our young lord is waiting for you.”

Hinata blushes but lets go of her hands. She tentatively parts from Shizuka’s reassuring expression and steps out into the still day-lit evening.

The back of the estate is devoid of people as all hands are on-deck for the party. More guilt floods her. She should be in the kitchens at this very moment, helping out. It was incredibly selfish of her to have gone that first night. Even tonight…

She stalls at the side of the estate, once again feeling an onslaught of confusion. She shouldn’t be out here in this dress. She shouldn’t have come out here. She swore to herself that she was leaving everything behind for a life of safety. She promised Hanabi that she would never return to Konoha.

But at this very moment she is shirking her duties, her safety...for what? For what exactly?

Her heart hurts as she pictures him.

Everything was a mistake. Even now, is she making a mistake? Is she fooling herself? So what if she has to live her life in fear of being discovered? That’s just an “if” situation. There’s no certainty that he would ever figure her out. As far as he knows, she disappeared that night two months ago.

It’s better for him if he never sees her again.

She has nothing.

She’s just a manipulative, selfish, nobody girl.

She stares down at her feather-covered skirt. A nameless girl all dolled up.

A trick. She’s a trick.

She stands there longer in the hidden corner, unable to make the turn that would bring her closer to the party.

“Our young lord is waiting for you.”

Is he waiting? She heard the rumors of his melancholy, and that supposedly she’s the cause. But she wonders if she really can be the root of such romantic heartache.

She can’t imagine Toneri wishing to see her like that. She doubts that he ever really missed her at all.

She wonders if, right now, Naruto has already met someone else. Or if he really did say to Shion that his parents would have to force him to dance with another.

Two months is a long time.

Maybe he already got over her?

She shifts her weight uneasily as she wonders what she should do.

Should she turn around and go back to work, to a safe life?

Should she tell him?

If he really did get over her, then there is no need for her to tell him. If he has already forgotten her, then telling him would just be even more selfish on her part.

She just needs to see him.

She just needs to know if he’s still thinking of her or if he’s moved on.

She rounds the corner and slowly steps up to the veranda. People mill about inside as the night is still young, and many of the guests make their rounds to greet others.

She stands outside, unsure, peeking inside. She looks around but doesn’t step through the crowd, hoping to not call attention to herself. However, it seems that her costly gown makes that impossible as she notices people’s heads turning to look at all of the blue feathers. She can only hope they don’t recognize her.

Unable to spy her employers from where she stands, she slowly makes her way through, keeping close to the wall. She avoids people’s gazes, hoping that if she doesn’t return their stares, they won’t look at her.

Finally she spots them at the other end of the hall.

He stands with his parents, engrossed in conversation with another family and their daughter. As usual, his blue eyes, tan skin, and blond hair are bright in a way she’s never seen on anyone else. She hasn’t seen him in so long, not since that stormy day. He’s really beautiful. Even from where she is, she can see the energy he radiates, completely unlike the somber refinement of Konoha’s men. He exudes cheerfulness, as if just being near him would infect her with a case of high spirits. She can almost imagine his voice, just as bright as he is. She wishes she could hear it.

But he’s talking with the daughter, a young lady, who’s dressed in a simple purple crepe gown. Much more tasteful than her own flashy dress. She wears a smile just as bright, just as warm as Naruto’s.

It turns her gut inside-out.

She can’t do this.

She can’t watch him dance with other girls. Just imagining it hurts her chest in a way she’s never felt before.

“Young miss-”

She turns to notice a man addressing her. She steps back.

“You look very familiar-”

She shakes her head, sudden nerves crushing her. She actually forgot. She hates talking to strangers.

“Have we met before?”

She steps back again, shaking her head. “P-please excuse me.” She turns and rushes away rudely, escaping outside to the terrace, then down to the manicured courtyard.

She should return to work, she should help light the evening candles, she should help wash the dishes.

But she can’t bring herself to work a ball where Naruto will find some other girl to shine on.

He’ll forget about her eventually. She’s just fooling herself.

She sits in a secluded garden, one Naruto had taken her through that first night. She looks around, recalling the stories he told her about acquiring certain flowers. These are precious memories, ones she needn’t try to relive. But just for tonight.

Just for tonight.

She lets shadows extend around her, and she promises herself that she’ll be over him by morning.

“You’re not going to dance?” his mother asks.

He shrugs. Maybe he will, maybe he won’t. He didn’t see anyone he wanted to dance with.

His mother audibly sighs.

“You need to find someone to dance with. It’s only polite to all of the guests who came,” his father reminds him.

He frowns to keep himself from rolling his eyes. He can be sassy with his mother. Not so easily with his father.

“I’ll go ask Lady Konan.”

“She’s practically your aunt! She doesn’t count,” Kushina negates.

“Well, I don’t know who you expect me to dance with,” he fusses.

“I can choose someone for you to dance with,” she suddenly says, a bit of sadism hidden in her voice.

“I’ll find someone on my own!” he backtracks, to his mother’s evil smile.

“Good. Go take a look around. You never know,” his father encourages.

He nods and steps out into the crowd, noticing his own parents take to the dance floor. He watches them for a moment, admiring his parents’ grace and ability. The two make a lively match, his father’s cool demeanor a perfect complement to his mother’s Uzumaki fire.

“Did you see that young lady in the feather dress?”

A nearby couple’s conversation filters through the music and noise.

“I wonder who she was?”

The question perks his attention.

“She looked like-” Noise detracts from his hearing. “-the young master was dancing-”

He looks around trying to determine who’s talking. He steps up in a bit of uncertainty to a couple of guests.

“Young Master Naruto!” the lady says in surprise.

He nods. “Hello Mister and Missus…” He can’t recall their names.

“Ayukawa,” the man supplies. “Our family is in charge of the ports at Kishijima.”

He nods at the memory. “Right, yes. Um…” He grasps at polite manners. “Are you enjoying the dance?”

“Yes, we are. We might join your parents for a dance ourselves in a moment,” the man answers.

“They dance beautifully,” his wife adds.

They watch his parents for a moment.

Naruto nods, aching to just ask them about the subject of their earlier conversation. “My parents want me to dance with someone, too...I’ve been looking for a young lady, I thought I saw her…” he lies. “She has blue hair, light eyes..” He watches them to gauge their reaction. He’s far from disappointed.

“Oh, yes, we saw her, didn’t we, dear?” Lady Ayukawa says. “See, I knew it,” she exclaims, as further realizations come to her.

The man looks thoughtful. “She may have stepped outside.”

“She is certainly eye-catching. A young man tried to talk to her, but she brushed him off,” the woman recalls with an amused smile. “You had better hurry, young master, before someone else gets to her.”

He can feel blood rushing to his head, adrenaline running under his skin, his chest tight with combined disbelief and hope. He quickly bows with a word of thanks and jogs outside. He looks out from the terrace, scanning the grounds, half-expecting to see her dancing form like the first night.

She’s not there.

He gulps back the disappointment and descends the steps. The tall trees and hedges cast their long shadows on the ground, creating dark corners that could easily hide anyone. He resists scratching his head and messing his hair up.

She can’t be out here, right? Were they talking about someone else? She can’t possibly be here. She left a long time ago.

He looks back toward the ballroom, crowded with people here to have a good time. Except that he’s not having a good time. It’s hard to forget someone when people are telling you to. He never had an easy time with doing what people tell him to do.

Never good with rules, with expectations, with boundaries.

Why should tonight be any different? His parents can’t actually expect him to just find someone, right? He thought it a stroke of fate when he met that young lady. She was pretty, completely unaware of his rough reputation, curious about him and not his money, very obviously of some sort of noble birth...she checked out in everything his parents could have asked for, she was perfect.

He thought she was perfect. She held not only similar ideas to his own about social ranks, but she was way more progressive in thought, almost entirely unorthodox regarding family birth...it was fascinating. Yet everything else about her was so traditionally ladylike, almost too predictable. Dancing, reading, walking in the gardens. Easy to please. Certainly that must be true when she seemed easily amused by him and easily forgiving of him.

He turns around and heads to his gardens.

Maybe she’s there. Most likely she’s not.

He remembers her smile the most. The way she just seemed to grow happier as the night progressed during that first meeting. How he showed her this plant and that flower. Two months ago, that tree was full of peach blossoms, and she looked at them with such wonder.

He’ll never forget that.

Nor how he could see the shyness and propriety melt off of her as she got to know him. And that smile of hers on their last meeting. How they danced and danced and danced…

He intakes a sharp breath of air.

He forgets how to breathe.

He stares what feels like forever at the lady sitting at the ledge of one of the lotus pools, her finger caressing the pink petals, a luxurious skirt of dark, shimmery feathers trailing down.

A step toward her breaks her contemplation, and she looks up, blinking in shock. Her lips part, her light eyes widen.

She hardly has time to stand, to react at all, when he rushes toward her, his hands briefly taking hers before sliding up to hold her forearms.

“What are you doing here?” he asks breathlessly. “I thought you left!” Yet there’s no accusation in his tone. Only surprise, a hint of wonder that brings a smile to her face.

She registers the firmness of his grasp, only to realize that she’s holding his arms just as tightly. “I-I couldn’t. I tried, I really tried, but I couldn’t go back...”

He stares, the words barely registering as he takes in the last rays of the sun on her skin.

“Forgive me...I had to see you again…” she whispers, suddenly shy under his attention.

He smiles. She had to see him again. He tries to stifle his smile from growing any wider. It wouldn’t be a very becoming look. But the happiness brightening her own expression is too much. To know that she reciprocates every feeling he holds is a joy he’s never felt before. He sneaks his thumbs at the skin just beneath the ends of her gloves.

They gaze at each other for longer. He’s really here in front of her, as if he knew she’d be here. She takes in every bit of him. The exact shade of his skin, the shine of his blue, blue eyes, the way his brows have strands slightly darker than his blond hair, the dimple on his cheek, his lips…

He should have said something in reply by now, but he has no words. It’s his default with her, never saying or asking the right things. He’s heard stories of people falling in love with looks and regretting it, cautionary tales from his mother and father that he never thought would happen to him, but so be it. He hardly knows her. That’s fine. He’s always broken the rules. His story will be one to join the many.

It’s a relief to allow it, to feel it.

The softness of her lips on his.

The clench in his heart finally freeing from the confines of his chest, and he can breathe again in slow, slight, aching pulls that make his body feel heavy but his extremities light.

She tightens her hold on his forearms, fuzzy clouds filling her head, a fluttering in her gut, tingles sparking through her legs. In all scenarios of them meeting again, and not one had been like this.

Wilder than even her wildest dreams.

She lets her hands slide up his sleeves to his shoulders, fitting herself more easily in his arms that hesitantly come to rest around her back. But there they settle, his fingers pressing solidly into the material as his lips brush against hers once more.

Another gentle kiss sends a flush through him from his head to his toes. She doesn’t pull away, so he lets them meet for a fourth, a fifth, and he loses count when her fingers start to tease at his collar and his core starts to twist. He lifts his head, opening his eyes to see her lashes unwillingly flutter open.

We were kissing. The thought is unbelievable, and yet, here they stand, closer than she’s ever been to anyone, their bodies only a breath away from each other.

“I missed you,” he says, barely above a whisper.

“I missed you, too,” she replies.

It doesn’t take much to give in to her sweetly dazed expression, to lean down and kiss her again.

And it doesn’t take much for her to lean in to his promised warmth. To let his heat spread from her cheeks, through her arms, and down to her toes. It makes her brows pinch together; it makes her fingers feel like grasping onto something solid, to pull at the cloth of his vest; it makes her feel like tippy-toeing to reach out for something more, for his something more.

She brings him closer, and he embraces her tighter, feeling the rise of her shoulder blade and the narrow of her waist in his hands, chest shuddering against the knowledge of her bosom pressed to him, tasting the softness of her lips, only to suddenly find the softness of her own curious tongue. Hesitation slips away. He loves this. He loves the way she looks. He loves the way she feels. He loves the way she holds him and kisses him, and the way she lets herself be held by him. He loves it. He loves her, and isn’t that fine?

Isn’t it fine? To love him?

She doesn’t want to let him go even as she quickly realizes that the kiss is moving too fast. In all propriety, she should not be clinging to him, encouraging him by keeping him pulled close. But once it ends, once the kiss ends, he’ll have questions. So she leans into him for another kiss.

Just for now.

Just for another minute of him.

Just to memorize the way his arms feel wrapped around her. To commit to memory his intimate breath and the solidity of his shoulders.

To experience this kiss.

It should feel shameful, but it doesn’t. One meeting leads to another, and another, and any thoughts of guilt are forgotten.

A match strikes within her, lighting her in anticipation. She can’t breathe, but she doesn’t want to. It’s his hands and his pressure, steadily gaining weight upon her body.

She feels wanted.

Sensation settles deep, building and building. It’s something she’s never felt before, coursing through her veins, through her heart, racing. The taste of his lips and tongue, the sound of him breathless, the feeling of his hands holding her tightly.

She wonders if he feels it, too.

“Naruto…”

His name from her airy voice, a breath upon his lips, fills him with a desperation unlike any other.

Everything about this is so wrong. It’s so wrong and it feels so good. How he wishes he could say her name in return.

He gasps hard, trying to regain his sensibility.

She kisses him again, and he leans into it instinctively.

“Wait…” he murmurs. He tries to breathe. “Wait…” He pulls up reluctantly, only to see her, pressing against him, her eyes lidded, her cheeks rosy, her lips swollen. His heart shoots into his throat. He can’t possibly ask for her name right now. Any man with common sense would know that. He needs to kiss her. It’s the only thing he can do.

He kisses her. Over and over.

Her cute breathy sounds fill his mind, and he keeps going, just to earn that sound of approval. A heavy tightness gathers at his trousers, a worrying distraction that splits his morality between pressing forward and stopping altogether. So he stays against her lips, unable to bring himself to separate from her nor engage her in a completely illicit act.

The kiss itself feels amazing enough. Not just her lips. Her body. Her breath. Her voice. Her hands at his chest and neck. He’s never known anything like her.

He feels his brain melting, all sense of time and decency lost. He can only tell that shadows surround them, concealing their shameful act. Twilight chased dusk’s last light away before either of them realized, and he thinks neither of them care.

How long has he been gone?

Gone with her.

Oh, he wants to be gone with her all night.

She feels his hands sliding around her waist, up her sides, across the bare of her back, one to her neck. She registers him pressed against her, hard. It’s too much. She knows she messed up, remembering the awful lesson she suffered through in preparation to marry Toneri. She finally fully realizes what she’s doing to Naruto.

But…

She whispers his name again.

He squeezes her closely.

She can’t get enough of this. And she’s luring him on, closer. It’s unbelievable to her that she can entice him so. She can feel how he kisses her harder when she sighs or gasps. She can hear his hum of satisfaction when she presses against him.

It’s altogether too shameful.

She should feel ashamed.

She should. He doesn’t even know who she really is. But she can’t possibly tell him now. Not when she desires him so, and he so obviously reciprocates.

Just for tonight.

Just for one more night!

She twists her hips, feeling the pressure of his ardor against the heat pooling within her.

He shudders, breaking the kiss to let out a gasp, almost a groan.

It’s something completely unknown to her, and she kisses him again, wondering at the mystery between them. She wants more from him. He gives her shades of light and dark she’s never experienced before. Feelings so pure and honest; feelings so wrong and deceitful.

It fills her with suspense.

His fingers reaching through her hair, keeping her lips locked on his. His pelvis pushing against her, rubbing against her. His breath hot on hers. His arm wrapped around her waist.

She steps back against his leaning weight, and he presses forward. She realizes he’s walking her back, directing her somewhere, right when the back of her legs hit the bench. Her knees, weak from their tryst, easily give out.

He stands above her, his chest and shoulders heaving. He bends down over her, connecting their breath again. His hand threads through her hair, pulling her pins, her hairpiece out, until she can feel her long hair spilling down her back.

It’s such an intimate act.

Ladies never wear their hair completely loose around gentlemen. And she’s never had her hair touched by a man before. She gazes up at him as he smooths his hand down her hair.

The air feels heavy between them.

“Miss…” He doesn’t know what he wants to say. He wants something. He ardently wants something. He needs relief. He needs her to comfort him, to give him her sweetness, her softness. Everything about her excites him, thrills him, and he needs her to do something about it. He needs to be closer to her, he just wants to know her. Everything about her. Inside and outside, he wants her to be his.

He wants to love her.

To leave himself with her, irrevocably, permanently. To receive her, to have her.

To see her.

Feel her.

Every part of her.

He sits beside her. They kiss, but her lips and tongue aren’t enough. He slides his hand over her feathered skirt, feeling the angle at her hip, the round of her thigh, testing her boundaries with him.

She gasps away from his kiss, and he watches her look down at his hand.

He waits for her reaction to his intentions, hoping that her heavy breaths, shivering body, and misted eyes are an indication of how much she wants him.

Nothing about this is right, but he was never really a good boy anyway.

If she agrees, he can take her back to his chambers. They can get to know each other without worry. It can be just the two of them. Just her and him.

“Do you know what you do to me?” he murmurs to her. Not just tonight, but ever since they met. He'd been dreaming of kissing her since that second night, and this, this is far better than he thought a kiss could ever feel like.

She turns away, hiding her face from him, her long hair sliding over her small, pale shoulder.

He thinks to encourage her back into his arms when the sight of her strikes him as...odd. His gaze traces over her thick, inky hair, and when she turns to peek at him, he watches her lowered eyes. Before he can process any of it, he’s whispering a name. “Bucchi?”

She looks up in alarm, her eyes wide.

His hand retracts from her leg. “You’re...Bucchi, aren’t you?” His eyes, straining in the dark, searches her face, looking at her as if he never saw her properly before.

She wants to deny it. She’s not Bucchi. But she’s not “Hinata,” either. She hasn’t been in a long time. She’s not anyone.

He reaches for her, but she suddenly stands.

She doesn’t want to be Bucchi. She wants to be someone else. Someone who’s right for him. She steps away.

He doesn’t move. A belated expression of shock seems to be dawning on his face, and it makes her feel so ugly.

So ugly.

“I’m sorry,” she whispers. “I didn’t mean to… I didn’t...I didn’t…” Her heart breaks at his dumbfounded stare. And she flees.

She shuts the door of her room and curls up in her bed. She stifles her sobs in her blanket and wishes the dark could swallow her whole.

He sits in the garden, suddenly alone. One moment, heat and attraction were nearly suffocating him into madness. The next moment…

He’s not sure what on earth happened.

All he knows is he was kissing the maid.

But logically he can’t make sense of it. They seem so different. Bucchi, so timid and silent. The Miss, alluring and fascinating.

How could he have known with one always looking away from him and the other looking like Heaven’s jewels?

Still, the Miss and Bucchi are obviously one and the same.

Obviously.

He wants to hit himself for being so ridiculously, stupidly blind.

He didn’t know a maid could be so eye-catchingly gorgeous, so heartachingly desirable.

He blinks himself into awareness.

She ran away.

No, he let her run away while his slow-as-a-turtle brain processed.

And he’s still processing. Like the fact that every time she ran away, he never found her because he never thought to check the servants’ quarters. Or that she, Bucchi, never looked at him because she didn’t want him to recognize her. And that she never told him her name or where she’s from because she didn’t want him to know that she’s a maid.

Or did she want him to figure it out?

She said things like “comb” and “bath” because…

His cheeks flame worse than during the kiss. Oh...nooooo… She wasn’t being timid because she is timid. Oh NOOOOO… Realizations hit him too quick, and he’s hiding his face in his hands, slumped over, in terrible embarrassment. She was right there while I was…no wonder she couldn’t look at me!... And then she was combing my hair… He thinks he might die from his heart spasming from such severe embarrassment.

There was that time, too, after the rainstorm… For a second he’s filled with self-righteousness at having been correct that day, until he remembers the way he grabbed at her.

Embarrassing memories, just one after another flood him.

He was pining away right in front of her before that second ball. Just laying out all his insecurities for her to see.

What was she thinking during all of that?

Oh gods. He doesn’t want to know what she was thinking. What she must think of him! He never acted suave in front of the maids because he never thought he needed to impress them. Kimiko and Shion have always been sort of like his confidants, more like family than anything else. He pretty much grew up with them around. So he acted no different in front of Bucchi.

The way he was sighing and moping in his bedchambers right in front of her.

It’s mortifying.

His fingers run through his hair with the stress.

His mind flashes back again to when he last saw the maid. The way he grabbed her arm that day! That really was her, and he just manhandled her thoughtlessly, and he’d never have done that to a woman, anyway, but to her. To her. In front of her.

How could she still like him even after that?

He sits there, frozen, staring at the ground. His sight slides over to her shiny hairpins and feather hairpiece left on the bench. He picks it up, remembering the vision she presented when he found her here earlier.

He kissed her. They kissed passionately, in fact, and if he hadn’t finally recognized her, they might have gone even further.

He stands in panic.

He needs to see her. She ran because she thought he must have rejected her. He’s still hopelessly in love with her. He needs her to know that.

He runs out of the gardens and dashes toward the servants’ quarters. He runs through the halls of their bedchambers. He has no idea if she’s in any of them, so he calls her name aloud, hoping she might respond.

Nothing.

He runs up to the kitchens.

“Master Naruto!” Servants call his name in surprise.

“What do you need, sir?”

His intrusion completely halts their work. Everyone stops what they’re doing to look at him.

He looks out-of-sorts. His hair is noticeably mussed. His shirt is wrinkled. Their stares focus in on the hairpiece in his hand.

“Are you alright, Master Naruto?” a cook asks.

Naruto’s gaze darts anxiously from face to face, none of them the one he wants to see.

“Master Naruto?”

He takes a moment to calm his breath. “...I’d like to speak with..Bucchi.” He tries to tame his feelings of embarrassment, which are threatening to explode across his face and color his skin a telling red. “...Has anyone seen her?”

The servants look around. One of the cooks hollers her name out, as if she might be hiding in another room, which, honestly, everyone half-expects with the young master in the vicinity. Murmurings rise when she doesn’t appear. “She could be helping to clean the rooms?” “Maybe she’s in the scullery?”

“Sir, I think I might know where she is,” Shizuka says, speaking up. She nods assuredly to the fellow staff. “I can take you to her.”

“Thank you.” He follows the maid to a quiet hallway, far from the kitchens. He’s surprised when the maid abruptly turns around.

“Master Naruto, so...she told you?” The maid looks at him worriedly.

He stares at her for a second to collect his thoughts. “She didn’t tell me anything…”

Shizuka looks at the feather hairpiece in his hand.

“This is Bucchi’s, isn’t it?” he asks. “I need to speak with her. Do you know where she is?” Impatience threatens to leak through, but it’s obvious that Shizuka is his lover’s friend.

“I thought...I thought she was with you, sir,” Shizuka replies quietly.

He keeps himself from grimacing. “She was...and then, I thought maybe she returned here.”

Shizuka pauses and then nods, turning back around. She leads him down a hall he hadn’t ventured into and to a shut door, where she stops and knocks. “Bucchi, are you in there?” She leans her ear against the door. When she doesn’t hear a response, she goes on, “I’m coming in, okay?” She turns the door handle and looks at Naruto pointedly.

“I’ll...wait out here.” He can’t just go into a woman’s room, even if it’s the servants’ quarters.

“I apologize, Master Naruto. I will try to bring her to you if she is in here,” she whispers. She turns the handle and enters, shutting the door behind her. In the dark, she can barely make out the lump of her friend on the bed.

“Bucchi?”

“...Shizuka…”

She approaches carefully to her bedside. She wants desperately to ask what happened, but now is not the best time. “Master Naruto wants to speak with you, Bucchi. He is waiting right outside for you.”

Hinata turns her head in confusion, and then rolls over to face her friend. She doesn’t believe it. She was crying in humiliation and shame just a moment ago and only managed in the past few minutes to slightly calm herself. “...Really?”

“Yes. Are you able to talk to him? He really wants to talk to you.”

Hinata touches her swollen eyes. She’s still in her dress, but she must look like a complete mess. Not to mention her long hair is all over the place.

“What happened? Were you crying?” Shizuka asks, realizing the state that Bucchi is in. “Are you okay? I can try to ask him to leave if you are indisposed.”

“I should...I should talk to him.”

Shizuka frowns, wondering what happened. Bucchi said that she would talk to him, but instead, it seems that something went wrong. She helps Bucchi sit up and get out of bed. “Are you sure?”

“Y-yes, I’m sorry, Shizuka, for the trouble.” Hinata does her best to fix her hair, but it’s useless. She tries to wipe her face clear, but she knows she must look awful. Crying never looked good on her. She decides to change out of her gown at least. Slipping out of the tight-fitting material is another call back to reality. She’s not anything fancy. She’s just a maid. She cracks the door open, keeping her head bowed, and catches sight of his shoes. Shame engulfs her once more. She made him go looking for her again. And this time, he found her. “M-m-master Naruto, I’m so sor-”

“Don’t!” he interrupts, a bit too loudly. He sees her shoulders tense. “Don’t call me like that.” Hearing that from her makes him feel sick. And why won’t she look at him? Even if she’s a maid, it’s been clear to him that she wasn’t always one. She has no business calling him that way, not after everything.

“N-naruto, I’m sorry f-for deceiving you.”

“No. No, no, don’t apologize, Bucchi, I understand.” He looks up from her bowed head to see Shizuka standing awkwardly behind her. “Thank you, Shizuka,” he says as a way to acknowledge and dismiss her.

She nods quickly, rubs Bucchi’s back, and scampers away.

Naruto waits for her to leave before taking a deep breath. He turns his attention back to the young woman before him, the dream that’s been haunting him, his lover. All he can see of the beautiful lady is the top of her head, her long hair cascading over her strange coat. She seems so much smaller. Even still, it’s her, but the difference is so incredible, he feels now that he really doesn’t know her, that he has no business touching her at all. “...Come with me. Where we can talk somewhere private,” he invites quietly.

She nods, still unable to meet his eyes.

He navigates them as quickly as possible through the halls, and she follows at a respectful distance. To anyone watching, no one would know of their relationship. He opens the door to his bedchamber, quickly realizing the irony of the situation. He had been thinking of bringing her here earlier in the evening to get to know each other. Now he really means it.

His entrance immediately alerts Kimiko and Shion. “Master Naruto, you’re back early. Is anything the matter?”

Many things are of matter right now, but first, “I need to speak with Bucchi, alone, please. And I don’t want any interruptions.”

Their eyes shift to the shy maid in confusion before they leave the two of them alone.

When the door is securely shut, silence settles between them.

Hinata’s hands twist together anxiously. She doesn’t know what to expect now. He said he understands, but does he? What does he understand? She glances up at him in curiosity.

“You’re finally looking at me.”

She drops her gaze again.

“Bucchi, no...Miss. Please.”

She looks up at him, slowly meeting his eyes that are surprisingly soft. It encourages her to stand straighter, to relax her grip on her fingers.

“What’s your real name?” He steps closer, carefully. “Won’t you tell me, please?”

She doesn’t know his intentions. If she gives him her real name, he can certainly send her back to Konoha. She shifts uncomfortably as he draws closer. It would be rude of her to step away from him. “M-my real name is of no importance to you, N-naruto. I’m just..just a maid...I lost my name when I arrived in Uzushio.”

“Then, where did you come from?” He doesn’t like that she still looks scared. What makes her think that he’ll hurt her? “Please don’t say you’re from Towel,” he tries half-jokingly.

She bites her lips in shame at how she tricked him twice. “I-I’m sorry.” She lets her gaze drop, but he quickly steps up to her, his fingers at her cheek.

“Look at me. Don’t look away anymore.” He trains his gaze on hers until her light eyes are on him, too. “Nothing’s different to me. I still see you. And, it’s me.” He pauses to see if she understands him. “It’s just me.”

Just him. Hinata studies him, matching his words with his expression. He doesn’t sound or look angry. Concerned, definitely, but not really upset.

“I just want to know you.”

She can feel herself breathing easier.

“Bucchi, Miss, do you know?”

She looks at him in confusion. When he doesn’t go on, she asks quietly, “...Do I know…?”

He smiles at hearing her voice, calmer now. “I don’t think you know. That even now, I want to kiss you.” He watches her blush. “But I don’t know you. And you don’t know how much I want to know you…” Now that he can see her face clearly again, and so, so close, close enough to kiss, he finds it hard to focus on anything other than her soft skin. Her makeup looks smeared...from tears...but that only makes him want to kiss her fears away. It would be so easy to just continue where they left off. It’s frustrating to think that he’s the only one so affected, that she can leave him so easily, that she really did leave him, even after their tryst in the garden. It’s not fair. Not fair at all. “Is it the same for you? Do you want to know me?”

“Yes,” she whispers. “Yes, Naruto, I want to know you, too.” She says this as earnestly as she can.

“Then...tell me about yourself.”

She nods and swallows her hesitation. Nervously, she takes his hand, letting him feel the roughness of her fingers that her gloves had concealed all this time. She avoids his gaze, not wanting to see his reaction to her work-worn hands. “I...I’m from a land of great forests. I disguised myself, ran away from home, boarded the trading ships, and...and ended up here.” She takes a deep breath, readying herself for his questions.

#naruhina #naruhina fanfiction #romance #fairy tale au #i'm nh trash #please enjoy

26 notes · View notes

dayseternal-blog · 2 years

Note

hey days! do you have a ff where hinata is a witch? idk i saw many fanarts hinata being a witch and take care if naruto so i wanted to ask you if there is a ff. have great day!!💕💕💕💕

You must be thinking of shamylicious's art!! I don't know of any fics that follow that same premise :/ and I mostly read smut. So most of my recs are gonna be...smutty, so just mind the ratings.

Witch!Hinata in NaruHina

“Hogwarts AU” from “Tales of Two Ninjas” by @magmawrites - Rated T, Magic AU, One-shot. Going to a school of magic only means the growing witches and wizards face the same trouble as growing muggles plus more. They will learn a lot more than magic at this school. They’ll learn to love.

“Sweethearts” by @teavious - Rated G, Magic AU, One-shot. Hogwarts AU! In which I talk more about my Hufflepuff headcanons than actually have a plot and where Hinata and Naruto are acceptably good flirts.

"don't mind me" from "love incredible" by @ellaroundpanda - Rated E, Magic AU, One-shot. In which a seemingly innocent box of cookies causes some trouble for Naruto and it's up to Hinata to deal with the consequences... Or, Naruto eats a bunch of cookies laced with extremely potent aphrodisiacs and no one but Hinata can help him.

"A Hero's Quest" by agitosgirl - Rated M, Fantasy AU, Multi-chapter, Incomplete. This is a world of magic, a world of dragons and evil witches. Naruto, a brave knight of the Cherry Kingdom must face of against the dark and evil queen...Hinata. He must face her in a battle of both wits and strength as she tries to...Seduce him? Just what in the world is going on here? Find out in this twisted fairy tale!

"The Beastmaster and the Witch" from "Naruhina & MenHina Lemons" by Veradux - Rated E for hentai smut, Fantasy AU, One-shot. Hinata Hyuga, the Cosmic Witch of the East, is certainly not a typical witch.

"Fantasy AU" from "NaruHina & MenHina Lemons" by Veradux - Rated E for hentai smut, Fantasy AU, One-shot. Theme: Naruto (Dragon Emperor, 24) x Hinata (Sorceress Concubine, 21).

"Magic AU" from "Walking Beside You" by @spyder-m - Rated G, Fantasy AU, One-shot. She was blessed with the ability to see things others could not. Blessed as equally as she was cursed.

I'm sure there's more... so if anyone can think of more, please add it!

Happy reading :)

#anon #naruhina fanfic recs #naruhina witch au #naruhina magic au

47 notes · View notes

dayseternal-blog · 2 years

Note

heyy days! do you have any master & maids fics? have a great day or night bye.

yep! I've made this list before...

Maid!Hinata Fics

“Docile” by Sadistic One - Rated M, Modern AU, Multi-chapter, Incomplete. Hinata is a young maid working for the Uzumaki household. One day she is given as a gift to a lone bachelor much to his dislike. One is broken and the other is slowly fading away. Can these two possibly find love in each other?

“The Lustful Maid” by HoneyWriter78 - Modern AU, Multi-chapter, Complete. Hinata Hyuga wakes up in an unknown room on an unknown bed, after one of the most worst days of her life. Her only memory is knocking into a tall blonde handsome guy with her juice spilled over him! Was it a dream? I think not as now she has signed a contract to be his very own personal maid!

“A Maid’s Responsibility” by agitosgirl - Modern AU, One-shot. It had been a year since he and Sakura had been physical. Now he had Hinata, sweet, kind, caring Hinata.

“Gakusei Meido” by Wasabisugar - Rated M, High School AU, Multi-chapter, Incomplete. It was going to be Hinata’s first day as a babysitter, she was going to have so much fun doing what she really enjoyed, but when she rings the doorbell, she is met by a boy her age, who claims he has no siblings, and no parents. He does, however propose that she become his personal maid instead.

“Kunoichi Maid Cafe” by SpringFairy - Rated T, High School (?) / Modern AU, Multi-chapter, Incomplete. Do you need something, master? Perhaps some pastries? A drink? Or maybe… Some love? In the hidden leave village lies a small maid cafe who hides young maidens in love.

“His Final Choice” by GammaDancer - Rated T, Royalty AU, One-shot. Prince Naruto and his personal servant, Hinata have a forbiden love. When Naruto has to choose a Queen who will he choose? Hinata, a Princess, or a Lady of the courts?

Chapter 3 from "NaruHina Oneshots" by @powerful-niya - Rated E, Modern AU, One-shot. A 20-year-old, cold and uptight billionaire can have anything he wants. He has money, luxuries, clothes, everything. But there's only one thing missing. Love. What happens when a young 19-year-old woman enters the inside of the blonde-haired male's life, thinking nothing more to please and set all of his needs straight. What if, he's looking for love in the wrong places? What if, it was right in front of him, the whole time?

and then there’s my AU “Catskin” - Rated M, Fairy Tale AU, Multi-chapter, Incomplete. She’s a nameless girl. Strange in dress, appearance, and accent in a foreign kingdom. She stowed away on a merchant ship, running from a certain future much worse than just losing her name.

If anyone knows of others, please feel free to add on!

#anon #naruhina fanfic recs #maid!hinata

26 notes · View notes

dayseternal-blog · 3 years

Note

I enjoyed all of your recommendations!! ❤️ you made me love Naruhina more, than I already did :)

Do you maybe know some historical Naruhina? I barely found anything.. 😩

Yahhhhhhhhhh historical AUs are some of my faves!!!!!!!!

Except I don’t know what you mean exactly by historical (like, realistic historical fiction or not), so here I’ll split them into categories!

Samurai / Feudal Japan AU

“Samurai AU” and “Samurai AU Part II” from “Tales of Two Ninjas” by @magmawrites - Rated M, Samurai AU, Two-shot. In this age you are born into certain duties. You live the path set out for you. What happens when you want to get away from those responsibilities? You run.

“Tsutsudori” by @mmmbuttery - Rated T, Historical AU, Multi-chapter, Complete. A dream of a bird and a snake leads to a journey that uncovers great secrets of the powerful Hyuuga clan.

and my own fic “Little Samurai” - Rated E, Folktale AU, One-shot. He's young, brave, motivated. He's lived through countless dangers and accidents. But he's brushed off as a sheltered maiden's plaything. He's much too small for his dreams.

Royalty/Regency AU

“What the Heart Wants” by @vegebulsoup - Rated E, Royalty AU, Two-shot. King Hiashi Hyuuga of the Land of Fire is proud to announce the engagement of his eldest daughter, Princess Hinata to the honorable Prince Toneri Otsutsuki of the Moon Kingdom. (It’s a shame her heart belongs to someone else).

“Blue Moon” by suryass - Rated M, Royalty AU, Multi-chapter, Ongoing. He was crazy. He could admit that, because the only thought running through his mind was asking her not to go back once everything settles. He wanted her to stay here, with him. He really was out of his mind.

“Arranged Marriage AU” by @magmawrites - Rated M, Royalty AU, One-shot. They would both do their duties. And surprisingly this would be a change they would full heartedly accept.

“Pillowtalk” by @linisen - Rated T, Royalty AU, One-shot. Soulmate au where if you're both in bed thinking about each other you can hear each other’s voice.

“forced marriage au” by @jadeandonyx - Rated G, Royalty AU, One-shot. Ever since she was a child, Hinata knew this day would come.

“Monster of the Tales” by @utsus - Rated T, Royalty/Monsters AU, Multi-chapter, Complete. Her heart races in her chest and her feet race to match its rhythm. She lets her heart lead her.

and my own fic “Catskin” - Rated M, Fairy Tale AU, Multi-chapter, Incomplete. She's a nameless girl. Strange in dress, appearance, and accent in a foreign kingdom. She stowed away on a merchant ship, running from a certain future much worse than just losing her name.

Wartime AU

“Torch Song” by @mmmbuttery - Rated T, Historical AU, Multi-chapter, Complete. "You're my girl, Hinata. Promise you'll write." "I-I promise, Naruto." How could she say no to a man going off to war?

“1942″ by eternalshiva - Rated G, Historical AU, Short One-shot. A short little dabble about Spin the Bottle, the 1940s, dames and fine looking military men. Warning: Character Death.

“The Forever Girl: Naruto’s Story” by @cherryjutsu - Rated G, Soulmate AU, Two-shot. “The Forever Girl” (Hinata’s Story). The feeling of watching everyone around you grow old and die, while you stay young, is something that can never be forgotten, that is, until love finds you.

American Historical AU

“Fireflies” by @fatcatsarecats - Rated G, Western AU, One-shot. “I can kidnap you.”

“Change in the City” by @wishingforatypewriter - Rated G, Prohibition/Roaring 1920s Era AU, One-shot. Prompt: AU - First date in New York City (any time period).

and two of my own fics:

“About You” - Rated T, High School Summer/1970s AU, One-shot. A summer job at the Dole pineapple cannery, graveyard shift 10 PM to 6 AM. A long bus ride into and out of town. Two teens, shy beside each other.

“Awkward Jocks” - Rated G, High School/1990s AU, 3-Shot. She knows that if he were to ever ask her out, she would accept in a heartbeat. After all, he's the star quarterback and basketball player. Plus, she's liked him since...forever. But when her home phone rings, and he's on the other line, she hangs up.

and

lol, I need to also rec this really smutty one.

“Prehistoric” by funkychicken67 - Rated E, Caveman AU, Two-shot. Hinata pines for the great hunter Naruto. Will he ever return her affections?

Happy Fic Reading!

If anyone knows any other historical AUs, please point them out to me!!! I looooove historical aus. They’re in my top 3 tropes.

#anon #naruhina fanfic recs #naruhina historical au #naruhina royalty au #i'm sorry this response is a month late #if anyone sent me an ask I have it and am working on it

91 notes · View notes

dayseternal-blog · 3 years

Note

If you ever finish answering all of yours awaiting asks...

45 questions for you 👀

https://myaekingheart.tumblr.com/post/650107314353897472/fic-writer-ask-game

Lolllll BADLUCKBREBIS, you are so funny.

Inspiration and Reading Asks:

1. How long ago did you start reading fanfiction? Writing fanfiction?

It looks like I started writing in 2017. I've been reflecting recently on how there are so many regularly active writers now compared to in 2017-2018. It was the tail-end of some of my fave writer's activity within fandom. Utsus was posting less and less. The Tumblr NaruHina fandom seemed to disappear, a whole community of writers left for other things (matchaball, nekomamoru, magmawrites, cherryjutsu, spyder-m, tenney-shoes, eliphya, among others). 2018 was a very quiet year, but! I avidly read katarinahime and bunnyhoodlum's works! In 2019, quirrrky restarted things with NaruHina Week!

2. How do you spend your time when it comes to fanfiction? Are you primarily a fic reader, writer, or a perfect 50/50 split of both?

Recently I’m primarily a reader!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Because there's so many writers now!!!!!!!!

3. Are there any fics that inspired you to write what you do?

Yeah, let’s list them. “A Special Friend” by agitosgirl inspired “Nightdreams. “Medicine” by @grimmjowkurosakidrake inspired “White Lilies. “Torch Song” by @mmmbuttery inspired “About You.” The language in “Unless the World Were to End” by @bunny-hoodlum inspired the language in “That was the plan.” “In Between Drinks” by @peppercornpress inspired “In Between Drinks NH.”

4. Link your three favorite fics right now.

“Operation: Bring Home Naruto” by Dragonwannabe - Rated T, Canon-Divergent, Multi-chapter, Complete. Hinata's been assigned the mission of getting Naruto back home safely after his last dangerous assignment. But can she handle the undercover identity as his girlfriend that she’d been given without revealing her true feelings for him?

“The Mission” by Lunawraythe - Rated M, Canon-Divergent, Multi-chapter, Ongoing. It wasn't that Hinata never expected to work with Naruto, just never on a mission quite like this.

“The Loving Type” by @peppercornpresses - Rated M, Canon-Divergent, Multi-chapter, Ongoing. A few years have passed since the Fourth Shinobi War, in which...Rookie Nine steadily advances in rank. Naruto gets engaged. Hinata leaves Konoha. And Kakashi schemes for days.

5. What are your fanfic pet peeves? Do they have a huge effect on whether or not you decide to read something?

ahhh. I do have quite a few pet peeves. If the fic is Canon-Compliant or Canon-Divergent, I expect Naruto and Hinata to behave like Japanese people. Say what you want, but the Naruto Universe is definitely Japanese in my book. So that means no shoes in the house. Nothing rattles me more than reading Hinata taking her sandals off before climbing into bed. Like, what? she was wearing her outdoor shoes indoors this whole time??

mmm... another pet peeve is when the writer describes Hinata in a kimono, but it sounds like an American Halloween costume, like the slutty version, instead of an actual kimono.

mmm... and the other big pet peeve I have is when it’s Hinata’s first time eating ramen because Naruto is showing her the wonders of ramen. lol. why. how. in what world would a Japanese person make it to their teenage years without ever eating ramen.

I have a bunch of other little pet peeves regarding Japanese culture in fanfics. But in general, it doesn’t stop me from reading the fic if I'm already in the middle of it. I’ll continue reading it and will probably recommend it to other people anyway. If I can tell based on the summary, then it's not for me, and I don't read it. If this makes anyone feel nervous about writing fanfiction, that's not my intention! I would also be happy to be a sensitivity reader if necessary.

6. How do you find new fic to read? Where do you primarily read fanfiction?

I primarily read fanfics on AO3 and ffnet. I find new ones by constantly checking the Hyuuga Hinata/Uzumaki Naruto tag on AO3 or looking into a writer’s favorites list on ffnet.

7. Do you prefer to read short fics or long fics?

Short fics.

8. How often do you reblog/comment on fics that you like?

I reblog pretty often. I don't comment as often as I used to😕 I used to comment on every fic I liked.

9. Tag 3 fic writers you think are underrated/unknown in the fandom/fanfiction community.

Uhh?? Idk. I think recently the writing group here is pretty tight, everyone seems to know everyone.

10. What’s your favorite fandom, pairing, or character to read fic for?

Naruto fandom and NaruHina.

Fanfiction Writing Asks:

11. How do you come up with your fic titles?

I usually take it from words used in the story or from the prompt.

12. Tell the author your favorite fic title of theirs (not the fic, strictly title). Author: what’s your favorite title you’ve come up with and why?

I think...maybe "Tell Me of Forevers" or "Nightdreams." I like those because they aren't taken word-for-word directly from the story, but touch on a theme in the story.

13. Do you outline your fics? How much of a headache would someone get if they just looked at an outline of yours without reading the fic?

Yes, I outline. They wouldn't get a headache, I think. It's usually just a summary.

14. Do you have a personal word minimum that you hold yourself too? Why or why not?

Nope. I didn't know people do that.

15. Tell the author your favorite fic of theirs. What’s your (the author’s) favorite fic you’ve written?

My favorite fic continues to be "It's No Secret."

16. Do you research for your fics? If so, how deep of a rabbit hole have you gone down by accident when researching?

Yes, I do. I've done historical and folktale research for "Little Samurai." I did area/location research for "Last Chance." I did historical research for "About You." I did fairy tale research for "Catskin." I did a ton of astronomy research for "The Cowherd and the Weaver Girl." And I did lighting research for "Inspo." I go pretty deep.

17. How obsessively do you sit and stare at your fic after you’ve just posted and wait for feedback?

I don't. I usually have something else I need to do or I go to bed.

18. Do you have a WIP that you keep telling yourself you’ll eventually get back to, but deep down you know that’s probably a lie?

I actually think I can finish all of mine if I just try.

19. Do you edit your fics after you write them, or do you prefer to just hit post and run (because it’s someone else’s problem now)?

I always edit before posting to AO3. Anything I post directly on Tumblr might not be edited.

20. What’s your favorite part about the fanfiction writing process?

Posting!

21. What’s your least favorite part about the fanfiction writing process?

Starting a new chapter.

22. Do you take fic requests? If so, for what characters and why?

On occasion. If someone sends me a request, I'll think about writing it. Sometimes I do write and post it, sometimes I leave them in my drafts for a better day.

23. What’s your absolute favorite trope to write?

From what I already have posted, probably friends-to-lovers, secret relationship/forbidden love, or high school au. I don't think I have an intentional favorite.

24. What’s a trope that you’d like to never hear about as long as you live, let alone write?

Public humiliation / public degradation.

25. Do you listen to music as you write? If possible, link your writing playlist.

No, not usually.

26. What’s your biggest distraction when writing?

Tumblr feed, all the pictures to scroll through mindlessly.

27. Do you like to give your readers some warning of what might be coming or just slap them in the face with content at random?

lol, whatever is fine.

28. How do you deal with writing pressure (ie: pressure to update, negative comments, deadlines, etc)?

Well, pressure to update is not a big deal to me. I do this for fun, so I don't think I unnecessarily pressure myself too much. With negative comments, I don't get too many of those, and I think I do my best to avoid situations where I might get negative feedback.

29. Have you ever written for an exchange or event of some kind? Which one(s)? Did you enjoy it?

Yeah, I like the events. My favorite was NH2020, the year-long one last year. I also enjoyed the Secret Santa last year since @badluckbrebis was my giftee.

30. Post a snippet from your current WIP without context - no more than 300 words.

haha😈

Ecstasy slides through his veins, blooming over his mind, cocooning him in pleasant sensations, cum shooting out in eager twitches against hot, milking flesh.

31. Of the characters you write for, which is your favorite? Has that choice been swayed at all by your followers/readers’ reactions to certain ones?

Naruto Uzumaki, always.

32. Copy and paste your top three favorite lines/jokes/sentences you’ve ever written. What fics do they come from?

Top 3 faves in order:

That was the plan: "She shifts in his arms, and cloth and cleavage come pillowing up to his face, and he’s certain that she’s scooped from the same puffy stuff his adolescent daydreams were made of."

Tell Me of Forevers: "What he wouldn’t do to inspire every blush, every smile of hers for an eternity when such moments already only speak “forever” to him."

White Lilies: "Whether at his feet, in his eyes, ears, mind, if not reaching his heart, she never landed anywhere. (It’s okay.)"

I consider "White Lilies" to have my technically best writing, so it was kind of hard to choose just one line from that fic! But I decided that one's my favorite line from the whole story.

33. What do you like writing better: one shots or multi-chapter stuff?

One-shots.

34. How much of yourself and your life experiences do you put into your writing? What do you think your readers’ image of you is?

A lot of my life experiences are in my writing. Hmm, I think readers probably think I'm...hmm...either empathetic or really perverted?

35. How much has writing fic changed your life?

I spend a lot less time on real-life social media than before.

36. Are there any fics or fandoms you’re embarrassed to have written or been part of?

I'm kind of embarrassed of "Honeymoon at the Hot Springs" lol. It's fine.

37. Give an update on your current WIP - if you don’t have one, give a sneak peek to a title or idea that you have and would like to write.

My current WIP is that A/B/O fic I started for February Smut Month Prompts: Sweet as Candy or Love Bites. I'm going to title it "Sweet As," and it'll be about how Naruto and Hinata become Alpha/Omega mates. It's really kinky, really smutty, and totally what I would want to read.

38. What does your writing process look like? How chaotic is it on a scale of 1 (very tame) to 10 (you can’t handle this kind of chaos)?

uhh???? a 1?? I've never once thought of my writing process as chaotic. Ahh, then I think of bunnyhoodlum's multiple drafts for the same chapter, and I realize that there exist types of writing processes that I would not be able to handle...

39. What’s something about your writing that you pride yourself on?

My smut.

40. How did you come up with the idea for [x fic]?

41. What’s your most popular fic (with the most notes on tumblr, most hits/kudos on ao3)?

Idk about Tumblr,,, maybe White Lilies got the most attention here. My most popular fic is Nightdreams on AO3.

42. Asker: pick three of the author’s works. Author: rank them 1 (the best) - 3 (the worst) based on whatever criteria you want - this could be something totally random that isn’t quality related (like simply ranking fics based on how many trains appear in them) - have fun!

43. Talk about a positive experience with fanfiction or the fanfiction community that you will always remember.

I will always remember how people congratulated me for finishing White Lilies😭 Also, when peppercornpresses made that FIRST art of my story, I just, I just stared at it all day.

44. Rant about something writing related.

hmmm, I don't feel like ranting about anything. I just recently ranted about my pet peeves above.

45. Fic specific questions - if you have any weird questions about specific works, here’s your shot to ask them!

I did them all! Nice questions.

#anon #*anon*#fic writer ask game #i will send these questions right back at you

20 notes · View notes

myaekingheart · 3 years

Text

20 [Fanfic Writer] Questions Game

Thank you so much for tagging me, @lemony-snickers! This is tons of fun, I love answering these kinds of big questionnaires 😂💕 Also putting mine under a cut because there’s a lot of questions and I like to ramble.

Also gonna go ahead and just tag whoever wants to do this! 😅💕

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

As of August 27, 2021, I have a total of 77 works on my AO3!

2. What’s your total AO3 word count?

Funny enough, I was just looking at this, specifically, earlier today and kind of laughing about it. Right now, my total word count across all my works is 1,148,941 😬

3. How many fandoms have you written for, and what are they?

Apparently 12, but some of them I don’t really consider “big” in my fandom repertoire. Naruto is my greatest fandom with a total of 60 fics so far, followed by The Chronicles of Narnia and Rise of the Guardians. The rest are ones I either did crossover fics with or just did one-off little pieces with--The Incredibles, Tangled, Brave, How to Train Your Dragon, Arthurian Mythology, Disney Princesses, Fairy Tales and Related Fandoms, Back to the Future, and Frozen.

4. What are your Top Five fics by kudos?

The Scarecrow and The Bell (Naruto) - 470 kudos The Day Kakashi’s Mask Slipped (Naruto) - 139 kudos Sunflowers (Naruto) - 92 kudos Sakumo the House Husband (Naruto) - 81 kudos Someone to Lean On (Naruto) - 67 kudos

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

I always try to respond to comments, because I like to acknowledge when people respond to my work. I cherish comments like nobody’s business, especially when they’re kind and reactionary. I just really love seeing/hearing what people think of the way a story is progressing, or what they thought of a one-shot. Comments keep me going especially when it comes to longfic so I want to be able to let readers know that I do in fact see their comments, that I’m acknowledging what they’re saying, and that I appreciate them. Plus, it can be kind of fun to tease upcoming events in a fic through responses to people’s comments, too. Because I’m mean.

6. What fic have you written with the angstiest ending?

Definitely Hothouse (Rise of the Guardians/The Incredibles; Jack Frost x Violet Parr; American Horror Story AU). This was the first multi-chaptered fic I ever wrote to completion and I honestly cringe when I remember it exists both because it’s so poorly organized (and full of nasty plot holes) and because I just went ham on the gore factor. It definitely has a really bittersweet and heartbreaking ending to it, too.

7. What’s the fic you’ve written with the happiest ending?

I think I’ll definitely have to say Temptation. The story itself was kind of a ride, and it’s only the first installment in a series, but it follows the plot of The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe but remixed due to the presence of an original character, but the ending is still roughly the same as the original: they defeat the evil, the Pevensies are all crowned kings and queens, happy days. Reading the last few paragraphs of the last chapter honestly still gets me all up in my feelings.

8. Do you write crossovers? If so, what is the craziest one you’ve written?

I used to be more of a crossover writer due to one of my main ships being a crossover ship. They weren’t super crazy, though, because they were both CGI-animated films. The craziest crossover I’ve ever written is an in-progress/unfinished multichapter piece, Kakashi, Enchanted, that sees our favorite Copy Ninja get kamui’d into the Disney princess dimension and has to help the likes of Snow White, Cinderella, and Rapunzel on his journey to find a way back to his own world. It’s a super weird premise but definitely one of my more lighthearted works and fun to revisit when I need to decompress.

9. Have you ever received hate on a fic?

I don’t think I’ve ever received hate so much as I’ve received criticism. The closest I ever got to hate on a fic, I think, was someone left an overly personal and mentally disturbed comment on a chapter of my main fic that made me convinced they needed to seek therapy and deal with their own personal issues rather than take it out on a fanfic about animated ninjas.

10. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

Maybe 👀 I’m super vanilla when it comes to smut, though. I think the wildest thing I’ve ever written in smut is breeding kink.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not that I know of, and I hope I never will.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Not yet! I had someone ask to translate a one-shot of mine in Russian but I never got a response back when I laid out my terms and conditions.

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

I have not! I used to do paragraph-style roleplay which was kind of like cowriting fanfiction but writing is so personal and sacred to me that I don’t know if I could ever actually cowrite a fic with someone. I like brainstorming with other people, but writing for me is more of a deeply personal and independent endeavour.

14. What’s your all-time favorite ship?

Oh god, this is a tricky question because it depends on fandom. I absolutely love New Dream (Rapunzel x Eugene, Tangled) and have for the past ten years, and my love for them as only grown since watching Tangled: The Series/Rapunzel’s Tangled Adventure. I don’t write or even really read a ton of fanfiction for them, though. I’m also still highly dedicated to my favorite crossover crackship, Frostfield (Jack Frost x Violet Parr, Rise of the Guardians/The Incredibles) and to this day, if you search for that ship on AO3, I am the sole provider of every single fic about them so far. I’m not as active with them as I used to be, but they got me through some really rough times back in the day and still mean so much to me. A lot of my favorite ships across fandoms, though, are honestly canon x OC ships of mine because I am a self-indulgent bitch who needs to project. So Peter Pevensie x Eilonwy (The Chronicles of Narnia) and Kakashi Hatake x Rei Natsuki (Naruto) are really important to me and I’ve poured so much of myself specifically into their stories. I think it’s safe to say Kakashi and Rei is my all-time favorite ship across all fandoms, though, just because of how much their story means to me. The Scarecrow and The Bell is my magnum opus, my pride and joy, and I’m sure it will be my biggest fandom footprint of my entire life. I’ve dedicated the past three years to this story and these characters and I intend to continue doing it until it no longer brings me joy (which I hope it always will). There’s just so much I could say about this story and Kakashi and Rei’s relationship but I don’t think we have enough time or space in this post for that 😅 Just know that they mean the world to me and I will always hold them in the highest regard as a beautifully messy, flawed, passionate, soulmate-y ship that I love with all of my heart 🥺

EDIT: I also feel obligated to tack on some of my absolute favorite Naruto ships because I may not have written for all of them (yet) but they still make me unbelievably happy or I find them really compelling and enjoy the idea of exploring them:

Naruhina is precious happy sunshine and The Last honestly felt like a wonderful Disney princess movie to me, it was so cute and the romance was so on-point, Naruhina just makes me so incredibly happy and I love them with all my heart.

MinaKushi also gets me all up in my feels and I adore them with every fiber of my being. Their romance also gave me Disney princess movie vibes which I love, their story is just so damn sweet as is their character dynamic and I am still so heartbroken that they never got to be a happy family with Naruto because you know what? It’s what they deserved!

SasuSaku is so compelling to me and I really feel like we were cheated out of seeing their relationship develop and evolve postwar in the same way The Last did for Naruhina. They’re my favorite angst ship and while I don’t think they were written that well in canon, I love the possibility and potential of them together and am excited to explore them more in-depth in my own writing.

NejiTen is just too cute, I really love the way Neji and Tenten’s personalities compliment each other? I don’t have much else to say about them except that I really love them together and think they have so much untapped potential that I also can’t wait to explore in more depth in my own writing.

15. What’s a WIP that you want to finish but don’t think you ever will?

Paper Hearts and Impromptu Bookmarks, probably. I love the premise of this story a lot and I have so many interesting ideas for it but at the same time, it also feels kind of cheap and cringey to me, in a way? It takes all of these ideas I probably would have had if I had been into Naruto when I was a kid and kind of compiles them all into one big story. Kakashi and Aiko’s relationship and story is still really important to me and I want to continue it someday but for right now, I just haven’t had the motivation or desire to write any more of it. I think I’m just so overwhelmingly preoccupied with writing Kakashi and Rei’s story that I can’t imagine writing any other Kakashi x OC fics right now.

16. What are your writing strengths?

I want to say that I’m really good at capturing complex emotion? I don’t know, I write a lot of angst and mental upheaval in my fics which can be really difficult to try and capture, but I think I do a decent enough job of it? And just writing difficult subjects in general. I think it’s really important to address difficult topics such as mental illness and relationship difficulties and everything but I also want to try and write those topics in a way that is both authentic to the experience while also still tasteful. I don’t want to drive readers away with heavy subject matter but rather present a situation that feels real and authentic while also still being digestible. I may not be doing a very good job of that during the current arc of my fic that I’m working on, but I’m trying haha

EDIT 2: I also want to add onto this to say that I’m really proud of my organizational techniques for writing longfic. It’s not necessarily a strength in terms of the prose itself but it’s something that’s taken me years to really get a grasp on and find a method that works perfectly for me and so far, it’s been extremely helpful and beneficial to me. I don’t know where I would be now as a writer without these essential tools in my pocket.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

I feel like I do a really bad job of the “show, don’t tell” thing. It can be really hard to balance descriptive prose with straightforward writing that moves things along. I don’t want to dwell on mental dialogue to the point where you lose track of what’s going on, but I also don’t want my stuff to read like “Character A did xyz. Character B said abc. They went to 123″, whatever. Another thing I struggle with is sentence variation. I always fall into the same patterns when I’m writing prose and I get really self-conscious about it because I don’t want to sound repetitive or disrupt the flow of the writing. One of my favorite things about prose is focusing on the cadence of the words, I think it’s one of the most beautiful things about writing in general, but it can just be really difficult to get a good grip on that. I’ve been told in the past that I apparently have a really good grasp/control of the language or whatever but sometimes I just find that really hard to believe when I look at my work with such scrutiny. I think one of my biggest pet peeves with my own writing, too, is feeling like I start all of my sentences the same five different ways. I’ll read other people’s works and they’ll write sentences like “Glass-blue water lapped against the shores of a deserted beach as a lonely woman gazed off into the distance” and I can just never figure out how to realistically write sentences that start like that in the context of my prose and it drives me fucking crazy, like I’m definitely jealous 😅

18. What are your thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages in a fic?

I’ve never really thought much about it before, but I think there are pros and cons! For bilingual/multilingual readers, I think it can be a really enriching reading experience because they know what’s being said in both languages. For people who only know one language, however, unless a translation is provided, I feel like it can be really alienating. I think the best use of that for both worlds is using it as a means for miscommunication humor. Other than that, I think it can be a slippery slope that depends on what kind of reader you are and how it’s written.

19. What was the first fandom you wrote for?

The Chronicles of Narnia! My very first fanfiction was a Narnia fanfic that I barely remember except that it laid the basis for Temptation and my Narnia fanfic series as a whole. I never posted this first iteration anyway, but I remember it was 2008/2009 and I wrote a solid 80 pages (which was wild for me at the time) and had gotten halfway through remixing the events of Prince Caspian when my computer crashed and I lost absolutely everything. I’m still heartbroken that it’s gone forever, not because I’d want to go back and read it necessarily (since I’m sure it was actually hot garbage) but at least for nostalgia’s sake. Either way, like I said, this long-lost fic laid the basis for the very first fanfiction I ever posted, the first published (and never finished) iteration of Temptation back in 2011 on deviantART and the since-defunct Figment. I fell out of the fandom around 2012/2013 and left the story alone for a while before ultimately deciding to completely redux and rewrite the story when the fixation swung back around again between 2016 and 2018.

20. What’s your favorite fic you’ve written?

Despite the fact that it’s still in-progress, definitely The Scarecrow and The Bell. This fic just genuinely means so damn much to me and I will cherish it for the rest of my life because of how much it’s given me, how much love and passion and time and even parts of myself that I have poured into this, and also just how expansive of a story this is. Not only does it touch on some very dark and heavy topics, but I’ve also created so much of my own characters and meta for this story that it’s almost an entire universe in and of itself. I’ve just contributed so much additional world-building and created so many new OCs to fill important roles in this story and in Rei’s life, and they’ve all become so deeply important to me as they’ve developed further over the years. I’ve come up with so many interesting ideas for everyone and their lives, which are all slowly becoming so rich and varied. Not to mention that it’s my most popular fic to date as well as my longest fic at 632k and counting. I’ve really just genuinely poured so much of my heart and soul into this story, it’s my absolute favorite thing I’ve ever done and I really mean it when I say that I will cherish it for the rest of my life.

#tag games #ramblings

7 notes · View notes