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berryjamgirl · 2 years

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Taffy's yandere profile

TOOK LONG ENOUGH WITH THIS, credits to @cinnamonest for the profile template i also inspired myself on @/kandyrezi yandere taffy headcanons post.

Therefore: tw//noncon, stalking, obsessive and toxic behaviour, kidnapping, mentions of abuse, afab reader in some parts. (!!this is purely headcanon!!)

What are they generally like? Lucid, aware? Obsessive? How do they behave?

He is obsessive but quiet and careful. There is no noticeable change in the way he treats you, he doesn't really become more talkative or pushy despite wanting to, the only plausible evidence for anything else would be if you putted in risk your own safety (wanting to go to Ne-No -Kuni for example), where despite the lack of change of expression he firmly tells you to stay in his world where it is "safe".

In terms of awareness, he is the type that goes back and forth between delusional and lucid, much more delusional than lucid most of the time. Following you, changing your routine to avoid risk, keeping "dangerous" people away from you, and basically treating you like someone incapable of taking care of themselves in his head is just a form of protection, a part of his mind alerts him to these dangerous feelings and how he could become a problem for you, but this is ignored, after all how would protecting you be a problem? These are just more effective measures in the world they live in, in his mind.

How likely are they to kidnap their darling? How quickly will they do so?

Inevitable, the more time goes by the worse he gets, as he just keeps justifying himself and becoming more delusional, he doesn't need help it's YOU who needs help comes to a point where the only possible solution to protect you is kidnapping you.

At first, it's an idea he feels guilty about having but it's just something to help you right? If he doesn't keep you locked up in a basement, give you food, a comfortable room and an environment in general that isn't your usual captivity it wouldn't be bad, you would get used to it over time and see how much better it is.

This also serves the way in which he will kidnap you, not being brutal or tying any part of your body (for now), just a sleeping pill is much better.

How difficult is it to escape from them? How do they keep you restrained? How do they deal with attempted escape?

Difficult, but not impossible (unless you're human). He has rules to follow to make sure you don't really hate him or feel bad during this captivity, these rules include:

Doesn't keep you in a chain, just reinforce the house in an extreme way from the outside to ensure you don't escape;

Trying to give you as many privileges as possible, you're basically living your normal life, just without putting yourself at risk and leaving the house.

He's a very busy person, so he spends a lot of time outside giving you enough hours to look around to find flaws around the house, or even something he dropped by mistake that could help unlock the door. But you're at a disadvantage against him of course, not only physically but also in terms of terrain, he knows every part of Kumo-No-Kuni in the palm of his hand and if you are not familiar with that world, escaping becomes practically impossible and it is just a matter of time after you leave the house for him to find you.

For the slightest amount of chance, you'd be lucky to find a way out of that world while he still hasn't come home, but you'd be relying purely on luck or the number of times you've escaped him, creating enough experience to get to know the place.

The moment he saw the empty room and house, you would have to race against time, he would be very irritated looking for you and anyone who passed him would see how the serious and relaxed expression becomes irritated and somber, besides that he would be tense and nervous, speaking quickly and perhaps even a little rudely. But when he finds you he'll first worry if you're hurt, then forcefully take you home very quiet while he thinks about what he did wrong, aren't you happy? Doesn't he seem to love you enough for you to want to stay? Or are you just ungrateful? Many questions

How easy are they to trick, deceive, or manipulate?

For a head angel and someone who is God's right hand it's not as difficult as it seems, not because he's stupid (he sure isn't), it's just because of you being the one doing the manipulation so there would be several things that would pass by him since he doesn't think that of you.

Asking for certain things would be easy since he only wants your good and happiness, of course dangerous things wouldn't be given, but if you can find less obvious alternatives of objects to help you escape he would give it as soon as possible.

Of course after the first attempt to escape he would put the pieces into place and become more strict and attentive in what you ask of him, as well as being extremely disappointed since he didn't think you would. From that point on, it would be much more difficult.

And it's good not to mention physical tricks, he's a seraph and a warrior of God, unlike verbal manipulation he wouldn't fail to notice a physical attempt to trick him (unless the attempt comes from his own God).

How lenient are they? What privileges can you have, and what will you be denied?

You can have pretty much anything that isn't dangerous to you from his point of view, everything within his reach will be given. Unless things related to your past connections, what you have of memory of the people you once interacted with will be everything you will carry for the rest of your life, necklaces, valuables that were presented to you by other people, of whom he may feel threatened, they would be out of the question but don't feel sad, if he could he would erase the memories too.

What kind of rules do they have? What kind of punishment would they use?

Don't do anything that puts you at risk and be honest, which basically means:

Do not hurt yourself;

Don't try to escape;

Don't try to physically fight him;

Try to not break anything;

Don't hide anything from him, say what bothers you.

Each broken rule has a different tolerance level, as hiding something from him and trying to escape are two different things, although uncomfortable for him, so they would have different consequences. Because he doesn't want to hurt you he would use positive reinforcement methods, but, that would be more at the beginning as throughout your "relationship" there would be things that he would lose tolerance and he would be more aggressive about, using slaps depending on how angry he is at the moment, he would comfort you during the whole process ,after all, he would have a big guilt by the end of it.

How do they deal with rivals, or perceived rivals? Will they get rid of them? Will they kill them themselves, or find another way?

Well, he's paranoic, so anyone who acts too friendly towards you for his tastes is a potential threat. First he won't kill right away (unless it's a demon), he will try to convince you that that person doesn't want your well being and doesn't have good intentions towards you, because he really believes that, so he will use any flaw or mistake that the rival makes as a reason for you to leave immediately even using things they did in the past as a reason, he will use every mistake they have made until there is nothing left.

If it doesn't work, I don't think he'd have the patience to threaten the person directly so he'll kill, quickly trying to avoid evidence or a scene too disturbing for you to experience, so much so that he doesn't want you to think he's a killer as much because he has a certain notion deep in his heart that he shouldn't have killed.

If you find out he will tell you that it was an order from Fumus or that this person was a danger to his world, hoping you understand.

How easy is it to make them mad? What does their anger look like?

It's something difficult actually, what happens are more moments of despair coming from him than really anger, moments when he worries too much about you for doing something that puts you at risk (an attempt to escape for example), but continuous mistakes irritate him little by little by becoming a snowball for him.

Gradually, he shows this irritation in a quiet way, clenching his fists while explaining the tenth time why you can't run away, grabbing your arm stronger to the point of hurting when he finds you, but he comes back to himself later, taking a deep breath.

When he really gets angry, it's scary, he doesn't really scream but raises his voice as he holds you under him saying how tired he is and how ungrateful you can be sometimes his crimson eye so empty that it burns you inside, making you wait for something worse. Then he just leaves you alone after that, leaves and locks the door and only comes back later when he's calmer.

Do they see you as above them, beneath them, or equal to them?

It's interesting, I would say that in his head he tells himself that he sees you as someone superior, but the way he treats you is questionable to say the least.

He acts like you don't know how to do anything on your own and needs help and protection for everything, but that's not because he thinks you're incapable (deep down maybe he does), it's just because someone like you, so pure and kind, doesn't have to worry about things people like him worry about.

How determined are they for you to love them? How hard will they try to make it happen? Or are they content just having you?

He doesn't think he really deserves your love, not because he's done terrible things to you, in fact he thinks that everything he's done so far is just not enough to make you really safe and well, it's like there's always something missing.

But deep down he really wants to feel loved by you, everytime time he does something romantic of course he excepts you to feel happy, if one day you could repay a part of the love he has for you he would be the happiest angel in the world. His actions aren't really for you to love him he would never think of it as this way, it's because it's how you deserve to be treated, and trying to treat you any other way at this point is next to impossible.

Bonus: Is there anything that makes them unique, in comparison to other yanderes?

Due to the brutalities he faces from his God, his tolerance for cruel words and even attempts at aggression doesn't really annoy him, and as is common in his daily life he just boils down his actions to something childish, like a child. angry and frustrated.

He can sometimes even find it cute, even if you end up hurting him, nothing will be worse than the punishments he receives himself.

(n/sfw content)

General perverseness: how sexual of a person are they? What’s their drive like? How touchy do they get? Do they have any reservations about sexuality?

I'd say high, it's hard not to think of you that way you know? he is obsessed with you, and being a busy person, thinking about you relaxes him and makes him more motivated to finish what he was doing. Having you close also makes these thoughts more recurrent than before ,when you crouch down to grab something, when you're drying your hair with your body still a bit wet even without revealing clothes makes him uncomfortable underneath.

He is subtly in the way he touches you, and it also takes time to happen even with the thoughts running around forever, just putting his hand on your shoulder and sometimes forcing a quick hug. Then it gets worse, his hands slide over your curves in an affectionate way and you start to notice the way he seems to get redder and breathing heavier as he does it, it feels like a dream to have you like this.

How forceful are they? Do they care about your willingness?

His concept of consent is pretty disturbed I'd say, even with an iron mind it's impossible with the amount of abuse he suffers not to have even a small change in the way he thinks, in that way any sex that isn't rude and eventually makes him feel pleasure is consenting sex right? He uses that same logic with you, if he is kind enough and during the act you feel pleasure then that means you consented, maybe not at first, but eventually.

So in his mind, he does care about your consent after all he cares about your pleasure and comfort during the act, which is basically the same thing, isn't it? Any show of resistance is ignored by soft kisses and words of comfort, because he won't stop.

What sort of kinks or fetishes do they have, or would they fill?

It has been said that he enjoys sex with Fumus, but even so I took the liberty of thinking about other things than, well, sadism.

Bondage

He's a soft dom, there's nothing extreme (in his concept of extreme) it's much more about experimenting with the different ways he can make you feel pleasure, everything he wears on you fools you in appearance by being cuter and harmless, mainly vibrators and necklaces.

Praise kink

Getting compliments is so important to him that it ends up reflecting in the way he gets turned on (sexually or not), so telling him he's doing well, that he's great and stuff like that shines a spark in him that he's never felt before, it's good to use that to your advantage if you want it to be over soon.

Breeding

For many, breeding is about feeling that one is yours and eternally connects to you, so I feel like he would appreciate that a lot. It's good and it's not like you need to worry about protection anyway, you're not going to leave this house or this world, so it's good to think about building a life here soon.

How do they feel about pregnancy or babies? Do they want them?

He really wants to build a family and a future with you so he's unprotected in every situation. I feel like he would be worried about how the child could grow up in that world, and of course how you could be after pregnancy but he will do his best for the best possible growth, even if he has to change his behavior depending on your opinion of children.

What kind of (nsfw) punishments would they use?

He can be rude at times, and because he's nervous he won't give much thought to how brutal he can be, when you piss him off to the point where he'll consider punishing you in this way it's just him taking his anger out on you, pounding fervently until your attitude changes and he is satisfied with your answer. Because you would miss how he normally is instead of complaining, after all, isn't it nice when he treats you with love?

The other side of punishments is when the delusional part of him kicks in, if he shows how much he loves you until you understand that and appreciate it, you'll get better and stop acting like you're rejecting him. The entire night will be of you completely overstimulated, until it's enough.

What body parts of their darling do they like the most?

Neck, he can get so many reactions out of you just by touching and choking him when he feels in the mood, especially if you are sensitive.

#taffy #okegom #yandere #yandere angel #funamusea #mogeko #yandere headcanons

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starryocean · 1 year

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finished reading So I’m a Spider/Kumo desu ga volume 15.

I know i’ve skipped a lot of volumes, and that i promised to get to them eventually...but I’ve kind of realized that that’s not gonna happen. at least not anytime soon. So I’m going to go ahead and talk about volume 15 since it’s the most recent one I’ve read, and when volume 16 comes out hopefully I’ll post my thoughts then too.

So, highlights: attempting to explain everything to everyone. Shun going through the Taboo menu, finally letting us know what it looks like and how it feels to have unlocked it. We did get an early glimpse of it in the anime, but even so it’s nice to finally have it actually appear on-screen in the text itself. I also liked that Natsume lived and was repentant about everything he did while still being himself, although I feel like it would have been more powerful if the LN kept the “Dreaming Boy” interlude from the WN, even if it doesn’t end with his death this time. The downtime in general for everyone to learn, process, and discuss everything was very nice. If it was all action again after just having had that big battle with Potimas, then I probably would have gotten frustrated with the narrative.

The bit where Sofia went and both managed to ruin the rest of the explanations and yet do them in a better way than White in some aspects was very funny, truth be told. As well as the fact that Sofia accidentally set people up for hope of returning only to let them down hard--all of that was very true to her character, as well as the fact that she did seem to express some guilt at having done so. I liked her self-awareness with regards to having been able to escape the thread at any point but not doing so because it would only get her into more trouble. That actually shows a bit of growth on her part, as well as the fact that she even tried to help White explain anyway. She’s getting a little less impulsive, a little more willing to help, but is still suffering from her egotism, Envy skill, and general lack of care about other people besides the ones she’s managed to get close to.

I also liked Phelmina’s characterization during the moments she shows up. Yuri still being creepy and super devoted even after not being brainwashed is good too. The scene where she casually self-harms is properly disturbing, although I’m not too sure on how it was handled. It definitely gives a lot more insight into her character and how she might have ended up as she did in this world--her having been suicidally depressed while living in Japan, then suddenly being thrust into a new world, and then being raised by a tightly-controlled church in service of a God who’s voice you can actually hear...that would have been something I could see someone clinging so strongly onto in the absence of anything else that could help. Especially given the fact that therapy isn’t often used in Japan, and the only equivalent in the kind of “time period” the setting is supposed to be in is the church.

I’m also really, really happy that Shun reacted like a normal fucking human being when Sue drugged him and attempted to rape him. I swear that shouldn’t be such a low par to pass, but somehow it is and I’m glad kumo desu passed it. Shun being rightfully disturbed, unsure what to do, and also attempting to set hard boundaries with Sue and annoyed that she still took advantage of his kindness in trying to comfort her is the kind of reaction I would have expected out of anyone in that situation. Honestly I wish he did get angry and yell at her, especially considering what a hard breach of boundaries and trust that was, but it is true to his characterization that he’d just want to restrain her from doing anything else and settle things more calmly. His attempts to make Sue not as attached over the years and him being rather upset and second-guessing everything he did in light of that incident was pretty realistic too.

The only annoying bit about that whole thing was how it was played for laughs in the way Katia, Yuri, and Fei intervened and stopped it, but the fact that it played Shun being rather disturbed and upset about things straight helped. I guess maybe Okina Baba played it for laughs initially was to kind of lessen the impact of how fucking creepy and honestly horrifying that was that Sue went so far. Because there’s always been a sense of lightheartedness to Kumo desu even when horrible things are happening on-screen, I could see Okina Baba wanting to not go super hard like that while still making sure to treat it as a serious thing later. Not sure if I like it still, but it makes sense based on the general tone of the series.

(the details Tsukasa Kiryu did of Shun’s face while drugged, despite being contrasted with the “silly” panel below, also help create that impression in my mind. The way Kiryu did Shun’s expression definitely isn’t “funny,” and is actually quite creepy to look at. If he’d drawn it as one of those faces with spirals for eyes and an open mouth with a dip like it’s drooling, I’d be way angrier about the “playing for laughs” thing.)

The “World Quest” being done in stages is also cool, too. It’s kind of funny that D set it up to essentially be decided by popular vote, but the image the wording creates of people getting down on their knees and praying desperately for the salvation they want to happen is also very powerful. The fact that Dustin is well-versed in the skills needed to win an “election” like this, including dirty things like manipulating votes, is also a good use of his character and backstory. He’s already proven himself to be willing to use underhanded tactics to get what he wants done--it makes sense that he’d do the same thing with trying to get the outcome he desires.

The fact that Ariel also didn’t even bother trying to convince anyone to join her side and instead basically declared “I’m going to do what it takes no matter what, you can try and stop me if you want, but it won’t change anything because I would never have expected anything different from you people. Because you’re all guilty of having done the same thing before and that’s why we’re even in this fucking mess, so if you try and stop me it’ll just confirm everything I’ve already known to be true for so long” is also really powerful. She hasn’t had any expectations for humanity (of this world at least) to do or choose better for thousands of years. She’s been trying to fix things for thousands of years. Of course she’s not going to bother making a plea for support--humanity may as well be dead to her already.

All she cares about is saving the last of her family, whether Sariel wants it or not. She’s thrown away hundreds if not thousands of lives in pursuit of this goal already. She doesn’t have time to care about anything or anyone else, beyond her goals and the people she’s already gotten to help her. She’s on borrowed time and won’t live past a year. She’s out of fucks to give. So she’s going to do whatever it takes no matter what cuz fuck everyone else. Come at her if you want--you’ll just die for nothing, because Ariel already knows she’s going to win. She’s not accepting any other outcome.

Like damn. That moment hit me.

I honestly can’t think of anything else to say--I don’t really have any complaints? Shun stubbornly insisting on his idealism, while annoying, is still in character, and probably exacerbated by Taboo. Anything else I can think of that might ave irked me I’ve already discussed. I feel like it was a solid volume in general tbh. The only way I can think of the ending being disappointing like everyone on the kumo subreddit says it is, is if White and Ariel lose and lose badly despite everything they’ve worked so hard towards. Like I know there’s not going to be a good ending either way, but I’d rather it take the form of White and Ariel winning and the devastation of so many people dying being even worse than they’d already expected and having to live with the consequences in an uncertain future, than having thrown away all of the progress, all of the hard work, and basically everything to series was building up towards and dumping it straight into the garbage as part of the ending.

Especially given that I’ve heard the author said the WN was supposed to be the Bad Ending specifically, given that everyone is so much more horrible in the WN and things went so differently that the only way it could end is in tears, specifically because everyone is awful forever. Or something. I don’t really know because I don’t read the WN anymore because I refuse to suffer through turb0′s godawful translations just to get to the part where things are actually possible to comprehend. like. if the LN is already so much better and easier to read, why the hell would I make myself suffer through machine translation of the exact same story but with everyone having worse personalities and an even worse ending?

so yeah. the only thing I can think of that would make the ending actually bad at this point is like I said above--if the author threw away everything they were building towards and set it on fire instead of trying to get a satisfying conclusion. Okina Baba has proven to be a better author than that, and nothing that happened that was horrible ended up being for shock value so far, instead having an actual point, so I don’t see him doing that.

So that’s my thoughts on volume 15. again, no spoilers in comments or reblogs. I want to see the ending for myself and if anyone tells me how it goes before I get to read it, I’m going to be quite angry. This includes the WN, too.

Otherwise, feel free to tell me your own thoughts on this one.

#phoenix says boring stuff #kumo desu ga #kumo desu ga nani ka #so im a spider #so im a spider so what #reading tag

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joroghoul · 14 days

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TRIGGER WARNING: In depth content about sex work, snuff films, mention of grooming, dark web red rooms, and other things.

I haven’t fully talked about Shini’s life in the adult industry, how much money she makes, and how it affects her emotionally and mentally. So I’m finally doing it. It’ll all be below the cut.

Due to Kumo being a prostitute herself, Shini has been exposed to the idea of she’d work since her childhood. While Shini didn’t exactly witness every detail of it, she knew that the men coming to visit her mother weren’t just stopping by for coffee. Her and her mother never talked about what Kumo did for money. It isn’t until Shini’s around fifteen that she fully understands what Kumo was doing, but that this point she has already been living with her adoptive father Hiro for quite some time. Hiro did attempt to shelter Shini as best as he could and give her some semblance of childhood, but it had grown to be nearly impossible especially with all the violence in the fourth ward.

After the raid on the apartment complex Hiro ran for other ghouls, Choki had convinced Shini to come stay with him and that he would take care of her. Still having a small bit of naiveness in her, Shini went and lived with him. I’m not going to go into depth about Choki grooming Shini because there’s really no need to, but that does happen. After being with him for a little over a year, Choki had convinced Shini to let him document their sexual acts, he later sells said videos without her being aware of this. Shini does find out about it after going into an adult store with another woman that was in a similar predicament with Choki, Shini ends up finding a VHS tape with her on the sleeve cover in the new videos section. When Shini confronted Choki about it, he threw a large wad of cash at her which only had big bills in it and told her “this is what you’re good at, so this is what you’re going to do.” This is when Shini realizes that the only reason she’s getting the best treatment from him compared to the other girls he had beneath him was because she was the one making him the most money. It’s important to note that while adult videos starring Shini did make good money, Choki would never give her everything she made, just enough for her to take care of whatever she had to do. This was also done to ensure she’d keep coming back to him. Shini ended up taking a break from making content for him for over a year after she got pregnant with Jigoku and Akuma.

Choki noticed how quickly Shini’s body recovered from being pregnant and it gave him an idea to have her act in snuff films. This is how Shini learned that due to her repeated acts of cannibalism she had developed the ability to temporarily halt her regeneration, this is how she would make it seem like she genuinely died in these films. These films have become Choki’s biggest source of income when it came to his escapades in the underground adult industry. These videos could be found on the dark web and if the viewer wanted to watch it they’d have to pay well over $300 in bitcoin to get access to the film. At this point Choki has Shini making two of these videos a week and even doing a weekly red room livestream of it. This isn’t something Shini wants to do, but Choki is using the twins as leverage to get it to star in these films. When Shini is filming, her mind isn’t present at all, instead she mentally transports herself somewhere else.

Even after Choki’s death, Shini continues to do make these films. Because he had groomed her to be a pornstar and because she never got a proper education, it is the only thing Shini knows how to do and is good at. It’s also the only way she can make enough money to support her children and lifestyle. She absolutely refuses to have her children living in areas that are dangerous, she never wants to have to pick between what bills she can pay that month, and she wants to be able to spoil her children, giving them the childhood she never got to have. Shini’s worst fear is becoming anything like her mother when it comes to how she treats the twins.

Shini was once told her body was a temple, a scared place meant for those who had intentions of showering her in holy worship she didn’t believe she deserved. She sees her body as nothing more than an abandoned house, filled with whispers of false promises from the ghosts of men she can’t remember. Her clothing being the stained and tattered curtains that would grant glimpses to eyes that lingered too long. The outside covered in graffiti made of cuts and bruises. It’s very hard for Shini to view herself as a person and not an object of male desire. Shini doesn’t like how she looks, and it’s not because she doesn’t find herself to be attractive, but because her beauty has always been seen as an invitation for unwanted touch. While in public she does wear revealing clothes and still sells that idea, when she’s in her own home she’s completely covered up.

Being in the sex work industry has completely destroyed how Shini views romantic relationships and intimacy. It doesn’t matter how pure a man can present himself and his intentions to her, she will always believe he is going to have an ulterior motive with her or try to take advantage of her one way or another. While Shini has had hookups and meaningless flings, she doesn’t really get any enjoyment out of them sexually and she doesn’t really know how to express what she wants in the bedroom properly since everyone she’s ever been with just did what they wanted to do with her. The only time Shini can get any type of pleasure out of sexual acts is when she’s by herself.

#I might add to this #headcanons.

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lavender-long-stories · 3 months

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Spoilers for Guarding Affections | Chapter 2 | Rated T

Kisame had to say if you were to get stabbed, do it for an heiress.

When he woke up from surgery, he was in a private room, and Hinata was at the door arguing with the police.

Was he surprised they came to arrest the wrong person? No.

Was he surprised that they let the other guy go after he somehow confused them into thinking he was the victim? Maybe.

Was he surprised to have a rich woman in a blood-stained evening gown talk to them like they were children? Yes, actually. Mainly because her soft tone, which portrayed her disappointment, was far more effective than her raising her voice.

Hinata sighed, crossing her arms, though it looked more like she was hugging herself. “He needs rest. I gave you my statement. I will make sure he calls you when he feels well enough. Just please let him recover first. He’s the hero here.”

Ugh, hero. Kisame wasn’t sure he liked the sound of that, but it worked. The police bowed their heads, and she tucked herself back inside, realizing he was awake. Hinata's cheeks turned red as she approached the bed. “I’m sorry. I hope you didn’t hear much of that.”

“I’m used to it.” Kisame waved his hand, revealing how much he heard with very little.

Hinata frowned at the door like the police were standing. Was she this offended for people who didn’t save her life? She placed the business card with their precinct phone number down on the bedside table. “I will give you the choice if you want to call them. I didn’t give them your name.”

Kisame’s eyebrows shot up. “Why not?”

Hinata tied her fingers together in her lap. “I don’t want your situation being used against you when you went so far out of your way to help.”

Kisame couldn’t blame her for having the thought. He was sure one exposed tattoo could make someone like her think he had a criminal past… and to be completely fair, he did.

“Don’t worry about the hospital bills.” Hinata dug into her tiny clutch purse, pulled out another card, and placed it with first. “I will take care of them.”

Kisame angled his arm to pick it up but realized that was the arm his IV was in. Hinata frantically picked it up and presented it to him. He flicked it up to read it. Holy shit. He was joking about the heiress thing. She really was ‘the’ Hinata Hyuga.

“I…” Hinata started before second-guessing herself and just bowing her head. “Thank you.”

Before he could say anything, the door opened, and in came Neji, her companion from before, with a bag. “Hinata-sama, here. You should change.” Hinata stood up to greet him, her demanding demeanor gone with her panic. “Why are you still wearing your heels?”

Hinata's head dipped down to look at her feet. “I’m fine. Thank you.” Neji looked past her, eyeing Kisame with a look he was more used to. He lowered his head to whisper something, but she backed her head away. Hinata’s demeanor changed back to authority for a moment. “I’m not leaving.”

Neji's face twitched before he nodded his head obediently.

Looks like Kisame was stuck with her. At least she was entertaining.

--**--

Kisame expected Hinata to stay for a few more hours and then disappear, leaving him on the other side of some assistant for the things she promised. He wouldn’t have blamed her. From the news, it looked like they were running with the idea that it may have been Kumo, the company itself, or disgruntled laid-off workers who were responsible for the attempted kidnapping.

And if Neji was to believed, this attempt wouldn’t be the last. “I don’t need the security team here. They are bothering the nurses.” Hinata whisper-yelled at Neji. “You wouldn’t need them if you would stop coming here.” Neji countered.

“He gets discharged tomorrow.” Hinata excused. “Can you at least ask all but one to leave?”

Neji debated. “What are you going to do once he’s discharged? He’s not a puppy. You're not taking it home.”

Kisame was used to being called it, but the look on her face made him realize that, yeah, maybe it was a little screwed up. The silent stare made Neji look down apologetically.

“Leave,” Hinata told him firmly. “You can come back when you can keep a comment like that to yourself.”

Neji stood firm for a moment longer before obediently leaving the room.

Hinata visibly straightened her face before returning to him with the bag that she requested Neji bring her in hand. “I apologize about him. He can be despicably rude.”

“I’ve heard worse.” Kisame accepted the food she laid out on his tray. He had yet to eat a hospital meal. Hinata didn’t say much, but she came every single day, brought him meals, and made sure the nurses were checking on him. It was nice. He had to admit getting stabbed came with its perks. He was going to miss the little princess once he went back to his pauper life.

“You shouldn’t have to.” Hinata hummed irritably.

At first, Kisame thought that her outrage was a played-up, but after a few days, either she was an excellent actor for no real benefit, or she was really as sweet as she looked. “I’m going to miss the good food.”

Hinata looked down, her discomfort playing on her features. Maybe he shouldn’t have said anything. “You… you said you weren’t a regular employee of the event coordinator?”

Kisame took a moment to chew and shook his head. “Nah, sometimes I get a call when they're short. I have a friend that tosses my name out when they need someone.”

“I would like to offer you a more permanent job. On the security team or somewhere else, if you would like it.” Hinata offered a phone number she had written down. “Lee-san will make sure he finds something for you.”

Kisame poked his chopsticks into his food. “You’re paying for the bills already.”

“I appreciate you putting yourself in danger to help me.” Hinata stared at her fingers as they twisted together. “I would love to have someone working with us that has your kind of integrity.”

Kisame felt his face burn. He hoped her face stayed down so she didn’t see his face turning purple. “I don’t know if I would call it that. I just wasn’t going to watch someone drag a girl off.”

“You helped without thinking about it. That is integrity.” Hinata's eyes came up to meet his and damn it, he could feel the sincerity. It made his stomach shrivel with an unfamiliar feeling of being praised. He wasn’t sure he liked it, but was nice to hear.

Kisame could say that he had never been praised for that. Strength, brute force, a good big scary dude to come and look menacing when you were trying to get your deposit back from your slum lord apartment manager, but never for something like integrity. “Okay. Okay. I’ll take whatever it is. Just stop… looking cute.”

Hinata blinked at him, and her face broke into a small smile. It wasn’t making her less cute.

--**--

“I agreed to one security detail.” Hinata corrected Neji as he trailed behind her, trying his hardest to wear her down. Usually, it worked. It worked getting her to agree to the single bodyguard, but now he was pushing it, and she had already had a very irritating call from a VP who demanded to know why she was still rescheduling her appointments like her kidnapping attempt wasn’t all over the news.

Unfortunately, she couldn’t use visiting her savior as an excuse anymore. Hinata liked him. Kisame was a nice man. He couldn’t take a compliment. They had that in common.

Hinata felt bad for having looked him up, but she knew that Neji wouldn’t let her check on him if she didn’t without letting him do a background check. He had a handful of arrest records for fights. None landed him more than a night in jail. He either had a good lawyer as a friend, was lucky, or most of those fights started how they met: him stepping in and ending a fight he didn’t start.

The world needed people who were willing to help others even when it didn’t benefit them. He didn’t have to help her. He could have just yelled or called for help, and by the time security came out, she would have been gone.

Hinata would check up on him in a few weeks. Neji planted the idea that she was smothering him, and she may have thought about it a little too much.

“Two would make me feel better.” Neji attempted.

Hinata gave him a final look that told him her answer. “One, or I’m not accepting any.”

Neji relented. “I will have them here in the morning.”

Hinata nodded and paused in front of her father’s door. “Has he said anything?” Neji's silence told her everything. She nodded, continuing on to her own office.

--**--

Kisame flicked over Hinata’s business card before putting it back in his wallet and looking at his suitcase. She insisted that she would check back up on him, then she disappeared, and he hadn’t heard from her since he got out of the hospital. To be fair, that was what he was expecting. He got a job offer like she promised, and honestly, that was more than enough.

Kisame didn’t realize how something as simple as her believing wholeheartedly in him after one interaction would get to him. She was probably over-trusting and saw the good in everything, but he would be lying if it didn’t put a fire in him to stop being okay with the shit pickup jobs and to do something more substantial. So he made the call for the job to take her up on her offer.

Maybe he would see her again one day if he worked for her family’s business, but half the city worked under her family’s umbrella corporation, so that was unlikely. It was a direction to strive.

With a week of training passed, he was being sent to his assignment, and it came with its own room, so he was getting an even better deal of it.

Kisame tried to ignore the feeling that he really hadn’t earned any of this. He got lucky. If he hadn’t taken that cigarette, he probably would have gone inside when he saw her. Did he owe all of this to smoking?

Ironic. He didn’t even smoke, really.

He looked up at the fancy hotel he was going to be working at. Maybe they sent him to the wrong place because even as security, most people didn’t want to see someone like him at a place like this. Maybe they were hoping to stick him in a room with all the video feeds or something.

The lady at the front desk gave him an odd look before he gave his name. “I don’t have a reservation with that name.”

“No.” Kisame corrected. “I’m a new employee.”

She tilted her head and checked a clipboard. “Oh!” She bowed her head and offered out a key card and a slip of paper, pointing him toward a different elevator than what the guests were using. “You need the key card for the top floor.”

Okay. Weird. Kisame used the key card on the elevator and rode up. Sometimes, they had offices in hotels. Was that where HR was? Was someone going to stop and explain to him what his job actually was?

The elevator opened to an empty hallway that looked a little too nice to be part of their normal rooms. He looked at his slip of paper and found a door with a matching number. He knocked. No answer. He used the key card, and the door opened to a large hotel room with a full kitchen.

Kisame stepped in and gave the place a critical look.

Okay. At this point, he was almost entirely sure that this was a mistake. He rolled his suitcase in and found a packet on the counter with a staff badge with his face and name on it.

… Looking less like a mistake.

Hinata Hyuga didn’t screw around with her debts.

The packet had a cell phone and some documents in it that told him some basics about his job, but the first line stood out to him and made him stop reading. ‘Always knock on the adjoining door before entering Miss Hyuga’s private resident.’

Adjoining door? Kisame eyes feel on another door along the adjacent wall.

He dropped his things and the page and knocked on the door. The door was opened to reveal a small, pretty face that was just as confused to see him. “Kisame-san?”

Neji’s head popped out from another room. His face said one thing: he was going to kill whoever arranged this.

Guarding Affections

Pairing: Kisame x Hinata Rating: T

Description: After an attempted kidnapping, Kisame is hired to protect Hinata. Cute ensues.

Tags: Romance | Fluff | Friends to Lovers | Healthy Relationships | Happy Ending

#kisahina #kisame x hinata #kisame hoshigaki #full chapter #Guarding Affections #Hinata Hyuga #hinata hyuuga

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kaweeella · 3 years

Text

The April Fools

I spent too much time on this.

Word count- 2177

Tsuzuru says pog, also some swearing

It had started out a normal day. Well, relatively normal, as it was April fools day and of course, pranks were on the rise.

Izumi stood in the kitchen, drinking coffee, hoping that mischief would wait a little while longer.

She could hear the door open and the person make their way to the kitchen. Izumi doesn’t look up though, she could hardly even keep her eyes open. The night before she helped at a nearby theater, which went longer than expected.

“Good morning, Director.”

“Morning…”

“Are you okay? You seem tired.”

“I had a long night last night.” She rubbed her eyes. Looking up she saw that she was talking to… “Kazunari?”

“Yeah?” He looked a little confused.

She thought for a moment. “Oh I get it.”

“Get what?”

“The joke. It’s funny, you got me.”

“I’m not joking though?”

“Come on, the bit’s over.”

“What bit?” He grew exasperated.

Before the back and forth could continue, Masumi entered the kitchen.

“Izumi, he’s acting weird.”

“Who?”

“Tsuzuru. He’s even more annoying.”

As if on cue, Tsuzuru stepped in.

“Hey, Zumi!”

Kazunari sighed. “Good morning, Minagi.”

Masumi looked between the two.

Izumi began laughing, catching all three of them off guard.

“Oh, okay. That was good. Great dedication.”

“She’s doing it again…” Kazunari said.

“I’m not really getting it…”

“Come on, Usu,” Tsuzuru gave him a light punch on the arm. “She’s having a good time. That’s pogs, right?”

“Stop calling me that.”

“It’s pogs.” He said quietly.

“What’s with all the noise in here?!” Sakyo yelled.

“I’m not entirely sure.” Kazunari answered.

“Kazunari and Tsuzuru are giving a great April fools performance.”

“Huh? I haven’t even gotten to my jokes yet.” Tsuzuru said.

“It has been fun, boys, but you’re not tricking me.” She walked out of the room, still laughing.

“Right, well, if you’re going to be pranking or whatever, do it quietly.”

“Got it, Saki!” Tsuzuru gave double finger gun.

“... what?”

“I’ll be quiet. No cap.” He gave a goofy grin

“What does that mean?”

“It means he’s not lying.” Kazunari translated. “You could’ve just said that.”

“Come on, Kinari-iro.”

Sakyo sighed and left, feeling the oncoming migraine.

Citron and Sakuya passed him, talking about something or another.

“Good morning, guys!” Sakuya greeted.

“Hello! Sweep well?”

“Sleep, Citron.” Kazunari corrected.

“Good morning, Sakun! Hey Kankitsu, do you think we could do a Citrun act today?”

“That would be fun, yes!”

“Stop encouraging him.” Masumi said.

“Well, this has been weird, but I’ve got homework to do.” Kazunari excused himself from the kitchen.

“Seeya, Kinari-iro!”

Citron pulled the other two to the side. “Somethings going on with them.”

“What gave you that idea?”

“What do you think’s going on?”

“Izumi said that it’s just a prank.”

“What’re you guys talking about?” Chikage startled the three of them.

“Tsuzuru’s been more annoying than usual.”

They looked over at him, taking selfies.

“He does seem to be acting strangely.”

“He didn’t even correct me when I messed up earlier.”

“Yeah, Kazunari did.”

“Kage!” Tsuzuru walked up to him and gave him a strong pat on the back. “Didn’t even see you come in! What’s up?”

“Oh, nothing much. Itaru said he wanted to see you.”

“Really? What for?”

“Something about that isekai harem what's-it you guys talked about during the KotR play, I think.”

Tsuzuru laughed. “Right, that. Brb!”

“He did?” Sakuya asked.

“No, it would just be a little hard to talk about him behind his back if he’s in the room. So did he hit his head or something?”

“I don’t think so. He just started saying weird things when he woke up.” Masumi looked at the door leading out to the dorms. “Izumi said it’s a prank,”

“I’m not sure, though,” Sakuya interjected. “He was keeping it up even when we weren’t looking.”

“Maybe it’s a long con.” Chikage suggested.

“Tsuzuru can’t keep a straight face on something like this to save his life.” Masumi said. “Have you seen him off-stage?”

Chikage thought for a moment. “I have an idea.”

~~~

Kazunari had just left the kitchen and headed straight up to his room.

“Good morning, Kazunari.” Muku greeted.

“Good morning, Muku.”

“W-what?”

“I said good morning.”

“Are you mad at me? Did I upset you? I’m sorry if I did.”

“What? No, I’m not mad at all, let alone at you.”

“A pathetic piece of dirt like me doesn’t have the right to put emotional strain on anyone!”

“Whoa, Muku, calm down.” He placed his hand on the quivering boy’s shoulder. “I’m not mad, why would you think that?”

“Because you always call me Mukkun, and I don’t know why you’d stop unless you’re mad at me!”

“What?”

“I’m sorry, I’ll just go so I don’t upset you with my crummy presence.” He quickly left the room, Kazunari watched.

“People are acting so weird today.”

Muku ran out to the courtyard and bumped into Kumon and Juza.

“Muku, what happened?!” Kumon asked as Juza rubbed his back.

“K-kazunari he-” He can hardly form a sentence.

“Kazunari?”

“Did he hurt you?” Juza asked, looking a little angry.

“No, no… it’s my fault. He’s mad at me!”

“What for?”

“I don’t know…”

“How do you know it’s your fault?”

“Why wouldn’t it be my fault?”

“Hey, Uku, what’s wrong?” Tsuzuru knelt down to the crying boy.

“Kazunari’s mad at me…”

“I’m sure he’s not mad at you, he may just be having an… off day.”

“Wait Tsuzuru, what was that?” Kumon asked.

“He’s having an off day...?”

“No, before that, what’d you call Muku?”

“Uku.” He said with a smile.

Muku’s tears grew in intensity. “It’s really cute. Thank you.”

Tsuzuru didn’t entirely understand, but he sounded happier, so he didn’t say anything.

“How ‘bout we get something to eat.” Juza suggested.

Muku nodded and the three of them stood up and slowly walked to the kitchen, comforting Muku the whole time.

Tsuzuru got up and knocked on Itaru’s door.

“I’m busy!” He yelled. A few minutes passed before anything else. “Damn.” He opened the door. “What is it?”

“Kage said you wanted to talk to me.”

“Ka… what?”

“Yeah, about the script you wanted.”

“Well, I didn’t.”

“Oh.”

“Is that all?”

“Yeah.”

“Well then,” Itaru closed the door.

“Seeya, Takai!”

After a moment, Itaru opened the door. “What?”

“I said seeya! Maybe you and Kumo need to get your hearing checked.”

“... give me a minute.”

Itaru looked up to the sky.

“What’re you doing?”

“I’m trying to see if there’s an apocalypse.”

“No, but it has been a little strange today.”

“You’re telling me.” He thought for a moment. “I see what’s happening here.”

“What?”

“You’re fucking with me.”

“No, I-”

“It’s April first. You’re just messing with me. Good job, I will be getting back at you though.”

“Zumi said something like that, too. Is this some big prank you guys orchestrated and me and Kinari-iro are the targets?”

Itaru took in a deep breath.

“Fuck it.” Itaru marched to the kitchen, where he saw the rest of the spring troupe, Muku, Kumon, and Juza.

“Hello, Itaru.” Chikage greeted. “I take it you’ve spoken with Tsuzuru?”

“Yeah, what the hell’s up with him?”

“We aren’t sure yet.” Sakuya said.

“He and Kazunari are acting wired.”

“Weird.” Masumi corrected.

“Kazunari?”

“Yeah,”

Itaru paused, as he had a realization.

“Personality swap.”

“What?”

“They swapped personalities or whatever.”

“So that’s why Tsuzuru’s giving everyone nicknames?” Chikage asked

“And Kazunari has been using our names?” Sakuya continued.

“Seems like it.”

“So Kazunari’s not mad at me?”

“Uh probably not, no.”

“Whatever it is, they’ve gone too far.” Juza said. “He hurt Muku, they shoulda dropped it when they saw that.”

“I’m not sure this is a prank.” Itaru thought out loud. “Like you said, it hurt someone but also, Tsuzuru seemed way too adamant for it to be a prank.”

“There’s one way to find out.” Chikage walked to the door and saw Tsuzuru, taking more selfies by the flowers. “Tsuzuru, could you come here for a minute?”

“What’s up, Kage?” He asked as he strolled up to the door.

“I just wanted to see how things were going.” He gives him a strong pat on the back.

“The lighting’s sups good rn, so I thought I could get some pics.”

“That’s good. Sorry to interrupt that, I just wanted to chat.”

“Cool, I’ve gotta go now! Bye!”

They said their goodbyes and Sakuya moved to Chikage’s side.

“What’s the plan?”

“I planted a bug on him. If he talks like that when he’s alone, we’ll know it isn’t a joke.”

“What do you mean?” Kumon asked this time.

“We act for an audience,” Chikage took out a strange device and started messing with it. “If there’s no audience, there’s no need to act. There.” He set it on the table.

“Kuru!” Tsuzuru greeted Yuki.

“What is it, Villager C?” He said, not noticing the nickname.

“I wanted to see how you’re doing, Kuru!”

“What?”

“Well, you’re here, so I thought I’d ask.”

“What’re you doing? What’s your game here?”

“No game, dude, just wanted to say hey.”

“Give me a minute.” Yuki entered the common area. “The fucks up with Villager C?”

“That’s what we’re trying to figure out.” Chikage stared at the device.

“Hey Kinari-iro, whassup?” Rang out from the speaker.

“I’m a little busy right now.”

“Uku was kinda really sad earlier. He said you’re upset with him.”

“Oh, really? I should apologize then, huh?”

“Are you?”

“No, I don’t know why he thought that.”

Their talk went on for a little while before it was interrupted by Misumi and Hisoka breaking in through the windows and Chikage at the door. They grabbed the confused men.

“Hey!” Tsuzuru yelped.

“Alright, now it’s time to find out what the hell’s up with them.” Chikage said to Itaru.

“Us?!” Kazunari yelled.

“Yeah, you were acting really weird.” Masumi said.

Kazunari looked flabbergasted, he attempted to gesture around the room to the people who just burst in and grabbed them. There was some struggle on account of the fact that Hisoka had him by the wrists.

“Yeah, not to be judgy, but you guys are the ones being weird if anyone is.” Tsuzuru said, encaptured in what could only be described as a bear hug by Misumi.

“God that’s weird.” Banri muttered from the door.

Izumi walked into the room, sighing.

“You two have been acting atypical all morning.”

“No… I’d say this is pretty standard.” Kazunari said.

“I’d have to disagree…” Tasuku commented.

“So, what, are you saying me and Minagi suddenly became different people?”

“Stranger things have happened!” Misumi said, lifting Tsuzuru a little.

“And we’re supposed to just believe that? It’s absurd!”

“I never thought I’d see the day Kazunari called something absurd.” Tenma said.

“I can’t believe it.” Kazunari looked at his troupemates. “I can see them trying to pull this weird- whatever this is- but you guys?”

“Listen Friendly McExtravert, we’re all as confused as you.”

“I don’t mind it all that much. Mitsu is a really good hugger.”

“Thank you! I love the nickname!”

“I thought you would. You’re so based.”

“Based?” Tsumugi mumbled.

“Please make him stop using internet lingo.” Yuki said.

“And could we do it quickly? I’m tired.” Hisoka said.

“You’re always tired.” Tasuku shot back.

“If you wait a little while longer, I’ll get you some fancy marshmallows.” Homare offered.

“So how do we get them back to normal?” Muku asked. “Or is it impossible, and we’ll have to continue our lives with what are strangers in friends’ faces? How much will change?”

“Muku, you’re spiraling.” Juza said.

“But how do we go about this?” Azuma asked.

“It’s likely that whatever method was used to make them this way, we can work backwards to put them back to normal.” Guy suggested.

“But what made them like this?” Izumi asked. “Masumi, did Tsuzuru do something weird yesterday?”

“No. He went to bed and when I woke up he was talking like that.”

“Anyone else?”

It was the same story, nothing unusual happened the prior day. Izumi thought for a moment.

“What if it happened in their sleep or something?”

“Like what?”

“I dunno. Magic or something. Stranger things have happened.”

“You’re so smart…”

“Magic? Director, I think your imagination is getting a little too wild.”

“I mean, it’s not the first time someone temporarily changed into a completely different person for a strange reason. Remember when Banri put that talisman on Taichi?” Omi said.

“I don’t…” Taichi muttered.

“What happened?” Azami asked. Taichi wasn’t the only one not there for it.

“He was possessed or some shit.” Banri answered. “He was kinda a dick.”

“Sakyo beat him up afterwards.” Juza said.

“That part I remember…”

“Anyway!” Izumi clapped her hands together. “Maybe they’ll be back to normal tomorrow.”

“Well, what do we do until then?” Kazunari asked, finally getting his arms back from Hisoka.

“I don’t know about them, but I’m getting as much footage of Tsuzuru like this as possible.” Itaru whispered.

“Great for blackmail.” Chikage responded.

“Yep.”

#a3!#a3! tsuzuru #a3! kazunari #a3! act! addict! actors!#act addict actors #a3! fanfic #im not tagging all 25 of them

19 notes · View notes

erumai-maadu · 3 years

Text

@rock-n-roll-lee here’s the nejiten oneshot you bullied out of me (jk ily and I wanted to write this for you hope you like it)

Modern AU, established relationship, fluffiest shit I’ve ever written.

word count: 1351

warnings: none

---

“Tenten? Hey, Tenten, wake up. We’re at your apartment.”

The sound of Lee’s voice pulled Tenten out of the haze of sleep. The chill of the window against her cheek reminded her that this, unfortunately, was the real world, which meant she had to get up to get back home. Opening her eyes, the harsh glare of a street lamp immediately assaulted her vision, making her squint.

She let out a little groan as she slowly sat up, her body aching. “Sorry about that,” Tenten mumbled, bending down and rummaging around for her bag. “Didn’t mean to fall asleep.” Not finding it, she reached into the back of Lee’s truck, feeling around blindly in the dark.

“No problem. After all, anyone would be tired after what you did today. You were so awesome, Tenten!”

“Aww, thanks Lee. You did really well too!” Finally finding the strap of her bag, Tenten hauled it into her lap, wincing as her muscles protested the exertion. “Kami, I’m gonna be so sore tomorrow. I’m gonna have to skip out on our daily run.”

“I do not blame you. I think I’ll do the same, honestly.”

“Yeah, I get that.” She smirked at him. “Gives you an excuse to spend some quality time with Gaara in the morning.”

Lee flushed bright red at her implication and sputtered a bit before regaining control of himself. “Speaking of significant others, Neji comes back from his trip in a month, right?”

Tenten sighed, mood immediately soured. “Yeah, but he hasn’t texted in days.”

“What?” Lee demanded. “He hasn’t texted? That is very unlike him! You should call him and inquire what the matter is.”

“Tried that. Went straight to voicemail.”

“Seriously?” When she nodded, Lee yanked his phone out. “I’ll call him right now. If he picks up, he’s in for it.”

“Don’t bother.” Tenten waved her hand dismissively. “I’m too tired for this shit. I’ll try Hinata’s phone tomorrow.”

Lee’s eyes were filled with concern. “Are you sure, Tenten?”

“Yeah. It’s okay, Lee.” She smiled at him. “We know Neji. He’s probably just busy with some job that Hiashi-san gave him. Honestly, I’m pretty sure he’s trying to work Neji to death so he doesn’t have to hand the company over to him.”

Lee nodded, concern still etched into his expression. “I suppose. Let me know if you need anything at all, Tenten.”

“Thanks, Lee.” She opened the van door and stepped out, shielding her eyes from the brightness of the streetlamp. “Have a good night.” The door slammed shut, the noise echoing through the empty street in the dead of night.

“You too, Tenten. Don’t forget to stretch and get a good night’s rest. You earned it.” Lee shot her his signature Nice Guy Grin. “Congratulations on winning gold.”

They waved goodbye and Lee drove away as Tenten scanned her key card to get into the apartment complex. She painstakingly made her way up three flights of stairs and finally reached her door after what seemed like ten years. Fumbling with her keys, it took her three attempts before she managed to unlock her door and step inside.

In a haze of exhaustion, she removed her shoes and dumped her bag somewhere on the ground, the medal inside making a loud clank as it hit the ground. Shuffling into her bedroom, she flopped down on her bed and let out a sigh of contentment, already half-asleep.

“Tenten.” A deep male voice came from behind her, startling her awake. Who the hell was in her apartment? Shooting up, she looked for the source of the voice and found her gaze locking with a pair of lavender eyes. The breath rushed out of her.

“Neji,” she breathed, not daring to believe this was real. “What are you doing here? Aren’t you in America? You’re not supposed to be back for another month.”

“I asked Hiashi-sama for early leave. I missed you so much.” He smiled, stepping closer. “I also wanted to watch your tournament, but my flight was delayed. I got here about ten minutes before you did.”

“Is that why you haven’t texted for the past few days?”

He nodded. “It was a hassle, trying to get Hiashi-sama to approve my absence, and then he tried to shove as much work as he could at me before I left. I’m sorry about that.”

“Don’t be. I totally get it.”

“I’m going to take a shower.” He took another step forward and slipped his hand into hers, squeezing once. “Join me?”

“Neji I don’t have the energy for—”

“Not like that. We’re both too tired for that.” He let out a warm little laugh and squeezed her hand again. “Just getting clean. Then we sleep.”

“Okay.” She allowed him to pull her up and out of bed.

A short shower later, they dressed and dried their hair, Neji gently removing the tangles from the rat’s nest she called hair in a way only he could do.

(“Don’t call it that!” he admonished. “Your hair is beautiful, just like the rest of you.” He pressed a gentle kiss to the back of her neck.)

Neji’s hair, of course, was smooth and silky with minimal tangles, even after two days of airplane travel because the universe was unfair like that.

“Frickin’ Hyuuga and their magical hair.”

“Magical hair?” Neji asked, his voice full of amusement.

“Two days of airplane travel and like three minor tangles? That’s the definition of magical hair.” She ran the comb through, marveling at the easy slide. “You’re like Rapunzel or something.”

“Does that make you my prince then?”

“Obviously. I’ll ride in looking all dashing and handsome and save you from the tower and take you on a wild adventure.” She yawned, exhaustion crashing like a wave over her. “Well, maybe we can go on a wild adventure tomorrow. For now, I need to sleep.” She stood up with a sigh and took a step in the direction of the bedroom, but Neji hadn’t moved an inch. Turning back to him, she frowned. “Neji?”

“In a way,” he started slowly, “I suppose you did save me from a tower.”

She stared at him for a moment. When his meaning finally became clear, she let out a soft huff of laughter. “Huh. Well, I suppose I did.” She walked over to him and pulled him up, planting a small kiss on his mouth that was more smile than kiss, in all honesty. “You’re such a dork, Neji.”

Neji laughed and stood up, gently tugging her in the direction of their bedroom. She gladly followed him, throwing herself on the bed and snuggling under the covers as quickly as she could. Neji switched off the lights and slipped in next to her, wrapping his arms around her and drawing her to him once again.

“I’m glad you’re back.” She shifted even closer to him, letting her forehead rest on his neck. He smelled like lavender, from her soap. The scent reminded her of the color of his eyes, which was part of the reason she preferred that soap in the first place.

(She’d been using lavender-scented soap since middle school, but he didn’t need to know that.)

“It’s good to be home. I heard you won gold in the competition?”

“Yeah, I did. It was super hard, though. Remember Karui? The girl from Kumo? I fought her in the finals. I just barely won.” She was probably slurring her words, but she couldn’t bring herself to care.

“Ah. No wonder you were so tired when you got home. Lee dropped you off, didn’t he? I saw his truck outside.”

“Yeah. That green hunk of junk is hard to miss,” she grumbled.

He laughed, the pleasant vibration of his chest lulling Tenten further to sleep. “It certainly suits him, I suppose. It matches his jumpsuit too.”

“Mmh. It does.”

Neji let out another soft laugh and pressed a soft kiss to her forehead. “Ah, sorry for talking so much. Go to sleep, my love. We will talk more in the morning.”

“G’night. Love you.”

“I love you too, Tenten.”

#nejiten #listen I wrote this while I was half asleep #I think that's why depictions of exhaustion are more detailed than my depictions of cuddling #also bc I'm touch starved and haven't gotten cuddles in a long ass time #erumai writes fic sometimes #if this is bad I'm sorry I really tried #I haven't slept in so long #I should give rock-n-roll-lee his own tag

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majoraflame · 3 years

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The Third Situation

For the Sannin Kid Fic AU, an exploration on Hiruzen's deteriorating relationship with the shinobi population of his village.

So anyway, in this AU the shinobi population of Konoha are kind of sick and tired of the third hokage and all his fuckery. Since he’d been reinstated after the Kyuubi attack, he made lots of decisions (Hyuuga affair, segregation of Uchiha clan, etc.) that just really frayed his relationship with the shinobi. Basically, at this point everyone’s like “we need to get that old man out of that fucking chair” and Hiruzen agrees! He thinks he’s way too old to still be doing this shit. He already retired once for a reason.

original post

So Hiruzen really starts declining when he's reinstated as Hokage after Minato's death. He did a couple things at this time that irked a lot of people silly.

His decision to place Naruto in an orphanage after even after someone leaked the identity of the jinchuuriki and began spreading rumors that the seal used on him was faulty and that the Kyuubi could escape at any moment. The damn people were already scared shitless and grief-stricken after the Kyuubi attack, what do you think they're gonna do when you hand them the kid that the kyuubi's sealed inside of? They're not taking care of that damn kid. Think a little harder Hiruzen. On top of that, the ban on talking to Naruto that was put on the shinobi pissed off Minato's and Kushina's circles astronomically. Because of the ban, the weren't even allowed to step in when they knew Naruto wasn't being properly looked after.

The segregation of the Uchiha Clan. The Uchiha Clan were under a lot of criticism for their supposed involvement, and instead of trying to deny the rumors or publicly stand with the Uchiha or even find the source of the rumors and tell them to shut the fuck up, the man folded and pushed the Uchiha to the edge of the village, which just served to worsen the us v. them mentality in both groups. Anyone with a sensible head, mostly those who recognize the Uchiha as the noble and founding clan that they are, are less than impressed with how Hiruzen let the situation get to this.

The Hyuuga situation. When another village comes to Konoha to sign a peace treaty, then fucks around and attempts to steal a clan head's baby not even two (2) seconds after walking out of the gates, maybe don't fold and sacrifice a shinobi to them so that they don't wage war. For one, you're literally letting another village walk all over Konoha and get away with it. Like, I get that you don't want another war, but letting a Kumo-nin walk into Konoha and try to steal a bloodline trait then agree to their demands to sacrifice someone so that they can get the bloodline trait even after they were caught is not good for your image. It shows your shinobi that you're willing to give away their family and friends to keep other villages from getting angry.

Anyway, there are also other reasons why people are starting to doubt the Third. One big one being his sentimentality. You see, Hiruzen has a thing for refusing to see the bad in people he loves; that's why Danzo's ass had been able to have decades worth of crimes against Konoha and other villages and still be able to wake up and walk around the village everyday without any worry.

People were beginning to get iffy around Danzo the first time he nominate himself as caretaker for Naruto while the council were deciding what to do with the jinchuuriki. Now Danzo was always a bit uncomfy to be around, and his ploys usually skirted above everyone's head. But this was such an obvious grab for power. He was practically screaming to the world that he wanted to take in Naruto so he could brainwash him and make the ultimate weapon out of him. Seeing Danzo make such an obvious move, and seeing Hiruzen dismiss it casually as if he didn't just say something extremely threatening got people thinking.

Hiruzen was cemented as an unfit ruler once people started realizing that he lets his advisors talk in his ear all the time so that its almost like their the ones ruling Konoha.

#Naruto #Naruto AU #Densetsu no Sannin #Legendary Sannin #Sannin Kid Fic AU #Konohagakure

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aiph-daicerandomstuff · 5 years

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Da-iCE ARTICLE: [natalie] Da-iCE × HIGEDAN Fujiwara × s**t kingz, released a “contest song” to the world with a solid lineup (4/23/19) | CGM

With implied and literal translation. PM me for mistakes/errors. Please put proper credits if you use.

Da-iCE × HIGEDAN Fujiwara × s**t kingz, released a “contest song” to the world with a solid lineup

Da-iCE will release a new single "FAKE ME FAKE ME OUT" on April 24th. For their 5th anniversary of their debut, they have spent their days in 2018 busy with CD releases and touring nationwide. To certainly improve their skills and experience, they took their “next move” through the new song written by Fujiwara Satoshi (vocal, performer) of the Official HIGE DANdism. The 5 members, performing this contest song “FAKE ME FAKE ME OUT”, singing the story of an attraction between two people, in which the 4 members of the group s**t kingz that has overseen Da-iCE’s choreography many times before, have done the choreography altogether for the first time, demonstrate a dramatic dance performance using mic stands.

At the time of the release of their new piece that causes a lot of excitement everywhere, music natalie has conducted an interview with the 5 members of Da-iCE. We asked about the group’s current mood, and the strong feelings they put into the music.

1 Step Up BET Tour

--- Looking back, how does it feel going through the tour, releases, and Da-iCE 5th anniversary all at once?

Kudo Taiki: Last year, it was our first attempt to set the annual schedule in advance. I think it was a very interesting experiment. It was fun.

Hanamura Sota: However, the release of our third single (“Kumo o nuketa aozora”) was extended beyond schedule. It is a wedding song, and that’s why we released it before the good date for couples [to marry] (November 21)…

Taiki: It came out all right.

Wada Hayate: I think it was great.

Iwaoka Toru: Well, we planned it from the beginning… that’s because!

All: AHAHAHAHA (laughs)!

--- While you had encountered such unexpected thing (laughs), you had your nationwide tour FINAL “Da-iCE 5th Anniversary Tour -BET-” held in Osaka-jo Hall in January, at the start of the year. It was a long tour. What have you achieved from this?

Taiki: I think “the feeling of challenging new things” is the best I can think so far.

Ohno Yudai: As a group, I think it’s like “1 step up” for us. Since there are matured and sexy contents in our songs, the LIVE performances became natural as well.

Taiki: It suits our age.

Toru: It is also thanks to our director. But I think for me, the tour had the most solid concept we had so far. As for what has been done to the stage, to experience to stand on stage arm in arm for real, I think there were a lot of things that was changed from what everyone has thought about. Because it was a tour in which we had experienced a lot of hardships until the stage curtain opened, it caused us a lot of joy when it started. We had felt such drive from there. And so, it is such a lengthy moment for me, but it is also a tour, when it ended, I felt it right away.

Taiki: Toru also produced and went to the meetings with the filmmakers. He had never gone to that extent before. This time, he really talked with them immensely.

Toru: Well, I realized how difficult it was to describe in words the images I had in mind. I would say “I want to do this” but then I would think, even if I say it 100 times, I wonder if I had really delivered well what I wanted to say (laughs). I find it very difficult to do such things. That’s why, again, I realized that I have attained something and felt a sense of accomplishment when it was all made into reality.

It had made me stronger when I returned to Da-iCE

--- Having finished your 5th year anniversary with such a wave, with the announcement of the new single, first BEST album, and the next tour, it seems like you have experienced such busy days going to all places without having a break…

Taiki: It’s not exactly “to all places” (laughs). But there’s no kind of feeling “ah, finally the tour is over!”.

Toru: There’s no such feeling, yes. It’s just, before we know it, we have the next tour already.

Taiki: For now, we’re full of meetings for various activities.

Sota: Since we were allowed to do individual works at the start of this year, although we are busy with things during the production of our new projects; from here, we will not just give it a shot, instead, we will restart the engine once again as a 5-member group, Da-iCE. That’s the mode we’re all in now.

--- Does having each personal activity motivate you?

Sota: I think it does. To the extent, we can now listen to Yudai-kun’s SOLO album (“Kono michi no saki ni”), Toru-kun is also doing something new, Hayate too, and then there’s this another project that Taiki-kun is doing in a difficult setting, such as being an older brother and being a little brother…

Taiki: Don’t call it a setting.

All: AHAHAHAHA (laughs)!

Sota: I want to check everything to have a comment on everything. All the four of them came to see my stage play (PHANTOM WORDS), and I want to thank them for that. They told me that “(at the time of the performance) Because it’s a long way run, don’t overwork yourself”. I was happy then.

Taiki: After all, I discovered something. When I was able to see Sota’s stage play, I learned about the difference between stage plays and LIVE performances. I guess, there are lots of things you won’t be able to understand without seeing those things for real.

Hayate: I think it was quite fun and enjoyable having to do the things we want to do as individual. I took it as a source of maturity within myself. I think it had made me stronger when I returned to Da-iCE.

As when we got HIGEDAN-san, we felt “100% OKAY!”

--- Then now, please tell us about your new piece “FAKE ME FAKE ME OUT”. About the matter that this current piece is written and composed by Fujiwara Satoshi-san (vocal, performer) of Official HIGE DANdism, why did you do a collaboration with Fujiwara-san?

Taiki: Everyone likes HIGEDAN-san. And then, various opportunities came. Like the time when they came to my radio program (TBS Radio “TALK ABOUT”), or when we met in a LIVE event, something like that. Under those circumstances, they agreed to our offer, “We would like to work together”. It means so much. I didn’t expect it to come to reality.

--- So far, Da-iCE has many choices, selecting songs through competition. So, this time, is this your first time approaching the writer?

Yudai: As we were searching for new things and challenges, it just happened we felt like asking for one.

Taiki: And, much better if we could ask for the writings of HIGEDAN-san.

--- What are the points that made you like HIGEDAN-san?

Sota: The vocals, the lyrics and melody they make, and their performances are cool. They are beyond genres. I really like their music. Also, I feel honesty and soul in their songs. I feel at ease listening to them. Their R&B style, their refreshing band, their catchy songs, and lyrics are very poetic. I just like everything.

Taiki: When we were talking on the radio, I discovered that the music they’ve been listening to are similar to what I like. HIGEDAN-san is a band, but they also come with R&B, hip-hop, and such, and so, we were also able to talk like “This song is a tribute to that song by Michael Jackson”. They said that it might be different to be in a dance and vocal group. I told them, it is not that different, there are many things in common as well.

--- I see.

Taiki: When we decided to ask someone for a song, there were a lot of factors we put in consideration. We don’t know if it would really work well, but we all wanted to do it because it seemed interesting, and so we went for it. As when we got HIGEDAN-san, we all felt “100% OKAY!” We’ve been given a song that has perfectly hit all the factors we laid. At the end, we got that song. I am truly grateful.

With my all, I will do it even if it is difficult

--- How did you feel when you first listened to the song?

Taiki: It was great listening to its DEMO.

Sota: I was like “I’m speechless here”.

--- For Yudai-san and Sota-san, how was it when Da-iCE vocals were put into the song in the recording?

Yudai: I can usually imagine how the song would be with my voice on it, but when I listened to the DEMO, I couldn’t imagine my voice that much. I found the climax of the song difficult to imagine. When I was singing, I tried paying attention to the parts I felt a bit being superseded, such as sexy and act-cool parts. I couldn’t process the ending “straight” and “clean”. It’s a little difficult to express it in words. It was difficult to imagine my voice in my head.

Sota: I focused on the rhythm. I told myself to make it short, to sing it one by one, and bring out the rhythm firmly. Since Fujiwara-san sings with emphasis on the rhythm, I was careful, telling myself that “If I stretch it too much it would break the song”. I used staccato while putting intonation and formed the song with that style.

--- It gets more exciting towards the end and gets more interesting on the last part, with Sota-san’s high-pitched tone which rose up to 3 levels.

Sota: The staff instructed me to “to put fake [to improvise a melody line, especially on high-pitched challenging passage] on the last climax”. When I tried it for a while, I was told, “It was nice, but we want a little more impact”. Therefore, for that, I have no choice but to give my all!!”

--- Delivering it would be extreme.

Taiki: It’s great to give your all, although you should always give your all, but it would be hard since you must do it in one shot every time from now on (laughs).

Sota: I agree. From now on, I must give my all!

Taiki: Yes, on that song which you will sing a hundred times in the future, you will give your all in one shot EVERY SINGLE TIME (laughs).

Sota: Yes, I would have to. When I was recording, I stood up and sung, so that I could reach it. Even when I sung it about 3 takes, it felt like it’s all good, but when I tried it while dancing, it was kind of difficult. The staff said to me, “It’s okay to change the way you sing on LIVEs”. But, if I don’t do it during LIVE for real, I think the fans would say “Why so?!”, wouldn’t they?

Toru: We want to listen to them.

Sota: With my all, I will do it even if it is difficult (laughs).

I want to yell out and say, “That is really amazing!?”

Yudai: It is difficult, really. For the recordings, of course, I prepared my throat. To spice up and make it good, I stood up and sung. When I listened to the takes, I knew that it was something the fans would look forward to. I knew it myself that it was a good one from that point…

Sota: You wanted to do it.

Yudai: Yes, I would like to give it a go if I could.

Sota: On the part “Yeah, yeah, yeah, ohohoh”, I was singing the extreme way I was singing the highest note in “Koigokoro”; on this part, Yudai-kun was faking the outro. But why was it easy for him? Even though it was a difficult part, it was hard to distinguish because it sounded the same…

All: AHAHAHAHA! (laughs)

Sota: I wanted to yell out and say, “That is really amazing!?”

Taiki: And yet, we were dancing that part in oto-HAME [moving to the rhythm and beat, as precise as the sound dictates] …

Sota: I can’t change the way I sing! (laughs)

All: AHAHAHAHA! (laughs)

Yudai: No, I told the staff about it, on the day the dance was introduced to us. They also said to me, “You may change the way you sing on LIVE shows.”

Toru: There are various things to be considered such as physical conditions.

Yudai: I was thinking of a different strategy to use on LIVEs.

Taiki: It’s faking you see.

Yudai: If we try to put the dance, you’d discover that the oto-HAME dance is truly synced!!

Toru: He doesn’t want to change it forever (laughs).

Taiki: This is a disadvantage for a dance and vocal group. It has been 8 years since we have been associated with these kind of “happenings” (laughs).

Hayate: It has been tough.

Yudai: Conversely, if everyone’s movement is still in sync with that sound, even if I don’t sing, that would be cool, right?

Sota: To “dance without singing”? Stop it (laughs).

Taiki: I won’t say no to that (laughs).

--- Anyways, it’s a thing that goes with vocals who are extremely motivated even up to doing fakes.

Sota: I guess so.

The dance gods have gathered

--- Speaking of, the choreography is also better…

Taiki: Yes. “Shitenno [4 heavenly kings]” were all in full swing making it.

Toru: The dance gods gathered in one.

--- This time, all four members of the group s**t kingz, who are already overseeing some of your choreographies up to now, made the choreo together. Why did these dance gods gather this time?

Sota: It’s a contest (victory or defeat) song! We were deeply hoping and wanting “to get the choreography of the 4 members for this song by all means.” And so, we took their schedule early at once.

Toru: And didn’t let them go (laughs).

Taiki: We also wanted to intensify the songs HIGEDAN-san wrote and create more impact.

Sota: This is s**t kingz we’re talking. We were planning to have it choreographed, thinking that “this cannot be done by one member only”. For it was agreed by everyone, it was made possible.

Hayate: Every member posted the dance practice on their Instagram, and the words that they wrote with it were really nice.

Toru: We were truly happy. They wrote “brothers” on their posts. So, from now on, I will call them “big brothers”!

All: AHAHAHAHA! (laughs)

Taiki: Funny and strange. That seems not right.

Sota: But for us, s**t kingz are really like our masters. It has been that way ever since the beginning of our formation. And so, knowing the dances that s**t kingz have made for us, we’ve gotten used to their steps. Still, this current song is difficult. On our first day, I couldn’t even remember the steps.

Taiki: The formations were too difficult!

--- You couldn’t follow the flow of formations.

Toru: I couldn’t follow.

Taiki: The center position changes rapidly, so are the standing positions, they adjust quite fine. It was like we needed to cut ourselves into pieces (laughs).

Sota: Also, this time, we’re using mic stands, in the intro, interlude, dance parts, and outro, where we don’t usually use mics when we’re dancing. Isn’t that great? We’re even putting mics on the stands. It’s exciting.

Taiki: More than just doing the choreography, it feels like we’re doing an art work. It feels like it’s close to what s**t kingz do on their stage. More than just dancing, with the idea of moving the mic stands as we are moving from here to another, it has become something we’ve never seen yet.

--- It’s not just a dance using mic stands.

Taiki: I guess it’s more like how one moves around the mic which is normally set standing.

Toru: Usually, we don’t lift the stands.

Taiki: We don’t usually lift or carry them or move around it (laughs).

--- One mic stand is on the floor at the beginning of the song.

Taiki: Looking at it at the beginning, one would think “What did you do? Did you forget to clean up?” (laughs).

It seems catchy but not really catchy

--- For Hayate-san, what have you felt working with all the members of s**t kingz?

Hayate: I thought these geniuses are really geniuses. It was kind of personal for me but, while it’s another choreography, the steps were formed within me on the very first day. But, the choreography of s**t kingz is not that easy. It’s very difficult actually.

Sota: That’s a first coming from you.

Hayate: There were times the dancing did feel simple but the formations were always difficult. I should say, that makes it great and cool. With that, I am happy it has been brought up to Da-iCE.

Taiki: I agree.

Hayate: This has served as a challenge to Da-iCE and has served as a goal.

--- The dance at the climax of the song seems catchy (easy to learn) at first glance…

Sota: Maybe. It’s hard to tell unless you try. It seems catchy (easy) but it’s not really catchy (laughs).

Toru: The dance part of the climax is the most difficult, actually.

Hayate: Somehow, I can’t make it appear cool!

Toru: It appears strange instead.

Sota: But s**t kingz only taught Yudai-kun those steps once.

Toru: He was impressive then.

Yudai: That was the case. Thinking it now, I guess it’s a bit funny. The truth is, in the beginning, I really didn’t know what was considered as ‘good’ to s**t kingz.

Toru: He got it already from the first time he started doing it.

Sota: Sure, when we were just new to the steps, I had no idea if “someone was doing good” or in “what step they were doing great”.

Taiki: That’s what this dance is like. Nevertheless, with the s**t kingz-san’s choreography and composition, dancers would really think, “What on Earth is this?!”. Still, I am thankful our songs are the ones most handled by s**t kingz.

Toru: They handled about 80% of our singles.

Taiki: That’s why, even if we ask for a different choreography occasionally, knowing the quality of the choreographies s**t kingz has given to our songs makes us give our all strength. That’s why we have no choice but to work so hard (laughs), but for me, that’s also a great honor. I feel like I want to have that kind of thinking even in the future, to get to face people and think, “If you guys can do it, we can do it as well.” Because I know in the end, some people would think, “Because these 5 people can’t do it anymore, we have to make it easy”. I want to maintain this standard, even until we’re old.

I think more “feelings towards work” came out

--- The music video of “FAKE ME FAKE ME OUT” contains a story, and it felt quite new to us because we do not see your acting quite often.

Taiki: Yes, we did act a little bit. But I think my act was funny (laughs).

Yudai: It was a fun shoot. The lip-syncing is different from the usual of doing it while moving. At the part of the climax, the band would have to enter and there were a lot of extras. It was kind of new to us.

Taiki: It was wonderful.

Yudai: We were able to do it with the help of a lot of people, and so I think more “feelings towards work” came out from there.

Sota: Those who are directing our LIVE shows, also came on that day and directed our solo parts. The shots to be taken for melody A and melody B were also thought by shoji-kun (s**t kingz) on the spot, and so it was as if we’re doing LIVE as well there.

Yudai: On the first cut, everyone was acting cool. Sota was dancing and was carrying a drink. Toru-kun took the drink and drunk a little.

Taiki: A little to my part as well, I must move with unusual cool vibes. Well, Hayate too.

Hayate: My part was to take a lady’s hand.

Taiki: It had a nice ambiance.

Toru: It had a great camera work. Well, what was Yudai-kun’s part again?

Yudai: I just stood before the bar counter and passed the drink…

All: AHAHAHAHA! (laughs)

Taiki: No, it was a great picture (laughs).

Sota: But on the second cut, everyone was assigned to just dance coolly, and so I just walked there and acted cool.

Taiki: In the set, that is always being assigned to this guy. And he would say, “It’s because I know it already” (laughs).

We want to make a “new WELCOME song”

--- Your coupling song “WELCOME!” is being played on air as a CM song for “HOMEMATE”, for this, there are many opportunities to hear it.

Yudai: I still remember so well the first time I listened to the CM. Since. they immediately asked for it to use after recording, right then, I was not yet familiar with its structure. So, when I watched the TV, I was like “this is something I heard before,” and then I realized after, “Oh, this!” (laughs).

Hayate: This was before my parents got to listen to the song. All of us in the house didn’t even notice (laughs). I always say “This, this, this is Da-iCE’s,” but right then, because I didn’t recognize the song, I didn’t get to pin-point it.

--- I see (laughs). This song was written by Sota-san.

Sota: Yes. Since, I was given an offer, “Please make a cheerful new-life song”, I made that song with that theme. However, I would like to put a personal Da-iCE meaning into that song as well. I want to put significance to the new fans, to those who are now supporting Da-iCE. I wrote the song with (co-author) GASHIMA-san (WHITE JAM), saying that “I want to make a new WELCOME song” with the thought of wanting to have the 6th side (name called to Da-iCE fans) welcome the new fans, saying “let’s be friends!”. On the first part, the lyrics were written from the point of view of people welcoming a new life, but on the second part, I made the elements darker, in Da-iCE-like manner… I tried putting an impression of a LIVE and quoted the lyrics that Taiki-kun has written about LIVE (“Live goes on”).

Taiki: You entered a phrase, I see. Regarding the line “Human emotions… [Kidoairaku…]”, you must pay me a little for that (laughs).

Sota: For that one phrase alone? (laughs)

Taiki: Yep.

Sota: Well then, I better just pull out that phrase.

All: AHAHAHAHA! (laughs)

Sota: Anyways, I want to show the meaning of LIVEs. Now that I said it, it became “brighter” (laughs). At the end of our LIVE shows, Yudai-kun always leads and says, “thank you for your hard work!”, right? And so, I want Yudai-kun to sing the last part of the second climax, “At the end let’s take each other’s hand and say, “thank you for your hard work!” [Saigo ni wa te o totte OTSUKARESAMA! Tte]”. I wrote it while thinking about such things.

Yudai: Because the melody moves quite complicated and there are many lyrics, I thought it was pretty “hectic” when we were recording. But, when the dance steps were added, the song became solid. It’s such a fun song, performing it LIVE. Naturally, tension will come up. Applying the arrangement, if we do LIVEs 100 times, I think we will have 100 different feelings as well. Even on the stand of the music, it is like a song that is “fun to perform, fun to watch and to listen to”, such as “TOKYO MERRY GO ROUND”. I think it has become our new material, that is easy to convey.

I don’t care no matter how bad the future will be

--- And, “Isshou no onegai” is the theme song of the drama “Hana ni kedamono ~Second Season~”. Sota-san and Toru-san oversaw the writing of the lyrics. Doesn’t it feel like it is following the perspective of the song “Waruguchi”, which is the theme song of the previous season of “Hana ni kedamono”?

Sota: Yes, it does! Although the composers are different from the composers of “Waruguchi”, deep inside, I wrote the song, connecting its concept to “Waruguchi”. At first, when I was writing the lyrics for the first part, I was also thinking, “What should I do for the second part and so on?”. I wanted to make it more romantic. Toru-kun’s “hitofuyu” (solo song written by Toru) has very romantic lyrics. I thought that if I add those feelings, I could add up more matured feels compared to what was in “Waruguchi”. And so, I asked Toru-kun, “Would you like to work together?” As a result, I think we had successfully chosen words that are suitable for student love and even for adult love.

Toru: For me, it was very easy to write because the theme was already fixed when he asked me. It wasn’t abstract anymore, but a solid path instead. We worked along the themes of “graduation” and “a lifetime request”.

Sota: Singing this song “Isshou no onegai”… It wasn’t about using “a lifetime request” for the first time. I wanted to express something like, “My past life doesn’t matter, I want to spend my life with you. For that reason, I don’t care no matter how bad the future will be.”; like, one would even “borrow in advance” a “lifetime request” for the next life. I continued composing using that theme, I think that the mood of making a hopeful wish was firmly put into the melody. I am satisfied with the result.

It is likely our turning point

--- The new single containing 3 songs in which we heard the stories about, has an impression that it is a work that seems to have raised your gear once again, as Da-iCE 5th year anniversary ended. What do you think is likely your current position in this?

Taiki: For me, it is likely our turning point. For now, we have only done several LIVE shows, but looking at the people’s reactions about our LIVE broadcast and dance practices, we have received opinions, which we’re thankful for, from people who we never thought would have known about us; opinions such as “your songs are good songs”. I had not thought we would get such reactions from such people, considering where we are now. It feels like a new door is opening. What I am very happy about is that HIGEDAN-san’s fans also say that it is “good”. We were rated as a group through our “dancing, good vibes, and good vocals”. It’s something we’re very thankful for.

Sota: Up to the end of the year, perhaps.

Taiki: Right.

--- I see you have enough spirit to even aim for “Kouhaku Uta Gassen” [annual contest between male and female popular singers on New Year’s Eve, sponsored by NHK]

Sota: Yes. The songs and choreography are cool. What’s left for us to do is to deliver what is suitable to this high-level song.

From: https://natalie.mu/music/pp/daice08

Note: I am sorry, this is so so late. This is the longest article I have ever translated.

#daice #da ice #da-ice #article #translation #fake me fake me out #super long article #sorry late #please read #natalie

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abalonetea · 6 years

Text

Sand Shrews

This is my gift for @elenathehun for the @narutogiftexchange! She wanted girl power and geo politics and genjutsu! So I did my best and came up with this!

The fan is heavier than Sakura’s expecting. Hot to the touch, too, even the grip where the bandages have been wrapped on thick, white torn back to little more than tatters. Her head is pounding and it feels like maybe she’s been chewing on sand for the past three hours. “You didn’t say they could do that.” “They can’t.” Temari grits the words out. There’s blood on her teeth and she hasn’t gotten up from where she’s leaning against the rock facing. “They don’t.” Sakura stands up, digging the base of it into the sand. She’s leaning on it more than she’ll admit out loud. “Can’t or don’t? Which is it?” “Don’t get snippy with me,” snaps Temari. She finally braces one hand against the stone, fingers digging against the cracks for leverage as she stands up. The damp spot on her skirt is caked with gold. “I don’t give a shit about semantics. You’re still a guest here. That means you answer to me.” “Are we really going to do this right now?” It makes sense, on some level. Suna and Konoha are still very much trying to figure out how to renew their ties with each other; they’re reeling from the recent draught, the recent uprising of Kumo shinobi claimed as rogue agents, and the envoy was supposed to help renew their friendly connections but it’s just made tensions pull tighter. Something glints in Temari’s eyes. Smoke and dust and burning green, and she steps away from the stone with one final, lingering push. “Just give me my fan and let’s get moving.”

It’s easy to follow the trail. Sand Shrew, as Sakura has come to realize, are not interested in stealth. They’re interested in feeding, building tunnels, and defending their brood. The problem, as Sakura has been led to understand, is that this is as far away from their bi-yearly birthing season as they can get. Sand Shrew should still be hundreds of miles under the dunes, half-asleep and peaceful. Instead, they’ve taken out two traveling nomadic groups and a team of shinobi as they returned from boulder patrol. Instead, they’ve surged out of their tunnels, massive claws and sand caked faces, more violent than any forest creature Sakura’s encountered. It’s not normal. Sakura isn’t a Suna shinobi, and even she can figure out that much.

It’s almost dark before Temari announces that they’re breaking for the night. She pulls the fan off of her back, slamming the base of it into the loose sand. It reminds Sakura, distantly, of a peacock trying to posture itself, or the old tom cat that lives outside of Ino’s flower shop, all hiss and no bite. “We’re going to camp here for a few hours. Sand Shrew are diurnal, so we can pick up their trail easier at night.” Temari shifts, leaning a little heavier against the sand. Her gaze drifts, away from Sakura and onto something towards the east, where a slew of up churned dirt serves as an easy to make trail. Sakura nods. She half-reaches for a scroll hooked to her hip. “Want a bed roll?” A pause. Temari actually considers it, long and hard, before shaking her head. “No. We won’t be here that long.” “Right.” Sakura drops her hand back to her side. She’s a little irritated, honestly, but at this point not arguing seems like the best course of action. “Fire?” “If you’re cold,” says Temari, amusement seeping into the words. Sakura rolls her eyes and Temari adds, “why not? They help keep the critters away.” She waits until Sakura has stepped away to start pulling small clusters of dried spider grass into a pile to sit down. It’s only because Sakura is watching out of the corner of her eye that she catches the grimace on Temari’s face, the way that she’s still favouring her left hip. Biting her tongue, Sakura fishes the lighter out of her kunai pouch. She sets the spider grass ablaze and then does the same to a slightly bent cigarette. There's sand clinging to the white paper, too, and something about that strikes Sakura as incredibly funny. Chuckling, Sakura settles in close enough to the fire that she can keep it burning without getting too much of the heat. “What’s so funny?” Temari has one arm propped up on the fan. She’s half sprawled out, looking for all the world like nothing’s wrong and she’s just come out of a meeting with the council, albeit a particularly aggravating one. “This,” answers Sakura, with a broad wave of her hand. “All of it. My team got sent out here for a couple of meetings and the hope of trading a few medical techniques – and don’t look at me like that, Temari, we’re the ones in the middle of a draught and it’s not like my people are used to all this heat so, yes, I was hoping to pick up a trick or too.” She pauses, takes a drag off her cigarette. It’s a bad habit picked up on a three month long mission with Shikamaru. She keeps promising Naruto that she’ll quit, but the words are empty, more routine than anything else. They’ve gotten good at routine. Sakura pushes another cluster of spider grass onto the small fire. “Instead, I get hauled out here with you, tackling some kind of creature that, frankly, looks like it came out of a god damned fantasy novel.” She shifts, cracks a grin at the Suna girl. “And if we’re being perfectly blunt, I’ve got sand places I didn’t realize it could get.” That draws a snort. Temari’s eyes crinkle at the edges. It’s not a full smile, but it’s the closest to one Sakura’s seen since Kitatu came barging into the meeting, a panting, bloodied mess, and first brought the Sand Shrew to attention. “I’d say you get used to it, but I’m technically not supposed to lie.” “I guess you aren’t supposed to be reassuring, either.” “That’s not part of my job description, sweets. Sorry.” “Sweets?” Temari bares her teeth when she smiles. “We should eat,” she says, ignoring the bewildered look Sakura gives her. “If my hunch is right, we’re not going to get a chance to do that for a while.” Sakura taps the ash off the end of her cigarette. “You going to share that hunch with me?” She uses her free hand to fish a bundle of dried jerky out from her supply pouch. “Or am I just supposed to follow along like some sort of genin?” “Oh, I’m sorry. Have you been upgraded?” Mocking words, but Temari’s tone is light. She pulls out her own bundle of jerky, breaking off a piece and popping it in her mouth. Her gaze drifts again, back towards the dirt trails. “It might be nothing.” “With what I know about these shits, a might be is going to be everything.” When she gets back to Konoha, Sakura is going to pitch every last bag of jerky currently sitting in her kitchen cabinet. It’s not that Suna’s jerky tastes bad. In fact, the strips of meat are thick cut and heavily seasoned; coriander, ginger, garlic, cumin, and something else that Sakura can’t identify spread over the meat, the coating thick enough it leaves her fingers stained faintly orange. Temari sighs. She tilts head back, face turning towards the rapidly darkening sky. Twilight turns the desert into something from a story book, painting the sand dunes with jewel tones. “Sand Shrews aren’t usually active this time of year.” “Right. That much I’ve gathered.” Sakura is fast running out of nearby spider grass. “They’re supposed to be down in their tunnels right now.” “We’ve had to deal with two separate rouge groups from Kumo.” “You think they have something to do with this?” “I think any animal can turn violent if their home is destroyed. You can’t control the desert. But…you can influence it.” Temari all but sighs out the last few words. She sounds tired. She looks tired. “If the Kumo shinobi destroyed the tunnels, even accidentally, it could have sent the Sand Shrews into a rage.” Sakura flicks her burnt out cigarette into the dwindling fire. She abandons her attempt to keep it going in favour of moving closer to where Temari is sitting. “Great. So they aren’t just active earlier than they should be, they’re pissed off.” “Probably.” “That change what we need to do?” “Nope. Our goal is to subdue them. They’re either going to smarten up and go back under ground, or Suna’s going to have an excess of meat this month.” Temari slides off her fan, rolling onto her back and pillowing her head on her arms. Sakura mimics the action, though she’s a little further down. Her elbow brushes against Temari’s side. “Does it give us a plan?” Temari cracks another tooth baring grin. “Not even in the slightest.”

They leave at half past midnight, fire firmly put out and jerky carefully packed back up. Sakura stays a few steps behind Temari out of habit – she wants another smoke and doesn’t want to deal with the sour looks her team-mates generally shoot her way. The only good thing about this mission is that there’s an easy trail to follow. The mounds left behind by the Sand Shrews are nearly five foot across; this thick, rippled tracks that cut straight through one side of the towering dunes and out the other. Even this late at night, the heat is stifling. It’s the middle of summer and Sakura isn’t used to this sort of weather. Even Konoha at their hottest doesn’t compare. Sweat runs in rivulets down the back of her neck. When they stop for a drink, the water tastes stale and tinny. Sakura wipes her face off on her hand. “Okay,” she says, between gulps of water. “What’s our plan?” Temari blinks at her. “Our plan?” “When we find them,” clarifies Sakura. She puts the cap back on her canteen, double checks to make sure it’s screwed on tightly. “How do we deal with these things?” “Honestly?” Temari looks more amused than anything else, all toothy grin and half-squinted eyes. “I have no fucking idea.” “No idea.” “No idea.” A shrug. Temari takes another swig out of her bottle. “We’ve never had rampaging Sand Shrews before. Like I said, they usually just stay dormant until birthing season. And then we don’t have problems with them as long as we don’t mess with their pups. This is uncharted territory.” Sakura trades the water bottle out for another cigarette. “Okay…so…are we trying to kill them, stun them, scare them off? Because I’m thinking these tracks are getting fresher, and we should have some idea of – “ “Don’t you think I know that? Stop acting so damn high and mighty. You’re the only reason we’re even having this problem!” Temari slams her canteen back in its leather holster. She takes a threatening step forward, jabbing a finger at Sakura’s chest. “Suna has never had problems with Kumo before. This shit’s only started happening because we’ve got a stronger allegiance with Konoha and they hate your village.” “Excuse me?” Sakura reels back. Smoke seeps out between her chapped lips. “Are you really blaming these rats on Konoha?” “Yes! Kumo and Konoha have been at each other’s throats for years. Everyone knows it. Your old Hokage might have tried to keep the Hyuga Incident under wraps, but word travels fast and it travels loud.” Temari’s eyes narrow. Blonde hair clings to her forehead. The kohl under her eyes has been smeared, making her look even more exhausted than she had been before they left the white stone walls of Sunagakure. “Do you really think Gaara’s done something in the last two years to completely ruin our relations with them? We rely on trade with Kumo for a lot of our goods. We wouldn’t fuck it up on purpose.” Sakura shakes her hand so hard that the cherry comes off the end of her cigarette. She takes a step forward, too, meeting Temari halfway. This isn’t the time or the place to be hashing out politics but sometimes it’s exactly what needs to be done. “Suna’s the one allying with us. That’s a decision Gaara made – “ “ – kazekage to you – “ “ – and it’s a damn good one – “ “ – funny, because we’ve had trade cut back from Konoha – “ “ – that’s because we’re in a draught and nothing’s growing you self centered – “ “ – go on, finish that fucking sentence – “ There. A crackle, barely heard under the sound of their own voices. Something shifts to Sakura’s right, barely in line with her peripheral vision. She focuses on Temari, keeps her brows furrowed, her lips pursed. “I’ll finish my sentence alright. You’re a self centered – “ Temari draws herself up, shoulders going stiff. One hand shifts, fingers reaching towards the grip of her fan. There’s another burst of static. It’s louder this time, coming from the opposite side. Temari’s gaze flickers towards the sound, but just for a half-second. Then she’s back, glare that much more fierce. A single finger taps against the wood of her fan. Tap. Tap. Tap. Sakura blinks back at her, twice, and drops the cigarette. “Bitch,” she finishes, spitting the word out like acid. “Coming out here and helping you with this isn’t my job. I’m supposed to be here on a diplomatic role. You can’t even bring yourself to be grateful!” “Grateful?” Temari wrinkles her nose. She takes a half-step backwards, rocking onto her heels. This time, when the crackle of electricity flares, it doesn’t end. Three bolts of sharp white light come surging out of the dunes. Temari closes her fingers completely around the grip of her fan, pulling it off her back and swiping it open in a single practiced flick of her arm. Hot wind catches on the reinforced paper and Sakura hunkers down close to Temari’s side. Two bolts of lightning hit the fan and fritz out with an ear splitting pop. The third catches on the wind gust and surges to the left, exploding into the golden earth. Temari’s grin is toothy and feral. “I’m grateful that the dumbasses in Kumo can’t tell a trap any better than a hare could.” Sakura straightens back up, pushing pink bangs out of her face. Her grin is just as sharp as Temari’s. “What do you accept, Temari? They’re about as brave as a hare. Can’t even keep their hitae-ate on for a stunt like this.” The thunder clap arrows were a dead give away for the exact locations of the enemy shinobi. It’s a smaller group than Sakura had been expecting – two shinobi and a kunoichi, with black bandanas in place of a village hitae-ate. Kumo is famous for sending out military forces under the guise of a rogue nin, just in case the mission flunks. The Kumo kuniochi sneers. She’s tall and lanky, with scars littering her bared arms that bely many, many battles. “You think you’re in any position to mock us? You couldn’t keep a cool head while you were tracking rodents.” Temari lowers her fan, letting the open weapon rest lightly on the ground. “Actually, we figured out that you were following us last night.” “I’ve got a nose for genjutsu,” says Sakura, innocently. She slips a kunai out of her pouch, holding it just slightly above her hip. “And Temari knows this part of the desert better than anyone. Trying to sneak up on us was stupid.” Of the two shinobi, one is clearly younger. More rash, too, if the way he snarls and rushes forward means anything. His hands flick through seals and suddenly there is lightning forming in the palm of one hand. “Lightning Spear!” White shocks of light twist into the vague form of a lance. It fries the air that it cuts through, splitting it into the ozone that belies a great storm. A burst of chakra surges to the bottom of Sakura’s feet as she propels herself forward, shoulder hitting the ground in a smooth roll. Temari’s fan is quick to dispel the bolt of electricity once more, and Sakura aims as she pops out of her roll, twisting around to let her kunai fly. The shinobi jerks backwards at the last minute. A deep cut scores the side of her shoulder all the same. “Fuck!” “Use your damn head,” snarls the older shinobi, eyes narrowed and dark hair pulled back in an unkempt bun. “We’re here for a reason! Remember our goal, Itsubana!” “Goal, huh? You mean you’re not just out here trying to get some sun?” Temari raises her fan again. She flips through a series of one-handed seals. “That’s new to me. Well, why don’t you let us help you with whatever you’ve got planned? We’re pretty handy in a pinch.” The second circle on the fan glows. When Temari slashes out with it, sharp blades of wind surge away from it. “Wind saw!” The blades head towards Itsubana, who’s suddenly scrambling to get out of the way, arms held up in front of his face. At the last moment, they veer to the right, catching the kunoichi in their gale. She screams and Sakura takes the moment for what it is, lunging at her with a knife-hand strike, following up with an uppercut punch, a sharp knee to the gut. Blood pours from shredded skin. The kunoichi’s hand is trembling when she grabs at a kunai of her own, snapping a hand out in a desperate strike. Her panic lets Sakura step around it smoothly – a crackle of electricity behind her, a cut off male scream – and then Sakura’s chakra coated elbow is slamming into the back of the kunoichi’s neck. She crumples like a rag doll and doesn’t get back up. It’s just the older Kumo shinobi, then. He’s drawn dual blades, each one black as sin with twists of metal hanging off the pommel. When he bares his teeth, they’re coated with the desperation that always comes with being the last man standing. “Don’t act like you’ve won. Those two aren’t anything special. They’re skills are shit compared to mine.” “And you brought them along anyways. Right.” Temari takes a step forward, letting her half-closed fan drag over the sand behind her. Golden granules coat the white paper. “That’s believable.” “Their only job was to wake up the shrews.” He holds one of the swords in front of his face, pointing the blade at Temari. “It’s my job to apprehend the Kazekage’s sister.” Sakura snorts, shakes out her hand. The sunlight glints off the metal on her wrist bracer. “Wow. That’s what all of this was about? You guys are even more stupid than I thought.” “Kumo really sent three shinobi for that? Is your village really that desperate?” Temari holds her free hand up in front of her chest, fingers slipping into the tiger seal. The response is automatic. “Kumo didn’t send us.” He takes a step backwards, scraping his swords together. The black metal produces a quick, popping spark. “We’re unaffiliated.” “Yeah, that’s so believable.” Sakura funnels chakra into her hands, knocks her fists together. “You think we’re that stupid?” “It doesn’t matter what you think. The fact remains I’m not affiliated with Kumo…and you’re not leaving here!” The last word is more of a growl than anything else. He lunges forward, heading straight for Temari, swords clanking together until they are covered in some sort of static. She flings her fan forward, flipping through two more seals. Hot air wraps around the sand that had been clinging to the blade, propelling it forward like miniature bullets. The shinobi slices through them with broad, electric wrapped arcs of his swords. He drops onto one knee, skidding to Temari’s left, and swiping at her leg. She barely jumps out of the way fast enough to keep her leg and Sakura darts forward in her stead, slamming a fist against the ground hard enough to make it shake. The loose sand is a disadvantage to most of her more powerful attacks – it’s hard to cause pits to open up when there’s no earth to crack, impossible to send up anything but a shock wave of blinding, choking sand. The only good thing is that the Kumo shinobi isn’t used to fighting here, either, and the sand swallows his attacks instead of carrying them, and the wind from Temari’s fan is cutting, and the two kunoichi trade sharp, feral grins from across the way because this? This is going to be easy.

When all is said and done, Sakura drops down onto the ground, a heap of limbs and hair and blood that is anything but graceful. There’s a nasty cut on her left shoulder, fingers still trembling, just a little bit, from the static shocks. “That sucked.” Temari drops down next to her, chest still heaving. The fan is closed back up, but left lying a few feet away. “I can’t believe those dumbasses really fell for that.” “I mean, they did think that waking up a bunch of shrews would be enough of a distraction to get you out here.” Sakura drops backwards, instantly regrets it because the sand is hot and burning. She sits back up with a grimace. With a breathless laugh, Temari brushes the sand of Sakura’s back. “Kankuro and Baki probably have the Shrew’s put back under. I’d say the retrieval team will be here in – “ Temari glances upwards, to the vulture summon circling over the bound Kumo shinobi. “ – ten minutes, tops. We can just head back to Suna if you want.” “Gods, yes.” Sakura lurches to her feet and then shoves a hand at Temari, pulling the blonde up too. “I want lunch before we report in. And I don’t want gizzards.” This time, the laugh is a little more steady. Temari throws an arm around Sakura’s shoulder. “What, you sick of Gaara’s favourite dinner already?” “I never thought that I would say this,” says Sakura, solemn as she can manage, even with her sand-caked lips pulled back into a grin. “But I’d even take ramen at this point!“

#naruto #temari #sakura haruno #Naruto gift exchange #my writing #sand shrews #girl power

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elegiesforshiva · 7 years

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Ghosts II: The Lacquered Gnat

Masterpost

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Ichiraku's looks both familiar and foreign to Sasuke. All of Konoha did. Everything is the same but …new.

The paint on buildings is brighter, the structures more modern. There is a lot of reasons why Sasuke had been hesitant to call Konoha his home for what was now the longer part of his life. But this isn't a reason he anticipated. Even Naruto has changed, hair shorter, shoulders broader. His smile as he conversed with the ramen shop owner more gentle. Still, this new Konoha wasn't necessarily alien. It was more like things have just been revamped. Right?

So then where the hell is Sakura?

"Teme!" Naruto's voice is deeper, more rough than he remembers.

"Dobe," Sasuke acknowledges with a nod of his head, and almost grimaces at the montone grain of his voice, dulled with his persistent silence over the years. He takes a seat beside his old teammate on the small wooden stool and a hot bowl of ramen is placed in front of him before he even orders.

"Don't worry, it's on me," Naruto explains with a grin. "It's so good to see you! I like the hair—all dark and mysterious. Bet girls love it too." He nudges Sasuke suggestively, and Sasuke tries not to cringe. Whether it be at the words themselves or the truth they hold, he's not sure yet. "You've no idea how excited I was when I got that letter from your hawk!"

"Where's Sakura?" Sasuke asks, utterly bewildered by her absence. She's never late.

"Oh, she's at the hospital," Naruto winds a mouthful of noodles around his chopsticks, "She couldn't make it."

Something wound its way around Sasuke's heart, clenching the organ painfully and biting in with every beat. He makes an effort to unclench his teeth to speak. "What do you mean she's at the hospital? It's 7:30." The corner of his mouth twitches into a deep frown. "Didn't you tell her I would be here?"

Naruto swallows a bite of noodles with a wet slurp. "Well, yeah, but it's not like she can just leave whenever she wants to. She's an important medic, teme. She's one of the heads of the hospital now."

"It's Sakura," he says with a snort. "I sent that hawk two weeks ago, she should've been able to have someone cover for her."

"Listen, she'll see you next time. Don't get your panties all in a bunch." Naruto stuffs his face with ramen, then proceeds to talk while he chews. "So how were your travels?" He swallows with a loud gulp. "Kaka-sensei never gave me all the details. Said some bull crap about 'confidentiality', as if I'm not about to be Hokage soon." Naruto rolls his eyes at the mere memory.

But Sasuke wasn’t really paying attention, preoccupied with the uncoiling inside of him. This isn't like her, she'd want to see him. It's Sakura for gods sake. Sure, it's been a couple of years, but she's still team 7. She should be here, welcoming him home. Maybe she is sick. Maybe something happened. But now Naruto is babbling again and Sasuke knows he's supposed to be put-together by now, so he tries to at least play the part.

"I've just been helping around. Mostly in Kumo." He takes his first bite of ramen, and his stomach protests as he swallows. "Congratulations on your marriage, by the way." Sasuke tries not to think of Sakura again.

"Yeah, what the hell! Why weren't you there, eh teme?" Naruto pokes his chopsticks into Sasuke's arm accusingly then. "What kind of guy doesn't even attend his own best friend's wedding?"

"I was busy." Sasuke pushes his arm away not-too-gently. "I'll go to the second one when she realizes what a mistake she's made marrying a dumbass like you."

"Pfft." Naruto slurps more ramen into his mouth. "Please! Hinata's crazy in love with me! I'll have you know we have a kid on the way!" Sasuke coughs, choking on the noodles sliding down his dry gullet.

"What!?" The shop owner's ears perk up. "That's wonderful! Congratulations, Naruto!"

Naruto smile is so bright he can light the whole town. "Haha thanks! I'm really excited!"

"That's horrifying." Sasuke says and swallows water, his brain irreparably rattled at this news. Naruto? Having a kid? He’s not sure how he feels, or how to react and his head wires itself to the cynical default. "I hope it takes after her more than it does you."

Naruto's face softens then, and a gentle smile crawls over. "Me too."

And Sasuke thinks he has never been more jealous of a smile in his life.

Two days later, Sasuke arrives at training grounds 6 with his usual long blade in tow. He is surprised to see Naruto already stretching in the center of the mossy field. It's expected for Naruto to show up a bit early for his ramen, but he's never been quite as enthusiastic as Sasuke when it came to training.

"Oh, hey teme," Naruto calls, reaching past the length of his leg. "It's just gonna be us today. Sakura-chan said she'd be caught up in the hospital again."

Sasuke makes an effort to keep himself from scowling. "Whatever," he bites out, harsher than intended.

"I was kinda looking forward to watching her kick your ass, but guess I'm just gonna have to do it for her!" He chirps, jubilant as ever.

Sasuke scoffs, but doesn't bother to give a retort, preoccupied with Sakura's absence yet again.

"Let's keep it to taijutsu this time. Kaka-sensei yelled at me last time I wrecked a training ground."

Sasuke contemplates this for a moment. He certainly was looking forward to holding the raw power of a chidori in his palm, but there was still something sweetly relieving about slamming his fist into a jaw. Especially the dobe’s. Sasuke nods in agreement, the chill of the afternoon creeping along his skin. "It'll probably keep you out of the hospital," He says, tactfully abstaining from sneering a bitter comment about Sakura already having her hands full. He cracks his neck with a sharp tilt of his chin, then his knuckles with a biting pressure. It’s relieving, despite what the stark sounds suggest. But not relieving enough.

"Yeah, it won't keep you out though!" Naruto taunts, cerulean eyes gleaming. He faces Sasuke's grim frown with bent knees and a confident smile. "You ready?"

Sasuke answers with a forward lunge.

A week later, Sasuke suggests another attempt for the former teammates to commemorate his homecoming and the three of them agree to meet up at a civilian bar for a few drinks at night. Naruto proposes the location and Sasuke only agrees to it because he is sure Sakura won't get stuck in the hospital so late.

Sasuke is the first to arrive, and he isn’t sure if he is pleased or not at this realization. Without waiting for the other two, he orders a drink that's much too strong for this occasion. He compensates by taking measured a single measured sip, and revels in the slight burn of his throat as he swallows.

"Teme!" Naruto arrives a couple minutes later, taking a seat right by Sasuke. "Man, you wouldn't believe the shit pregnant women go through, Sasuke. She's not even that far in and she's throwing up like crazy today. I'm so glad I have a dick." Naruto makes a gesture to the bartender eyeing him then. "Oi! I'll have whatever he's having."

Sasuke quirks an eyebrow. "Shouldn't you be helping her then?"

Naruto shrugs. "I told her that but she kept saying she's fine. You know how Hinata-chan is. I don't think she'd let me cancel on you for her, she's too kind for her own good." Naruto's face is as warm as honey.

"Sakura's not here," Sasuke's voice is heavy, but this time it's not with irritation. He takes another calculating sip of his beer.

"What? Am I not good enough for you?" Naruto asks, an unsatisfied frown framing his face.

Sasuke frowns. "She's never late." Sasuke takes a full gulp then to soothe his nerves, and he's displeased to find it numbing his senses but not his thoughts.

"Don't worry, she'll come. She's probably just stuck at the hospital. She's always working all kinds of crazy hours." A tall glass is placed before Naruto then, and he's too eager to take a fast gulp. He nearly chokes, his hand smacking against his mouth as he swallows before coughing. The bartender gives him a humored look, but Naruto's attention is focused solely on Sasuke. "Damn, teme! Fuck!" he rasps. "What is this? Vodka?"

Sasuke begins to feel a warming sensation in his body and he's urged on by the lightness of it, because thoughts of Sakura are making him feel so damn heavy. He takes another gulp and Naruto watches him incredulously. "Teme, you're not an alcoholic, are you?"

Sasuke grunts. "No, you idiot."

"Good, cause baa-chan already got that title, and I don't know if I could handle two of you."

It was then that Sasuke's dull senses alerted him to a presence approaching them. A woman with short black hair invites herself onto a seat next to him and his frown grew impossibly deeper. He runs his eyes over her form, sizing her up. Her clothes are skimpy but Sasuke is not jarred by flesh no more than open wounds. He's seen too much of both to be phased.

"Well, if it isn't Naruto Uzumaki and the great Sasuke Uchiha." Her grin is sincere but her lips are too thin and her hair is too dark for her to have any appeal to him. "You two wouldn't mind if me and a few girls chatted for a bit, would you? We've heard all sorts of stories about the shinobi war, but I'm sure it's nothing compared to hearing it from war heros themselves. Think maybe you could show us some moves?"

Naruto is already frowning too. "Uh, actu-"

"Get lost," Sasuke cuts him off, abrasively dismissing their uninvited guest.

She chuckles, the boldness of her laugh grating at Sasuke's ears. "Don't worry, I wasn't trying to tempt your friend into being unfaithful. The whole village knows about Hinata." She smiles then, and winks at him. "I was actually kind of more interested in you, Sasuke-kun."

Sasuke-kun she said. But her eyes aren't green and her hair isn't pink and Sasuke thinks he's actually going to be sick now.

His growl is demonic and it almost surprises even him. "If you don't leave in the next five seconds, I'll show this whole bar my techniques and you’ll be my live demonstration."

"Teme!" Naruto reprimands.

The woman's frown is twisted, more horrified than upset, eyes nearly bulging from their sockets. Her lips part, no doubt to retort, but then they close.

“I’m sorry, don’t mind him,” Naruto says. “He just has this problem where his personality is shitty.” Sasuke scoffs.

“I-it’s fine,” she stammers out. She mumbles something that he can’t quite make out over the noise. Then she's gone just as quickly as she came. Sasuke turns his attention back to his drink and he lets the liquid scorch his insides.

"Teme, that was really harsh," Naruto reprimands with a disappointed frown. It stings him, but he won’t admit to that.

"I don’t give a damn," Sasuke growls. "What kind of moron picks people up by asking about the carnage of war? Fucking idiot civilian." His tongue is loose and he's painfully agitated and where the fuck is Sakura?

Naruto is silent for a while, before his voice calls out, soft. “She doesn’t know,” He says. “It’s not her fault. Some things you just have to go through to understand.”

Sasuke's gulps his liquor down and tries not to ruminate on that.

"Hey, teme, I think you should come over sometime." Naruto says then, and his sincere smile back, as if it was never disturbed to begin with. Sasuke wishes he could wipe away his foul mood that quick. "I...I really want you to get to know Hinata better. I think you'd like her."

Sasuke perches his sole arm on the counter and shifts his weight. The room was spinning and he couldn’t tell if he likes this fact or not. "If she's anything like what I remember, I doubt it." He pauses, then eyes Naruto's newfound sneer. "But if she's your family, then she's mine too."

Naruto blinks, dumbfounded, before a wide grin unravels onto his face. And Sasuke is distantly aware of the fact that he feels pride in being the reason for that. "I think I need to get you drunk more often."

Sasuke snorts. "I'm not drunk." The buzz in his body and the vibration in his temple say otherwise.

"You'll love Hinata-chan's cooking," Naruto gleams. "I always tell her she could be a professional chef if she wanted to, it's amazing! When you come over, we'll whip something up with tomatoes in it too, it'll be great!"

Sasuke smirks at this, and the world seemed to slow down for a moment, watching Naruto take the first real gulp of his liquor. His eyes move back to the nearly empty glass in front of him, outlining the fractions of light—distorted and aimlessly scattered. He can feel the smile leave his lips as much as it does his chest.

"She's not coming."

There's a pause, and Naruto says nothing now, merely taking another sip of his liquor.

"She's avoiding me," Sasuke realizes aloud. "She doesn't want to see me." Something is scraping across his insides, dragging all his organs through his body and misplacing them between his bones.

"Hey now, I'm sure it's just the hospital, teme." Naruto says without any real conviction.

Sasuke shuts his eyes and grasps his head. He doesn't bother dignifying Naruto's shitty excuse with a response. "I should've known." His voice is hoarse and he knows it’s not because of the burn of the alcohol. "She never responded to my letter." Sasuke lifts his gaze back up, looking beyond into the nothingness as he feels knives carve into him. "She doesn't want anything to do with me anymore."

"You sent her a letter?" Naruto asks. "What the hell! You never sent me anything!"

"She seemed fine before I left, I don't understand." Sasuke groans, quiet and loud at once.

"No, it's nothing like that. Sakura's just really dedicated to her patients, that's all," Naruto says with a frown. "Besides, she's never really liked the bar scene anyway. I'm sure she'll come next time."

"Something’s going on. And you don't want to tell me." Sasuke pierces Naruto with a bold gaze, pathetically haughty and indignant for someone who isn’t sure which set of blurred blue eyes to set his own on. "What is it?" He’s somehow sober enough to see the wobble in Naruto’s frown, the tremble of his eye. Sasuke feels his mouth twitch, body heavy, stomach knotting into itself because it's true and he fucking knew it! His hand clenches into a trembling fist. His desperation is starting to show, but he's too drunk to care. "Why doesn't she want to see me? Is it because I left for so long? Is it because I didn't bring her with me? Is she upset with me?"

Naruto tactfully tears away from his gaze, and he palms his glass between his hands, but he doesn't drink more and Sasuke knows why. "Teme, calm down. It's nothing like that, she's just busy. She'll see you, don't worry."

"Bull shit."

Naruto only sighs and his lack of response feels a slow death. Naruto never bull shits like this. Sasuke visualizes himself picking the knives out of his own body. But then they’re full length swords taking its place, expertly serrated with her absence and his longing for home. Impulsively, he chugs the rest of his alcohol down in attempt to melt the metal cutting into him.

"Is she s-seeing someone? Is that it?" Naruto flinches. Panic ransacks his brain open and his voice is the most miserable and desperate warble he’s ever heard. He feels the pangs again. He wants to take his kunai and jam it into his left wrist, but he doesn’t have a left wrist anymore so he settles for moaning to his best friend. "Tell her I don't care. She's team 7. That's all that matters. She doesn't need to be mine, s'okay, I just nee—"

Naruto's resolve seems to grow. "Calm down. She's not dating anyone, geez." Sasuke is scratching the countertop. "You're being fucking weird, teme."

"I'm not being weird," he says defensively. He tries to get a grip on himself but his head is clogged and his body is falling asleep on him and Sakura isn't there with them. "Juss want to make sure she's okay."

"She's fine. You're overthinking this."

"Then why won't she come see me? Does it have to do with you? Are you—" He tries to eye him accusingly. Because a crush was never just a crush when they were little. Not with Sakura. Not with him. Maybe... "Are you—you’re having an affair with her?"

There's a loud crack of glass as Naruto slams his liquor down. "For fuck's sake, teme!" The jinchūriki snaps his head to his left, pinning Sasuke with an indignant glare. "If you weren't drunk as hell right now, I'd beat the shit out of you for that." The blonde exhales his anguish and turns away. And Sasuke feels a harrowing guilt. "Just relax, okay? She's busy, but she wants to see you, alright? It's Sakura. She's just busy."

Sasuke's head is a tightly wound balloon that's just been pricked. His stomach is eating itself. The room is spinning and the noise is too loud. "Where is she right now? What's her address? I'll jus' go to her."

"Sasuke, stop."

"Fine. I'll—I'll leave a note, I won' even visit—Please—I just—"

"Sasuke." Naruto grounds out. "She'll see you. Okay? I’ll make sure. Now cut it out, you're freaking me the hell out over here."

Sasuke feels like he's going to die, but he knows better than to keep running his mouth because now he might lose Naruto too and his family is gone all over again. Then there's something rising up in his stomach and he's craning his neck towards the left of his bar stool to vomit.

"Ack! Teme!"

Sasuke feels more bile slime up his throat and now he really wishes this awful alcohol was venom instead. Esophagus burning and fingers shaking, he hacks it up and out.

Naruto sighs. "Dammit." He can vaguely hear the bartender screeching at them. "C'mon, let's get you home."

#sasusaku #fanfiction #ghosts #elegiesforshiva #efs writes #homemade trauma soup

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randomprose · 7 years

Text

summary: “You’re not Daichi.” “Well spotted.” naruto!au. Kuroo as a Suna-nin and Tsukishima as a Konoha-nin

a/n: idek, man. i’m just trying to get out of my stump and this has been buzzing in my head for ages.

He crossed the dessert and reached the village of Suna just before noon. He was halted by the gates for a brief security check before he was escorted inside after he stated his business. Suna is as hot as he remembers it when he took his Chuunin exams a year ago and Kei is starting to sweat under his armor not ten minutes since entering the village.

The usual emissary is Captain Sawamura having had a good rapport already as the official ambassador of Konoha to Suna. But Captain Sawamura just got back from a mission from Kumo last night and is currently recuperating at the hospital.

So here he is, in full ANBU regalia, enjoying simmering in his armor and mask under the scorching Suna sun. He’d cast a cooling jutsu on his person but he has to immediately get back as soon as he delivers the Hokage’s message to the Kazekage and the journey is far and long. He needs to preserve all his chakra if he wants to be able to make it back to Konoha by nightfall and his reserves aren’t up yet to what he would like it to be despite being a Chuunin and already in the ANBU ranks.

He wonders what is in the missive that was so important the Hokage is willing to dispense more human resource at such a crucial season. It can’t be about an impending war again, the previous war had ushered in a new era of peace time after all, but it has been such a long time and one can never be too sure.

The building housing the Kazekage’s office stands at the center of the village much like the Hokage Tower. The dome structure has been rebuilt and modified since the Fourth Shinobi War to accommodate the changing times. Tsukishima is led through the upper most part of the building and was told to go right inside, the Kazekage has been expecting him.

Except it wasn’t the Kazekage who greets him but rather someone who is clearly not the Kazekage lounging about in his chair.

Tsukishima halts by the doorway as the chair swivels to face him. He palms a kunai and considers a point of attack for the intruder before he sees the hitai-ate tied lopsidedly on the intruder’s forehead. The Konoha-nin makes a face behind his porcelain mask as the man faced him. The man has his fingers intertwined in front of his face like some cliché evil villain. His face is even shadowed by the Kazekage’s wide brimmed hat. It was only by the shine of his hitai-ate did Tsukishima realize that this man was actually a Suna-nin.

“Welcome, Daichi. I’ve been expecting—eh?” The man pauses and lets go of his faux sinister façade. He untangles his intertwined fingers by his face as he sits up, tilting his head to the side and affording Tsukishima a look of his face. “You’re not Daichi.”

His mouth decides to run itself before his brain could catch up with it.

“Well spotted.” Tsukishima bit out nonchalantly as he closed the door behind him. He realized it’s not a good idea to get mouthy with a ninja of another village especially to one who looks like he’s in a rank higher than him and considering he’s here as an emissary. But the Suna heat is something unbearable and he just really wants to finish this mission quick and go back home.

“Hm? And who might you be?”

“The Hokage sent me to deliver a message to the Kazekage.”

“Yes, but who are you? And where’s Daichi? He’s usually the one Ukai-sama sends out.”

“Captain just got back from a mission and is currently recuperating. I’m here as a substitute.”

“Ah, I see.” The man stands up from the Kazekage’s seat and lazily strides over to him. There’s something about him that makes his hackles rise and warning bells go off at the back of his mind. Tsukishima’s instincts are telling him this man is dangerous, but not the dangerous kind of a rogue or enemy nin but something else. He can feel lazy cat like eyes scrutinizing him and Tsukishima meets them dead on refusing to back down. “Well, you can give the missive to me, I’ll be glad to hand it over to him. I’m the Kazekage’s student. Nekomata-sensei won’t be back until much later and you probably need to be on your way.”

“Thank you for the kind offer, student of the Kazekage,” Tsukishima inclines his head in a bow “but my orders are to personally hand over the scroll to Kazekage-sama and wait for a response. Any attempts at detaining me from accomplishing them will be dealt with accordingly.”

His tone is calm, almost flat, and eerily polite but scathing enough that he makes his point across.

The man stops leering and blinks at him before stepping back and laughing. It is a hacking sort of laugh that he would’ve find amusing under different circumstances by the sheer absurdity of the sound of it. But as it is,Tsukishima has half the mind to use the kunai he’s been palming.

“Oh, man. You definitely are one of Sawamura’s.” The man stops laughing to wipe at his eyes, the Kazekage’s hat now lopsided on his head. “I’m Kuroo Tetsurou by the way. You can stop palming that kunai now.” He grins at him as he removes the hat from his head and Tsukishima finally sees the man’s face in full.

Tsukishima acknowledges him with a short incline of his head before turning to walk out of the room.

“Hey! Where are you going?”

“I’ll be waiting for the Kazekage outside. It wouldn’t be prudent to stay in his office when he’s not here.”

“What—it’s fine. Sensei wouldn’t mind.”

The Konoha-nin ignores him as he continues for the door.

“Oi! Come on now—“

The Suna-nin makes to grab for him and Tsukishima reacts by pure reflex when he felt him reaching towards his hand with the scroll. A flurry of movements later and Tsukishima’s arm is shoved up Kuroo with a kunai held against his neck. He feels a kunai pointed at the back his neck as Kuroo’s retaliation.

Sharp cat like eyes stare onto defiant ones behind the Nightingale porcelain mask. There is a hint of mirth and challenge at the Suna-nin’s and Kei narrows his eyes in a glare. Kuroo smirks and Tsukishima shoves at him.

The door opens before anything else happens and they both turn to it. The Kazekage comes in followed by another Suna-nin.

“Ukai’s messenger should be here right about—Kuroo! What have I told you about harassing the Konoha emissaries?”

Tsukishima backs away just as Kuroo lowers his weapon, sheepish as he looks away rubbing the back of his head.

“Ehh. What makes you think he’s not the one harassing me? Aren’t you supposed be on your ninjas’ side, Sensei?”

“Don’t give me that, you brat. I know Ukai’s bunch.” The Kazekage walks over to Kuroo to snatch his hat back and twap his student with it. “And what have I told you about lounging in my office?”

“Your chair’s comfy.”

“If you think I’m gonna hand over my title soon you have another thing coming, boy.” He waves away Kuroo’s crooning of ‘aww, I don’t think that, Sensei’ as he settles on his chair. He finally turns to Tsukishima and the Konoha-nin crouches before him. “Ukai’s got something for me has he?”

Tsukishima stands to hand him the scroll and watches as the Kazekage releases the seal with a few hand signs. He scans through the document for a couple of minutes before sighing and leaning back on his chair.

“Take a sit, boy; this will just be a minute.” He says as he points Tsukishima to the couch by the corner. “And take off your mask, I know you must be boiling under it. I’ll have someone bring you some refreshments.”

“Thank you, Kazekage-sama.”

He breathes a quiet sigh of relief as he removes his mask. The Suna air is as humid as it comes but it’s still a welcome breeze against his hot face. He runs a hand over his sweat drenched hair and scowls at the feeling. He really can’t wait to get the hell out of the desert.

From his perch at the windowsill behind the Kazekage, Kuroo stares at the Konoha-nin in a sort of wonder. His short blonde hair is stuck to the sides of his face and his nape but the shorter strands still curls out. His cheeks are red from the heat and it stuck out against his natural pale complexion. He’s wearing glasses, but his eyes—Kuroo doesn’t think he’s ever seen someone with eyes the color of liquid gold.

Pretty.

The Kazekage’s assistant comes in holding a tray of iced tea and snacks for the Konoha ANBU and Tsukishima thanks her with a slight nod and a polite smile. He sips at the drink delicately and Kuroo’s eyes followed the bobbing of his throat suddenly feeling parched.

Tsukishima felt the Sunanins’ eyes on him and he turns to meet his gaze. HE cocks a thin blonde eyebrow at him and felt a smirk tugging at the corner of his mouth when Kuroo’s eyes widened and a slight blush crept up to tanned cheeks embarrassed at getting caught.

Before Kuroo could join him by the couch the Kazekage finished his reply and has handed Tsukishima the scroll to send back to the Hokage. He gave the Konoha ANBU some instructions and his wishes for Sawamura’s safe recovery after Tsukishima explained why it was him who was sent instead. He bowed low and was out before Kuroo could even blink. He looks out and Tsukishima was already halfway through the gates.

The Kazekage didn’t even flinch even as Kuroo launched himself out of his window.

“Hey! Hey, Nightingale! Hey, Konoha-nin! Wait up!”

Tsukishima halts from his tracks barely a few strides away from Suna’s gates. He turned and frowned as he saw who it was.

By Shodai. Is this the type of shit Captain Sawamura deals with every time he’s sent here? No wonder the man didn’t even sound disappointed at all (and yet a whole lot of apologetic) that he’s landed himself in the hospital before this trip.

“Hey, wait! At least tell me your name. I told you mine, it’s only polite to tell me yours.”

“I really don’t see the point in that, Kuroo-san.”

“Aww, come on. We might be seeing each other more and a lot sooner than you think.”

He narrows his eyes behind his mask at that. Not bloody likely they aren’t.

“No offense, Kuroo-san but nothing short of an S-rank will get me to return to this literal sand hell.”

Tsukishima doesn’t care. He just really wants to feel cool air again and Kuroo is making that impossible right now. He doesn’t look offended by his words, however, and he looks even thoughtful.

“Well, then, I’ll just come to you!” He beams and Tsukishima is honestly so confused. “So, come on. I can’t keep calling you Nightingale.”

Tsukishima blinks, decides he’s had enough of this and gives his name before Kuroo could open up his mouth again and prolong this more.

“Tsukishima Kei.”

He turns to leave the village and hurries away from the desert and back to the forests.

Kuroo hums to himself as he watches him leaves. A smirk to his face and a plan on the works.

What a pretty name for a pretty face.

Two days after his trip to Suna, Tsukishima was once again summoned by the Hokage. This time, it was Captain Sawamura who was sent to fetch him and he wonders at the peculiar look the Captain was sporting.

Tsukishima leaves the Hokage’s Tower confused and more than a little miffed. Turns out the highly important missive he delivered was about a joint ninja exchange training program to further strengthen the alliance and the defense between the two villages.

And one of the ninjas Suna are sending over are none other than Kuroo Tetsurou and, for some reason or by some twisted joke only Suna-nins can understand, they’ve specifically asked for him to be put in the same squad as him during the duration of the program.

The Hokage’s words are still ringing in his head even as Tsukishima is heading back to his apartment.

“Looks like Kuroo-kun has taken a liking to you.”

For whatever reason and how remains a mystery to Kei. They barely even spoke and they held a kunai against each other within the first ten minutes of meeting.

Tsukishima drops by the Missions Office for the instructions of his new assignment and learns about the program and something more.

KurooTetsurou. Jounin, A-rank. Made Chuunin by twelve, Jounin at fourteen, and ANBU by fifteen before making Captain at sixteen. Has a Flee on Sight order in five countries and a bounty of five million Ryo in the Bingo Book for notoriously tracking down and eliminating rogues. Prized student of the Kazekage. Has fire, wind, and earth for his elements and is an S-class genjutsu user. Most known for directing tactics and strategies during a civil war in Suna three years ago.

Damn. He really needs to update his Bingo Book. He literally almost lodged a kunai to a superior’s neck.

Later, when he gets home, there is a Bombay cat waiting by his window sill with a note in its mouth. Tsukishima narrows his eyes at the note but pets the cat before it disappeared in a puff of smoke. He scowls when he reads what was written in the letter.

‘I’ll see you in three days, Moonshine!’ -KT

He does, however, smile at the Marigolds that came with it.

*The Marigolds Kuroo gave Tsukishima were Desert Marigolds

**Marigold flowers are blesses with the title of “Herb of the Sun”. Growing marigold flowers is a sign of passion and creativity. According to the Welsh belief, marigolds are supposed to prevent storms in the morning.They have often been used as a symbolism of love charms. (x)

#kurotsuki #kurotsukki #kurostuki fanfic #kurotsukki fanfic #kuroo tetsurou #tsukishima kei #writing #haikyuu!!#naruto!au #au #i have other versions of this #like ANBU captain kuroo and tsukki as part of his squad #daishou's even in it #i MIGHT do that too #i'm desperately trying to get rid of this stupid fucking writer's block #i need to update my fics

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isolavirtuosa · 7 years

Text

Post-Post Traumatic: The Second Time 9-10

Post-Post Traumatic [fanfiction] NaruSasu (in progress)

A series of “drabbles” following the events of Post Traumatic.

Previous Parts

The Second Time

9-10 under the cut

Part 10 is a kick in the face, sorry. The last three parts of The Second Time going up tomorrow.

- 9 -

“Why does shit always happen at the damn Chuunin Exams?” Naruto complained, lying with his head on my stomach, his legs dangling off the side of the bed.

“It’s a gathering of all the most powerful leaders in the world with minimum security?” I suggested. I stared up at our bedroom ceiling, rubbing down his bare arm absently.

“I should put you in charge of security,” he muttered.

“And I would tell you to not even bother with the international exam, just let the villages deal with promotions in-house.”

“But it’s really important for like… peace and good will, and all that crap.”

“Mm-hm.”

“Anyway, it’s already happened. Another fucking attack on the arena.”

“But this girl really had the rinnegan?” I asked. I’d heard it from Suigetsu, but it was still hard to believe.

“Best-kept goddamn secret in all of Lightning.”

“You’ve been swearing a lot lately.”

“Does it offend it?” he grumbled irritably.

“No, but I like my sweet Naruto.”

“Did you really just say that?” Naruto asked, jumping up so he could cover my face with kisses.

“No,” I growled.

“You did, too, I heard you.”

“Can we talk about the rinnegan?”

“You jealous that you’re not the only one with the rinnegan now?”

“Of a teenage girl who couldn’t even pass the Chuunin Exam? I think not.”

“She only didn’t pass ’cause of the attempted kidnapping.”

“Wasn’t she under age anyway?”

“Yeah, but she’s from Lightning, and they still haven’t signed the age agreement, so…” Naruto said with a long sigh.

“So this unknown Kumogakure female was born with the rinnegan and is now Shukaku’s jinchuuriki? And some cult-like group attacked the Chuunin Exam and tried to kidnap her?”

“Yeah, that about sums it up,” Naruto muttered, nudging me onto my side so he could spoon me. “And Shukaku’s just like, yeah, man it’s totally cool, I want to be trapped inside of her.”

“What was she like?” I asked, tracing the bulging blue veins popping out of Naruto’s arm. It was a hot summer night.

“Whaddya mean?”

“I mean, what was she like?”

“A teenage girl? I dunno.”

“Was she powerful?”

“She will be.”

“Anything else?”

“What do you want to know, Sas’?” Naruto murmured, nuzzling behind my ear with his nose.

“Are you getting romantic?”

“Mm, a little.”

“Can we finish talking about this?”

“Yeah, if you’d get to the point.”

“Naruto. This girl. This Getsuko. Our generation has already played out. She’s the next generation. She’s the next power. This is important. And also, how the fuck does she have the rinnegan?”

“Her chakra…” Naruto started and stopped. He kissed my neck, sucking lightly.

“You’re acting like me,” I said, pushing his face away.

“Well, someone has to,” he complained, hooking his arm under my knee and lifting.

“Fuck you,” I grumbled, but then my eyes fluttered shut as he pressed his body fully to mine. “It’s just… how did I not know? About her?”

“Because A hid her,” Naruto said, anger creeping into his voice. “Can we not talk about this right now? I haven’t sorted it all out yet. And I’m working myself up to a decent half-chub.”

“I didn’t know that talking about politics and splinter groups was such a turn on for you.”

“I haven’t seen you for weeks,” Naruto murmured, kissing the sensitive spot behind my ear. “You could belittle and demean me, and I’d be turned on.”

“No, see I already knew that you were into that-”

“I’m not into that! It makes me very sad and hurts my manly feelings!”

“So I shouldn’t belittle and demean you?”

“You should say nice, loving things to me.”

“Okay.”

“Okay?”

“Yeah,” I said, turning my face back towards him.

Naruto smiled, giving me a little peck. “I’m waiting.”

“You’re… not bad,” I offered.

“Jerk,” he said, pushing my face away.

“Hey, if you can’t say anything nice either…”

“My smart, beautiful, wonderful, amazing husband,” Naruto said, kissing down my shoulder.

“Show-off…”

“It’s easy, you should try it,” he murmured, rubbing between my thighs.

I shivered, rocking back into him.

Naruto went back to kissing my neck.

We moved together slowly, lazy and relaxed.

“You’re…” I started to say, but couldn’t think of anything nice that didn’t sound cheesy or trite.

“Tell me?”

I swallowed.

He tightened his grip on my thigh, firm and reassuring.

“I… like you…” I concluded lamely.

Naruto snorted, a puff against the back of my neck. “I like you, too.”

I could feel the weight of him sliding against me. I squeezed my thighs closer together and he gasped hot in my ear. “You’re…” I tried again. “You’re… everything,” I finally concluded.

“I’ll take that as a something nice,” he said, threading his fingers with mine.

I let my eyes slide closed and just felt.

“Hey, love?”

I opened my eyes, disoriented like I was waking from a dream.

“Are you… hard?”

“Huh?” I said, looking down, but I was covered with a sheet.

“No, really, I think you are!” Naruto said, all excited like a puppy.

I thought about it, and there did seem to be something going on down there.

Naruto’s hand got there first, wrapping around me tentatively.

It wasn’t exactly rock hard, but it was more movement than I’d seen in months.

I found my face being redirected for a quick peck before Naruto was disappearing under the sheet.

“Oh… fuuuck…” I breathed, burying my fingers in his hair. I threw the sheet away from him with my other hand, watching his blond head move.

Naruto pulled away with a pop. “I’ve missed you,” he cooed, nuzzling my erection.

“Please stop,” I groaned.

“You want me to stop?” he asked, looking up at me in confusion.

“Not the blow job,” I clarified. “The other stuff.”

“I’m just getting reacquainted with an old friend.”

“Naruto…ooo�� ahh…”

I didn’t even try to stop him when he kissed me with his cummy mouth afterwards.

We both passed out, exhausted from weeks of sleeping apart.

We woke up to one of the little kids jumping into bed with us. She crawled right into Naruto’s arms, and the two of them went back to sleep.

I got up and smoked a cigarette, then decided to go downstairs and make coffee.

“Sasuke!” Mari said, attaching herself to my leg. “Good morning!”

“Morning,” I said, patting her on the head.

“Can we practice taijutsu today?”

I thought about it for a moment. “Yeah, sure.”

“Thanks!” she said, letting go of me and skipping off.

Karin came dragging down the stairs, looking tired. “Hey.”

I handed her a coffee.

“You’re a prince,” she said, taking a long drink. “So Naruto came back with two more brats?”

“Don’t ask,” I said, shaking my head.

“Where does he keep finding these kids?”

“I don’t know.”

“Try and learn their names this time?”

I stared at her.

“Okey dokey, boss,” she said, patting my cheek and walking away.

“Huh?” I muttered, unclear on what she was okaying.

“Morning, gorgeous,” Naruto said breezily, smooching me on the cheek. He had that little girl on his hip, and she leaned up to smooch my cheek, too.

I blinked at her.

“Thanks for making coffee,” Naruto added, pouring a cup for himself.

“Can I have some?” the girl asked.

“I don’t think you like coffee, but you can try mine,” Naruto said, offering the cup to her.

“I like it!” the girl protested, taking a sip. She proceeded to wrinkle her nose.

“Bitter, right?” Naruto said, dumping some sugar into the cup.

“What are you doing today?” I asked him.

“Nothing, glorious nothing,” he said, setting the girl down and turning his attention to making breakfast. “Who wants eggs?”

“Me!” came a chorus of answers.

“Jugo and Suigetsu should be back this afternoon,” I said. “I want to have a meeting about the rinnegan girl.”

“Yeah, sure, just tell me when,” Naruto said, pulling the eggs from the refrigerator.

I watched him cook, the kids all clamoring around to get the first omelet.

Naruto looked happy again, smiling and light. I wanted him to stay like that, instead of the drained zombie he’d become lately.

Suigetsu came home first, promptly disappearing into his room. Karin was nowhere to be found either.

“Can I have Karin’s room?” Mari complained, tugging on my shirt.

“What for?” I asked.

“She’s not using it…”

“Ask her then,” I said. “Let’s go train.”

Mari followed along happily. She had no intentions of being a ninja, but she liked being able to defend herself. She was a little budding feminist, though I wasn’t really sure where she’d picked all that up from.

Two of the little kids came with us into the desert, trying to imitate Mari and I as we trained, though they were really just playing around. If they’d been a little older, I would have yelled at them. But there was something nice about little kids playing at being ninjas, giggling and having fun.

Mari was more serious. Her form wasn’t bad. When I told her so, she beamed.

I don’t know why she respected me so much. She found me at my lowest, and I never seemed to go up much from there. In fact, I’d come full circle since we’d met, off my meds and losing my mind again. Yet there she was, grinning up at me like I was the greatest person to ever live.

I kind of got why people had kids. It just hurt too much when they went away.

Jugo didn’t get back until late. We all sat together in the living room, Taka and Naruto, ready to discuss the failure that was the existence of Getsuko.

I was on my fifth cigarette of the meeting.

“No one knows who her parents were,” Jugo reported. “She was born with the byakugan, but no connection to the Hyuuga could be determined. She was found in the woods, alone. It was right after the Fourth Shinobi World War, and one of the Kumo ninjas found her on the way back. She brought her to the raikage, and he sent her to be raised in the mountains.”

“Fucking A…” Naruto muttered.

I rested my free hand on his knee, squeezing gently while I continued to chain smoke.

“A teacher in the Land of Earth took her on after she passed the genin exam, and has been training her in secret. The Land of Earth is also where she encountered Shukaku and became his jinchuuriki,” Jugo continued. “It seems that the Covenant attacked her, and Shukaku saved her by entering her body. This is also when she awakened the rinnegan.”

“I need to know if she has a connection to the Uchihas,” I put in.

“I can’t answer that for you.”

“Her chakra…” Naruto started, then stopped. “I don’t like it,” he finally said.

“Why, because she’s more powerful than you?” Suigetsu asked with a snort.

“No,” Naruto said. “It just… it’s like the opposite my chakra. Not in the yin and yang kind of way that Sasuke’s is… It’s like my whole body rejects it, like the feel of it against my skin burns…”

We talked around in circles about the girl with the rinnegan. We talked about the Covenant, a group that Taka had been trailing for a while, unclear on their motives. They just seemed to be a mercenary group, using their ninja skills for cash. Had they wanted to sell the rinnegan girl to the highest bidder?

“Babe, your hands are shaking,” Naruto commented as we went up to bed.

“I’m fine,” I said, stuffing them in my pockets. “I want to smoke.”

“You just smoked like an entire pack…”

“Not cigarettes.”

Naruto was quiet as he locked the door.

I pulled out my pipe and lit it.

“I’d rather you not do that in our room,” Naruto said, sitting down next to me on the bed.

“Well I’d rather not go outside,” I said. “Stop looking at me like that. I know I’m a drug addict, let’s move on.”

“You want me to move on from you being a drug addict?”

“Yes.”

“Baby, what’s going on?” he asked, tilting my face towards him.

“Nothing,” I said, pulling away. “You’re being annoying.”

Naruto seemed at a loss. “I’m not being anything.”

“Then shut up and let me smoke in peace.”

I should have been suspicious when he actually did shut up.

The first hit of opium felt like relief. I breathed out, feeling relaxed.

Naruto was changing out of his clothes.

I watched him with a smile, taking another hit before setting the pipe aside. “C’mere.”

He turned to me, eyes red and sorrowful.

“Hey, what’s wrong?” I asked, not quite losing my smile.

“Everything,” he said, shaking his head.

“No way, it’s all good,” I said. I held my hand out to him, and he approached slowly, taking it. “We’re here. Together. That’s so good, Naruto. It’s so good.”

“I wish it was that simple.”

“It is.”

He hugged me to his stomach, still standing over me.

I melted into him.

“Sasuke? Am I a good person?”

I looked up at him, laughing. “Yeah, of course.”

“I probably shouldn’t be having this conversation with you when you’re high,” he said, shaking his head with the hint of a smile.

“You should be high with me.”

“Thanks, baby, but I’m okay,” he said, going back to being glum.

“You’re not okay,” I complained, pulling him on top of me.

“It’s not a big deal,” he said, giving me a quick kiss. He shifted, laying his cheek against my shoulder. “I just wonder if what I’m doing is right.”

“Of course it is.”

“Then why is everyone against me?”

“Who cares what they think?” I murmured, finding myself starting to drift. “Have some conviction. Fuck other people.”

“If you say so,” he said, hugging me.

“I say so.”

“Okay. Fuck other people.”

“That’s my baby.”

- 10 -

“You went behind my back,” I hissed, cold as ice.

“Someone had to!” Karin said, throwing her arms up.

“You had no right!”

“Look at yourself, you piece of shit!” Karin yelled back. “You’re smoking every day now! You’re barely getting out of bed! You’re depressed as hell, and you’re a fucking drug addict, and I’m not just gonna sit here and watch you destroy yourself!”

I threw the couch across the room.

Karin gaped at me.

“It’s none of your business,” I growled, rage rolling off of me in physical waves of chakra.

She backed away, looking terrified.

I was lost, knowing only my fury at Karin for telling Maiko. For telling Naruto.

I wasn’t that bad. So I smoked opium. It wasn’t illegal. And I got out of bed. I trained. Sometimes I ate. I did. I wasn’t falling apart. I was in control.

The desperate denial that I was in only made me angrier.

Karin had no right to do this. Now they were trying to lock me up again. It was her fault, and I was going to make her pay for it.

“Sasuke,” she whispered, still backing away. “I was just worried about you. I was trying to help…”

“I’m not going back there!” I shouted.

“Back where?” she asked, brows drawing together.

I took another step forward, menacing.

“I just wanted you to get help,” she whispered, bumping into the wall.

“I don’t need help!” I screamed, charging at her.

The natural energy enveloped me, and I felt my chakra draining away.

I woke up chained to a bed.

I started screaming.

“Sasuke,” Jugo said firmly.

“Please don’t do this, please don’t do thispleasedon’tdothis,” I whimpered, struggling against the binding.

“You tried to hurt Karin,” he said, touching my face. His hand was so big. He was angry, but he kept his touch gentle.

“I wouldn’t have hurt her, I wouldn’t have,” I whispered.

Any semblance of control was gone.

How had I ended up like this? I’d been fine. Maybe a little moodier than usual, though as Naruto kindly liked to point out, I was always moody.

But it had been getting harder and harder to leave the house.

And then Naruto had gone off to fight the Covenant and gotten himself stupidly injured. He would be fine, but he was in a hospital in Kumo. And I knew if I’d been there, it wouldn’t have happened. And that made me feel even more trapped in the house. I was a prisoner. I was always a prisoner. So I got high and escaped, but a hit wasn’t taking me very far, and even two hits wasn’t quite enough, and I was getting lost in a haze and I was trapped trapped trapped-

“This isn’t what we wanted,” Jugo said quietly. “Karin and I were going to talk to you tonight, together. Talk to you about those rehab pamphlets you found. As a family. No one was trying to check you in anywhere. Maiko suggested trying the outpatient program. We didn’t want to do this.”

“Then don’t,” I gasped out. My whole body was shaking.

“You tried to hurt Karin,” he repeated, taking his hand away.

“Don’t go,” I said, panicking.

“Of course not,” he said, pulling up a chair next to my bed.

“Where am I?” I finally asked.

“Suna Specialist Hospital.”

“…the mental institution?”

“Yes.”

“Do I have to stay here?”

“Yes.”

I started getting hysterical again.

A nurse came in and injected me with something.

Everything went black, and then I was awake again, and Jugo was asleep in the chair next to me.

“Help me,” I whispered, struggling against the chains. The feeling of being tied up was bad enough, but feeling my chakra being drained just put me in a state of complete helplessness. I wasn’t going back to all those years in Konoha, a neutered animal wasting away into nothing. I had my life back. No one was taking it from me again. “Help me!” I screamed, struggling. The chakra inhibitors burned into my skin. I remembered Koneko’s body falling, the smell of burning flesh, my eyes burning, the pain…

“Sasuke.”

It was Maiko, standing in the doorway.

“Please don’t do this, please don’t do this,” I pleaded.

She looked pained.

Jugo was awake now, giving me the same look.

“Fuck you and your pity!”

I raged and I fought and I screamed and I was sedated, and then I woke up calm until I panicked and raged and fought and screamed and was sedated again. Sometimes I got sick. Sometimes I activated my sharingan and had chakra-absorbing chains burn into my flesh. Sometimes everything just hurt and all I could do was cry.

The voices that I’d been ignoring for months started whispering louder and louder.

Naruto appeared at some point. He put cool towels on my forehead, and babbled nonsense at me while I hurled abuse at him.

I don’t know how many days passed.

At some point I got moved into a special room. There were seals built into the walls that drained anyone’s chakra who entered.

“This is better, right?” Naruto said, petting my hair.

I hurt too much to get out of bed. I did, however, feel better not being handcuffed and chained.

“When can I go home?” I asked, my voice barely audible. My throat was raw from screaming.

“When you’re calm,” Naruto said, smiling at me sadly.

“I’m calm,” I whispered.

“You seem okay right now,” he agreed.

“Then take me home,” I rasped.

“Baby,” he said, shaking his head. “There’s a hole in our living room.”

I vaguely recalled the couch smashing through the drywall. “I didn’t mean to.”

“What if one of the kids had been there?”

“They weren’t.”

“This isn’t just about you. This is about our whole family, everyone under our roof. And right now, I can’t say that everyone is safe with you home.”

I was glad that he looked miserable saying it, because he was the worst kind of traitorous asshole. I refused to speak to him for the rest of the time that he was there.

It was killing him, but he stayed and fixed my pillows, and tried to get me to eat, and cleaned up my puke until visiting hours were over.

I wondered if the chakra drain hurt him as much as it hurt me. Then again, he could just walk out of the room whenever he wanted.

Naruto came back the next day.

I was feeling more lucid and slightly less horrible, though they were still keeping me pumped up on some kind of sedative, and the opium withdrawal hadn’t quite finished with me.

“How are you?” he asked as the guard let him in.

“Shitty.”

“You look it,” he said, trying to smile. He came over to me, touching my cheek.

I couldn’t help but lean into it. “I hate you for making me stay here.”

He flinched, pulling his hand away. “I know.”

We both fell quiet.

“I didn’t know it was this bad,” Naruto finally said. “I knew you were struggling, but I didn’t think… You promised you would tell me if things got bad.”

“Things weren’t bad. I had it under control.”

“You call this control?!” Naruto asked, his tone rising in frustration.

“No,” I said, my voice cracking.

He looked away, rubbing absently at where his arm met his prosthetic. “What happened?”

“I don’t know.”

Naruto sat down on the chair next to my bed. It was nailed to the floor, like all of the furniture in the room. He looked at me for a long while before crumbling into a sobbing heap.

“Naruto…”

“I can’t do this,” he gasped out between sobs.

I was frozen, terrified.

“Sasuke,” he said, still a mess but struggling to look up at me. He held out his arms. “Come on.”

I was confused, but I threw myself into him, clinging.

He kissed my hair, getting it wet with his snot.

I clung harder. I couldn’t look at him.

“I can’t do this.”

Was it over? Was this his breaking point?

It was all so pointless. I’d been fine, and then just for a little while I wasn’t, and now everything was fucked.

I thought about my brother.

My parents, dead on the floor.

“Hey.”

I found myself being swallowed up by blue eyes.

“I’m sorry,” he said with a shaky laugh, holding my face carefully between his hands.

“You have nothing to apologize for.”

“I’m supposed to be the together one.”

“No one thinks that you’re together,” I tried to joke, but I was shaking.

“Don’t destroy my self-image,” he murmured, pressing his nose to mine. “I am sorry, though. I’ve kind of… taken a… whatsit, sabbatical from work. I mean the whole Covenant thing is wrapped up, so I think I should just focus on you right now, ya know?”

I loved and hated the sound of that. “You should focus on you,” I said quietly.

“Me?” he said, squinting his eyes at me.

“I’m sorry I fucked everything up,” I muttered, burying my face in his neck.

“Hey… well, okay, maybe you did a little…”

I let out a little laugh that was half a cry.

“But we’ll get through it,” he said, patting my head. “We always do.”

“Two broken halves don’t make a whole.”

“Why do you have to be so melodramatic?” he asked. He pushed me off of his lap and made me get back into bed. “You’re not broken, you’re just a little… messed up?”

“That sounds so much better.”

“Yeah, doesn’t it? ’Cause something that’s messed up can be put back together.”

“I’m not going back on those medications.”

“What are you going to do instead?”

I didn’t have an answer for that, but I did have a sudden stomachache that had me rushing off to the bathroom.

Jugo came in to find me lying on the floor, cheek pressed to the cool tile.

“Withdrawal,” Naruto said with a shrug. “Sasuke, I’m gonna go work on the house, okay?”

I waved him off.

“I’ll be back in a couple of hours,” he said, lying on the floor next to me and giving my nose a brief kiss.

I watched him go, then went back to feeling horrible.

Jugo started reading a book.

I stayed curled up on the floor for a while, then rushed to the bathroom again.

Jugo glanced up when I appeared in the doorway again. “Everything okay?”

I stared at him.

He shrugged and went back to his book.

I dragged myself to the bed. I flopped down heavily, groaning. My body ached. My stomach was a mess. And Jugo was angry at me.

“I’m sorry,” I said. It was all I had to offer.

“I appreciate that, but it’s not enough.”

I curled up into a ball, pulling the blanket on top of me. I was shivering from the cold.

Neither of us said anything, and I drifted asleep a few times, only to be woken up by the pain.

Naruto came back after lunch.

My tray was on the night table, untouched.

“I’m eating your pudding,” he declared, opening it and digging in.

“I’ll go now,” Jugo said, standing up.

“See you at home,” Naruto said. He had a chocolate stain around his mouth.

I didn’t say anything.

“That was so good,” Naruto said. He patted his stomach contentedly. “You gonna try to eat something?”

“No.”

“You’re gonna get all skinny and gross again.”

“Did you just call me gross?”

“Yep.”

“My stomach hurts,” I said pathetically.

“Yeah, well, that’s what happens to drug addicts.” He was trying to sound teasing, but he was serious.

I decided I deserved it and stayed quiet.

I felt the mattress dip under Naruto’s weight.

“I’m angry and I’m being petty, okay?” he said, stroking my hair.

“You’re fine.”

“I think we all just kinda feel… unprepared? Like no one saw this coming, and we’re all raw and stuff.”

“I get it.”

“Good, ’cause I don’t.”

“What can I do to make this right?” I asked. It was hard to say.

“Just focus on getting better.”

After the worst of the withdrawal stopped, Maiko started talking the future with me.

“In order for you to be released, I’m recommending that you go on a mood stabilizer, antidepressant, and antipsychotic.”

I couldn’t even feel betrayed. I’d done this.

“I’m not saying this is forever,” she said. “I want you to be able to live your life medication-free. But it’s going to take a lot of work to get to that point. Do you understand?”

“I understand that I’m a slave to this disease and I’m never going to be ‘better’.”

“Yeah, that’s true,” she agreed. “You already knew this.”

“I thought I could control it.”

“You know that you can’t.”

“But if I… if I was stronger… better…”

“You still couldn’t do a fucking thing.”

“I don’t want to accept that.”

“Well, too bad. Take your damn meds when the nurse brings them to you.”

I did.

#fanfiction #narusasu #isola post traumatic

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aiph-daicerandomstuff · 6 years

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Da-iCE ARTICLE: [mu-mo Station] Da-iCE “Kumo o nuketa aozora” Release Special Feature [1/6] - “Even common words can be unique if combined accordingly” (11/19/18) | CGM

With implied and literal translation. PM me for mistakes/errors. Please put proper credits if you use.

Da-iCE “Kumo o nuketa aozora” Release Special Feature [1/6] - “Even common words can be unique if combined accordingly ”

Da-iCE “Kumo o nuketa aozora” Interview [pt.1]

Suitable to adorn the last of Da-iCE’s 5th anniversary, the warm mid-ballad “Kumo o nuketa aozora” will be released on November 21, 2018 (Wednesday). We thoroughly covered this work that was originally created under strong aspiration, “With our own words, we want to send a message to everyone who listens”! This is an interesting 6-part short series, in total.

--- The present piece “Kumo o nuketa aozora” is created under what theme?

Sota: When it was time to release the single, we discussed with everyone and we arrived at a certain concept. We wanted to release such songs that can be played in weddings. And so, we did this song.

--- The lyrics of the single title track were written for the first time by the 3 members, Sota-kun, Taiki-kun, and Yudai-kun, right?

Sota: It was decided already that the song would be completed through the lyrics I’ve written, but on the way, they [the staff] said that I needed it to brush it up. And since I have no much time left when it was decided, I thought that I won’t be able to do it alone, and so I asked for Taiki-kun’s help. Taiki-kun brushed up the lyrics I gave him, and then, Yudai-kun entered. Together as three, we rewrote the lyrics from the top. The theme of the wedding song that I thought was “Blue sky through [behind] the clouds”. I decided it to be the title, itself, and started writing from there. When I first heard the song [the melody], I already thought that it was a ballad with a very positive bright tone, and so I thought, as much as possible, I wanted to make the lyrics positive as well.

--- What parts have changed when Taiki-san and Yudai-san joined?

Sota: I talked to them first [and foremost] that I didn’t want to change the concept of the verse 3, but when Yudai-kun explained his point of changing the verse 3, I took it and advanced from there since. Actually, the lyrics have changed, but I think it’s good because we were able to change it to a more meaningful one. I should not stop from thinking about the parts I don’t want to change, right? Although I already thought that “there’s no better idea that will come up this time”, as we went on to our discussion, better lyrics were coming up, and that led me to the conclusion that my fixed concept wasn’t that meaningful enough. There, I felt that it was better to keep on addressing the problem if there was any.

--- By the way, what are those words in verse 3 [line 3 of verse 3]?

Sota: The line is now “Shadowed heart, illuminating light” [light illuminating the shadowed heart] [Kageru kokoro, terasuhikari] but it was “Shadowed heart, a person that is close” [a close person with a shadowed heart] [Kageru kokoro, yorisou hito] before. But a “shadowed heart” has a little negative [minus] image. Also, it was a little bit hard to understand who it was singing to. The “person that is close” can be yourself or your opponent or another person. And so, we thought that if we turn those words to a more positive ones such as “illuminating light”, which can be applied to anything in the song, the negative image could be lessened. Also, it could be heard more as “positive”.

--- What are the others’ thoughts about this song?

Yudai: This time, I got the chance to see the lyrics made by different writers who joined in the competition. It was very interesting. There were many phrases such as “Woken Up”, “Morning” and “Curtain”. On melody A, there was this line “Your sleepy talks [usually nonsense] after waking up” [Megasametara, kimi no negoto]. Right there, it had a solid direction already. I think the reason why such words came out, it was because the perspective of the song’s melody and interpreter’s had aligned in agreement. Just like how it went to Sota, I also got inspired by the words “curtain” and “morning”, and so I think that part is strong. There, the choreography also linked [matched], and so this phrase, I think, is also the most dramatic part of this song…

Taiki: For me, the theme that Sota had brought up at the beginning was very interesting. “Blue sky” and “clouds” are overly used words, but “Blue sky through [behind] the clouds” as a group – I think no one has ever used it yet. They are common words, yes, but they could also become unique if you would combine them accordingly.

Hayate: As soon as I heard the song, I imagined people crying with a smile on their faces as we perform it LIVE. Tears of happiness that is. Also I think, I would also cry while dancing to it. I like the intro very much.

Toru: Personally, when I first heard the melody, I felt great sadness and sorrow, but when the lyrics came in, the song became mild. It turned out to be gentle and bright. Even the choreography, itself, has deep and intense moves, making someone move to tears even by only watching the dance. I think it has become a dance, showing all the strengths of marriage and resolving the problem as a man determinedly.

--- So, what are your inner thoughts about having the last single installment for your 5th anniversary then?

Sota: When we were deciding about the theme, because it’s the last single for our 5th anniversary, the idea of releasing a Da-iCE “warm ballad that’s not heartbreaking”, which was frequently requested by fans, came out. Also, recently, I haven’t been singing Da-iCE’s so-called “heartbreaking ballads” and so, that kind of proposal came out. Moreover, since it seems like there had been no song with a title “Blue sky through [behind] the clouds” yet, I thought that it would be nice to write it. And since it’s the last of our 5th anniversary, we wanted to have a bright ending. Instinctively, I was like “go work on the 5th anniversary [single], since it’s indeed your 5th anniversary.” With that in mind, I wrote the lyrics.

--- The second song “Refrain” is a different ballad piece as compared to the title song, what was your thoughts when you first listened to it?

Yudai: I thought that it was really a good song. A sad and painful song it is, although I thought as well that it’s like those Da-iCE songs in the past with dramatic feelings on critical moments (laughs).

Sota: This song is actually a song that we recorded 4 years ago. It was from the same writer of the song “REASON”. Although the release date of it was not yet decided before, we ended up recording it until the summer of 2014, then left it there, thinking that we would release it someday. That’s why, in there, you would recognize some vibes from 4 years ago and so…

--- Haven’t your voice changed after all those years? Was there a particular problem came out from that?

Yudai: Well, I think the basics, such as the habit and the way of singing, haven’t changed. Although I think also that there’s still a subtle difference [nuance], which is a bit younger compared to now. The voice itself…

Sota: …sounds smoother now.

Yudai: Yes, I have the same opinion as that. But, of course, I can’t deny myself in the past. Now, if I listen to it, sometimes there are points I want to do now instead, as to what I did when I was singing it before. But, the works in those days are the works in those days. It’s just that, the right timing came for that song [Refrain] to be released this time.

--- Also included in this work is an acoustic version of “Kono kyoku no sei” that was released on 2015. Can you tell us why and how did you rearrange this piece?

Sota: Right from the start of this year, we’ve been attempting to sing our past songs in acoustic version or even in bossa version. This time, we chose “Kono kyoku no sei” which seems so popular to our fans. We decided to rearrange it because it’s a song that is being enjoyed LIVE [by everyone] mostly.

--- This acoustic version is sung by 5 members. What was it like singing altogether?

Sota: I really like singing together. It’s something new. Before, there was no instance where all members were singing and dancing together until this, and so, I like to try such things as well. Also, I like to hear the performers’ voices on the surface [upper]. Singing, together as five, a danceable song in full power is exciting, and I think that would give a wow effect or something.

--- We’ve been told that the two of you want to sing.

Hayate: If given the opportunity… (laughs). I always think… looking at the 2 vocals, I think it’s hard to sing while dancing, I don’t feel like I can do it (laughs).

Toru: “Kono kyoku no sei” was very fun to record. ‘Will sing if there’s a demand for it (laughs). Since it’s something for those who listen up to the last [song], yes, I want to respond if there’s a demand for it (laughs).

--- So… Speaking of your 5th anniversary, can you tell us what was your turning point, looking back over the past five years?

Sota: At the time of our major debut, I think the catchphrase “Face value 75” was a turning point (laughs). It seemed nice walking around and be called as that. I don’t want to deny that I felt like it, but I was very surprised at that time. At the time of our indies, as much as possible, we didn’t release our visuals, and we didn’t make anything like putting our faces and photos on jackets and other goods. We wanted the people to see us for real. We wanted to be known through our music and dance and not only through our appearance. But, when our major debut came, surprised by the change, I didn’t feel like showing my face. I was very surprised myself. I’m not sure if that was considered as a turning point but for me it was a turning point.

Yudai: At that time, I felt like I really don’t want to go outside. I hid my face and just started walking (laughs).

Hayate: That was surprising thing indeed. I didn’t expect that we would be selling so (laughs).

Sota: Yes, yes, when they show us the media materials before our debut, there was the phrase “Face value 75” written in small letters. When we asked, “What is this for?” They told us, “That’s okay. This won’t be visible anyway [will not take great attention].” But, on the day of our debut, when I looked through my cellphone in the dressing room, on the net news, there was an article written “Face value 75 Da-iCE debuts!” It was published something like that (laughs). It was also given as a cue on TV. Since, there were so many things, whether good or bad, that could be said to a group with “Face value 75”, it became our punchline. I observed around and concluded, that punchline was good.

Yudai: But, for us concerned [the one being called as “Face value 75”] … (laughs).

Sota: For us concerned, I guess we’ve been quite overly valued after all… I laughed though when we entered as “a group to compare with” (laughs).

Hayate: And so, at that time, I was always speechless whenever they say, “A group with a label of ‘Face value 75’…” (laughs).

Yudai: Other than that, there was also “All about romance, extreme masochist, tearjerker, heartbreaking song”.

All: (laughs out loud)

Sota: That’s “Mou ichido dake”, right?

Yudai: It’s a very good ballad.

Sota: When I was looking through the net news on the date of the release, the words “tearjerker heartbreaking song” came out. Actually, it was a catchphrase we didn’t expect to have. We didn’t imagine that phrase to be applied to that song. It was quite a nice ballad. It was truly surprising for us.

Hayate: The title was also different originally.

Sota: The title was really “to the last man”, but in order to sell and make the song more touching, we settled on making the title “Mou ichido dake [Just once more]”.

Taiki: It was time to put a lever on it.

--- Do you have any other comments?

Taiki: Anything else? I think that’s the best I have now (laughs).

--- That’s it? (laughs) Well then, can you tell us the things you want to do in the future?

Yudai: Because there had been no energetic songs for a while, I’d like to do a danceable song. Since there are lots of ballad songs in production now, which we have in stock, I want to go energetically all in even more.

Sota: Like “EVERYBODY”, “PARADIVE”, and “HUSH HUSH”, I think that is good since there are no recent loud songs that the audience can enjoy just by listening to it.

Taiki: Crazy songs you mean (laughs).

--- Da-iCE is currently on tour. Can you tell us what enthusiasm you have for the rest of your performances?

Yudai: We are already halfway through it. It’s happening so fast. There are basically other live shows during the tour. They even let us perform in school festivals this year. Since we are recording new songs, the time to delve into the music is long, I think. The delivery of the tour is also fulfilling. I am doing it while having fun. I want to run through from here at once.

Sota: Speaking of the tour, because we are trying new things this time, while adjusting to the “1 performance after the other” [back-to-back performances], I think the quality we are delivering is steadily improving every time we perform. And so, I am hoping for those who have seen the performance once to come again. We would be happy if you would go and see our improvement in a short period of time.

From: https://station.mu-mo.net/articles/AGkHp

Note: Woah! This is the longest interview I’ve translated so far. Please forgive me if there are errors.

#daice #da ice #da-ice #translation #interview #mu-mo #mu-mo station #kumo o nuketa aozora #super nice interview #please read #super long translation #article

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aiph-daicerandomstuff · 6 years

Photo

Da-iCE ARTICLE: [HOMINIS] Da-iCE’s new song for their 5th anniversary is a heartwarming love ballad created by the members’ bond (11/14/18) | CGM

With implied and literal translation. PM me for mistakes/errors. Please put proper credits if you use.

Da-iCE’s new song for their 5th anniversary is a heartwarming love ballad created by the members’ bond

Da-iCE “Kumo o nuketa aozora” Release Interview [pt.1]

Da-iCE is a 5-member vocal and dance unit who made their major debut in 2014. Unknown of staying put, their course continues as they would release their 5th anniversary 3rd single, “Kumo o nuketa aozora”, on November 21. With the five members who are running their 5th year anniversary at full speed, we talked a lot about the ‘points to listen to’ in their new song, up to the thoughts about their 5th anniversary.

First of all, please tell us about the points to listen to on the new song “Kumo o nuketa aozora”.

Hanamura Sota (will be referred to as “Hanamura”): This time, there are a lot to listen to. The melody from A has the same melody, but because the sound of the backtrack is different on the first and on the second, the approach is completely different. Also, since there were 3 people assigned to write the lyrics, I would like you to listen to it while reading the lyrics, carefully.

Wada Hayate (will be referred to as “Wada”): Yes. Since it’s the first time that the song with lyrics written by the members became a single, it also became such a song with strong emotions. I’m on the performer-line, and so I want to show the quality of this song to the audience through dancing.

Kudo Taiki (will be referred to as “Kudo”): It is already unusual for us to have warm ballads in our songs, the more unusual it is for it to become the title song. But, our theme this year is to challenge different things. Since all the songs that have been released this year are challenging songs that we haven’t yet done before, I think this song would also make another challenging ballad. I think that if you listen and compare it to the songs that we have so far, you will know the difference.

Iwaoka Toru (will be referred to as “Iwaoka”): For sure, since many of our ballads are songs for the broken-hearted, I think it is indeed a rare-type of gentle and warm ballad for us.

Ohno Yudai (will be referred to as “Ohno”): This time, we will not appear on the MV. This is our first attempt of doing so, this is because we feel like we want to impart the meaning of the song firmly. First, we want you to focus on the lyrics, and sway with it after. Since the dance comes with a really nice choreography, I would like you to see it.

Iwaoka: The songs of Da-iCE are songs that is complete with choreography. The lyrics, the tune, and the performance are all matching to this song. It is a song containing a lot of emotions and dancing.

The lyrics were written by Hanamura-san, Kudo-san, and Ohno-san. How did the three of you assemble the lyrics?

Hanamura: First, we established the concept of the song as one that can be played even at a wedding. Since we were informed that they would choose that brightly warm ballad song through a competition, I told the staff that, if I could, I would like to participate in that competition. And so, they gave me a pleasant “OK” (suddenly, Ohno begins to tie Kudo’s shoelace and his shoelace like in a three-legged race)… w-what are you doing? (laughs)

Ohno: Just tying the laces… All right! I did it! (grins)

Kudo: Thank you. Continue…?

(laughs) Hanamura-san had requested personally that he wanted to participate in the competition.

Hanamura: That’s right. And so, they let me… (Ohno is now connected with Wada, Wada is tying his shoelace with Iwaoka’s, the “4 people with 3 connected legs” is then completed perfectly. Hanamura looks at the 4 people that seems satisfied) Sorry, my head is a bit blank with these unexpected actions.

Kudo: (as if ignoring the upset Hanamura) Since Sota has already done writing the 80% of the song, rather than to collaborate from zero [scratch], once turned over to me, I changed a little bit the framework that Sota has made first, and then further, Yudai revised it, and then, I revised it a little bit one more time with Yudai. Since it took a lot of process, I think, those steps had led it up to the first place.

What is your impression when you first read Hanamura-san’s written lyrics?

Kudo: I thought that Sota has written a truly good theme. Sota is good on writing such. There was only a little bit of editing of words after, and so I can say that it already contained a convincing substance.

What’s your favorite part of the song?

Hanamura: There are a lot of parts that I like, but if you’re asking for a particular one, I think it would be “What’s two until now, will be as one from now on” [two will be as one] [ima made wa futatsu, kore kara wa hitotsu]. This line was suggested by Yudai-kun but, I wrote it originally as “What’s 1 person until now, will be 2 people from now on” [1 person will be 2 people] [ima made wa hitori, kore kara wa futari]. However, when I thought that the suggested line was already customary and a very common thing, Yudai said, “There are lot of things that can be as one”. Surnames, for example, and two houses as well can be as one. I think it’s nice indeed to have those words with such potential I’ve never expected.

Ohno: Thank you for saying such compliment. I have the same answer. When I was thinking then, the idea about names just came out suddenly. Two will have one surname, won’t they? Those are the words that came to me. To make people sing to it, I made various suggestions thinking that my words, even only a little, if included, may add more feelings to the song. It was my first time doing it this way. Still, I had so much fun.

Kudo: It was our first time to write the lyrics as three. I like the story of the lyrics. Because, there was a proper beginning and ending, and the process in between was well established, leading up to the scene envisioned by Sota, until the end. It was quite hard to synchronize such scenes with co-authors, but in this case, they matched up quickly. I wonder if this was because of the members.

Wada: As for me, I like this song a lot. I already liked it on the lyrics of melody A. Ha! Happy? (laughs) Since there are many parts that everyone can easily relate to, I think it would remain in the heart of the people.

“Kono kyoku no sei, 5 Voice and Acoustic version” is also included in the coupling. It was a song released from 2015 that you recorded again with 5 vocals, is that right?

Kudo: Yes. It has been released on 2015. It is a song that has grown in our LIVEs since then. It was a challenge. We thought that it would be great if the 5 members could remake the atmosphere of the song that the audience is enjoying singing to. It was a challenge because in this, 5 members would be singing in unison for the first time.

What was it like when you were singing it again?

Wada: The recording was fun and so, I think it would give joy to everyone as well.

Iwaoka: I agree. This is one of those songs that brings unity to everyone whenever we perform it LIVE. It is that special for us to sing it as five.

Hanamura: It is our first time to sing in unison as five. It was fun because we know our voice in unison. This time, since the recording was done separately one by one in the past, we wanted to try a pattern in which the 5 of us are singing together in the recording booth. It might have been ‘interesting’ if we sing together as five in great chorus.

Ohno: “Say!” is the only part that we yelled and sung together in the recording booth, right?

Hanamura: That’s right. “Say!” is the only part the we sung together. Because we only did an endless and continuous “hooray” in there, it was mixed up in all the versions in the rough mix that we had up to the time of this very interview, it’s quite funny (laughs).

Ohno: That’s depending on the “Say!” that was used. Perharps, it would develop to something like what Tsuyoshi Nagabuchi-san did in “Bodyguard” [TV Asahi’s 1997 drama].

Hanamura: Who’s that?

Ohno: (while pumping his fist) Say! Say!

Everyone: (laughs out loud)

Hanamura: Everyone went hyper as we moved to the second half of the song. At first, we were just yelling the word “Say!”, but when we moved to the second half, I was in a situation where the tension was so high, I don’t know whether to yell “Say!” or “Hey!”. On the contrary, I think it’s quite funny if you leave it as it is, though.

You focused on recording “Say”?

Ohno: Yes. On “Kono kyoku no ‘Say!’”.

Hanamura: AHAHA! Kono kyoku no ‘Say!’, that’s not bad at all!

Everyone: (laughs out loud)

Kudo: We should turn the title to “Kono kyoku no Say!” then!

Ohno: It’s confusing (laughs).

Currently, Da-iCE is in the middle of a nationwide tour, right (the interview was done in mid-October)?

Hanamura: As of now, we successfully finished the tour in Chiba, Osaka, Tokyo, and Niigata.

Ohno: We’re glad that it started really well.

What do you mean by that?

Ohno: Because we tried various things since it’s our 5th anniversary… maybe, “we won’t make it to the schedule!” – I was so scared then.

Hanamura: This time, not only the sound system, but also the staff for the LIVE had changed a lot. Although it was quite difficult, with that, I learned a lot of new things. I think that it’s a year wherein we’ve grown matured for real.

What had impressed you in those 4 locations? Were you able to eat delicious foods in those places?

Hanamura: I’m so thankful to Niigata, the tickets were sold out, and the catering was very luxurious! There were ramen and curry.

Iwaoka: Curry! It was really delicious!

Hanamura: There was this seemingly famous curry which you can get from the line, called the “Curry of the Bus Center [place in Niigata]”, and it was included in the catering there. It was delicious ~ They wrote “Niigata sold out” on the whiteboard as well.

Kudo: We were so happy that the SOLD OUT happened in the biggest venue in Niigata.

5th year is wonderful indeed. What are your plans, such as gatherings, to celebrate your anniversary together as five?

Ohno: Oh, right… Now I wonder, where should we eat after this?

Everyone: (roar of laughter)

Kudo: Well, how about, let’s get together… in summer after 3 years or so?

Ohno: That won’t be our 5th anniversary anymore! (laughs)

Do you celebrate [countdown] the date of your debut?

Ohno: We do it every year.

Kudo and Wada: We do.

Iwaoka: It’s exciting, actually. We do it with our arms [wrap around, shoulder to shoulder] together.

Hanamura: AHAHA! We don’t (laughs).

Iwaoka: We’re all good friends.

Wada: Yes…

Hanamura: Well, if you’re doing this (4 people with 3 connected legs [of which Sota is excluded]), I’m surprised, you’re being bad to me now.

Ohno: (playing innocent) What? This?

The bond is connected.

Hanamura: I am the only one that’s not connected (laughs).

Iwaoka: Then hurry and tie yours [to us]!

Hanamura: Okay, I’m just holding back (laughs).

Iwaoka Toru - Release Interview [pt.2]

Hanamura Sota - Release Interview [pt.3]

Wada Hayate - Release Interview [pt.4]

Ohno Yudai - Release Interview [pt.5]

Kudo Taiki - Release Interview [pt.6]

From: https://hominis.media/category/musician/post2679/

Note: a-is, I think… THIS IS IT!!! They will now sing in UNISON! (even though it may be just the word “Say!”)

#daice #da ice #da-ice #translation #super long translation #the longest i've ever translated so far #please read #i am so excited #hominis #article #kumo o nuketa aozora #interview

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isolavirtuosa · 4 years

Text

Starting Over (For Real?) 43-44

[fanfiction] NaruSasu

Read the previous parts here.

- 43 -

Our team was not quite what I had hoped.

“How the fuck do you keep getting noticed?” I growled at Naruto as we rushed by towering rock formations. “You’re the most powerful fucking ninja in the fucking world, and you can’t even do a basic henge!”

“It’s not my fault!” he protested.

“He kind of glows with chakra,” Ino mused.

“Well maybe you coulda pointed that out before we left on this top secret infiltration mission!” Naruto cried indignantly.

“I didn’t really notice until you kept getting noticed,” she said with a shrug.

“They’ve called in reinforcements,” Sai hummed. “Are we going to stand our ground?”

As much as I would have loved to level some Kumo ANBU, it didn’t seem like a good idea while we were sneaking through their country. I actually wanted to find Juugo, and turning the full-force of Kumo against us didn’t seem productive if our intel that he was here panned out. “No,” I said flatly.

“So we’re going to just keep running?” Ino asked, rolling her eyes.

We weren’t close enough for her to be giving me all that sass. “No, you’re going to be the distraction,” I informed her.

“How am I going to distract all of those ANBU?” she asked incredulously.

“Your feminine wiles?” I suggested.

“Harem no Jutsu!” Naruto called cheerfully as his fingers formed the seals.

An army of scantily-clad harlots appeared between us and the advancing ANBU.

I grabbed his hand, dragging him forward, then nodded at Sai.

Naruto seemed confused.

Sai was not confused, and grabbed Naruto’s hand, followed by Ino’s.

We slipped between dimensions.

“Where are we…?” Ino murmured uncertainly.

I shifted us back to Kumo, just far enough away from the ANBU that we could easily make our escape.

“Damn, Uchiha,” Sai said, still holding my hand.

“What?” I growled, shaking off Naruto’s hand.

“You couldn’t do it that easily before.”

“I’m his battery,” Naruto put in cheerfully.

While I didn’t care for his word choice, he wasn’t wrong. Naruto and I had started enhancing each other’s jutsu with our chakra, and it was taking us to a whole-new, god-tier level of power.

Naruto was very humble about it, though. “Isn’t Sasuke amazing?” he asked cheerfully as we raced along.

“I like it better when you two hate each other,” Ino said, wrinkling her nose.

Naruto looked affronted. “That’s rude.”

“Is it, though?” she asked. “All this lovey-dovey energy you put out towards him is suffocating.”

“It’s cute!” Naruto protested.

“Eh,” Sai said.

“Eh?!” he cried.

“Eh,” Sai repeated.

“Eh,” Ino agreed.

“Eh,” I also agreed.

“Et tu, Sasuke?!” he cried, skidding to a stop and grabbing me by my collar.

“Naruto, there are ANBU chasing us,” I pointed out.

“Okay, but you’re my boyfriend and you don’t support me.”

I stared at him.

“We… will resume this later,” he said, fingers sliding down to my upper arm in a tight grip.

“There’s nothing to resume,” I informed him, resting my hand over his briefly as I pushed chakra into him before pulling us back into a run.

“Yeah, see, even when you’re fighting, you’re still being all lovey-dovey,” Ino complained. “Both of you.”

That was an affront to my character. “I have never in my life loved nor doved,” I ground out.

“‘Naruto’s so perfect and wonderful and amazing and good and oh-em-gee, how can he love a monster such as I, whoa is me,’” Sai said, doing the least plausible impersonation of me ever performed.

“Go to hell, Sai,” I told him.

“Such a kidder, Best Friend.”

I think I hated this team.

We finally got far enough away from civilization to establish our base for the night. Ino took the first watch while I set up a plan for us to venture into the next town with Naruto hanging back.

“We probably need to stop sharing chakra,” Naruto hummed into my shoulder as we settled into bed for the night.

“No shit, glow boy,” I growled.

“That’s a cute nickname,” Naruto said delightedly.

“This is serious,” I muttered, even as I was shifting and exposing my neck to the sudden onslaught of very nice kisses I was receiving. “You’re turning into a liability.”

“Really? You’re gonna call your battery a liability?”

“You’re going to call yourself my battery?”

“Sas’, you were so amazing today.”

I sighed, letting him distract me. “Thanks to my trusty battery?”

“No,” he said. “Well, yes, but no, like the way you just shift through dimensions like breathing now, it’s incredible to watch.”

“And you enjoy watching me?”

“Yes.”

“You’re a creep,” I sighed. “Go to sleep.”

“Sasukeeee,” he whined.

I sighed again, turning over to pull him into my arms.

He snuggled into me happily.

“I’m serious,” I told him. “We have to do something about you exuding power everywhere you go.”

“You’ll figure it out,” he mumbled sleepily. “You’re brilliant.”

“Or you could figure something out,” I suggested.

“Nah, you’re the brains…” he trailed off.

I knew he was already gone, so I set my mind to thinking of ways to hide all of Naruto’s ridiculous amounts of chakra.

Of course the most obvious solution was that I stopping giving chakra to him and he pour all his excess chakra into me, but I wasn’t sure it was a good idea. Naruto could handle his chakra. I, on the other hand…

I remembered the night before we’d left on this mission. We’d just kicked the shit out of each other on the training ground, which was of course foreplay to us. We stumbled into the apartment, already enrapt in one another. Naruto was thrumming with energy as he kicked the door closed behind us.

“Bedroom,” he said, walking me backwards.

“We’re disgusting,” I protested, not wanting to roll around in dirty sheets.

“Bedroom,” he repeated, pressing me against the door and waiting.

“You’re doing the laundry,” I muttered, reaching behind me to turn the knob.

“I am doing the laundry,” he agreed, pushing us back into the room until the back of my legs hit the bed.

I looked at him.

His eyes met mine evenly.

I sat back on the bed and pulled him on top of me.

He was like a puppy, pouncing and nuzzling my neck happily. “You’re super sexy when you’re trying to kick my ass,” he informed me.

“Trying?” I scoffed.

“Trying,” he said with a smirk that looked ridiculously out of place on his goofy face. Fuck he was good-looking when he was confident.

“Is that what you call this?” I asked, pushing his shirt up and examining the bruise I’d left there.

“No, I call them washboard abs,” he said, grinning.

“You’re ridiculous today,” I informed him. I tugged his shirt and mesh over his head, tossing them to the floor.

“Am I?” he hummed, giving me a kiss.

Our eyes met, and I could feel his smile against my mouth. I wanted to give him the world. “You’re perfect,” I mumbled, too embarrassed to let the words come out clearly.

His breath caught.

I attempted to refocus him on our mouths becoming one.

“Sasuke,” he said quietly.

I ignored him, carefully mapping my way through his mouth.

He tried to speak again, then realized the futility and made out with me instead.

I felt relaxed, running my fingers along the bare skin of his back.

“Love you,” Naruto informed me between kisses. He said it so much that one would think that the words had lost all meaning.

I hugged him closer. I needed to hear it constantly, or I’d stop believing.

Naruto knew that. His fingers trailed along my cheek before cupping it gently, his chakra tingling along my skin. “I love you,” he repeated, and then the chakra was pushing inside of me.

It flowed through my chakra paths, easy and familiar.

I cried out.

The chakra stopped.

Naruto pressed his horned forehead to mine, questioning and waiting.

I scratched down his back.

“Hey!” he yelped, goosebumps rising up along his flesh.

I glared up at him.

“Tell me?” he requested. I can’t read your mind, he was always telling me.

“Don’t stop,” I ground out.

His expression softened into a smile. The warmth of his chakra crushed into me again.

I gasped.

The flow became slower, gently washing over me.

“Why is power the only thing that turns you on?” he complained.

I tried to glower at him, but it was probably barely more than a grimace. “I’m not turned on,” I growled, but I kind of was. It was hard to describe exactly how I was feeling. I felt powerful. It felt right.

Our kisses were slower now, almost lazy. Naruto was hard against my leg, pressing in close but restraining himself from moving.

“Move,” I mumbled.

He hesitated.

“What do you want?” I asked.

“I don’t know,” he said softly. He really didn’t.

I knew. I looked at him with my sharingan, and I knew how to do it. I curled my fingers around his neck and pushed.

Naruto’s mouth opened in a silent cry.

The chakra had initially burst out uncontrolled, but now I focused on making it into a steady drip.

He relaxed, rolling onto his side and keeping me close. “It feels weird,” he whispered. “But it… but it…”

Everything had been dark when I woke up inside the God Tree. All I had was the warmth of the chakra that Naruto was feeding into me, keeping us both alive.

It was a good feeling.

And without the God Tree to sap anything away, it was a powerful feeling.

I’d seen Naruto do it a hundred times. The natural energy gathered inside of me, and then I was glowing.

“Whoa,” he breathed, eyes wide.

“Can you use mine?” I asked.

“I dunno,” he said, closing his eyes. He was feeling out my chakra, trying to understand it. Electricity tingled up my spine from his hand like a static shock, but he quickly let it die out. “Maybe our bed isn’t the best place to experiment.”

“I thought you liked experimenting in bed,” I hummed, reveling in how fucking amazing I felt.

“Depends on the experiment,” he said, eyes studying me now.

I could probably destroy him with his own chakra. It wasn’t that I ever would, it was just that I liked to know that I could. “So did you just want to make innuendos, or…?”

“You’re looking a little too megalomaniacal to be anywhere near my private parts right now,” he said, hand tracing chakra up my back and around neck, grazing over my chin and continuing until he reached to thumb over my bottom lip.

I smiled at him lazily. I felt like I could destroy the world and rebuild it single-handedly. “Too scared to get off, honey?”

“Too smart,” he replied with an easy smile, giving me a very soft kiss.

“Naruto.”

“Mm?” he said, still tracing my lips methodically.

“I want to make you feel good,” I told him solemnly.

“I feel very good right now,” he assured me.

“I could make you feel even better.”

“Sasuke, love, you have the same look in your eyes right now as when you were coming at me with your chidori…”

“I do not,” I growled at him, breaking contact to pinch his arm.

Naruto shrieked. He hated when I pinched him there, and he always had to completely overreact to it. He rubbed his arm with his stump, glaring at me. “First of all, that did not in any way, shape, or form make me feel better, and second of all, oh my god, Sasuke, was the Valley of the End foreplay for you?”

“No…” I said, trying to sound like I didn’t agree with what he was saying at all. And I really didn’t. Fighting Naruto was something that filled me with regret, made me doubt all of the choices I had made up until that point, and made me question who I even was.

But nothing felt better than going against Naruto at full strength and having him hit back just as hard.

“I am in love with this psychopath,” he muttered.

I pinched him again.

“OW!”

“Has your dick gotten any less hard during this entire conversation?” I pointed out, because Naruto the masochist could complain about how much his arm hurt all he wanted, there was still a giant tent in his pants.

“I want us to have a healthy relationship…” he complained.

“That ship has sailed, Uzumaki.”

“I know,” he sighed. “What’s wrong with me?”

“Nothing,” I said quietly, kissing his nose. My megalomania had started to taper off now that I was no longer getting a steady injection of chakra.

He smiled at me, smoothing my bangs out of my eyes.

We melted back together, another infusion of chakra trickling through my pathways. Somehow we both ended up losing our pants, and then our bodies were just skin-to-skin contact, our chakra mingling together through every pore.

“You’re getting that look again,” Naruto murmured.

“Fuck off,” I grumbled against his lips. I could enjoy my all-powerful feelings and the high it gave me all I wanted.

“I’d like to,” he said quietly.

Somehow I’d forgotten about Naruto’s plebeian need to ejaculate. “Between my legs,” I said.

“Huh?” he replied, elegant as always.

“Put your dick between my legs,” I instructed irritably.

“It won’t… chafe?”

“Get some lube then,” I said, rolling my eyes. “And get a condom while you’re at it,” I added, shuddering at the thought of the mess he would make without one.

Naruto broke the chain between us slowly, then bounced over to his nightstand and located all of his supplies.

“Hurry up,” I complained, despite the fact that my body was overflowing with his chakra, and really, what could I possibly do with more?

Naruto shook his head, but he was smiling as he rolled the condom on. “I almost feel wanted.”

I kicked my leg out at him, knocking him back on the mattress. “You’re wanted.”

“Apparently,” he said, happily shimmying in close again.

We re-positioned, shifting until Naruto slid easily between my thighs.

His eyelids lowered, and he got that stupid sexed-up expression on his face.

I buried my fingers in his hair, sending out little tingles of chakra.

“How did you think of this?” he marveled between grunts.

“Ancient pederastic tradition,” I hummed.

“Huh?” he said, but his movements didn’t slow.

“Don’t worry about it, honey,” I said, pushing more chakra into him. I was almost full to bursting.

“It feels so good.”

I pet his head like a dog, watching him rut into my legs until he couldn’t take it anymore.

I was glad he was wearing a condom.

“You’re okay?” he asked after a long silence.

“I am amazing,” I replied. He’d emptied his chakra into me as he came, and I was glowing with his power.

“Good,” he said. “I am also amazing.”

It felt like we were finally figuring things out.

The thing was, Naruto could be trusted with all of his power.

I wasn’t so sure that I could be.

- 44 -

Weeks had passed and we were still no closer to finding Juugo.

“Sasuke’s like a black hole swallowing the sun,” Sai chortled as he joined us around the fire for breakfast.

“Um, no, Sasuke is the moon. He takes the light from the sun and uh, howsit go again…” Naruto started off strong and petered out. His grasp on astronomy was tenuous at best, no matter how many times I explained to him that no, the moon did not emit its own light, and yes, the reason it shone was because of the sun.

“Maybe if the moon swallowed the sun whole and spit out its used-up, black core,” Sai hummed, serving himself some rice.

“Are you two really best friends?” Naruto asked suspiciously.

“Talking ill about someone is a sign of deep friendship,” Sai said cheerfully. “Besides, the one I’m really speaking ill of is you!”

“Thanks…?”

I ignored them and continued to eat my breakfast while Naruto fed his chakra into me from behind. It was our morning ritual.

It didn’t matter how much chakra he gave me, though. The fact that Naruto was no longer completely human was getting more and more difficult to ignore. His arm had fully regrown down to his fingertips, his horns protruded from his hair, and I was pretty fucking sure that what Naruto was claiming to be a premature wrinkle in the middle of his forehead was actually a third eye.

“’Sup?” Ino greeted us blandly, sitting next to me.

I handed her a coffee.

She took it, eyes barely open as she sipped it.

Ino was ready to go home.

Not that any of us had a home, but we were all pretty tired of Lightning and the wild goose chase we were on. If we weren’t being hounded by Kumo and Konoha ANBU, we were avoiding anti-ninja villages and their fake God Trees which had also started springing up in Lightning.

“Can you take a little more?” Naruto asked me, his chakra tapering off into a drip.

“That’s what he said,” Ino mumbled into her coffee.

“Obviously,” I said.

“More tuna?” Sai offered, holding up a can, and we all cringed.

“Real food…” Ino whispered dreamily.

“It doesn’t exist anymore,” Naruto groaned.

I knew he was fantasizing about ramen, because I could see it in his mind. Naruto was completely open to me when we were sharing chakra. As long as his hand stayed on my back, I had access to anything I wanted to probe into.

Sai shrugged and finished off the tuna by himself. He loved eating the same thing every day. “So, are we ready to go?” he asked cheerfully.

Naruto was still eating breakfast with one hand, his other resting on my bare back as he fed me his chakra. Ino hadn’t quite finished her cup of coffee and was still looking like hell warmed over. I was sitting here with my top open and hanging onto the ground, contemplating taking up smoking to somehow fill the gaping holes inside of my soul.

“Oh, yeah, we’re all so ready to go,” I told him tiredly.

“Great,” Sai said, going over to pack up his tent.

Ino, Naruto, and I thrived in a fight. Sai thrived in the sneaking and subterfuge. He was enjoying himself in the mindless doldrums of our everyday life.

“You okay, honey?” Naruto hummed, kissing the back of my neck.

“Peachy fucking keen, Naruto,” I grumbled, then shook my head. “Sorry. I don’t know, I’m in a terrible mood.”

“Do you kinda… sense something?” he asked. “Like, you know, a foreboding?”

Ino and I both turned to him.

“What?” he asked.

We didn’t really talk about the transformation that he had gone through, but the unknown of it all kept it on our minds.

“Please tell me you’re not a psychic now,” Ino groaned.

“Huh? What? Why?” he asked.

“I just don’t like the idea of a psychic Naruto,” she said.

I nodded my agreement.

“Whaaaaaaat?” Naruto complained.

“There’s just something not right about it,” Ino explained vaguely.

“I would be an awesome psychic!”

“Baby, let’s switch,” I said, stifling a yawn.

“Hm?” he said, immediately going back to being a normal person. He took his hand from my back and shifted so he was next to me.

I pulled my top back up over my arms and took his hand, funneling some of my chakra into him.

Ino watched for a moment before quickly turning away.

“Are we all set for today’s adventure?” Sai asked cheerfully.

“Sai, you need to learn how to read a room,” I said.

“We’re not in a room,” he said, his smile widening.

The three of us glared at him.

“I’ll put out the fire, then,” he said, happily going about the task.

“I think the team is fracturing,” Ino commented.

“We never were a team,” I replied.

“Hey, come on,” Naruto tried to protest, but it was true. He and Sai always had weird tension, he and I went back and forth between being the grossest couple ever to disagreeing on any and everything, and Ino had just never quite clicked in with us.

“I’ve got a good feeling about today!” Sai declared as we finally moved out.

We traveled through an open valley between two villages, nothing in sight for miles. I was focused now. We would make it to the next village before nightfall, where there’d been a rumored siting of Team Taka after the collapse of the Infinite Tsukuyomi. I wasn’t putting much stock in it, since the person had claimed to see Juugo, Suigetsu, and Karin, who hadn’t been anywhere near Lightning at the time and hadn’t seen Juugo and Suigetsu since she’d woken up.

It made me think it was a trap.

“Uchiha, there’s something not right,” Sai commented as we raced along.

I was feeling it, too.

Ino looked between us nervously.

There was nothing in front of us and nothing behind us.

“It’s under us,” Naruto said quietly.

“Sai,” I said, nodding my chin at him.

He pulled out a scroll and sketched a platoon of birds. “Get on,” he said, hopping onto the back of one of them.

We all took to the sky, but that feeling that something powerful was lurking below us persisted.

“You look like you want to investigate,” Naruto commented.

“You look like you want to investigate,” I countered.

“I don’t want to investigate,” Ino stated flatly.

“You and Sai can go ahead,” I said.

“No,” she said quickly. “You two are not just going to rush into something blind. This thing, it’s… I mean, doesn’t it feel familiar?”

And then the sky exploded with arrows.

“Naruto!” I snapped, nodding my head towards where the attack was coming from.

“Already on it,” he said, exploding in golden light. He tore the trap door they were hiding under from the ground, revealing the fighters huddled together on a staircase leading into the earth.

One of the arrows that I easily dodged exploded as it passed, causing my ink bird to falter. “Fucking normals,” I muttered. Why did non-ninjas have to carry on with their farce of attacks when they were nothing more than ants in front of us? “Ino, Sai, watch the sky,” I said, following into the fray behind Naruto.

He had things pretty well wrapped up already, to be honest, and punching people without chakra was kind of a joke, but it made me feel better doing it.

“Sasuke,” Naruto said, tying up those he had knocked unconscious.

I sighed, letting the unconscious man slip from my hold to the floor.

“They’re people.”

“Are they though?” I asked.

“Sasuke.”

I ignored him and moved down the stairs. There were more of them, clearly guarding something, and I flicked them away.

It was pulsing through the air, and I knew what was hidden before I saw it.

The God Tree spread itself like a weeping willow, filling the underground room with its drooping bodies.

“Get everyone down here!” I called to Naruto.

“Huh?” he said, coming down the last steps having just finished tidying up the prisoners. His eyes widened at the sight of the tree. “Okay…”

I pulled out my sword and started cutting bodies down. After a while, the other three joined me.

“Where do these trees get their power from?” Ino murmured, pulling out another sleeping person from a pod.

Proximity to my rinnegan was doing nothing to stop the effects of the tree.

“Uchiha!” Sai called from the other side of the room.

I was beside him in a moment, staring at the body he was pulling out of a pod. “Suigetsu…”

He was paler than ever, and he looked almost skeletal, but there he was.

I rested a hand on his shoulder for a moment. He was breathing, and that was all there was for now. I started hacking down the other nearby pods.

“I’ve got Juugo,” Sai said, but it was too late.

“This can’t…” I stuttered over the words, staring at the red-haired girl asleep in the pod I’d just cut open.

“What is it?” Sai asked, sauntering over. “I thought you’d be more excited to see your former best…” The words died from his lips.

Something passed through the room like a shock wave.

“She knows,” I whispered.

“Why are you two being so weird?” Naruto asked, then joined us in freezing and staring at Karin’s body.

“She knows!” I said more urgently.

“Sakura…” Naruto said slowly, panic starting to well in his eyes. “She’s always with Sakura…”

“Go!” I snapped.

Naruto gave me a blank look.

“She knows that we know. Go!” I repeated.

Understanding flooded his face, and then he was disappearing in a flash.

“Shit,” I whispered. “Shit, shit, shit…”

“Maybe she’s not really…” Ino tried to say, but just stopped. She touched her hand to Karin’s cheek. “This isn’t possible. She had Karin’s chakra. She was with you for months. There’s no way that you wouldn’t have noticed…”

‘Come,’ Naruto’s voice whispered in my head.

I didn’t have technique formulas spread out from here to Suna. I couldn’t just transport myself half way around the world.

‘Come!’ came his voice again, more urgently.

The Flying Thunder God transport technique wasn’t really as hard as it looked. Sure, if I made a mistake, I would be dead, but when did I ever make a mistake?

“Take care of them!” I snapped at Ino and Sai, nodding to my team before disappearing in a flash. I slipped through dimensional voids, following Naruto’s technique formulas like a map until I was back in Suna, bursting out of Naruto’s forehead protector.

There was a giant hole in the wall surrounding the village.

“She’s getting away!” Naruto called, trying to hold his opponent back.

I slipped through the hole in the wall, ignoring the fact that Naruto was fighting the woman he considered his grandmother.

Sakura was ahead, chasing down the impostor Karin along with Temari.

She wasn’t Karin anymore, though. The facade had melted away, leaving only a white zetsu racing ahead of us joyfully.

I slipped through dimensions, catching up to the girls easily.

Sakura was hurt, her arm hanging at a strange angle as she ran. “It’s not Karin,” she said, tears pricking her eyelids while her face stayed in an immovable grim line.

“Where is Gaara?” I asked, because if Tsunade had risen from her white zetsu sleep, then it only stood to reason that so had he.

“Kankurou’s leading a group to detain him,” Temari said clinically.

“All right then,” I said, slipping through dimensions again and coming out in front of the white zetsu.

She grinned at me, her face becoming Karin’s again.

Good thing I was really good at compartmentalizing. I sent her flying across the desert with a punch.

She just laughed as she landed, light and happy. “Are you upset with me, Sasuke-kun?”

I wasn’t rising to her bait. I approached her cautiously, on the lookout for any tricks or traps.

Sakura and Temari were here now, too, and the three of us slowly moved closer in a triangle formation, coming at her from all sides.

She threw her head back and laughed loudly. Her face shifted, becoming the mizukage. “Be seeing you, girls,” she said, waving her fingers as she sank into the sand.

We all dove for her, but she was gone.

“Fuck!” I snarled into the air, hitting my fist uselessly into the sand.

“There’s nothing we can do now,” Temari said flatly. She helped Sakura to her feet. “Let’s go.”

I was on the edge, about to snap, so I took a deep breath, buried it all, and followed Temari and Sakura back to Suna.

#narusasu #isola starting over

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