Help I'm suddenly plagued with thoughts of Popstar Sensation!Shino AU. It's so dumb.

He can sing. He can dance. He can play guitar and piano. Dude's all kinds of popular. He always seems to be so poised and mysterious in interviews, yet on stage he's, like, crazy athletic with his showmanship and his presence makes itself known. His main asset is his Grade A Coolness. But surprise! He's actualy a Tripple Threat Musician! He's also a talented actor! But, no one really knows about the last one. Why? Because there's always a camera in his face in public. So he's always acting.

On stage he goes by simply Moritaka (play on source material). In reality, he's still the same old Shino Aburame we know. He's still a huge nerd and Insects are still his special interest. He plays many instruments due to his upbringing but keeps that on the DL because his Record Label has this Image for him. He sings lovely sweet nothings and danceable anthems on stage, but when he pours his soul into his writing, it's more raw and sad, usually very cathartic and often with a hint of bitterness. Not something that can rake in the success as easily as the Pop Music he adapts to as it's given to him, but it helps him cope. He loves his layers goddamn it, and sometimes he feels like a clown on stage with these "fashion savvy" outfits they pick out for him. He especially misses his glasses on stage but he can manage well enough with his contacts, though they do really irritate him sometimes.

Shibi had made the choice to hide Shino from the public eye as much as he possibly could from a young age, so very few people could figure out what he looked like as a kid, especially after he chose to start wearing prescription sunglasses specifically.

He lives a sort of Hannah Montana double life with a "Lucky" by Britney Spears flavoring. Except he started as a young adult, 20's sensation, so he's also unfortunately sexualized to a much higher degree right off the bat and the heavy emphasis on his looks can be very tough on his skin, let alone his nerves and insides. But he's not blind to his own attractiveness. Plus he'd be damned if the constant dieting and working out didn't amount to anything. His day job is less of a job and more he acts like a nerd about his beloved bugs and is very active as Shino in online communities dedicated to Insect love and information. In fact, days off for Moritaka include Shino being secretly Philanthropic and he's always furthering his education in one way or another. He didn't become a sensation over night, his family's been in the Music Business, but the Label would have you believe he was a nobody who made it big of course. He probably did this against his family's wishes tbh and the secret identity was to give the name Aburame absolutely no credit. Spite is such a motivator you guys, and selling his soul for sum amount of years means he can do what he realy likes in his free time. When he has it, anyway.

The fun part for me, the main part for me, is that all his old classmates don't recognize him as Moritaka. But, they're all fans to some degree. Especially Ino and Naruto, the two who were the meanest to him for no good reason lmao

Ino thinks he so unbearably handsome and can watch the same dancing clip over and over again. Naruto genuinely likes his music, who cares if it's Pop!? It's super catchy and super good, that's the point!!

Just... imagine Ino and Naruto winning two VIP tickets to one of Moritaka's Bigger Concerts and they're going feral the whole time and Shino has to refrain from reading them to absolute filth and revealing his true identity during backstage access and dinner and an after party or whatever the winners of the contest win because they're all over him now when from K-12 they literally wanted nothing to do with him and went out of their ways just to shut him down or bother the hell outta him with complete disregard for his feelings hahahahaha

Well, mostly Ino tbh, but adding Naruto specifically as her plus one because he was that big of a fan just makes it funnier lol

Naruto…..but if Neji was clan heir instead.👩🏽‍🦯

I’ve had this AU wedged in my head for like a year(and a half??) now and have just now made an art on it oop. So anyways…..Hinata has the curse seal and dies in place of Neji in the canon. Also Naruto actually reciprocates her feelings and they bond over the fact that nobody else likes/respects them.(by that I mean the village bc them mfs was beefing with kids for no reason💀) Shino and Kiba also thought of Hinata as like a little sister, so their reactions to them bringing her body back are very much NOT OKAY.

Neji and Hinata’s dynamic is the same despite now being in opposing positions in this. Neji is very much an axxhole but Hinata always saw past it since he was the only kid in their family that she could talk to or ‘play’ with. Sakura bears immense guilt over not being able to save her in time because she’s a medical ninja and was pretty much Hinata’s only female friend. I haven’t reached Shippuden yet (wack coming from me already making this art based off that timeline lmao) but Sasuke occasionally checks on the village here, hence his appearance in this. The “busy” referring to her funeral being held and the talks amongst the village people about the Hyuuga clan now no longer having a branch family(Hinata was the last, ik she has a sister but we’re gonna pretend their parents died before that) to use their cursed seal on.

Back to Naruto, yes he likes her in this, they’re basically labeled as childhood sweethearts by everyone else and they even promised to get married maybe two yrs prior to this.🥲Hinata’s family never liked him but as he is the only one left of his clan as well, they basically left them to their own devices since them marrying actually wouldn’t be a bad idea. Neji ,however, opposed it and often made fun of them for it. Hinata and Neji had always had a rocky relationship and it’s somewhat stable in this but Neji always took her and her help for granted until the year leading up to her death.

Let’s just say he was the one initiating conversations more and no longer displayed his animosity towards her as often, but he still had a bunch to work on. Also his father(he is alive in this) is devastated when they arrive back with her as a casualty.

I really need to make more to cover the whole context but this is all I could do y’all. I was getting impatient and I conveniently never make shit in order💪🏽.

Information about my au's fanchildren (part 1 XD)

Lux:

Full name: Lux jakei joku

Age: 17

Height: 1.69

Personality: silent, strategic, brave, competitive and self-confident

Hobby: she usually goes to see Dusk or stain to talk and hang out, she liked her company

Random fact: the ornament that she always wears in her hair is a gift from nightmare

Palette:

Full name: palette joku comyet

Age: 16

Height: 1.55

Personality: obsessive, smiling, crazy, careless, strange, sometimes gossipy and always competitive

Hobbies: talking with her friends, gossiping with shino, fight with starcross or Lux and doing missions for nightmare

Random fact: for a time he was very obsessed with Crescent for looking like Nightmare, but when he saw that Crescent hated him, he lost interest.

Greater strength: she has incredible agility

Biggest weakness: distracted by everything

Starcross:

Full name: starcross joku jakei

Age: 14 years

Height: 1.65

Personality: curious, distrustful, kind, mommy's baby

Random fact: Dream doesn't take care of him because he loves him, he takes care of him because he needs him alive (XD)

Greatest weakness: for being "the favorite" 90% of his brothers hate him

Pastel:

Full name: pastel comyet

Age: 14 years

Height: 1.38 cm

Personality: brave, curious, stubborn and intelligent

Random fact: despite pretending to be on Nightmare's side, she is only infiltrated, at the beginning she trusted him but that trust went away when she discovered Camellia in the basement

Cloudberry:

Full name: cloudberry bluerry

Age: 14 years

Height: 1.51 cm

Personality: if she doesn't trust you she will appear as a dull and depressing person, but if she trusts you you will see how fun and cheerful she can be

Random fact: she mostly spends her time with sirah and pastel

Greatest weakness: claustrophobia

Camellia:

Full name: camellia bluerry joku

Age: 12 years

Height: 1.31 cm

Personality: pleasant, she used to be very energetic but now she doesn't have the energy to live, despite everything sometimes she is positive

Random fact: she still likes to talk to palette from time to time, but she would like it more if palette would stop torturing him

Greatest weakness: he is all weakened chained in the basement/dungeon/torture area

(wow demasiado texto- and to think that I still lack too many fanchilds)

when you say that ; word count: 7.1k

✓ pairing: inuzuka kiba × namikaze yui (fem oc)

✓ warning: mentions of a breakup between yui and kabuto, mention of sex, kiba and yui are not friends at first; mentions of cheating (?), a lot of cuddling and a little bit of jealousy, I've never written fake dating before so be nice

✓ genre: enemies to friends to lovers, fake dating, angst, hurt/comfort

✓ au: college au

characters: kiba inuzuka, yui namikaze, kabuto yushino, half of the konoha twelve

synopsis: just two people fake dating to make an ex jealous. but how long will it take for her to realize he's not pretending?

Tuesday, September 14th

“Do you miss us?”

The question echoed inside her brain even days after seeing him again. She knew it was stupid; to think of him again, but then again, she wasn’t the smartest kid in the class; because here she was — walking to his dorm room, picking at her nails while she took the stroll down the quiet hall. 

She took a deep breath, standing in front of the black wooden door, hand up to knock when the door next to it swung open. 

“I think they’re still,” Kiba whistled suggestively, “in there.”

“Who?”

“Kabuto 'n some girl.” Yui sucked in her bottom lip, incisor chewing on it as she lightly pressed her ear to the door. “Oi! That’s some perverted shit, what’re ya doin’?”

She hushed him, trying to focus when she heard the sounds of moaning coming from behind it. 

Yeah, this was a stupid idea.

She sniffled, the heel of her palm pressing against her forehead.

“Hey.” Kiba’s brows furrowed. He knew she didn’t like him, but he wasn’t going to let her just stand in the hallway and cry. “What’s goin’ on?”

“N-nothing.. Uh. It’s nothing.”

“Ya don’t cry over nothin’, pretty.” Yui sniffled again, looking up at Kiba with her ocean orbs. “Wanna go get some ice cream? I was thinkin’ of steppin’ out anyway.” 

“You’re not busy?”

“Nah, I was pretty bored anyway, ‘n I know this real nice place in town.” Yui nodded, Kiba grabbing an extra hoodie before walking down the hall with her. 

He was very aware of her disdain for him – he didn’t make the best impression when they met at the party. Kiba made some off-handed comment about how painters are just boring people with nothing to do and then found out she was, in fact, a painter. He was thankful all she threw in his face was a drink. He thought she was pretty – the prettiest he had seen and he kept asking begging Shino to bring her around more so he could apologize and get to know her, but every time he asked, the entomologist said no. Even Hinata said no.

They stepped out into the dark night, the chill sending goosebumps down Yui arms. 

“Oh, here. I grabbed it for ya in case ya got cold.” Yui took his hoodie hesitantly before slipping it over her head. His scent filled her nostrils and she had to admit – silently – that he spelled a lot better than she thought. 

“Thanks.”

“So I know I said some real not nice things last time I saw ya, but I– I’d like to apologize for it.”

“It’s okay.” 

“Nah, it’s not. Hinata’s always sayin’ I hafta watch my mouth, 'n she’s right.” The Namikaze kept her head down, watching the sidewalk disappear under her feet as she nodded. 

“It’s okay, really. Naruto says I take things too seriously and I have to stop doing that.” Kiba opened the door to the ice cream shop for her to step in before following behind. She wandered to the counter, weighing her options between the chocolate and the caramel. Kiba couldn’t help but admire her.

Admittedly, Kiba pined after her since the middle of their freshman year. Every time he would see her in the courtyard, or in the hall, he’d be tempted to yell across the area in order to get her attention, but his friends always advised him that she wouldn’t like that. It wasn’t until Hinata introduced them at a party Naruto was throwing that Kiba was able to make his move – and by move, he utterly fucked up by saying ‘art students are just full of shit’ right in front of her. 

‘Art students are just full of shit,’ Kiba muffled around his cup. The music loud in his ears and the alcohol coursing through his veins making him blunter than usual.

Yui’s ears tinged and burned. Art students are not full of shit. She grabbed the closest cup to her before throwing the liquid into the football player’s face, soaking him and his varsity jacket. ‘What the fuck?’ 

Shino stifled a laugh, grabbing napkins and dabbing at the olive skin. ‘We are not full of shit. We actually work hard in order to get good grades on our projects unlike people like you who just throw a ball around and get away with shitty work because you won a trophy for the school.’

Kiba scoffed, ‘It’s a plaque.’

‘Fuck off.’

For three weeks, the Inuzuka had been trying to garner her attention in order to apologize and what better way to do that than over ice cream. 

“Decided what you’d like?” The worker asked with a too sweet smile and Kiba nodded, ordering cookies ‘n’ cream in a waffle cone. Yui ordered chocolate in a cup with rainbow sprinkles and pouted when Kiba took out his wallet to pay for the ice cream. 

“C’mon, Inuzuka. I can pay for my ice cream myself.”

“Ya can do whateva ya want, except pay for this ice cream.” He laughed, taking the change and dropping it into the tip jar before finding a seat in the corner, motioning for her to sit as well. Her pout was still present as she took a seat, but the little snaggletoothed smile Kiba gave her slowly melted it away. 

“Tell me,” he started around a mouth of ice cream, “why ya hoverin’ outside Kabuto’s door?”

Yui stabbed her spoon into the chocolate sweet several times before finally figuring out how to answer best. “He’s my ex-boyfriend.”

“Kabuto!?” He shouted, gaining the attention of everyone around them and forcing Yui to sink further in the hoodie collar. “Sorry, but really?” His voice was quieter this time. “Kabuto?”

“It was during freshman year. I made an impulsive decision to go on a date with him and the rest is history.”

“So what changed now? It’s been a year n’a half.”

“He approached me at a party. Said he wanted to talk and so I came to his dorm.” Kiba nodded quietly and contemplated his next words. 

“Ya know he’s been seein’ that girl for like three weeks now.”

“Three weeks?” She whispered, frowning. Was he hoping she would forget about it? 

Kiba frowned as well, having felt bad for further ruining Yui’s night. First, her ex boyfriend tricked her, then she’s stuck with the guy who ran his mouth at a party and now she’s finding out said ex boyfriend is seeing a girl when there was a chance they could get back together? Maybe more ice cream would help. The Inuzuka leaned forward, elbows on his knees and he was about to open his mouth and suggest they try the ice cream shop down the street “because they have better options sometimes” when suddenly her cerulean orbs met his dark ones and the wind was kicked from his lungs. 

“Be my boyfriend.”

>⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ > ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ >

“‘Be my boyfriend,’ she said! Her boyfriend!” Kiba fell onto his bed, groaning as he pulled the pillow onto his face. Shino stood in the doorway, arms crossed. 

“And you just — left her there?”

“No! I mean, I walked her back to campus and then,” Kiba grumbled, “I left her.”

“Isn’t this what you wanted?”

“No! She wants me to be her pretend boyfriend – not the real one.” Shino shrugged from the doorway. 

“I don’t see the problem.”

“Of course you don’t.” Kiba huffed, sitting up in his bed and fluffing the pillow in his lap. “I’m goin’ to be the best damn fake boyfriend she’s ever seen. So good, she’s gonna wanna date me for real.”

Thursday, September 16th

‘Kabuto usually hangs around my first class.’ 

Kiba grumbled as he made his way through the courtyard with a caramel thing in his hand. He had to continuously remind himself that this trip to starbucks was to make Yui smile. He was going to make her fall in love with him, he decided. He put on the best smile he could as he walked up to the classroom. 

“Yui~” He smiled, stalking up to the blonde who was loitering outside the classroom. Just as she predicted, Kabuto was standing a few feet away. “I got ya the thing.” Totally worth it, he thought when she lit up upon seeing the plastic cup in his hands. Even better when she wiggled her fingers to grab it, leaning against Kiba’s shoulder as she sipped from the straw. 

“Thank you~” Kiba peeked over her head just in time to catch the disgusted wrinkle of Kabuto’s nose.

“Is the coffee shop always so loud and sweet smelling?”

“Yeah, why?” She tilted her head to the side. “Got a sensitive nose?”

“You could say that,” he drawled, arm wrapping around her shoulders. Yui’s head pressed into Kiba’s shoulder, a small smile on her face. “We should go on a date.”

“A date?”

“Yeah–”

“Yui going on a date with you?” Kiba fisted his hoodie in his palm. 

“Yeah? What of it?”

“Just– why would she?” Yui smiled, her free hand slipped down to entangle her and Kiba’s fingers. 

“Because he’s my boyfriend. Why wouldn’t we go on a date?”

“Boyfriend?” Kabuto’s eyes widened and Kiba smiled that snaggletoothed grin Yui was growing to like so much. 

“Boyfriend.” Yui leaned in, kissing Kiba’s cheek and Kiba internally panicked and had to remind himself that this is what people who date do. He’ll gush about it to Shino later.

Kiba turned to the blonde, a soft smile on his face. “I gotta get to class, but I’ll be by to grab ya for lunch, yeah?” Yui couldn’t say anything; the smile on Kiba’s face surely captivated her more than she anticipated, so she nodded, and Kiba leaned down, kissing her forehead. “Bye, pretty.” Her cheeks brightened in color as she waved him away. The butterflies roared in her stomach and she had to press her palm to her tummy in order for them to heel. 

She sat in her seat, but could barely register her class starting. Despite her actions towards the Inuzuka – i.e. throwing alcohol in his face and effectively ignoring his greetings in the hall to avoid any sort of conversation with the football player – Yui was oddly attracted to him. Kiba was nowhere close to her type. He was tall, dark, extremely handsome; a complete brute and a little dumb, but the other night only proved that he was also kind and flustered easily. When she propositioned him, his cheeks turned bright red and his nose scrunched up. It was the cutest thing she’d seen. He spoke whatever was on his mind without a care in the world, and he was a lot more thoughtful than she expected. Yui never even told him she enjoyed caramel macchiatos. 

The blonde failed to notice her class being dismissed until she saw a familiar chestnut man clad in a varsity football jacket sit in front of her. 

“Hey, pretty. Ya class is over.” 

“Huh? Oh, I must have been distracted.” 

“Thinkin’ ‘bout me?” He wiggled his eyebrows and Yui’s cheeks tinted pink as she pouted and grumbled an incoherent reply. Her eyes grazed his facial features, head cocking to the side at the sight of the red fang marks tattooed on his cheeks. “Ready for lunch?” She’ll ask him about them later. 

The two of them walked through campus, hand in hand and causing a lot of traffic in the halls with everyone stopping and staring. Shino slipped out of his classroom just as they rounded the corner, a small smile tugging at his lips. 

“Oi, you’re seeing each other now?” Naruto, who was right behind the sunglass-clad man, raised an eyebrow. 

“Yeah, got a problem?” Kiba growled, and Naruto just laughed, ruffling the brown locks. 

“Have fun!” He hummed, grabbing Shino’s arm and dragging the entomology student towards the courtyard. 

“Say, do you want to eat with your friends? I can go find mine–”

“Nah, I wanna take ya to lunch. Got class in two hours, right?” How Kiba knew her schedule, she’ll never know. 

Their lunch date was nothing short of interesting. They went to the diner near campus where most of the students frequented and as soon as they stepped foot inside the dainty building, Yui felt more than self-conscious. All eyes were on them; definitely the pair that no one expected to get together. She should have just asked Shino or Sasuke. Hell, even Shikamaru would have been a better option, why'd she–?

“Everythin’ okay?”

“Everyone’s staring.” Yui sank deeper in her seat, trying to hide from some of the art students in the booth beside them. Kiba just smiled– that stupid smile she enjoyed so much. “It doesn’t bother you?”

“Heh, people stare. I never paid much attention to it.” Kiba wanted to slide across the table and sit beside the woman closing in on herself; he wanted to assure her that no one could ever make him change his mind about her, but that would mean drawing even more attention than they already have so he reached across the table and took her hand. His calloused thumb brushed along her knuckles. “Keep your focus on me.” 

And she did, giving his hand a thankful little squeeze before placing their orders. Her gaze focused back on the tattoos on his face. Her elbow was resting on the table, chin in her palm as she let go of Kiba’s hand to trace one of the red fangs. 

“Why’d you get these?”

Kiba scoffed around the straw of his milkshake. “A drunken bet with Naruto freshman year. He said I couldn’t drink all twenty shots – 'n I couldn’t, so I had to get ‘tattoos of red fangs on my cheeks’,” he mimicked Naruto’s voice before snorting. “Never said which cheeks so he was a little irritated when I came back to the dorm with these.” He pointed to his facial cheeks, Yui giggling and covering her mouth. 

“He wanted them–” she pointed to her own ass, laughing when Kiba nodded.

“Oh, hell yeah! ‘Cause he’s a fuckin’ child.” 

“You guys get along pretty well. Wouldn’t that make you a little childish?”

“Shuddup.” 

Yui couldn’t figure out why all of a sudden she had these massive butterflies in her stomach whenever Kiba would chuckle and smile. And why were their wings so goddamn big? Maybe Kiba wasn’t such a bad choice afterall. 

>⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ > ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ >

Saturday, September 18th

“Since when have you and Yui started dating?!” Naruto shouted from his couch, huffing at being left out of the loop. 

“Since nunya.”

“Nunya?”

“Nunya business.” A middle finger was thrown in his direction and a laugh erupted from Kiba’s throat.

“Seriously though. Why’d she pick you? Doesn’t she hate your guts?” Shikamaru was lounging on the extra sofa, arm over his eyes as per usual.

“Nah, I don’t think she hates me… just didn’t like me for a while.”

“She threw alcohol in your face more than once that night.” 

“Yeah, but,” Kiba sighed, not really wanting to tell his friends her business, but– Kiba doesn’t know when to keep his mouth shut. “We’re just pretendin’.” 

“Pretending to what?”

“To date.”

“Why?”

“Because, she used to date Kabuto–”

“Kabuto?!” The blonde screeched from the couch, controller clattering against the floorboards. 

“Yeah, Kabuto. Anyway, they were datin’ 'n then they broke up but he was tryna get back together with her even though he’s datin’ this other girl.”

“So she’s trying to make him jealous?” Kiba nodded. “What a drag.” 

“Yeah, but he was trying to cheat on the other girl he had,” Naruto chimed in. “I’m all for it. Believe it.” He turned back around, gaming controller back in his hands as he started shooting at whoever he was against. 

“Just be careful, Kibs.” Choji slapped his hand on his shoulder, worried that the feelings his friend already has for this girl might get the best of him. 

>⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ > ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ >

“So, you know– why Kiba?” Ino chirped from the kitchen. “Wasn’t he like the biggest dick to you?”

“Well, yeah, but he was nice to me the other night.” Ino dropped the bowl onto the floor, contents scattering across the tile as she rushed into the living room.

“Other night? What happened the other night?” The other blonde was wiggling her eyebrows, smirking at the art student. 

“N-nothing. He just took me out for ice cream.”

“Why?”

“His dorm is right next to Kabuto’s–”

“You’re still hung up on him?” Yui frowned, shaking her head. 

“I-I don’t think so..”

“Just… don’t lead Kiba on. He’s sensitive." Ino frowned, going back into the kitchen to cook for the two of them.

Friday, September 24th

For a week straight, Yui couldn't get Ino’s words out of her head — “Don’t lead Kiba on. He’s sensitive.” If there was one thing Yui wouldn’t have expected, it was that Kiba Inuzuka was a sensitive man. Funny, sweet, super caring, sure, but not sensitive. 

For a week straight, Yui had to remind herself that this arrangement was just that — an arrangement. They weren’t really dating. Kiba didn’t actually think to buy her flowers or bring her caramel macchiatos every morning just because he felt like it. He didn’t kiss her forehead and call her pretty for fun. He avoided kissing her lips on purpose – because he didn’t think of this as more than just an arrangement. 

She found herself staring at the blank canvas, the paintbrush dipped in red hovering over the easel. Lately, all she wanted to paint were Kiba’s tattoos, Kiba’s eyes, Kiba. He was the only thing she could think about. 

“Stuck?” She heard the drawl whisper into her ear and she squirmed. The deep laugh that followed could only belong to one person. Yui tilted her head back, hitting his chest and his sharp eyes peered down at her from above. “Hiya.” 

“Hey,” she mumbled, setting her brush down. 

“Ya’ve been zonin’ out a lot. Is everythin’ okay?” Kiba shifted his weight between feet before finally stepping to sit beside her easel. He set the latte down closest to Yui. For you, as if to say. Why’re you being so good to me? She wanted to ask and instead took a grateful sip of the iced latte. 

Yui finally nodded and Kiba tucked a strand of her freshly bleached blonde hair behind her pierced ear. It was then she noticed they were all alone. It wasn’t abnormal for her to be in the art studio by herself, but it was the first time her and Kiba had been alone – no waitresses flirting with the football player, no other students wading around for classes to start, none of their friends. It was just her and Kiba. 

“Hey, do you wanna head back to my dorm? I think Shino’s visitin’ his dad 'n ya seem like ya need a break.” Despite her better judgment, Yui agreed, and that’s how she ended up curled against Kiba’s chest, watching a movie. The only word she could use to describe how she was feeling was safe. She felt safe in his arms – safe from the world around them. Kiba had proved to be such a great friend, such a great person overall, that when this was all over, she could only hope they could stay this close. 

Kiba’s fingers brushed through her soft hair, his own head resting on the back of the couch. Yui radiated warmth and comfort. She was stubborn and headstrong; beautiful inside and out. For a week, Kiba had snuck up on her while she painted, usually accompanied by Hinata and Shino. He would admire the way she’d get lost in the paint, how her white overalls were covered in hues of red and blue when she was done; how she’d laugh and wipe her cheek, smearing yellows and oranges. She looked like the sea at sunset and if Kiba knew how to draw, he’d paint a wall of scenery that reminded him of her. 

“Are you an only child?” She asked quietly, mindlessly playing with his much larger hand. 

“Nah, I have a sister.”

“Older or younger?”

“Older. Her name’s Hana.” 

“Pretty,” she hummed. 

“Not as pretty as you,” he smiled. Yui’s cheeks warmed at the flirtation, and the smile she’d grown to – dare she say – love. She spent more time with Kiba in a week than she ever thought she’d spend with another human being since her last relationship ended, and faster than she ever anticipated, he was growing on her. His free hand cupped her jaw, thumbing over the apple of her cheek before leaning down and pressing his lips to her forehead. “Can I take ya on that date tonight?”

“Date?”

“Mhm,” he hummed. “We talked about it last week, remember?”

“I just thought– that was our lunch date.”

“Nah. I want to take ya on an actual date, like somethin’ fun 'n take pictures together. Ya know, the cheesy shit.”

“Cheesy shit sounds so romantic, Kiba.” Yui rolled her eyes and the Inuzuka shrugged, smile still present on his plump lips. 

“C’mon. It’ll be fun.” 

“Fine. One date.”

>⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ > ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ >

A date with Yui proved to be more nerve wracking than Kiba had anticipated. Trying to plan a “date” for someone you have to pretend to not have actual feelings for is much more difficult than admitting Kiba wanted this to be a real date. Especially when she walked outside her building in a pink sweater, black skinny jeans, and boots, looking as pretty as ever. She even smelled like a pretty flower. 

“Are ya wearin’ makeup?” Kiba cocked his head to the side, a small smile on his face.

“Does it look bad?” Yui touched her cheeks, pouting softly.

“Looks nice.” He hummed, “You look real pretty, Yui.”

“You’re not looking too bad yourself, Kibs.” Kiba’s eyes crinkled at the corners, his incisors poking out on either side of his top lip. Kiba looked up, noticing the white hair and glasses glaring in their direction and he took Yui’s hand in his, swinging it comfortably. “Where are we going?” She cocked her head to the side, looking up at the tall football player. He had his varsity jacket in his arms, a leather jacket on his body, tight black jeans and biker boots, and Yui had to continuously remind herself not to stare at him. 

“Thinkin’ dinner, maybe a movie? Anythin’ you wanna watch?” Yui shrugged. She literally couldn’t think of anything at the moment. Kiba looked way too good with his hair slicked back and mesh shirt underneath. Kiba just smirked and continued their trek into town, hand in hand and a big smile on his face. 

He wasn’t going to admit this was a first date for him, even if they weren’t really dating. He definitely wasn’t going to admit that he called Shino and Naruto to ask what to do on said fake date. And he most certainly wasn’t going to say that Naruto’s idea was “just take her to a movie and fuck her in the back row,” because even Kiba knew that wasn’t romantic. 

Their walk through town was comfortable, quiet. They listened to conversations of people passing by, and babies babbling with their parents. It wasn’t until Yui pulled to a stop in front of a candy store that Kiba finally said something.

“Ya’ll ruin ya dinner.”

“Who said my dinner wasn’t candy?”

“Um, health class? We can come back later to get it.”

“But, but,” she pouted, looking up at him with big puppy eyes. “They’ll be closed by the time we finish eating. Can’t we go in and buy some for later?” 

Kiba wanted to say no, tell her that he had plans to get her favorite takeout dish Hinata told him about and sit by the lake, but he… just couldn't bring himself to say the words. He let her pull him into the candy shop, grab a bag and fill it with all sorts of things that’s going to give her cavities for years. He was sure of it, but he didn’t care — even when she added m&ms into the bag of gummy bears or when she bought chocolate covered marshmallows or those gross licorice wheels that are too hard for your teeth. He didn’t care because he watched her smile grow and her hand catch his every time they walked around to look at something else. He didn’t care that the candy was expensive and he might have to call his mom to send money for groceries because when they walked out of that store, she fed him those chocolate covered marshmallows and giggled when he made a face while mumbling about how all he needed was a graham cracker and it’d be a s’more. Kiba didn’t care. 

She chewed on a licorice wheel while she followed Kiba through the sidewalks. He kept his hand on the small of her back to make sure she didn’t get lost and when they walked into her favorite Korean restaurant, she expressed her disdain for crowds, the anxiety and the way her pulse picked up had Kiba reassuring her they were only there to pick up the food he called ahead about. Yui found herself in complete awe of the Inuzuka; how he’d just roll with the punches or pretend like he didn’t mind they weren’t sitting at a restaurant or how he'd walk in front of her or behind her when there were too many people or how he’d weave her through a crowd without so much as allowing someone to accidentally bump her shoulder.

“Where are we going?”

“To the lake. I figure it’s prolly nice to sit there 'n eat, ya know?” 

Kabuto was never this considerate; never took her for dinner at her favorite restaurant or let her have some candy. He always thought the lake was boring and never wanted to sit near it. Was she really using this man to make that one jealous? 

Yui got so lost in her thoughts that she didn’t realize they were already at the park, she barely remembered sitting down. Her head was still swirling with thoughts of how she could possibly be mistreating Kiba and she frowned. Before she could let Kiba see it, she shoved more japchae down her throat. She needed to get home and reevaluate some of the decisions she's made in the past week.

Kiba didn’t let her wallow for long. Instead, he talked about his dog back home and how much he missed him. He talked about how when he goes home for winter break, he hoped Yui would join him one day and meet Akamaru. Of course, she said yes. She still wanted to be close to Kiba when this was all over… if it was ever over. When they finished, he threw the trash out and helped her up, put his jacket over her shoulders and walked her to the ice cream shop he brought her to the first night they hung out. 

“Do me a favor, Kibs,” she started, waving her ice cream spoon at the Inuzuka. 

“Hm, what’s that?” He pulled his eyes away from his cone, swinging their hand as they walked back to campus from the ice cream shop.

“Don’t go falling in love with me,” she giggled. 

Too late for that, he thought as he watched the stars glisten in her eyes. Seeing her smile like that made his heart both sink and soar. She was so beautiful, with her big blue eyes and long blonde hair. Her fingers fit perfectly in his and she was at perfect height for him to rest his chin on her head. When they hugged, it was as if two puzzle pieces were being put together. Kiba was falling harder than he expected and he wasn’t sure he could keep it a secret for long. 

Friday, October 8th

Yui trotted to Kiba, wrapping her arms around his waist. He startled slightly, looking down at the arms around his waist and instantly recognizing the jacket as his own. 

“Hi there, pretty.” 

“Hi, handsome. What are you doing today?”

“Got a game. Ya coming?” 

“If you want me to. I can be there and cheer you on.” 

Kiba noticed the Yui growing clingy as the week trudged on. Every time they made eye contact, she’d run towards him and wrap him in a hug, or she’d show up at his practice with water and snacks. He couldn’t help but frown at the attention. He loved it, don’t get him wrong, but this wasn’t the way he wanted to get it. He didn’t want it to be fake anymore and he was afraid he wasn’t going to be able to handle much more of it without asking how she truly felt about him. His friends, and teammates kept telling him she wasn’t faking it, but if that was the case, she’d tell him. She wouldn’t keep leading him on like this. 

“I do. I enjoy ya company, ya know.” Kiba shrugged out of her hold and intertwined their fingers. 

“Then, I’ll come.” She smiled up at the Inuzuka. “Do you wanna come help me decorate before you have to go?”

“Decorate?”

“For Halloween. I usually decorate my dorm.” Kiba nodded, imagining the dorm filled with Halloween decorations. He also thought of the times when the sororities would have Trunk or Treat and allowed faculty’s children to trick or treat on campus. He wondered, briefly, if she participated in that. 

Kiba got lost in his mind more frequently since their date two weeks ago. Yui noticed the lack of attention he was bringing to their meet-ups, and she wondered if maybe it was her fault. She didn’t have the heart to ask Kiba for fear the answer would be a ‘yes,’ so she chose to cling to him more; show him that she was still around. She’d wrap her arm around his waist and he’d shimmy away, taking her hand instead and walking beside her. When she walked in front of him, he no longer put his hand on her back. Forehead kisses were scarce as she stood in front of him with a smile and some candy. He spaced out, eyes glazed over and when she’d bring it up, he’d smile and say that classes were just stressing him out. Yui just prayed it was the truth. 

When they got to her dorm, Yui unlocked it and pulled Kiba inside. It was much different than he’d expect; much homier than his. Maybe because she lived alone, maybe because she had paintings strung up on the walls. 

“Have you been here before?”

“No. It’s nice,” he responded, slipping from her hold and taking his shoes off. He walked around the small living area, admiring the photos of her friends and family, the paintings with her signature in the corner and some shelves scattered across the walls.He stopped in front of a door; blue paint stopping in the middle with sand colors, and the sun setting. “Is this ya bedroom?” Yui hummed in acknowledgement, walking to the closet closest to her bedroom door and pulling down a bin of decorations. “Can I go inside?”

“When we’re done.” 

She brought the bin to the living room, Kiba not too far behind her, but he wasn’t… he wasn’t close like he’d usually stand. He was distant and waiting for her to take the top off. Yui sighed quietly and turned around, her heart clenching at the sight of Kiba a few feet from her. Usually, she’d have to fight him in order to turn around because he didn’t know the meaning of personal space. 

“Is something the matter?” She asked quietly, sitting on the arm of the couch. 

“Whataya mean?” His head cocked to the side, incisor chewing on the flesh of his bottom lip.

“You’ve been so distant the past two weeks. I try to come and talk to you, I try to hug you and you move away from me. It’s just–”

“Stress. I told ya yesterday.” Yui frowned, arms crossing over her chest. 

“It’s not stress. You’re all the way over there and most of the time, you’re so close, I can’t breathe without smelling the fruit gum you chew.”

“Ya always yellin’ at me about personal space 'n now ya want me to not give ya personal space?”

“It’s not that,” she sighed. “Forget it.” She was about to get up and unpack the decorations when Kiba took a step closer. He couldn’t bear to see her upset over something he did. He just tried to use the distance as a way to distract him from his feelings, but now here she was, head bent forward and a frown on her lips. He didn’t realize his actions would affect her this way.

“Yui–”

“I can do this myself, it’s fine. I know you have a game to get to.” 

“I have a few hours, 'n I wanna help.”

“It’s fine, Kiba.” Kiba never had a healthy way of dealing with someone dismissing him. He knew he was wrong, but right now, all he did was get mad. He fisted his hands and grumbled a “fine,” before putting his shoes back on and slamming the door behind him. He never did know how to deal with his temper.

>⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ > ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ >

Monday, October 11th

Three days. Kiba ignored her for three days. She put up the Halloween decorations the next day, too exhausted from the dismissal of the Inuzuka to do anything other than lay in her bed and stare at the paintings she had done of his fangs. God, she felt stupid as she climbed from the comfort of her bed and got dressed. She stared at the varsity jacket, opting to wear her own hoodie and jacket. Maybe Hinata will make her feel better. 

Hinata, in fact, did not make her feel better. 

“App-apparently, the football team lost again last night,” Hinata started, sitting next to Yui in the courtyard. 

“Yeah?” Yui shoved the peanut butter and jelly sandwich into her mouth, sighing as she forced herself not to talk. 

“Y-yeah. Apparently Kiba wasn’t playing very well either. That’s what N-Naruto said.” 

“Why?”

“You guys had a fight.” Hinata’s matter-of-fact statement was punctuated with a tilt of her head. She was good at making Yui feel comfortable enough to talk about everything that went on in her sad life.

“It wasn’t a fight. I just–” she sighed once more after finishing her sandwich. “He was being so distant. He took me on a date a few weeks ago and it was great, so amazing. We had a great time, but ever since, he’s been,” Yui picked at the grass in front of her. “He hasn’t been as attentive as he was.”

“M-maybe it’s because he has feelings for you.”

“Kiba? Feelings for me? Ha, that’s funny.” 

There’s a saying that goes, “Speak on the devil and he shall appear.” Well, Kiba popped his head around a tree, startling poor Hinata. She squeaked and pouted, Naruto laughing as he sat beside her. Kiba squatted down in front of Yui, hands behind his back. 

“Can we talk?”

“I guess,” she whispered, getting up and brushing off her stained jeans. It was Kiba’s favorite pair, the ones she usually wore when she was going to the studio after classes – black with splattered hues of red, orange, green and purple. He brought her to the other side of the courtyard, his heart racing at the thought of what he was about to say. She stood with her arms across her chest, cerulean eyes boring into his sharp ones. 

He took a deep breath, hands coming around to hold out the apology bouquet Ino suggested. “I like you.” 

“I like you to–”

“No, I like ya. I’m bordering on loving ya 'n when we went out that night, I had ta constantly remind myself it wasn’t real; that we’re not actually datin’ 'n we prolly never would be if ya didn't need to make Kabuto jealous. But I want that chance, ya know? I want to take that chance 'n figure out how to make ya happy. I want to date ya for real.” Yui’s eyes widened, her heart beating inside her ribcage erratically.

“K-Kiba,” she whispered, chewing on her lip. He stepped closer, flowers put into her hands that dangled at her sides, and enveloped her in his arms like it was the last time he’d get this chance. 

“I support ya no matter what ya decide to do,” Kiba whispered into Yui’s hair, his arms tightening around her shoulders. He didn’t want to let go. He wasn’t ready to, but he knew she had to pick. He knew this was what they agreed on. This relationship wasn’t real. Her feelings for him weren’t real, but it felt so goddamn real. He felt so important to her, but he had to pull himself back in order to avoid any further heartbreak.

“K-Kiba.. I just– I don’t know.” He smiled, sadly. The little snaggletooth she grew to love nowhere in sight. 

“Well, I hope when ya do know, ya’ll be happy.” Kiba leaned down once more, lips pressing to her forehead, lingering in the nostalgic feeling. 

He had to remind himself to step away, to not revel in the warmth of her body. He couldn’t stay this time. He couldn’t look at her and risk getting lost in the sea of her eyes. Kiba had to remind himself that the feelings he has for her would never be reciprocated, and what did he expect? She didn’t like him to begin with. Why did he think he could change her mind? Why was he so determined to make her fall in love with him? 

But she was. She was deeply and irrevocably in love with the football player. With the way his eyes crinkled at the corners when he would laugh and the stupid tattoos he got for a bet; with the way his nose scrunched up when they’d walk into starbucks or the way he smiled when she waved at him. This was a feeling that was irreversible and she was scared. How could she be good enough for him? How could she assure him every day that she’d love him and take care of him when she could barely take care of herself. She was broken, cracked in ways she didn’t know how to fix and as much as she wanted Kiba to be the one to put her back together, she couldn’t give him that responsibility. Not this time. 

Yui did the only thing she could and turned her back to Kiba, taking a shaky breath. “I’m sorry,” she whispered before making the trek to her dorm room, tears threatening to spill down her cheeks. But she wouldn’t allow them out. She had no right to cry over Kiba. She had no right to shed tears over a situation she created.

Friday, October 29th

Kiba was on a losing streak. His grades were slipping and the games were just getting worse. He kept thinking about Yui, kept wanting to reach out to her, and ask her how she was doing. He heard Kabuto broke up with his girlfriend and tried asking her out, but she rejected him. He wanted to know why. If this was all to make him jealous, why didn’t she take him back in the end? 

Kiba passed by the art studio, the bright blonde hair and splattered smock the only thing worth looking at in the room. Her canvas was empty, and it looked like she was just staring at it. One of the other students sat beside her and there was a ghost of a smile on her face. Kiba wanted to reach out, tell her it was okay and he’d wait for when she was ready to accept him. 

He walked into his dorm room, Shino sitting on the couch doing homework. 

“How was class?” Kiba grunted, walking to his bedroom and falling face first into his comforter. 

“Yui dropped this off today.” Shino was suddenly in the doorway, holding Kiba’s varsity jacket. “She tried to get the red paint off but she said it wouldn’t come off. She’s sorry.” Kiba turned his head, red fangs painted on the arm of his jacket now staring him in the face. 

“It’s okay,” he whispered. Kiba wanted to reach out, but it was too late.

Wednesday, November 10th

Three quick wraps on the door had Kiba jolting awake. His eyebrows furrowed when the clock on his phone read 2:34am. Who the fuck is knocking on his door at 2:34 on a Wednesday? He huffed and got out of bed. Three more wraps and a small “please” had him stopping in his tracks. 

He swung his dorm door open, eyes wide as they landed on freshly washed blonde hair and cerulean eyes. Her eyes widened. Kiba stood there in nothing but his boxers, messy hair and a dumbfounded expression.

Could it be?

“Kiba,” she whispered. She had no idea what to say. Does she apologize? Does she say it was a mistake and leave? Does she–

Before she could even come up with something, Kiba wrapped his arms around her shoulders. Her cheek pressed to his firm, bare chest. His nose brushed against her temple as he inhaled her scent. 

“I got you,” he whispered, the words clear and annunciated. The tears she had been forcing herself to hold in spilled onto his chest, invading his warmth and enveloping him in the salted smell. Kiba lifted her up bridal style and carried her to the couch, brushing her hair back and kissing her forehead. “It’s okay,” he repeated. Kiba didn’t say anything else, words getting stuck in his throat and making it harder for him to swallow. He rested his chin on her head, reminding himself that this wasn’t the time to be getting overly emotional. He shouldn’t be excited that she showed up at his door because that doesn’t mean she was picking him. Maybe she just needed a friend, someone to lean on, but Kiba – Kiba was like a puppy with a new bone. If he had a tail, it’d be swaying back and forth. Her words muffled against his chest, slurring from the hiccups and tears. 

“You have me.”

Kiba swallowed the lump in his throat. ”I have you?”

“For as long as you want me, you have me.”

©️ ALLYALLYGATOR 2022

taglist: @hashira-mal, @justmyownreality, @sixtymillionoverdueideas, @dahlias-love, @penguinmilo, @nightingaleflow, @delirious-donna, @rocknrollsoul76

join my taglist for more ♡

MASTERLIST ヽ(´o｀；

★彡 Fine

Tenshouin Eichi

Tori Himemiya

Wataru Hibiki

Yuzuru Fushimi

★彡Trickstar

Makoto Yuuki

pining headcanons with Makoto

Hokuto Hidaka

Cute couple things between the two of you

How to steal a Princess’s Heart (SMAU)

Subaru Akehoshi

Avoiding your crush

Mao Isara

Mao x gn!reader that is a make up artist during a photoshoot

Getting jealous after attending s/o’s concert

★彡Ryuseitai

Kanata Shinkai

Flowers that I associate them with

Flower shop AU + Kanata

Tetora Nagumo

Chiaki Morisawa

Flowers that I associate them with

Taylor swift lyrics that represent you and them

You were a fan !?!

Cute couple things between the two of you

Chiaki in a relationship

Shinobu Sengoku

Midori Takamine

Short s/o trying to carry them

With a gn! Tall reader

★彡Alkaloid

Mayoi Ayase

Aira Shiratori

Aira with a gn!reader that likes having their hair played when they are stressed

Hiiro Amagi

Getting jealous after attending s/o concert

Short s/o trying to carry them

Pretending to be your lover

Sleeping during cuddling

Tatsumi Kazehaya

Tatsumi with a s/o that spends too much money on him

★彡Eden

Ibara Saegusa

Reader that is oblivious to their advances

You were a fan !?!

Nagisa Ran

Date headcanons with nagisa

Mermaid!Nagisa and fisher!reader

With a painter s/o

You were a fan !?!

Hiyori Tomoe

Jun Sazanami

Going to a cat cafe

Cute couple things between the two of you

★彡Valkyrie

Mika Kagehira

Soothing his sore throat

Shu Itsuki

Flowers that I associate them with

With a painter s/o

★彡2wink

Yuta Aoi

Yuta x gn!reader that is a make up artist during a photoshoot

Hinata Aoi

Hinata x gn!reader that is a make up artist during a photoshoot

Reader that is oblivious to their advances

Sleeping during cuddling

★彡Crazy B

Kohaku Oukawa

kissing headcanons with kohaku

Napping headcanons with kohaku

Avoiding your crush

Reader that is oblivious to their advances

Kohaku with a Ballet s/o

Rinne Amagi

HiMERU

Flowers that I associate them with

Niki Shiina

Flowers that I associate them with

★彡Undead

Adonis Otogari

Rei Sakuma

Sakuma brothers with a sickly, little sister who over-studies herself (platonic)

Kaoru Hakaze

Coffeeshop AU

Koga Ogami

★彡Ra*bits

Mitsuru Tenma

Cuddling headcanons with Mitsuru

Hajime Shino

Cuddling headcanons with Hajime

Nazuna Nito

With a tall gn! Reader

Flowers that I associate them with

Sharing earphones with Nazuna

Love makes us do silly things

Tomoya Mashiro

★彡Akatsuki

Kuro Kiryu

Keito Hasumi

kissing headcanons with keito

Souma Kanzaki

Flowers that I associate them with

★彡knights

Tsukasa Suou

Fake dating + Tsukasa

Flowers that I associate them with

Arashi Narukami

Pretending to be your lover

Soft hours with Arashi and Ritsu

Cute couple things between the two of you

Leo Tsukinaga

Leo dragging you to sleep

Getting jealous after attending s/o concert

Going to a cat cafe

Royal au

Taylor Swift lyrics that represent you and them

Leo and his muse

Izumi Sena

When you think they aren’t listening

Getting jealous after attending s/o concert

Love makes us do silly things

Ritsu Sakuma

Ritsu and matching flower things

Sakuma brothers with a sickly, little sister who over-studies herself (platonic)

Forgotten memories

Soft hours with Arashi and Ritsu

★彡Switch

Tsumugi Aoba

Natsume Sakasaki

College roommates with Natsume

Natsume dragging you to sleep

Studying late in the library with Natsume

Taylor Swift lyrics that represent you and them

Midnight snack runs

Sora Harukawa

★彡MaM

Madara Mikejima

BnHA Chapter 318: On Your Left

Previously on BnHA: The Hawksquad+Lurkers were all “well this sucks” and sat around a bit talking about how maybe they should actually come up with a new plan that is actually good, but then in the end they were like “nah.” Deku was all, “THERE’S SOMETHING INSIDE ME THAT PULLS BENEATH THE SURFACE!! CONSUMING, CONFUSING!! THIS LACK OF SELF CONTROL I FEAR IS NEVERENDING. IT’S HAUNTING HOW I CANT SEEM TO FIND MYSELF AGAIN. MY WALLS ARE CLOSING IN.” Just, literally that whole entire song. All Might was all “Deku you should take care of yourself, try eating a thing,” and Deku was all “BYE, ALL MIGHT,” and just LEFT. He left!!! What the fuck!!!

Today on BnHA: Endeavor is all, “maybe if Deku didn’t listen to All Might he’ll listen to me instead.” Deku is all, “[doesn’t listen to Endeavor]” because, well, yeah. The Vestiges are all, “surprisingly, even we are a little concerned -- maybe you should get some rest, kid.” Deku is all, “((Ò ‸ Ó)).” The Vestiges are all, “holy shit.” Deku is all, “[wanders the ruined city streets terrifying the populace on account of him looking like Shelob had a baby with one of the Nazgul].” Some shriveled-up puppeteer villain asshole is all, “HORIKOSHI SAID IT’S MY TURN TO ATTACK DEKU TODAY SO I AM GOING TO SUMMON MY FRIGHTENED HELPLESS ATTACK MOB!!” Kacchan is all “WHADDYA MEAN THEY FOUND THE NERD!!! -- oh wait, that’s me, I found him. I found the nerd, you guys.” And just in time, too. I was about to owe a whole lot of people a whole lot of dollars.

so I have been super good about spoilers this week as always, but let me tell you guys, for the past 36 hours my dash filters have basically been nonstop “manga spoilers” this and “bnha 318” that, and so I’m coming in with a fair amount of hype here. your move, Horikoshi

oh, good! they got Endeavor to call Deku to try to talk him out of it. what a great and wonderful plan

“listen up kid, you haven’t slept since March and you are basically a walking biohazard right now, I’m just telling it like it is. didn’t you get shot like three times?? and there was a whole thing about how you urgently needed medical attention?? and supposedly we gave it to you, but I mean you haven’t even changed your clothes and don’t seem to have any fresh bandages or anything, so did we?? did we, really?? and also we all got blown up yesterday, so yeah.” hmm he’s making some reasonable points here you guys, but you sure do go on and on, Endeavor

oh he says foreign aid is finally on its way! I’m sure they’ll be very helpful. I mean in fairness they can hardly be worse than the home-grown heroes at this point

hey Enji, could you maybe try appealing to Deku the sixteen-year-old human boy, as opposed to Deku The World’s Last Hope? he does have value beyond his quirk. I know that’s always been an incredibly difficult concept for you to grasp, but could you maybe TRY, jesus

and also we’re worried about you as a person?? you’re just a kid and you’re pushing yourself way too hard?? you were going to say that part next, right. why the hell didn’t Hawks make this call instead

“don’t worry about me... I’m completely fine” Deku you do understand that saying it over and over again doesn’t actually make it true

and again with the rush!! all the rush rush rush!! we’re running out of time, we can’t let AFO and Tomura keep getting stronger, I have to end this now, there’s no time to rest, etc. etc. etc. just the constant pressure of this whole big countdown on top of everything else

holy shit, you KNOW it’s bad when even the Vestiges are telling him to chill

these guys are basically the walking talking embodiments of self-sacrifice; if even they’re telling him he needs to take five, then he must seriously be like half a step away from death’s door

OH SHIT LMAO

DIDN’T EVEN LET HIM FINISH HIS SENTENCE BEFORE HE SENT HIM INTO THE FUCKING SHADOW REALM WITH THAT FUCKING LOOK. HOLY FUCK. DIDN’T EVEN KNOW IT WAS POSSIBLE TO DIE TWICE. SHIT

(ETA: so I’m pretty sure this was just Danger Sense activating and so he cut them off to go do more hero stuff, but I’m gonna go ahead and stick to my original interpretation anyway lol.)

anyway so how’s everybody doing. we all good? En, you good? Banjou? Shino? I’m imagining you guys all curled up in a little ball on the floor right now lol. can’t say I blame you though, no shame

lmaoooooooooooo

“SHEESH.” sheesh indeed, lmao. “what in the FUCK was that”

see, this is why y’all need Kacchan. you need someone who’s not going to back down from him no matter what. if it’s a matter of out-stubborning Midoriya fucking Izuku, then there’s only one other person on the planet capable of that, and we all know it. don’t pretend like you don’t. I am not going to shut up about this! we’ve had our hurt so now what about SOME COMFORT, DAMMIT

“I’m afraid that he’s becoming influenced by my conscience” nah are you kidding Nana this is all 100% made-in-Japan pure original Deku right here

see, Banjou gets it. “that kid, he’s totally going on his own.” exactly. this was so inevitable it was basically scientific law

“well I for one don’t see the problem with Deku being so obsessed with saving everyone else that he pushes himself until his body and soul literally fall apart” okay, whose speech bubbles are these?? we’re about to have words

lol of course

well you always did prefer the direct route didn’t you. but even you can’t possibly think this is okay lol

dark AU!Kacchan please tell us more about your badass doomed timeline in which everything went to shit and you apparently had the same character arc that Deku is having right now except it somehow made you sexier instead of turning you into a rabid t-rex. I have so many questions

oh so now you want to help??? well -- good, actually. sorry if that sounded offended just now lol

(ETA: so at first when I got to the end of this chapter I was wondering if Katsuki B. had somehow summoned his alternate-universe counterpart through trippy OFA space telepathy lol. but in the original Japanese there’s no reference to “we”, so this appears to be a mistranslation. this line should probably read more like “if there’s something/someone out there that would be able to complement/complete the current Midoriya Izuku [it would be]…” which, oh hello, is that Horikoshi once again reaffirming that Deku and Bakugou complete each other lol. “guess what guys, the Vestiges ship it too" heck yeah. they know what’s up!)

look how admiring his boyfriends are. HORIKOSHI GIVE US THE REST OF THIS BACKSTORY ALREADY GODDAMMIT

“meanwhile somewhere in the depths of the ruined city, Deku was having a dance-off with the villains”

I like how the villains all have this “AHH WHAT THE FUCK” kind of body language to them lol. I mean if it were me, and an eldritch horror suddenly clawed its way from the shadows with its writhing glowy tentacles and pants-shitting nuclear death stare, I would probably just die on the spot. no need to stick around. only pain awaits

lol for a minute I thought this was Can’t Ya See-kun and I was like “WHAT A FASCINATING CROSSING OF PATHS” but it’s just some random girl

he seems genuinely confused lol

Deku it’s because you look like something that crawled out of a sewer drain, sweetheart

lol they just took his word for it?

so trusting. even though they’re immediately hauling ass anyway just to be safe lmao

“my appearance is frightening to others” no shit Deku it’s because you look like a fucking alien exorcism. you look like a Lich that got caught up in an oil spill my dude

NO NOT THE CHOSEN ONE ANGST AGAIN

I RAN OUT OF ESSAY JUICE FOR THIS ALREADY HORIKOSHI!! I’VE BEEN TALKING ABOUT IT FOR MONTHS NOW WHAT TOOK YOU SO LONG!! BUT ANYWAYS, GOOD!! I MEAN, BAD, THOUGH, OBVIOUSLY. BUT YES

“ENJOY THIS MONTAGE OF DEKU BATTLING A RANDOM KAIJU AND WANDERING THE WOODS LIKE A DERANGED GREEN BABA YAGA” okay yes but sir, exactly how much longer is this going to go on. if it’s a matter of you wanting to make sure we get it, let me assure you that aside from a few stray chuunis who think that Deku embracing the Darkness is the coolest thing he’s ever done, all of us here in fandom fully comprehend that this is Not Good

-- OH SO IT’S LIKE THAT

really. with the flashbacks to his loved ones’ smiling faces and everything. not even gonna try to aim above the belt, huh

AND NO KACCHAN??! NO CLASSMATES?!?! IS HE PURPOSELY NOT THINKING OF THEM??? OR ARE THEY BEING SAVED FOR THE NEXT PAGE??? SO HELP ME, IF THE NEXT PART OF THIS SENTENCE IS “CAN PROTECT THEM”, OR EVEN WORSE, “CAN SEE THEIR SMILING FACES AGAIN”, I...

WHAT DID I JUST SAY

(ETA: my man did Sero and Kaminari fucking dirty lmao. I miss their smiling faces too omg.)

the sheer, unparalleled irony of him saying this while he stands there looking like the gargoyle demon from Fantasia got crossed with an umbrella that got struck by lightning. Deku :(

oi who the fuck is this clown

is he controlling this mob with his evil hair. “what if I made an exhausted, running-on-fumes Deku battle a brainwashed mob at Ground Zero.” Horikoshi do you just have like a checklist of horrible things you want to do to your protagonist

easy there Sasori

well joke’s on you buddy because he’s apparently “completely fine”, so

“here’s to hoping that you know more about AFO’s location than the others” jesus christ Deku you really have hung your mercy out to dry huh

now he’s forcing his mob of terrified prisoners to attack Deku ahhhh. sucks to be them. at least they’re not being controlled by bees

so Deku is saying that Sasori’s control can be broken with “physical trauma.” similar to Shinsou’s quirk I guess. but so does that mean he’s gonna have to hurt them? ( •﹏•)

NO NOT MORE SAD EYES

“DEATH BY EMPATHY!!!” HORIKOSHI NO

fuck. he looks like he’s on the verge of passing out

this is what happens when you nerf a character’s self-preservation stats in favor of spamming their bone-breaking stats instead. NOW ACCEPTING BRAIN CELL DONATIONS FOR A BOY IN NEED!! with your loving generosity we can hopefully help him live to the ripe old age of seventeen

OMGFGGG

YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

[grabs your hands] ლ(*꒪ヮ꒪*)ლ [swings you in a circle] へ(ﾟ◇ﾟへ)

THASSSSSSSS WHATSSSSSSS UPPPPPPPPPP

HORIKOSHI REALLY SAID FUCK THAT MASK (ノ°ο°)ノ YOU FINALLY LEARNED!! IT’S CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT!!!!

JUST FOR YOU KACCHAN, HORIKOSHI LEFT THIS ONE BAD GUY WHO’S STILL WEAK TO FIRE. GOD BLESS

IT’S YOUR COUNTERPART, KATSUKI B!!!! HOW WE DOIN OVER THERE IN THE TRIPPY COSMIC OFA SPACE REALM LOL. DO WE BELIEVE YET, FANDOM???

LIGHTS!!!!

INSTANT RESULTS!!! IT’S SUPER EFFECTIVE!!!

(ETA: imagine what this must look like to Deku though. he’s been caught up in this dark cloud of despair and exhaustion that’s been building up over... I’m gonna go ahead and say “weeks”, because yeah. and now he finds himself here, in the place where All Might’s legacy ended and the torch was passed to him. and the world is in ruins, and he’s surrounded by frightened people who are all trying to hurt him -- because who isn’t trying to hurt him, these days -- and he’s scrambling to figure this all out, but meanwhile the weariness is finally starting to catch up to him, and so he’s basically just standing there in a fog of complete and utter misery.

and then all of a sudden through that haze, he hears the one voice that’s more familiar than any other that he knows. like, I honestly wouldn’t be surprised if he thought he was just imagining it at first. Kacchan showing up to save him right when he’s at his most desperate and feeling the most alone. Kacchan, showing up to save him.

this is the person he always looked up to as a child (to be fair he was quite a strange child lmao). the person who was even closer to him than All Might. the person he always thought was amazing. and bam, here he is now. appearing in the sky out of nowhere to one-shot the bad guy with a single blast (which, btw, that was his armor-piercing attack too lmao dslkjlk take it easy there kiddo). like, that must have felt absolutely surreal to him, especially coming at a time when he’s already half-delirious and barely hanging on to reality. he must have really thought that he was losing it there for a second.

but he’s really there. it really is him. and for this brief moment -- before the rest of the situation catches up to him, and he remembers about all of the fucked-up AFO stuff, and remembers why he was so afraid and why he was pushing everyone away -- for just this one brief moment, he’s too exhausted and stunned to do anything except to just react. just stands there, looking up at him in awe.

and you know, it almost reminds me of...

just. you guys. the character development. the freaking character development. someone who brings reassurance. someone who shows up and makes you think, “oh, it’s all going to be okay now, because [person] is here.” the role reversals. the growth. the payoff!! because who is the one person who always had faith that Kacchan would one day grow up to become an amazing hero like that. WHO IS IT. YOU ALREADY KNOW.

omg. anyways, bless you Horikoshi, my feels which have been on backorder since fucking September have finally arrived lmao. yes, good, thank you. worth the wait. it is always, always worth the wait. fuck yeah.)

“LOWFRIES” SO YOU’RE TELLING ME THE WHOLE GANG IS HERE, AHHHHHHHH (º̩̩́⌣º̩̩̀ )

BEAUTIFUL. WONDERFUL. SENSATIONAL. I DON’T EVEN CARE THAT JUMP IS ON BREAK NEXT WEEK. THIS RIGHT HERE WILL SUSTAIN ME

NARUTO MASTERLIST. PART ONE.

THIS LEADS TO MY OTHER ACCOUNT. faevi is now aot / levi focused and i wanted to make this account for other writing. if you're confused, please ask and i'll try to explain! Please forgive me!

GAARA:

SCENARIO: TRIGGER WARNING (Self-Harm & mental health) Gaara comes home to find that Y/N self-harmed.

GENMA:

SCENARIO: Y/N bakes with Genma.

HEADCANONS: Boyfriend Genma with a citizen girlfriend & what people think.

HINATA:

SCENARIO: Y/N & Hinata being intimate in bed. NSFW.

IBIKI:

HEADCANONS: Ibiki having a secret wife and children.

IRUKA:

SCENARIO: Y/N & Iruka take care of little Naruto. Naruto senses something between them and so decides to help them in his own mischievous ways.

ITACHI:

HEADCANONS: Boyfriend Itachi with a citizen girlfriend& what his parents think.

HEADCANONS: Boyfriend Itachi with a shy girlfriend who is secretly a pervert. NSFW.

KAKASHI:

SCENARIO: Y/N taking care of Kakashi and expressing feelings.

SCENARIO: Kakashi finding out his friend (Y/N) is a lesbian.

SCENARIO: TRIGGER WARNING: Sexual harassment. ANBU Y/N and Kakashi fled from an ambush & Kakashi protects Y/N from another shinobi who sexually harasses her with comments. NSFW.

SCENARIO: (TW: Self harm, etc.) Kakashi discovers self harm scars on Y/N.

SCENARIO: Kakashi meets his newborn son.

SCENARIO: Kakashi catches Y/N reading his erotica novels and decides to have fun with her. NSFW.

SCENARIO: (TW: Abuse, torture, etc.) Y/N is a longtime friend of Kakashi and even his first kiss. In their teenage years, Y/N was abducted with her team. Kakashi felt lost till years later, he is put on a mission by Tsunade after rumours appeared about shinobi being tortured by the memory. Kakashi meets Y/N once again, after years of feeling empty.

SCENARIO: Y/N gets off by using Kakashi’s thigh. NSFW.

SCENARIO: SOULMATE!AU - Kakashi feels things that he shouldn’t supposed to. NSFW.

SCENARIO: Painful Love. - Y/N is being forced into a marriage that’s not out of love and is escorted by Kakashi.Chapters: ONE | TWO | THREE | FOUR | FIVE | SIX | COMPLETED

HEADCANONS: Boyfriend Kakashi with a citizen girlfriend & what people think.

HEADCANONS: Kakashi introduces his citizen girlfriend to team 7.

HEADCANONS: Kakashi’s wedding & honeymoon.

HEADCANONS: How Kakashi found out his student is ill and how he treats them.

HEADCANONS: Drunk S/O and drunk Kakashi. What happens?

KANKURŌ:

SCENARIO: Y/N had a childhood crush on Gaara but realises Kankurō truly has her heart. Kankurō still believes Y/N is crushing on Gaara and tastes bitterness. A misunderstood love.

KIBA:

SCENARIO: (TW: abuse, trauma, etc). Team 8 finds an injured and abused girl that was left to die by the bandits they were chasing. They bring her back to Konoha for treatment. Y/N is too traumatised to talk but finds comfort and joy through Akamaru who is protective of her. Y/N comes to realise that his owner, Kiba, can be just as a sweet and comforting in his own special way.

NARUTO:

SCENARIO: Naruto asks Y/N to pretend to date him. Only to realise there are actual feelings.

HEADCANONS: Boyfriend Naruto with a shy girlfriend who is secretly a pervert.

NEJI:

SCENARIO: Neji & Y/N go on their first date.

RIN:

SCENARIO: Adult!Rin (Alive, too) being sort of grumpy at her girlfriend.

SAKUMO:

HEADCANONS: SFW and NSFW Dating HCs for Sakumo Hatake.

SAKURA:

HEADCANONS: Sakura taking on an apprentice like Tsunade.

SHIKAMARU:

SCENARIO: Y/N watches the clouds with Shikamaru.

SCENARIO: Y/N couldn’t save a friend. Shikamaru comforts you.

SHINO:

SCENARIO: Shino takes Y/N, his civilian girlfriend to meet his parents.

SCENARIO: SOULMATE!AU - Shino has always been insecure about his grey eyes. Being bullied through childhood does things to some people. Shino is very comfortable with his shades. As an adult, he meets Y/N and their eyes change colour but sadly, Y/N think it’s one-sided.

YAMATO:

SCENARIO: Y/N and Yamato accidentally fall asleep together on the couch.

MISC:

HEADCANONS: Songs for Sakura, Kakashi & Jiraiya.

HEADCANONS: Konoha Boys & Senseis; How they’d deal with their partner on their period.

—————————————————————————————-

CRACKSHIPS:

Kakashi x Mercy (OW): Kakashi gets injured on the battlefield and Mercy is there to save him.

————————————————————————–

MATCHUPS: Click here for matchups tag :)

I just thought of this, but imagine Ino and Sakura get the reader strippers for a party before they get married. Who’s most likely gonna infiltrate into that party and be really jealous? Heheehehhhuhjihi

Ohh, yes, I love this one. Ino would definitely do this, 100%, and Sakura is an enabler.

If the Naruto boys found out that you had omega strippers at your party, well...:

  Naruto – He is very upset. He knows you didn’t really cheat on him, but it kinda feels like you did. He would never hire any strippers for him, so why would you? Do you not love him as much as he loves you? He goes to the party and see them through the window, and then runs home and cries in his nest. He feels very betrayed. The best way to get him to forgive you is to stress that you didn’t know there was going to be strippers, and that you actually didn’t enjoy it at all. Letting him smell you when you get home is a very good way to prove to him that you didn’t cheat, because he can’t smell any other omegas (apart from your friends) on you. If he can smell strange omegas on you, he will reject your apologies for a while.

 Sasuke – He turns up just to snoop but is so furious and hurt to see that you have strippers. Is he not enough for you? Do you not find him attractive? He leaves and goes home, locking your bedroom door and refusing to open it when you come home. You can sleep in the guest room or on the sofa for all he cares. He’d rather sleep alone (spoiler alert: he hates sleeping without you.) He ends up saying something like ‘why don’t you go ask those other omegas to sleep with them, because obviously you don’t want to sleep with me’. You ask him what on earth he’s talking about and he goes nuts, shouting accusations at you before storming out of the house. The best way to get him to forgive you is to convince him that you hated it, that it wasn’t your idea, and then do something big for him. A big, fancy dinner date is the minimum to get him to agree to come. It’s difficult to get him to forgive you, but he will.

 Kakashi – Kakashi doesn’t mind as long as the other omegas were only eye candy. He’s not okay with lap dances or grinding, but he knows that there’s eye candy everywhere, and he doesn’t mind you appreciating it. As long as you didn’t try to hide it from him, he wouldn’t suspect you. So, when he asks you how the party was, just mention that Ino ordered some strippers and he’ll be chill. If you lie, he’ll start to get suspicious.

 Itachi – (non-massacre au) He doesn’t know how to feel. He hates it, he’s quite possessive and this just makes him upset, but he’s not sure if his emotions are valid or not. He hates how possessive he can be, so he can’t decide if it’s you or him that’s out of line. He keeps turning it over in his mind, going back home and laying in bed awake. He doesn’t know what to do, so he just pretends to be asleep when you get home. You press a kiss on his head before going to sleep and that just makes his thoughts even more complicated. In the end, he confronts you, talking it out like adults. He’s very easy to comfort, just tell him the truth and give him lots of affection. He quickly forgets all about it, after all, you didn’t actually cheat on him.

 Shikamaru – He doesn’t really care. Firstly, he heard Ino talking about surprising you with strippers, so he knows it wasn’t your decision. Secondly, he’s way too confident to feel threatened by some dancers. You love him and he knows it.

 Iruka – He hates it. He actually goes into the party and leans his head around the door, catching your eye and calling you to come and talk to him. Ino whines about it, but you ignore her and follow Iruka out. He does yell a little bit, he’s a bit of a hot head after all, but he’s mostly just sad and betrayed. If you tell him it wasn’t your idea, he will drop it and apologise as long as you ask the strippers to go home. If you do that, he will apologise and say he doesn’t blame you and leave you to your party. But he waits up for you to come home to get some love from you.

 Shino – Shino takes it as a direct critique on him. After all, he’s basically the opposite of a stripper. He gets quite insecure. He doesn’t think you’re doing anything wrong by having strippers, but it makes him wonder if you would prefer an omega like them? Would you prefer an omega who didn’t cover up every inch of their skin all the time? Would you prefer an omega who was charismatic and confident? It makes him feel bad about himself but he won’t ask for reassurance, so you have to figure out what’s going on inside his head yourself.

SSM21 Day 2. Festival

Pairing:  SasuSaku  Prompt: Festival  Title:  sparks will fly, they ignite our bones Tags:  AU - Modern Setting; First Dates; Wooing Lips burning against his, mouthing soft words in the detonation din.

(In which Sakura has the better aim.)

Ao3 | twt | full series link | @ssskmonth

“It’sa real date this time.” Each word’s punctuated by Naruto’s fist punching his opposite palm, driving home the importance of this. This being:  Street stall smells rich and piquant, a smoky-savory blend; lights flickering in kaleidoscopic, neurotic brilliance; children wild as free foals escaping their parents, weaving in and out of adults’ legs clutching cheap prizes and sparklers —

and him, Sasuke, on an actual fucking date with a woman with cotton-candy-colored locks who has been besting him every game and measure of skill imaginable, and his dumb plus-one buffer, the best friend, now droning on about how he needs to win her something.

“Anything!” Naruto throws his arms up, dramatic and exasperated, the only gearsetting he seems to have. “Teddy bear, ugly fish, keychain — literally any shitty prize to show her yer not a complete waste of time.”

“Sasuke!” Both men snap to, pretending to have been watching the whole time as Sakura jumps up and down, pumping a fist in the air. “I won again!”

With shiny, wide eyes, she places both her palms out in giddy anticipation to receive a stuffed bear donning a baseball cap of the local (terrible) team from a surly booth operator with a permanent frown.

“She’s comin’ this way!”

“I can see that,” Sasuke hisses. “You useless idiot.”

“Did I hear ‘charming wingman?’ ‘Kay, I’m gonna find some food. Give you two some time—”

“Don’t say it—”

“Alone.” Some strange tone aiming for sensual manifests as choking pigeon, and Naruto skips away as Sakura bounds up to Sasuke, smiling so wide he can see every perfect tooth.

“Did you see?” So proud of herself, arms laden with prizes. Some she’s already given away to cute children passing by, perhaps the sole supplier of noisemakers and soft bears. For a doctor in pediatrics, the urge to make smiles comes second nature. “Where’s he going?”

“Food, or something,” Sasuke murmurs, trying not to look as constipated and irritated as he had ten minutes prior — another gem from Naruto’s unasked-for criticism. “He’s left us alone.”

“Finally.” Definitely slipped out by accident, and Sakura grumbles over her mistake, red prickling her cheeks and chest. “Not that I dislike him, of course—”

“I do,” Sasuke says, absolutely deadpan. It takes her a moment.

“Uchiha Sasuke, did you just make your first joke?”

Ears burning in the cool night air, it’s his turn to smother his embarrassment. In lieu of further slip ups, he awkwardly gathers the items in her arms, a mishmash of unidentified thingamajigs and whatnots that you only find in curio shops or carnivals, and gallantly takes on their burden.

“Walk with me?”

So sure his voicebox just sustained a hairline crack; he hates himself for being nervous.

Eyes, hers, brighter than all the psychedelic frenzy swirling around them both, caught up in the haze; she has the uncanny ability to fade the rest to black, toss the entirety of the world’s existence aside.

Seeking to link her arm with his amid the mess of wares won, she succeeds and presses closer.

“I thought I’d die waiting,” she whispers into his sleeve. “I’ve been wanting you to notice me properly all night.”

Meandering, conjoined, down the main road; carved out for the celebration, buffeted by snack scents and other couples, groups of friends, and plenty of pairs pretending they’re still just and only that. Along the way she unloads her many winnings, surreptitious, in part kindly trying to relieve his burden but also calculating the space in her single occupancy apartment.

She watches people and lights, and he watches her.

Sakura’s gaze snags on a particular booth, more specifically a particular prize. Of the stuffed variety.

“Did . . .  something catch your eye?” he asks. Immediately thinks he sounds like an idiot. You know how to woo ‘em, and why does his inner voice sound like Naruto’s on this date, goddamn it —

Burying her cheek into his shoulder, she giggles and it threads beautiful, stringed tension in his throat and spine, symphonic, testing its own flex to see if she can orchestrate the rest of him. He wishes he could spin her around, lift her high in some filmesque climax, kiss her in the closing credits.

“Don’t laugh,” she says, “but I love slugs. Adore them, really. Gross, I know!” She raises her free hand and points directly at a giant stuffed slug on a high shelf behind the booth’s counter. “And honestly, I’d likely keep it in my office; the kids would love it.”

Sasuke knows, from what she’s disclosed, that these are sick kids, too. This ancient, gendered mating ritual is unavoidable and he’ll have to rise to the challenge. He must provide. Stupid, because she outstrips his earnings and likely will the rest of their life.

Says it like a throwaway, like no big deal:  “I’ll have to win it for you, then.”

The game? Aim. Darts. Doable if he’s sober and with equally (un)talented friends; ranging from Shino the sharpshooter to drunk and stumbling Suigetsu, he’s decidedly somewhere in the middle, but it should be enough raw talent to beat a festival game.

Sakura’s eyes are on him, excited. She dances a little from foot to foot, ready to cheer him on.

Dropping the rest of the prizes on the ground and shoving a fistful of coins at the booth operator, he smirks. Born ready, all those forced childhood sports camps and instrument lessons finessing his hand-eye coordination finally stepping up to the plate.

Imagine failing miserably three rounds in a row, the last one bouncing off the dartboard so violently it narrowly misses the sleepy booth operator. Sasuke grinds his teeth, jaw tight, wishing it’d met its mark.

To Sakura’s credit, she’s completely unperturbed. Almost makes it worse.

She pecks him on the cheek, scoring him through hot and fevered where her lips touch.

“Performance anxiety,” she quips, but her smile isn’t unkind. “Let me give it a try.”

Each dart that lands in the board does so with gusto, embeds itself deep into the sisal cork. As each one hits, Sasuke reflects they might as well be piercing him. The most painful blow is watching her indicate the bluebacked slug, winning it outright without his help, and squeezing it half to death in her arms.

They’re walking again, sans the rest of her prizes — left them for the booth operator, and whatever kids wander his way wanting toys with which to annoy their parents.

“You’ve been so quiet,” she says, shifting her slug under one arm and linking up with him again.  Sasuke shrugs against her. “I’m not sure what’s next with us.”

 He stops, figures it’s better to rip that bandaid off now, give her an out so he can save some face. Of course they’ve stopped on some coquettishly romantic bridge, arched over the still summer pond, a popular viewing spot for the night’s end fireworks.

She watches him expectantly, searching him with her sharp green eyes.

“What do you mean?” Her question is slow, puzzled.

What he means to say is something gentile. Instead he says, “You’re great at darts.”

She seems to sway, a physical manifestation of being caught off guard. Laughs. “Surprised me too! But you gave my arms a rest, so they were ready to win.” Curls her arm to indicate muscle, grinning.

Steps closer, melting through an unseen veil of personal space. Cherry scent; smoke.

“Could be all the shots you administer.”

“I guess we can call jabbing kids with needles a calling.” Mirroring him, she steps in too, and there’s not so much space between them anymore. “Good practice. You could come around sometime, see my work.”

Another tiny shuffle.

It’s time to break this. Sasuke inhales deeply, letting it out in measured beats. “Sakura—”

“If you’re mad you couldn’t win this for me,” she interrupts, “you’re being silly. I don’t care about that, you know.”

He tilts his head, and in spite of himself his hand wanders, brushing a stray strand of pink out of her face. “Hm?”

“I don’t,” she repeats, and sets her slug down on the wooden bridge. Breathes deeply before saying in a low, threaded voice, “What I care about is all the waiting.”

Sasuke feels it all fall into place. Oh. Oh.

“So come on, Sasuke.”

And before she’s even finished saying his name he’s kissing her, the last vibrations of his name caught on their lips, locked, and though the timing is perfect and picturesque, film archetype material as the fireworks charge the air around them, each one set off drawing ripple designs in the water beneath them, this thrill is unmatched, the way she wraps her arm around his neck to taste him deeper, the way he lifts her up to rest him on his hips and there’s nothing, has never been anything, quite like this.

Real fireworks pale in comparison.

Lips burning against his, mouthing soft words in the detonation din.

“The perfect end,” she whispers, “to a festival.”

soft lips and pretty smiles.

— a VERY SHORT sasushika/shikasasu genderbent college au  —

Do I like women? she finds herself questioning once again as she notices her own lingering stare at very pretty girls, specifically, a very intelligent-eyed short-haired girl across the cafeteria. Fuck, she always swept the thought away because, no, she isn’t gay, yes, she does like boys. Right?  “Psst,” someone hisses, making her jump in her seat, making her head swivel around to glare at an annoying grin directed her way. “What is it, Inuzuka?” she spits out, regarding the shaggy haired boy with a raise of her brow.  “What’s got you starin’ at the Nara over there, got any ideas?” Kiba murmurs, brows raising suggestively, his tone intoning mischief. She suppresses her very strong urge of hitting the boy upside the back of his head, instead directing a scowl back. “And what implies in your dumb as shit brain that I’m thinking about Nara?”  Her very not thought out response makes her wince, her eyes looking up to Shino who’s regarding her with an amused little smile, showing that her failed attempt of changing the subject was very obvious. “Sasuke.” “Kiba.” she grounds out, exhaling, turning back to the boy.  “Do you like girls? Ya know, tits and all?” she avoids his eyes, feeling her shoulders raise defensively, eyes covered by a curtain of her bangs. “Sas? you know it’s fine, we won’t judge you.”  She for once, let’s her tough mask fall down, bringing vulnerable dark eyes up to meet Kiba’s equally as black eyes, expecting disgust or some form of mockery, only to see sincere ones. Her eyes dart to her other boy bestfriend, Shino giving a supporting nod.  She scoots closer on the bench she’s seated on, pulling the two boys across her closer to the table, ducking her head closer to their faces. She breathes deeply, collecting her thoughts, letting Shino pat her arm comfortingly in the mean time. She inhales, “I might, I think? I mean,” she exhales, before continuing on a low voice, “they’re just so pretty, you know? and I like staring at them and they make me feel like something, I don’t know, maybe I like girls, I really think so, I’m not sure yet, but it just feels so right,” she breathes out quietly, confusion tainting her tone, but a tone of assured, unwavering belief hidden underneath. She looks up to the two, watching her two childhood friends meet each other’s eyes, before looking back to her, both sporting giddy smiles. “We know.”  She doesn’t hesitate smacking the two of them at the same time, barking out a free laugh, relief flooding her veins. Of course they do, they know each other like the back of their hands. Still, she throws her arms around the two of them, secured and safe, comforted by the two pairs of arms hugging her back, knowing her these two will stay with her until the end.  The moment ended when Kiba snorts, “But you have to still pretend for our arranged marriage, dickhead,” She only reaches up to ruffle his hair, “I’m honestly getting tired of it, dipshit, your face is so unsightly and plain.” gaining a disgruntled face from the male, making their group crack up in laughter. She’d have to worry about it on the future, but right now? she wouldn’t trade them for the world.  Sasuke bounds up the stairs in a sedate pace, her shoes scuffing against the concrete steps on the side of the court, bomber jacket thrown on her shoulder. A focused brunette shivers on the cold plastic of the benches, a thin oversized sweater providing no comfort. She huffs, rolling her eyes at the (very pretty) image in front of her, draping her jacket around the girl. The brunette snaps her head towards her, pinning intent and observant eyes that makes her heart skip multiple beats. She offers a smirk, using the hem of her shirt to wipe the sweat by her temple. “First time seeing you here,” she starts, dropping the shirt, and landing her ass on the equally as cold seat.  Shikamaru’s eyes dart on the normally gruff and scowling girl. Eyes drinking in the sight of a carefree smile and heart aching because, holy fuck, she’s everything. She instead, offers a coy smile, blowing on the stray brown strands in front of her face. She jabs a thumb on Naruko’s direction, saying in a seemingly deadpan voice, “I came to support my friend.” Dark eyes dart to the side, following the direction, only to snort, “I’d thought Naruko out of all people would remind you to bring a jacket.” She shrugs an elbow to the jacket hanging limply, “I was disappointed that a pretty girl like you is left out cold here, don’t want you to freeze now, do we?”  “Thank you, Uchiha.” Shikamaru drawls uninterested, making the girl look around her shoulder. “Sasuke.”  The brunette quirks an inquiring brow, “What do you mean?”  “Call me Sasuke.” She rushes to say, “And I’d like to know you more, sweetheart.” Sasuke exhales deeply, hands holding on her knees tightly as she regains her breath. A whistle of “that’s our girl!” echoes in the indoor stadium, as the whistle signaling the end of the game screeches. The adrenaline rushes out, various students of their college running down the stairs to hug the sweaty, exhausted players. Kiba claps her on the back, grinning wide, as Shino hands her a full, ice-cold tumbler of water, just the way she likes it. “Drink up, and we’ll go to that dango shop you love to go to.” She groans, closing her eyes, as flaps her shirt up and down, letting cool air hit the warm spot on her stomach, icky with sweat. She startles when a tentative arm reaches around her, opening dark ones to meet chocolate ones.  “I think you deserve to have an exchange, hm?” Pretty-brunette-girl hums on her temple, cheek brushing against hers, as arms secure a cashmere sweater around her hips, hiding her shorts. Nara, that’s the name. She opens her mouth to start something, only to stop when the warmth enveloping her disappears.  A murmured, “Shikamaru,” goes through her ears, louder than the beating of her lungs against her ribcage.  Kiba and Shino exchange snickers in the background. The two of them continue to meet up, whether coincidental or when Naruko drags Shikamaru with, but Sasuke doesn’t mind, in fact, she’s happy her best friend does so.  After practice banter, or opinionated debates about waffles or pancakes, or just plain fooling around. She adores every moment with the brunette. Spending time to read the books Shikamaru recommends her, or trying out coffee that caused her to drink it daily, much to the intelligent woman’s amusement. Or lighthearted rustling on the grass, leaving Sasuke wrapping her arms around the out of breath Shikamaru on top of her. Or letting Shikamaru run their hands on her long tousled hair, also letting her tuck messy brown strands behind Shikamaru’s ear. Or the lingering arms around each other’s waist as they pass through corridors, or the hours that pass by because they’re just enjoying the quiet and comfort of one another, watching the clouds go by.  A short-tuft full of hair makes itself known on the crook of her shoulder, her own dark strands graping over the other girl’s head. She leans her head against the mellow breathing of the girl on her side, a sense of calm and comfort grounding her, relaxed. She’s fallen in love. "I didn't think I’d see Shikamaru Nara smoking of all things," she drawls teasingly. She stops her steps, breath matching Shikamaru's, in for a breath, and out for one. the brunette looks at her with fond brown eyes, voice rasping, "and what're you gonna do about it?" She can only inhale, even if the smoke in her lungs protests, even if her eyes sting, she meets brown eyes levelly, murmuring a hoarse, and honest to god whisper of "Nothing," to the dark of the night. She licks her dry lips, before snatching the cigarette, and taking a deep drag, flicking it down on the ground. She turns, back facing the short-haired girl, saying, "but that doesn't mean i won't stop you from time to time." She breathes out, smoke fogging her vision, looking at molten chocolate looking through her, heart lurching. "So there's a next time?" the questions hangs from equally dry lips, which she answers with a sure tone, "Of course there is." “Always?” Smoke mingles between them, “Always.” Shikamaru blows out a breath, brushing the flyaway hairs on Sasuke’s face, fingers threatening to bury itself on the soft strands. A shiver goes down her spine at the calculating, and focused dark eyes that peers back, sharp and half-lidded. The intrigue and curiosity swirls, watching her every moment as she throws a comment she’s always thought of.  “You’re not much of an asshole they make out to be.” Strong, deft long fingers leave her wrists, only leaving a pale thumb circling the pulse point. Their knees are touching, as she offers a wide smile, “I’d say you’re a softie.”  A loud smack on her thigh renervates through the room, Sasuke chuckling lowly, before regarding her with a tilted head, another thumb guiding her chin upwards. “Hm, and you're sure about that?" Sasuke asks wryly. A zing of indignation leaves a full-blown frown on her lips, “I think many people assume things cause they think they know you.” She trails off, her hands fiddling on the silver thin rings on a pale hand, their feet shuffling to tangle together. “ “And can you say, that you do know me, Shika?" Sasuke drags searching eyes  to her own, watching her reaction coolly. She gulps, before snarking out, “I know I do.”  She doesn’t find any lie about what she said, it was pure honestly. She couldn’t take back her words, but she can only look at the surprised look of the other woman, a hand brushing down the side of her hair. Fuck, she’s in so much trouble. “What’re you playing at, Uchiha?” Shikamaru growls, hair bobbing as she shakes her head in exasperation. “Goddamn it, I’m not some type of game you can just play!” she screams, backing away from the heartbroken eyes looking back at her. Lips tightly pressed, furrowed brows and her strong and broad structure bends in, making the player look smaller, flinching at her loud volume. But she doesn’t want this, she’s in love with her, and she doesn’t deserve to be only someone who’s there to catch, she wants more. “You have a soon-to-be-husband waiting for you?! Why play with my feelings?” She throws it out the wind, fists clenched tightly as she tries to find anything she did wrong. She wants to know that the gentle hold on her cheeks is a lie, that Sasuke is just there. (She wants to know if the onyx eyed, black-haired woman feels what she’s feeling, that she wants more of them, what they have, more, what they could be.) ”I’m not.” Sasuke whispers, convinced and determined as she tries to hold Shikamaru’s hands. “I promise I’m not.” “I don’t think I can trust your empty words.” She whispers, hurt and aching, tears wellling up. “My greatest regret, is to fall for you, love.” “I’ve always been afraid you’ll fly too far out of my reach, that I’m unable to catch you.” she sobs, fingers removing the pale hands away from her arms. She runs, bolting, leaving a devastated raven in the rain, a plead of “S-shika!” ringing in her ears. [“Mum, I like girls.” a girl sobs, “I’m in love with a girl.” “Ma, ‘Tachi, please. I can’t let her go. Please.” “I’ll talk to your Father. ‘Chi, go bring your sister and let her rest. She looks like she hasn’t slept a blink.” “C’mon, Sa.” ”Thank you, thank you.”] Laughs mocks her, her head bent low as male players make fun of how badly their conversation went. How a nerd like her would ever get the engaged, vball athlete. The pain stings, avoiding the dark eyes trailing her every step, the nonchalant grazing on the corridors or the fast glances during the volleyball practice. It’s raw, and it’s open, a wound gaping wide by her ribcage, heavy on her shoulders. Makes her crave for more, to have someone to hold, and to be held.  So lost in her thoughts she missed the fist barreling towards her, or the worried whispering to her ear. Naruko supports her as she regains her balance, eyes wide at the murderous glaring woman in front of her, a smaller hand holding the fist back. A threatening growl of “Don’t you dare touch her.”  Breath stuck in her lungs, she wobbles as Sasuke punches back, as her seemingly petite form looms and brashly defends and attacks back, swift and graceful. Kiba laughs as Shino pulls the girl away, the infuriatingly smug smirk on her bloodied lips making Shikamaru giggle, the boys previously towering over her crumpled and cowering on the ground.  “Fucking bastards. I’m fucking gay, lesbian, whatever. I just know I like, maybe love Shikamaru,” she says sincerely, looking back with a soft smile. “And I know I might be a tad bit too late.” She murmurs, cradling shaking hands in her own, before bloody knuckles graze a freckled cheek. “But I’m not gonna be a coward anymore.” She presses a kiss on the unblemished knuckles, chuckling softly at both of their red faces, hands moving to cup Shikamaru’s cheeks. Her thumbs brush on the soft skin, as the short-haired woman slides her hands to her hips. “I really want to kiss you.”  She finds herself staring at Shikamaru's lips, tempted to cover it with her own, to trace the seam with her thumb and hold onto the nape of neck as she loses herself in her. In some type of bravery or impatience, Shikamaru leans in, smacking their lips together, before she also, pulls the girl closer, wrapping her arms around her neck. Her impulsiveness joins, tongue darting out to tangle with the other, holding unto each other tightly. “Want to be my girlfriend? darling?” she breathes to Shikamaru’s ear, feeling lips pressing on her collarbone as the brunette laughs, “I like the sound of that, dear.” “I like you more.” “Sap.”

thicker than forgotten 👀❤👀❤👀❤ i gotta know

Both you and @tenderlysizzlingfart asked about this one, which is hilarious bc its...probably THE most convoluted and hard to explain but I'll do my best 😂

Basically this arose between me and my sister during a series of speculations after I finished the adoption fic (Taking Care) where we went on to flesh out the OC and her clan/family, and play with how the story would go from there and where things would end up if Narto (and Sask) had a whole adopted family during the events of the show. This is where it gets weird. At the time, we were also obssessed with this book called "The Incredible Lives of Greta Wells" (which everyone should read- its literally lifechanging) which is about a woman who keeps waking up as parallel versions of herself in different timelines and trying to reconcile them, and we took those ideas and were like 👀👀

So yeah, basically this is "regular naruto wakes up in our au adopted naruto world where everything is perfect for...angst reasons? I guess?" Here's a bit of a snippet below. Eri and Wada are the OC's created for the story- like I said this is heavily au-

“Not true,” Said Sasuke, “Naruto knows all about how worms taste, don’t you?” 

He turned and looked sharply at Naruto, and Naruto felt like he’d been sucker punched. His teammate had an actual smile playing around his lips, as he looked slyly over to him across the table. Naruto had never seen Sasuke so relaxed and happy; for one strange fleeting second, he felt like he really was his brother, being playfully ribbed with an inside joke at dinner. The next second, Sasuke realized his slipup, and his face re-masked itself. 

“Oh, you wouldn’t know about that.” He said, clearly embarrassed. “Nevermind.” 

Tell me about it then Naruto felt like begging him. All of a sudden he could no longer stomach it; the warm inviting banter at the table and the hot food and the feeling of being surrounded by people seemed cruel. He pushed his bowl away suddenly. 

“I think I’m gonna go to bed.” He said, throat suddenly raw, “OK?” 

“Alright…” Eri blinked at him from her seat, “Do you want me to show you where your room is?” 

“No, I can find it.” 

It wasn’t hard to find. At the top of the landing a note scribbled on a piece of paper and stuck in the attic door with a kunai read, “Wada’s room, keep out!” in bold lettering. Down the hall, all of the other doors were open; he had only to get a glimpse of the Gai poster, smiling brilliantly at him from the wall to tell which one was Lee’s. That left the door in front of him. The room was a high-ceilinged space with bay windows. On one side, the dark blue bedspread was perfectly made and clothes for the next day laid out. On the other, the garish orange bedspread was haphazardly tossed over the mattress, familiar looking clothes and socks strewn around it. 

I share a room with Sasuke. He realized, and tried not to dwell on the thought, kicking off his clothes and searching through the pile of unfamiliar items before pulling on a T-shirt and sweatpants that already smelled disconcertingly like him. 

The sounds of them talking and laughing downstairs drifted up to him, Sasuke’s voice among them, and he bit his lip and tried to snuggle down into the blanket. 

It wasn’t fair. If this was a genjutsu, it was a particularly cruel one. But it couldn’t be; the detail went too deep; Naruto only had to look around the space he was in to see touches that couldn’t have been constructed by his own mind. Sentimental items he didn’t recognize, trash shoved into the frame of his bed; there was even a diary, hidden not-exactly-well within his pillowcase. He pulled it out and began reading the latest entry,

Tuesday, July 10’th. 

Kinda spent all day goofing off again at training, but captain Yamato takes forever to get to the point so it’s not really my fault. Sakura is totally eager to spar all the time now and I don't plan on getting my face caved in, so i’m pretending to learn a new move to avoid her. Tomorrow Wada and Shino and I are going out to Ichariku’s with our mission money. Might ask Sai to come just so i don’t feel like a third wheel (gross). Ok, Sasuke is literally snoring right now even though he says he doesn’t snore. As I'm writing this I can hear him. Note to self; borrow a video camera for evidence. 

There was more to it, but Naruto closed the book and quickly shoved it back under the pillow. He didn’t want to read anymore. He didn’t want to be here any more. It was too cruel, and unfair; and a cruel and unfair thought was beginning to form in his mind. Maybe, he thought under the covers listening to the warm family banter below, maybe he just wouldn’t get back home. Maybe that other Naruto could take his life- the empty, trashed apartment, the fractured team, the lost Sasuke- and he could have this, if only for a while. He’d had it pretty good for a while, hadn’t he? That other Naruto? It was only fair. Maybe that other him would even  know what to do with his life. 

He lay there considering it in the darkness for awhile until he heard someone come up the stairs. In the hallway outside the door he could hear people talking in hushed voices; Eri and Sasuke, it sounded like, before the door was pushed open and Sasuke slipped inside. He didn’t bother being particularly quiet as he pulled on his pajamas and slid into his own bed. 

“Night.” He called quietly after a few minutes, and Naruto jumped, having forgotten that he could, of course, use sharingan to tell if he was awake. 

“Night.” he called back, guiltily, but he stayed awake anyway, as long as he could, listening to the sounds of the house as it settled. Trying to create a perfect snapshot of it, in case he closed his eyes and woke up in his old life again. 

Summary: Naruto and Hinata join the Twelve Guardian Ninja of the Land of Fire's Daimyo.  (But not really.)  Their mission is to smoke out the rat among them who's selling political secrets to insurgents, while making sure the other Guardians don't figure them out.

Neither can tell when their acting became so convincing.

A fake relationship canon-divergent AU.

Rated E for eventual shameless smut.

Written for @naruhina2020 March - Bodyguard Theme

Chapter 1: Introduction: Motives

She’s called for a mission at an expected time, about 9:00 in the morning, rather than some odd hour of the night.  Whatever it is, it must not be a real emergency.

He uses the rooftops to get to the Tower, as is his preferred route these days, rather than get caught up in conversations with groups of giggling girls.

She enters the Sixth Hokage’s office, surprised to see that Shino is not already there before her.

He makes his way through the hall, wondering who he’ll be partnered with, or if he’ll have a partner at all.

“He never knocks,” Kakashi laments, and right on time, the door swings open.

He excitedly wonders aloud, “Who am I working-”

She honestly can’t remember the last time she worked with Naruto.  Their skills are too similar.  Close combat.  Sensory.  And he’s simply too good to need anyone with the same specialties as him.

“Hinata!  You’re my partner this time?!  This is going to be great!”  He’s not going to fight over stupid things like he does with Sakura, Kiba, and Ino.  He’s not going to be overworked with Lee and Tenten, who are both used to a level of workouts that no one else has been conditioned to enjoy.  He’s not going to be creeped out by Shino.

Shikamaru’s his usual partner.

But Shikamaru’s been out on a ridiculously long mission.

“It must be a tough one if I’m partnering with Hinata,” he casually observes.

She doesn’t say it out loud, but obviously, if Naruto’s on the job, the mission must actually be some kind of emergency.  A or...S-rank. For Naruto to say that something’s going to be tough...

“Yes,” Kakashi starts, hands folding together, lackadaisical attitude turning serious.  “An extended S-rank.  Estimated for a month or longer.”

They kneel before the Fire Daimyo, officially pledging their loyalties to a man who’s never known mud on his cheeks, never seen a comrade fall, perhaps never even broken a sweat in his life.  Yet somehow he carries far more political clout than their own Hokage.

Not our Hokage, Hinata corrects herself.  Or at least, she needs to pretend that she’s no longer a shinobi of Konoha.

They’re Guardians now.

On paper and in the assessing eyes of their new peers, their abilities and bodies belong to the Daimyo, to fight and protect this leader with their lives.

She can feel their judgement boring into the top of her head.  Unlike Naruto, whose reputation precedes him, she’s often underestimated.  Small.  The only kunoichi in the room.  She’ll be tested in some way by the others.  But she’ll do whatever it takes to gain the other Guardians’ trust, and, eventually, smoke out the conspirator among them.

“Uzumaki Naruto.  Hyuuga Hinata,” the Fire Daimyo addresses.

They stand at his call.

“Starting from today, you no longer serve just the interests of Konoha.  You are now shinobi of the Land of Fire.  You lay down your lives for me, you lay down your lives for the entire country.”

In the corner of her sharp vision, she can see Naruto bristling.

It’s no secret that Naruto has never held high regard for this man, whose decisions did very little to help during and after the war, who refused to fund Sakura’s mental health initiative for children, who seems to always defer to the loudest voice in the room.  

If he could, he would tell the daimyo to stick his little speech up his ass.  But he can’t fail, here, now, already, only a few minutes into their undercover mission.  Kakashi made it a point to make clear that he didn’t have to pretend to be anyone but himself...but that he still had to show some level of respect to their political leader.  While they’re out here in the capitol, the daimyo is their only contact to Konoha, the only one who knows of this charade.

After all, he commissioned them.

The reasoning being that the daimyo didn’t want to stir distrust among the remaining Guardians.  They had already caught two informants on their own.  Morale among the rest was high now.

But the daimyo had suspicions that there might be another hiding among them.  Rather than having them turn against each other, he decided that this was an outside job.

And if this man fails to make a good decision in every other area of being a leader, Naruto needs to make sure that at least in this, they do not fail.

Failure could mean a coup d’etat.

Civil War when the rest of the shinobi world is at peace.

They can’t let that happen.

“Your accomplishments and track records in your career thus far have marked you as the strongest and most loyal to our nation.  You join the ranks of the most elite shinobi in not just the country, but in the entire world.  Here you stand among the greatest, and your names will forever be remembered for your service to me.”

Hinata keeps her face placid, not difficult at all for a Hyuuga.

She can only hope that Naruto’s doing the same.

But based on the furrowed brow of one of the Guardians, who steps forward, holding the branded waistcloths out to them, she can deduce that Naruto’s not doing a very good job hiding his thoughts.

They take the waistcloths, tying them on in the same way as the others.

The kanji for Fire emblazoned on their hip, meant to announce their status.

It’s a recognition that neither of them need, but Hinata knows she can’t ignore its meaning.

The ten Guardians who stand lined up before them, gathered from across the country, really are the best, on par with at least her own skills, and needing to take down even just one of them qualifies as an S-rank mission.

They haven’t even left the main office yet when four of the Guardians who were meant to show them the ins-and-outs of the administrative buildings turn them into an empty hall.

“So you think you’re better than us?” snarls one, a bulky man by the name of Geiiro.

“They’re Konoha shinobi.  What did you expect?” laughs Tacchi, his pretty features marred by a long, raised scar cutting through the side of his head.  “Konoha’s Hero, Saviour of this World,” he sneers.  “It’s all gone to his head.”

Naruto holds his tongue.  It was his mistake to not hide his dislike of the old man.  These men are not his enemies.

At least not right now.

Geiiro huffs, “If you have no interest in being out here in the real world, then run back to your ‘hidden’ village.”

Naruto raises a brow at that.  He didn’t know that that’s how the outside villages see Konoha.  But he knows they suffered damages just as much from the war, if not moreso.  And they don’t pledge the same prided allegiance to their country’s Hokage.

If they want to rant, he’ll listen.  He’ll learn.

The tallest of the group, Eizan, steps forward, cocking his head, eyes trailing over her.  “And what about the Hyuuga princess?”

They both tense.

She expected to be tested, but not quite so soon.

“So it’s true what they say.  For you to have accepted a position here…you were replaced by your younger sister,” murmurs Hukukane.  He stands in the back, hands on his hips like a casual observer.

Like a long-range fighter.

She doesn’t care about her sister taking the helm for the clan.  She hasn’t cared about that in a long time.  But she pays careful attention to the men before her, their formation, their “relaxed” stances.

Was this planned from the start?

“So she’s trying to prove her worth to her clan here?” Eizan laughs, earning smirks from the others.  “Pretty little princesses should play at home-”

Her eyes flash up to his, just as his hand grabs at her chin.

“Don’t you fucking touch her!”  Naruto’s rasengan is only centimeters from Eizan’s chest.

The warping chakra is close enough to exert the pressure of a fist pushing against his skin.  

He glares furiously at Eizan, even as the edges of his senses tingle at the knowledge that the others have taken on their own cautionary stances.  “She doesn’t need to prove anything to anyone!”

“Naruto-kun,” she tries, as calmly as she can, hoping she has just enough force in her voice to remind him to stay calm, too.

But Naruto doesn’t budge.  If he doesn’t make a point now, then what else might they do to her?  Eleven men and only Hinata?  Why aren’t there any other women in this group?

It’s just another reason to hate the current daimyo.

“So that really is why he’s here,” Hukukane interrupts.

“Yeah,” Eizan agrees, frowning at the jutsu threatening to burst a hole in his body.

“We all have reasons to be here,” Geiiro says.  “For us, not part of Konoha’s shinobi system, this is a steady job.  Money to send home to our families.”

Naruto reluctantly turns his attention to him.  But he doesn’t back down.

“Money for my younger siblings,” Tacchi adds on.

“I send money home for my wife’s aging parents,” Hukukane continues.  “Believe us, we don’t like the daimyo’s decisions much either.  But he’ll pay us to protect him.  So long as we keep him alive, we have income.”

Naruto turns his attention back to Eizan.  What their stories have to do with this guy touching Hinata, he still hasn’t figured out.  But he’ll let Eizan explain.

“I never had a family.  The Guardians are my family.”

That’s something Naruto can understand.  Still doesn’t excuse the guy from touching and insulting Hinata.

“My family has no room for secrets.”  This time Eizan’s eyes gain a fire that wasn’t there before.  “What are two Konoha shinobi doing here?”

Hinata answers quickly, knowing these men are certainly sharper than they initially seemed.  This confrontation was all a ploy to get them to reveal themselves.  “We wanted to gain insight on affairs outside of Konoha.  Our actions are limited within the village’s walls, we’re under constant surveillance.  We only interact with other Konoha citizens and the occasional visitors or people we meet on missions.”

“For a Hyuuga to say that, certainly that makes sense,” Hukukane responds.  “We figured that.  They say clan lives are stuffy.”

“Naruto-kun,” Hinata tries again.

He lets his rasengan disperse.  He lets a second pass before he finally steps back, closer to Hinata than before.

“Relax, Naruto,” Eizan starts.  “None of us are stupid enough to touch your woman.”

She can’t help the reactive heat that touches her cheeks, even though she knows the obvious implication completely flew over Naruto’s head.

A glance over, and she can see only a contemplative distrust on his face.

“Sealed a goddess, ended the world war, master of the Kyuubi, next in line to be Hokage?  We couldn’t think of any logical reason for someone like you to leave Konoha to join us,” Eizan continues, suddenly conversational.

“But love can make even someone like Naruto make irrational decisions,” Geiiro barks out with a laugh.  “You two don’t have to keep your relationship a secret.”

“What?” Naruto asks, trying to catch up with the shift in atmosphere.

Hinata flushes even worse than before.  She thinks to correct them, but that would only earn worse scrutiny on their reasons for joining the Guardians.

They can’t let them know they’re here on a mission.  Any one of them could be another spy for the insurgents.

So...maybe she needs to play along.  Even if it’s mortifyingly embarrassing.

She just has to make sure Naruto understands, too.

She swallows her own fears.  And steps up to him.

She has to choose her words carefully.  She still doesn’t know what abilities the other Guardians might have.

She closes her hands around her mouth, leaning in toward his ear, knowing it’ll look intimate to the others.

“Hinata?” he asks, finding her pressing against him.

“They know we’re lovers,” she whispers.

“W-what?”  He steps away, eyes wide.  “Hinata-”

She grabs his hand with both of hers, keeping him from backing away too far.  “It’s okay.  It’s better if they know.”  She looks hopefully into his eyes.  Hoping that he catches on.  Hoping he doesn’t say anything in denial.

He just stares at her, mouth wide open, attention shifting down to her hands firmly around his.  She’s acting really touchy with him.  She said they’re lovers when they’re not.  Hinata doesn’t usually act like this, so why-

“You really don’t have to hide it.  We don’t operate on the same rules as Konoha,” Tacchi explains.

She nods, pretending to agree with him.  She blushes harder with what she wants to say next.  But she has to make him understand.  “Naruto-kun,” she calls, as sweetly as possible.  It sounds so embarrassing.  Like she’s really trying to catch his attention.

He looks back up at her, eyes growing wider still at her flirtatious tone of voice.

“This way, maybe we can spend more time together...”  She looks as meaningfully as she can into his eyes.  “...alone,” she adds on, in a whisper.

The other Guardians start laughing and hooting.

She’s flaming red, she knows, she doesn’t remember the last time she felt so hot.

He can see the vibrant color on her fair skin, but he can also feel the searing heat pressing into him from her hands.  He realizes she’s incredibly embarrassed.  She’s not under some genjutsu or trying to play a trick on him.  She’s pretending.  So that they can meet to talk about their mission.  “A-aah, yeah!!” he stutters out, embarrassment belatedly catching up with him.  “W-whatever you want, Hinata!”

“He’s whipped!” hollers Geiiro.  “Poor boy’s got it bad!”

She smiles in relief, trying to ignore the teasing of their new comrades.

He looks down, suddenly very, very conscious of her hands around his.

She lets go of him quickly.

“You two can hold hands!” Geiiro continues, laughing harder and harder.

Hinata shakes her head furiously.  She got her point across, and she needn’t embarrass either of them any further.

And by Naruto’s blushing grimace, she knows she really embarrassed him.

Everything (SasukexOC AU fic)

No words were exchanged between them the whole drive there, Sakura was more interested in chatting away on her phone than talking to her husband. She was trying to punish him for the argument they had that morning and he couldn't be bothered to try and put things right. He kept his eyes on the passing scenery, thinking about the stack off paperwork that would be waiting for him when he was back at work on Monday. He never wanted to take time off in the first place, especially since he wouldn't be spending it with their daughter. That alone put him in a foul mood and he didn't expect that anything was going to change that.

The weekend that Sasuke has been dreading for the past month took a sudden turn towards interesting when he spotted someone that he didn't recognise among their friends. She had long, glossy, black hair that brushed her hips, big green eyes that dazzled likes emeralds in the harsh midday sun and a curvy physique that he immediately pictured under his own. The smile on her luscious pink lips was a playful one as she patiently let Lee show her how many push ups he could do. When he hit five hundred she bent over to dry his sweaty face with a towel, revealing a generous amount of cleavage.

Naruto came over to greet them along with most of their other friends at the worst possible moment. "I'm so glad you made it, it's been ages since we last hung out."

"Yeah, I know." Sasuke replied absently, trying to peer over his friend's shoulder.

"How long did the drive take?" Ino was asking Sakura.

"Better be on our best behaviour now!" Choji joked, referring to Sasuke's job as a police officer.

Kiba laughed for barely a second before falling deadly serious. "Wait, you're kidding right?" His faithful dog Akamaru sat attentiveness by his side.

"Of course he's kidding. Why? Because Sasuke is off duty." Shino responded.

By the time they had all exchanged greetings the mysterious woman had vanished and Sasuke found himself in a dismal mood again, dragging their suitcase down the long hallway to the room Sakura had already picked out for them. He dumped the heavy case in the corner and perched on the edge of the bed. Thanks to the sheer volume of the dance music currently shaking the walls and the screeching laughter coming from his wife and her best friend Ino. he already had a pounding headache. At least there was alcohol, loads of it. If the weekend proved to be as mind numbingly boring as he suspected it would, he could easily make it all pass in an unforgettable blur.

When he rejoined the group the first thing he did was grab himself a beer, the lights had been dimmed and nearly everyone was dancing. Luckily Sakura was too busy gossiping to ask him to dance, he hated dancing, well he did until his cold, dark eyes sought out that girl again. She was dancing with Neji, her arms were stretched high above her head and she was twirling her hips in beautifully suggestive motions in time to the music. Neji had his hands on her hips, his eyes exploring her naked abdomen that her short top left uncovered.

"I bet coming all the way out here was a pain in the ass." Shikamaru appeared by Sasuke's side, clutching a drink of his own.

"Yeah. Didn't have much choice though." Sasuke replied, tearing his eyes away from the girl's sensuous movements to stare at his drink instead.

"Tell me about it!" Shikamaru laughed, nodding to his wife Temari, who was dancing with TenTen. "Even though it's a hassle, it's good to be all together again."

Sasuke nodded, he did miss spending time with his old school friends, especially Naruto, but as a cop he found it very difficult to relax. The more intense his job became the more he found peace in solitude. He didn't even really like being home much anymore, driving around for hours after his shift had finished just to escape from the nagging. There always seemed to be something that Sakura wasn't happy about, usually it was his job but following in his father's footsteps meant a lot to him, he wasn't about to quit and become a house husband anytime soon.

"Where's Naruto?" He realised that the host had been missing for a little while.

Shikamaru scanned the room, "Well, since Hinata's missing too, I think-" He was cut off by Temari pulling him on to the dance floor.

Sasuke stifled a laugh as his friend was dragged away, he wouldn't let anyone make him do anything he didn't want to, except when Sarada invited him to her pretend tea parties. He was still annoyed that he wouldn't be spending a weekend he actually had off from work with his daughter, she was the little light of his life. Even when his day looked bleak, she could make him smile just by calling him 'Papa'. A frown fell on his face as his casually observed the mother of his child already drunk, indulging in gossip and flirting with anyone that walked by. When she caught him looking she called him over and out of curiosity he went.

"Haven't I got the most gorgeous husband in the world?" She bragged to Ino, throwing herself on to him and trying to pull him into a kiss. He went with it for two reasons: boredom and that girl was still playing on his mind. The kiss did little for him though and he pulled away after barely a minute. As he drew back he felt his pulse quicken and it had nothing to do with the kiss, it was thanks to the woman who had suddenly appeared by Ino.

"You guys are so sweet! Now I really can't wait for Sai to get here tomorrow. Oh, I forgot to introduce you to my friend!" Ino giggled, throwing her arm affectionately around her friend's shoulders.

"I'm Mai." She said softly. "Can I get you all a drink?"

"I've heard a lot about you. It's good to finally meet you at last!" Sakura smiled and lunged forward for a hug.

Mai didn't seem opposed to the sudden embrace, Sasuke watched her slip her arms around his wife in return but could hardly believe his eyes when she made eye contact with him, the most smouldering gaze he had ever encountered that sent a rush of heat through his body, making his cheeks burn and his manhood twitch and harden. Her smile widened, like she knew exactly what she had just done to him. Against his better judgement, he allowed dozens of filthy thoughts to consume his mind and his tongue to run across his dry lips. His onyx orbs pierced in to hers with just as much force. If Lee didn't walk between them and break the heated exchange they were conveying through their eyes he wasn't sure how long he would have been able to stand there.

"What are we drinking?" Lee asked excitedly.

"Shots! How about we do them Mai style?" Ino grinned slyly at her friend.

Mai tossed her hair over her shoulder and hoisted herself onto the kitchen table. She lay flat on her back as Ino started filling the small glasses and laying them on her bare abdomen. The first time they had gone drinking together Mai had shown Ino how to never buy a drink again, letting strangers do shots off your body guaranteed a steady flow of alcohol all night long. It was one of many things that Mai did that made a night out with her unforgettable.

Soon enough a crowd had gathered round her and nearly everyone had taken a shot, even Naruto and Hinata.

"Your turn Sasuke!" Naruto shouted and everyone turned their attention to him as he silently moved over her waiting body and captured the glass with his mouth. He tipped his head back and felt the liquid burn its way down his throat. A single drip escaped his lips and trickled slowly down to his chin. He watched almost in slow motion as it dripped on to Mai's skin. He noticed that the others weren't paying attention anymore, half of them were falling asleep on the couch, the rest still dancing. Would anyone even notice if he bent down and licked it off her? Just as the thought crossed his mind, she jumped down off the table and caught the rebellious little drop with her index finger, which she then put into her mouth deeper than she needed to. His jaw dropped.

"I've got it. Next time you get me wet though, you'll have to lick it off." She smiled, her eyes flashing down to his crotch before returning to his face.

From head to toe, his entire body was throbbing with need. He shot through his friends, grabbing Sakura and practically dragged her to their bedroom. He ignored her questions, ignored her voice completely as she hit the bed with a soft thud. His eyes were on her face but he didn't see his wife, it wasn't her lips that he was kissing or her skin that he was tasting, it was Mai's. It took everything he had not to say her name when he came.

200 Followers Event

From June 23, 2022 to July 1, 2022

Rules: Please choose one prompt, angst/fluff, and one character from the lists below, and any au you want. Please try and be as specific as possible. If no au is picked, I'll just pick one myself.

Prompts:

Angst;

"The worst part of all of this is that I still love you."

"I'm not going to kiss you. You broke my heart."

"You're a mess." "I'm not a mess." "I can tell you've been crying."

"I screwed up, all right. But I never once lied to you. I've done a lot of shit in my life, but loving you is different."

"You're here." "I'm here, just like I promised."

"I came back for you. I promised I would, and I did."

"You're in my head, even when you're not supposed to be. It shouldn't be this hard to let go."

"A broken heart is a small price to pay when you're not the one who has to pay for it."

"Why do you stick around? What is it you think you see in me?"

"I'm not gonna pretend anymore. I'm still fucked up from it all and I don't know when it gets better."

"I dunno who taught you that love comes with conditions and limitations, but mine doesn't. Not when it's you."

"I don't know how to ask for help, I just — I've never had anyone to ask for help from before. So... this is me trying I guess. I need it and I'm afraid to ask for it. That's the best I can do."

"Is it just marriage you're against? Or are you just against marriage with me?"

"Save me? You mean fix me, don't you?"

"Well it worked. I'm pretty damn broken now."

Fluff;

"Your hair is really soft after you wash it."

"You smell really nice."

"Here, let's share a blanket."

"Don't be stubborn, try it!"

"Don't get up. I'll do it."

"How about something warm? It will help you sleep."

"It's okay, I couldn't sleep anyway."

"It is not morning yet."

"I think I love you."

"I'll be here to protect you."

"We'll do the dishes together."

"I love your hugs."

Characters: Naruto;

Shikamaru

Kiba

Naruto

Kakashi

Lee

Neji

Shino

Yamato

Jiraiya

Jujutsu Kaisen;

Nanami

Gojo

Noritoshi

Choso

Demon Slayer;

Rengoku

Sanemi

Giyuu

Tengen

quick headcanon since i don’t remember how my format looked when i cared LMAO ok i just remembered ( thank you high brain ) that hinata is totally into playing in the water, which would make sense as to why people say she’s a waterbender in a.lta au’s but !! regardless, too cool down after long missions or on a break or just whenever the hell she wants, she steps into the stream, river, creek, whatever and it’s super cold !! but she loves the feeling and skips around like, so fucking cute? giggling? this girl has poor ass self-esteem and is so shy but when she plays in water ( and from her genin days dancing at night and naruto seeing her figure just move so graceful ... and yet a little ... pervy since she’s 12 but ... yeah. but partly this is canon pretends he didn’t watch her ) she just becomes this carefree, happy, sweet girl who can actually fucking smile genuinely and be so adorable.  and this is with kiba / shino mind you. her family. fuck yeah is she gonna be herself around the two people that actually really gave a shit about her. i love it. hina’s my lilac water goddess !! 

What are your favourite team 8 headcanons, aus and ff? Like, what’s the one Ff you can always recommend? 🥺

sorry to disappoint but I don’t rly like. read a lot of fanfiction???? not even specifically for team 8 just in general. like idk I just have a specific interpretation of characters so when that doesn’t match up in a fanfic it always feels wrong and I don’t rly connect with it. like with original fiction these are new characters but when it comes to fanfic of characters I already know I feel kind of a disconnect. that’s not to say fanfiction is awful and bad it’s just not rly my thing to read :/. I’m down to write though if I can ever get the energy or passion for it.

however, some headcanons I like include: them having sleepovers at kurenai’s house and the inuzuka house and the aburame house, and basically treating these places like their other homes. they all call kurenai and tsume mom and shibi is dad. tsume very loudly and proudly adores her son’s teammates, and hana is like a big sister to all of them. shibi also adores them but he has a way more chill personality. also, kiba is the only one of them who can cook, and both he and shino know how to clean stuff in general but they definitely had to teach hinata what a dishwasher was. they’re also all suuuuuuper comfortable with each other in a way that everyone thinks is kinda weird, like they’re all comfortable undressing in front of each other and that kind of thing. also kiba and hinata have seen shino’s eyes but they pretend they don’t to fuck with people. also hinata pretty much only swears in front of her team.

in terms of au’s I don’t rly run into that many??? the only ones off the top of my head are mostly naruhina ones I’ve seen that kind of have team 8 in the background and the ones I made up. like I have one where hinata’s like a vampire princess whose father is going to kill her to become more powerful and kiba is a lycan and shino is a druid and they’re helping her escape and also rally a force to defeat him. I have a different fantasy au where kiba and tenten are royal siblings because their queen moms got married, shino is kiba’s like. personal servant and best friend I guess??? idk servant is not quite the right word for it but. anyway. tenten has ino for that role. shino and ino both do magic and stuff. but eventually queen moms are like “you should have like. actual bodyguards” and hana’s like “okay good idea” but kiba and tenten are like “I WILL ONLY ACCEPT A BODYGUARD IF THEY CAN BEST ME IN SINGLE COMBAT” and eventually naruto comes in and kiba gets cocky and disarms him and then naruto just punches him in the nose to win. and then neji comes along and everyone thinks “oh well if anyone can beat tenten it’s neji” but he loses and tenten is like “haha I don’t need a bodyguard” and then hinata comes along and beats her and becomes her bodyguard. less of a team 8 au but they hang out a lot and are very good friends. (once I potentially turn those two into fics maybe I’ll recommend them though wink wink). a different au I have that I don’t plan to do anything with is like. a mamma mia au???? so it’s about himawari in like her early 20s (boruto is probably. not in existence not for any reason other than I think this would just work best with himawari) abt to get married and she wants to know who her other parent is since hinata never rly talked about it. her three options are naruto, ino (who was with hinata but then came out as trans a little while after they broke up), and sasuke (who is probably gay but I haven’t thought abt it, they just kinda hooked up after a festival). anyways, hinata, kiba, and shino kinda fill the roles of donna and the dynamos. this was mostly born out of the desire for me to see kiba and shino comfort hinata like in the chiquitita scene. also by the end kiba and ino get together like with the take a chance on me scene.

I also like any au that involves them getting an apartment together as young adults. granted this probably wouldn’t work with the canon timeline but I can DREAM.