When asked, Nara stares blankly at them, silent and unimpressed, Uzumaki laughs, grin wide and sharp, while Uchiha closes his eyes as if their questions were of no concern.
Hatake is the only one that talks, but they almost wish he had kept his mouth shut instead.
After all, when trying to confirm the number of enemies, hearing a noncommittal answer is less than reassuring.
—
“There are only four Lucky Sevens,” one of the captors say, brash and absolutely wrong.
Kakashi smiles, pointedly–somehow still obvious through the mask they’ve oddly let him keep–enough that the man notices and stutters out, “A-aren’t there?”
“Well, if you say so, the other three must not be very lucky then.”
—
“Their comms have been destroyed,” Sai says bluntly, smile on his face; he once read that smiling could help soften bad news.
Yamato sighs, face palming, while Sakura barely resists doing the same–she’s only here to temporarily help the team, auxiliary member only, and yet…
Once this matter is cleared up, she promises to never complain about Anko-sensei’s choice of jobs again.
—
Their jailers are not so stupid as to keep them in the same cells, but that doesn’t make very much difference.
There’s a pipe running along the corner of Shikako’s cell, up and through the wall–she doesn’t have her gear with her, but demolition isn’t the goal right now.
The clinking of handcuffs against the pipe is answered with more clinking from beyond the wall.
—
Sakura is more used to following after Anko-sensei’s trail of destruction, her students near invisible in comparison, or enjoying the absolute silence of Yakumo’s technological illusions.
Just walking up and talking her way into a place is not a method she’s comfortable with, but it appears to be working.
“I’m Agent Tenzo, this is my partner Sai, and our trainee,” Yamato says with way more confidence than she’s ever seen from him, “we’re here to follow up on the explosion on the docks.”
—
Naruto’s restraints are over the top–elbow to fingertips behind his back–they see his muscles, the breadth of his shoulders, and think he’s the fighter on the team.
They are wrong.
He snickers, even as he curls up and tears at the hem of his trousers with his teeth, lock pick at the ready.
—
Yamato looks around, steadily getting more worried and angry at what he sees:
The flaming wreckage of crates and warped metal of shipping containers aren’t a surprise, but there are bullet casings littering the grounds like shiny deadly confetti.
Kakashi-senpai doesn’t use guns, and neither does his team.
—
Sasuke knocks his handcuffs against the pipe in a repetitive sequence, resigned to waiting for one of his teammates to get him.
Normally, he’d be all for fighting his way out, even with his hands tied behind his back, but normally he doesn’t have a gunshot wound sending spikes of pain with every breath.
Well, better him than his teammates.
—
The comms have been destroyed, but that doesn’t mean the secret hidden trackers have.
Of course, Sai’s not supposed to have trackers on the team–Naruto has explained it’s a violation of privacy or something irrelevant like that–but this just proves him right.
With Yamato-taichou distracted by the authorities and Sakura by the blood on the ground, Sai takes out his tablet and finds the rest of the team.
—
Kakashi contemplates the nature of life, twirling his set of handcuffs around one finger and waiting patiently.
He could just break out and go find his adorable students on his own, but he’s meant to be a teacher now and how will they learn if he does everything for them?
He waits another twelve minutes and is rewarded by the sounds of gangsters screaming.
—
The three of them get to the warehouse district in time to hear screaming and gunfire and, unsurprisingly, explosions.
The local authorities are trailing after them by a good ten minutes, nowhere near as fearless behind the wheel as Sai–though Yamato and Sakura would prefer if he had a little bit more fear, clutching at the oh shit handles with white-knuckled hands–so they have until then to clear out their wayward teammates and frame the gangsters.
No problem.
~
A/N: Fill for this anon; I tried to do some kind of three sentence fic non-powered criminal!AU because this rant, but I didn’t flesh it out enough, I think, so it’s kinda…
aka, Shikako and Neji’s Revolutionary Crusade of Fuinjutsu and Great Justice
—
She’ll admit it wasn’t a particularly noble beginning–certainly not on her end–it wasn’t outrage at injustice, or empathy for the oppressed.
It wasn’t even the opposite: scheming to overthrow the largest and most powerful clan in Konoha, or gain the allegiance of over a hundred people with a blood limit.
It was just curiosity… and not a small amount of ego. Riding the high of her own ability.
Because if she could outmaneuver Danzo, could best Orochimaru in sealing, could survive battle against a literal goddess–
(could defy death over and over again)
–what were the Hyuuga clan’s laws to her?
—
TenTen is a fuinjutsu master in her own right, though with a different specialty and style.
She’s been friends and teammates with Neji for so many years, as close to family as she’s ever known–she has nearly as much a stake in his freedom as he himself does.
But she is an orphan without a last name; the Byakugan has great worth to Konoha.
—
Neji has long since changed his view on fate.
Or, at least, his relationship to it.
He still thinks fate exists, but who is he to say what it might be? Who is he to say who will fail and who will succeed?
Lee has long since surpassed the predictions a younger, brattier Neji had once made for him. So, too, has his cousin grown into her potential despite his pessimistic bullying.
He has watched, time and time again, as his friends and his village have defied the odds–rejected what should have been their fated ends–and lived despite everything against them.
But perhaps that is fate. Perhaps fate is kinder than he thought. Beneath his forehead protector is a curse, but perhaps fate will be kind to him this once.
But if its not–if fate is not kind–then he will do as he has been taught and fight against it with all he has.
—
Sai has a scar on his tongue, a remnant of the seal of secrecy that all ROOT members once had.
Given the placement and size, it’s not noticeable at all–more importantly, it doesn’t hinder his ability to speak.
Sai has a scar on his tongue, a remnant of Shikako’s attempts to remove the ROOT seal of secrecy.
—
Shikako has many secrets, some of which she shares and some of which she will keep beyond her last breath.
One of them is simply this: she did nothing to save Neji’s life.
Oh, she never put him in harms way, always had his back in battle–she treated him the way she treated all of her friends and allies.
She would’ve died for him, if such a thing had been necessary, but she never went out of her way to save his life. Never warned him of his future, never even hinted at the possibility.
She did nothing.
And yet, somehow, he still lives.
She doesn’t know if this is some kind of apology that only she’ll understand, belated and inexplicable as it may be. Doesn’t know if this is out of guilt or some sense of debt…
But she thinks: late though it may be, she should do something.
—
Lee remembers the first time he actively noticed Shikako–surrounded by carnage and flames, the bodies of her enemies lying at her feet.
It’s the kind of first impression that lingers, on which every interaction after that is influenced by.
No matter how approachable and helpful she is after that, Lee will always remember that at Shikako’s core is ruthlessness and efficiency.
—
It’s not as if Neji thinks Hinata will renege on her vow to change the Hyuuga clan–she is not that cruel, not like he used to be–nor does he think Hanabi, if she is to be head instead, will do the same.
But he thinks Hiashi-oji-sama must have once thought the same for his twin, for his twin’s son, and yet Neji still bears the brand.
He knows that the Main Family is more than just his uncle and his two cousins. The Hyuuga Clan is expansive, numbering in the hundreds.
While the Main Family is a small percentage of that, it is still a few dozen. A few dozen who can inflict pain or death on the Branch Family at whim.
The Hyuuga Clan Elders won’t let their elitism be taken away so easily.
Promises are nice, but actions are better.
—
Kakashi figured that if ever one of his students and Gai’s students got together it would be the end of the world. He was only a few months off, really.
Hm, is it too early to joke about that?
—
The aged scrolls Hanabi passed along to them have been much appreciated, necessary for Shikako’s endless notes working out different permutations and removal methods. But there is a time for theory and there is a time to put said theory into practice.
Neji removes his forehead protector, hands trembling minutely. Shikako takes a moment to marvel at how green the seal is, before berating herself.
She looks away, to give him the chance to compose himself, and when she looks back it’s to a Neji with closed eyes, sitting with resigned patience.
One way or another, this will end his world as he knows it.
Closed eyes doesn’t mean vulnerability for a Hyuuga, not truly, but she can appreciate the gesture for what it is.
“Well,” Shikako muses drunkenly, leaning against Sasuke who sighs and resigns himself to being a wall, “I’m not much one for or enforcering order… enfordering… law stuff… but I do like solving mysteries.”
“No, Shikako, we’ve got that side covered, I’m just asking you to take a look at some seals that were on the scene,” Sasuke says, futilely.
“I’m gonna be a consoli-date, consulate… consulting detective!” she declares, before bursting into giggles.
“What is the purpose of these?” Sai asks, examining the bracelets closely, as if somehow the thread and beads will reveal hidden techniques or secrets.
“There’s no purpose,” Shikako answers, finishing up the green and black band before looping it around Sai’s wrist–he acquiesces, easily. “Well, except for signifying friendship.”
Sasuke, in the midst of cooking breakfast–which, considering the number of people living in the house, is no small feat–groans as if he’s been stabbed in the gut, but manfully keeps silent otherwise.
Kiba and, somehow, Akamaru both look incredulously at Shikako from the kitchen table, “How do you just lose track of the legendary Sword of the Thunder God?”
—
(4 – anonymous – Team Eight’s thoughts on Shikako)
Little lioness hiding her face, looks upon the doe with esteem.
Beetle, all-seeing, watches and waits for the queen of the forest.
Fangs sharp, wits sharper, dog and doe run together, a pack mate with hooves.
—
(5 – anonymous – even more 6.1, Shikako/Haku, Project Runway!AU, flustered!Shikako)
She can barely believe she’s at Fashion Week, much less presenting a show of her own original designs, but she’s made it and she can feel her lungs deflating like a popped balloon.
Everything is going impossibly smoothly, models strutting down the catwalk, Haku flawless with the finale, and suddenly he’s backstage and pulling her forward toward the audience.
A microphone is suddenly in her hands, all cameras and eyes and lights on her, she can barely breathe; a baffled wheeze escapes her mouth–way to go, Shikako, so suave.
~
A/N: I don’t think all of the Konoha Thirteen would be in a single polyamorous living situation, because–as I went into in depth with the Walking Around ‘verse–not everyone is poly… but I did also bring up how Sasuke would prefer Shikako’s other relationships to be with anyone but Gaara so…
(1 – anonymous – Shikako & Ibiki, partners in crime)
Shikako glances at the box in Ibiki’s hands, then to the still smoking pile of rubble in front of them, then back at the box.
“I mean, if you really get into the letter of the law, technically–”
“You’re twenty years too early to be lecturing me about technicalities,” Ibiki interrupts her, before doing the same glance between box and rubble, “… but, yes, this isn’t actually illegal.”
—
(2 – anonymous – even more 6.1, Shikako/Haku, Project Runway!AU, Haku comforting stressed out Shikako)
During the three months before Fashion Week, Haku visits Shikako’s home–it’s further south and thus hotter than his own, full of sprawling forests and rolling hills and bright sunshine. In a way, it explains a lot about his designer.
Haku enters Shikako’s work room and finds her flopped over onto a nest of fabric scraps, a line of coffee mugs standing guard: that explains the rest of his designer.
—
(3 – anonymous – Shikako’s alternate rise to stardom… Primadonna Girl (Says No Thank You)!AU?)
Shikako blinks away her tears, hiding her sorrow as her brother leaves, she tries to keep quiet but the sudden implacable thought hits her: this might be the last time she sees him alive.
She tries to shout, but her voice is twisted with utter dread–this is when a swell of music will be edited in to reinforce her feelings, she really hopes it’s not more My Heart Will Go On–on cue, she manages to choke out, “Shishimaru!”
“Cut!”
—
(4 – anonymous – Team Seven, revolution against injustice)
The Jounin Commander ends up in a coma and she knows it doesn’t compare–he’s still alive, she still has her mother–but she goes to her team, desperate and shaken.
“We’re going after Danzo,” she says, doesn’t ask, doesn’t need to ask, certainly not after she explains everything he’s done.
She used to be concerned about plausible deniability–about subtlety and staying under the radar–but what’s the point of that now?
—
(5 – anonymous – Shikako/??, bodyguard!AU)
Shikako Nara is the Jounin Commander’s daughter, friends with the major clan heirs, and a burgeoning fuinjutsu master. Powerful, but vulnerable.
Danzo tasks Sai with her protection–and her recruitment–but it seems he has still somehow underestimated her.
~
A/N: I realize now that keeping track of word count while doing Three Sentence Fic is counterintuitive, because the point of NaNoWriMo is to hit 50,000 words, but the point of Three Sentence Fic is to be succinct…
I mean, I’ll still do it, but now I know not to be disappointed in myself for having such a low word count–I’m literally writing at cross purposes.
I’m going to be honest, I wasn’t that fond of them before because, well, basically Kishimoto somehow ruined his original characters and his new characters simultaneously in the span of one chapter? (I’m looking at you 700) But being able to reimagine next gen through the DoS lens has made me appreciate all of the characters more.
Like, now I want to figure out how the Konoha Twelve become adults and decide (or not) to become parents (or not). And, you know, sometimes they’ll mess up–they’re not going to be perfect at things–but I feel like, just like how the generation before them (or, at least Shikaku) said fuck traditions, I’m going to do what makes me happy and marry the woman I love, that their generation is going to do the same. Or at least try.
Let’s see… for Gaara’s feelings about the situation… He’s definitely less jealous than Sasuke but more… afraid almost? It has to do with his self worth and, you know, his continuous surprise that people love him.
The way I see it, he accepts the smallest bits of affection from people and doesn’t expect more and he’s devoted to them in return (ie his love for Suna even though most people are still scared of him probably). And seeing as how Shikako is the first person who believed in Gaara, she gets to experience that first hand. Not Naruto, not his siblings, Shikako. And in DoS we see that he’s constantly surprised by how much faith she has in him (oh god my Shikaara feels).
So he’s not exactly expecting her to leave him for Sasuke for good, but he thinks he wouldn’t be surprised. (He would be and also hurt, but since that’s not going to happen it’s a moot point). That uncertainty and nervousness that the NGSS have with Sakako, Gaara has in a different way with Sasuke. And it’s not like he holds it against their kids for not being biologically related to Shikako, but a part of him reluctantly keeps in mind that Sakako is biologically hers.
—
Okay, so, regarding mono/poly relationships:
It’s okay to ask your question–it wasn’t ignorant or rude or anything, and considering what I’ve been writing in my fic and A/N it’s totally relevant and not weird (I only took so long because I went to an event for five hours and I wanted my full attention when I answered this). So I would like to answer your question but I also am not exactly qualified, seeing as how I don’t have much experience with relationships personally and more besides I’m either demi/aro and ace.
That being said, I have witnessed a lot of different kinds of relationships and also somehow spent an entire year acting as some kind of romantic guru for a group of six women and their various respective partners and, trust me, there were a lot of situations coming up so… I’ll tell you what I know/think but I also warn you to take it with a grain of salt: I am no expert in this.
Different people obviously have different preferences and limits. And even then, those are general and occasionally there will be exceptions to rules. If we use Naruto characters then I’d say something like:
Sasuke is monogamous. Not even a serial monogamist (which is someone who only dates one person at a time, but has dated multiple people in succession) but–like I said in a previous post–a “one and done” monogamist. His “one and done” in DoS is Shikako, and his exception is Naruto. (Probably in canon, his “one and done” is Naruto and his exception is Sakura).
Which isn’t to say that he never feels attraction to people who aren’t Shikako (or Naruto) but it doesn’t really settle. It’s like noticing something on the side of the path, and you maybe stop and look at it, but you never actually go off the path or down a different path. Like, if Shikako (and Naruto) didn’t want to be with him romantically, he probably wouldn’t be with anyone romantically at all. That’s it–one and done (+ one exception).
… I don’t know why I chose that path metaphor, it doesn’t extend very well. Um… Keep in mind that mono vs poly doesn’t correlate with romantic or sexual orientation. So Sasuke is probably demiromantic bisexual, but since we’re talking about mono/poly that doesn’t really matter to this particular discussion. Also everything I say about characters’ orientations and preferences is REALLY just my interpretation and not in anyway canon for DoS (or… actual canon, but that’s just duh)
Shikako, in contrast, is poly. It’s not like Sasuke is her one and Gaara is her exception, it’s if she finds someone she likes, she’ll let them know. If they like her back, and they understand her limits then that’s it. If I didn’t headcanon Kiba as aro pansexual (and her as demi/bi-ro and demi/ace) she’d probably also be in a relationship with him–as it is their orientations don’t really match up so they’re just platonic bros.
Shikako’s dislike of marriage/being tied down is separate from her being poly. Take the Sai-Ino-Sakura trio. They are poly and about as close to three-way married as legislation will allow them. Ino is poly, Sai I’m not too sure about, and if Sakura is mono then she’s a different kind of mono than Sasuke. She’s more a prioritizing kind of mono (not an actual term as far as I know) in the sense that she kind of ranks who she likes and since Ino ranks above Sai that makes Ino her one. She’s probably at least romantically attracted if not sexually attracted to Sai as well, but not as much as she is with Ino.
And I’m not saying Sakura prefers Ino over Sai, or sides with Ino over Sai, or would drop Sai if Ino said so. But it’s like… for her, she and Ino are dating and Sai is their very close friend who happens to also be dating Ino. It’s totally fine with her, and maybe she’s even a little relieved (not just because Sai takes up more than his share of child rearing) but because she likes knowing that Ino is happy and loved and also appreciates someone else making her happy and loved. As a friend, she wants Sai to be happy and loved as well, but she feels no personal motivation/desire to BE the person who makes him happy and loved.
(I hope I’m getting across here, anon, it’s hard to articulate and I keep waving my arms in crazy gestures as if that will help at all)
If Ino didn’t want to be with Sakura, Sakura would probably move on to someone else, fall in love and be monogamous with them–she’s a serial monogamist, if you want an example of one here.
Gaara I am also not that sure about, mostly because I feel like even he doesn’t know? But if he is mono it’s definitely less like Sasuke’s one and done (+ one exception) and more like Sakura’s serial monogamist. But he might be poly–he definitely wouldn’t say no to having a concurrent relationship with Naruto (but again, that’s probably a bad example since Naruto seems to be a lot of people’s exceptions) while he’s with Shikako, but there’s really not that many people who I can imagine him with romantically so the designation is a little difficult.
Well, okay, I have written Dreaming of S(elfishness) and I feel like that has my subconscious headcanons there so I just need to unpack it? Hm… Gaara is mono or thinks he has to be mono or didn’t even know poly was an option, so when the engagement happened he didn’t even think to discuss the possibility with Shikako which is why she was upset. Because as far as she understood his actions, he got engaged and didn’t want to talk to her which she interpreted as him being mono and choosing Hokuto over her AND NOT TELLING HER ABOUT IT IN PERSON.
The problem with situation in the Walking Around series isn’t so much that Sasuke is mono and Shikako is poly, it’s that Sasuke is a possessive bastard and expects everyone to be the same. If it were two Gaaras, they’d be more than okay with Shikako being with both of them some of the time. Okay, that sounds weird. If it were… If it were Toki and Gaara, (assuming Toki is mono which) they wouldn’t have the same festering expectations/feelings of abandonment that Sasuke has.
Okay, that’s not being fair. Another part of the problem is that Shikako’s chosen partners are in different country and she literally cannot be with both of them at the same time. So Sasuke also resents that his and Sakako’s time with Shikako is reduced so greatly. As I said before (in this previous post) if it were Kiba, Sasuke wouldn’t mind nearly so much. He’d probably even be willing to figure out a living situation that includes Kiba and the nonexistent Shikaba(?) children–massive house, two houses next to each other, etc etc.
Mono/poly relationships are situational like most other relationships. In the Sai-Ino-Sakura trio, it totally works because they’ve probably got very clear channels of communication and even if Sai and Sakura aren’t romantically together, they are friends and make it work. I have seen such a relationship work in the real world–the Ino and Sakura equivalents are getting married next year and the Sai equivalent is going to be maid of honor.
The Sasuke-Shikako-Gaara trio doesn’t work because it’s not really a proper trio. Sasuke and Gaara? Do not like each other at all. They are not friends. Shikako was probably explicit about not being married to Sasuke, about being poly, but Sasuke probably didn’t fully understand what he was agreeing to but isn’t willing to break up with Shikako because she’s his one. I’ve seen something almost like this and it… well… I kind of saw it failing from the beginning because of similar problems, but they wanted to try anyway. The Sasuke and Shikako equivalents were able to break up amiably–but the Sasuke equivalent wasn’t the one and done kind of mono like her fictional counterpart so she fared better than Sasuke would.
It does depend on your limits and preferences. More people in a relationship does mean more limits and preferences and emotions to juggle–it’s difficult to manage, it’s true, but for some people it’s worth it. If you don’t think you can handle a poly arrangement, then that’s nothing against you, that’s just outside of your limits. You and your partner have to be aware of that. If your partner is poly and you’re mono you both have to respect your differences: whether that means your partner stays monogamous even though they would prefer a poly relationship, or you accept their other partner–maybe you’ll become friends–or, maybe, you might just have to break up. Relationships are as much about function as they are about emotion. If you love each other but you’re not compatible, it’s better for both of you to not be together in that way.
And, you know, maybe you’ll be more like the Sakura kind of mono–in that you personally are mono but you are okay (or even more than okay) with your partner being poly and having another partner. Monogamy can also be emotionally taxing, if you are each others’ be all end all. If you are romantic partner and sexual partner and roommate and best friend and therapist and war advisor and financial partner all together and it’s a lot of pressure to be all of that for one person. Some people can do it. Some people can’t.
I personally would probably be more of the Sakura kind of mono because I’m always so relieved when the people I love have other people who love them too. And that’s even if I were mono–I don’t even know what I am, so it’s not weird to not know and be interested and wondering, still.
Love is hard and weird and relationships are complicated whether there’s two people or three people or more than that. So long as everyone’s clear on what they want and what their limits are and when they’re not happy. Because it’s okay to enter a relationship not really knowing your boundaries and realize while you’re in the relationship that, hey, you’re not keen on this. You and your partner(s) will have to work out a way to fix this problem. Sometimes the solution may mean breaking up, but at least you still have the memories of when you were happy and learn more about yourself.
I think that’s it. Wow that’s long. I hope I answered your questions, even if you said I didn’t have to. I did want to, really, it was just intense and I needed some time to wrangle the words.
(Speaking of, thanks! I’m glad you like my writing – and even maybe some of my brainstorms/recordings if you mean all of the content on here? 😀 )
Hm… personally for me, depending on how liberal Konoha’s legislation is on the matter of marriage, I’d like for Ino to be married to both Sai and Sakura. But if bigamy isn’t allowed (and I can understand why that wouldn’t be considering CLANS and INHERITANCE and… you know… that can be exploited horribly as it usually is in real life) then I think I’d prefer it if Ino and Sakura were the ones married.
Then again, Ino and Sai being married would be nice because Sai doesn’t really have a family and being married would mean that he’s now officially part of someone’s family. (I’m not crying, you’re crying). But than can also be achieved by Sakura and Sai getting married?
But, yeah, in their ménage à trois, it’s definitely Ino at the point of their V while Sakura and Sai’s relationship is nonsexual romantic or just plain platonic. They do like each other rather a lot, though, and DoS!Sakura is a lot more accepting(?) of Sai than canon!Sakura who saw him as a shoddy Sasuke replacement.
They all live together, along with Inojin and Sarada (and I just realized that in this universe, Sarada’s last name would probably be Haruno making her Spring Salad), and Sai definitely had to step up and take on most of the child-rearing duties especially since I also realize that in order for Sarada to be genetically-canon!Sarada, Ino and Sakura would have been pregnant at around the same time. So Sai would have had to deal with DOUBLE THE PREGNANT LADIES. But, luckily for him, he does honestly enjoy taking care of the kids.
I don’t think he’d fully retire from ninjadom–mostly because I don’t think that’s really possible in a Hidden Village–but he does definitely orient his missions/duties for, oh I dunno, maybe he becomes a teacher at the Academy (for the younger years) or he learns medic jutsu and works in the pediatric center of the hospital.
(Oh! Another thing I found from narutopedia: whenever Inojin plays roleplaying games he chooses White Mage who are literally medics so, you know, being son of three medics–one of whom is the successor of Legendary Medic Tsunade–is probably heaven for him)
He does also write/draw children’s books on the side, because if Jiraiya can write porn and be a spymaster, Sai can definitely be a father, an author, and a teacher/doctor.
How did Ino, Sai, and Sakura end up together? I’d say it probably went something like this:
“Beautiful,” the cute guy calls her, and Ino just barely controls her blush.
“Obviously,” she says, flipping her hair, “but you’ll have to try harder than that to impress me.”
The cute guy, Sai, nods as if noting it, all but writing it down. “Do you have any advice? A book, maybe?”
Ino smiles; how does Shikako find these guys?
“You should come by the flower shop,” Ino suggests, invites, beguiles, “I can teach you far better than any book can.”
—
Sai shows up at the flower shop the next day and maybe he didn’t really understand what she was offering, but it’s a nice enough conversation.
He actually listens to her, not just stares mutely and tunes her out. He asks follow up questions and by the time an hour has passed she’s discussing the pros and cons of various flower arranging styles as methods of poison dispersal to a boy who actually wants to know more.
She invites him to come back.
Maybe it didn’t turn out the way she wanted it to, but she finds she doesn’t mind at all.
And anyway, he still calls her beautiful.
—
Ino looks forward to the kunoichi meetings, tries to go to as many as she can–it’s good for networking and collaborating, true, but mostly she just misses it. Misses kunoichi classes at the Academy, and sleepovers at her house, and the way things were easier and brighter and happier then.
Ino knows she and Shikako have changed too much–seen to much and done too much–to ever really get that kind of innocence back. Not that theirs had been all that pure, honed and shaped the way all clan kids are from birth, but still.
Sakura still has it, that brightness that has nothing to do with the color of her hair and eyes. That core of strength and beauty that no poisonous flower arrangement could ever match.
Ino looks forward to the kunoichi meetings because, at the heart of it, she looks forward to seeing Sakura.
—
Things… happen.
No, that’s not right: Ino makes things happen.
She’s never been one for sitting back and pining–she’ll play things close to the chest like any proper Yamanaka, but she’s always been vocal about her likes and dislikes.
This time around, she gets liked back.
—
Once, Sakura visits her at the flower shop at the same time Sai is there for their meetings–Sakura is usually busy with shifts at the hospital and her lessons from Tsunade-sama, and Ino’s not entirely sure what Sai gets up to when he’s not at the flower shop or going on bizarre missions with Shikako.
Once is all it takes.
Sakura skirts around the counter, presses a kiss to Ino’s cheek in greeting, and for all that it’s chaste it makes her blush.
Sai tilts his head, observant as always.
Sakura nudges her in curiosity.
“Sakura, this is Sai, cute artist,” Ino introduces, “Sai, this is Sakura, amazing girlfriend.”
“It’s nice to meet you, Sai,” Sakura says with a sweet smile.
“It’s nice to meet you, too, Amazing Girlfriend,” Sai responds, a smile of his own, “I appreciate having a senpai in dating Ino. Please look after me,” he adds a polite bow, oblivious to the reactions he receives.
Sakura blinks in surprise. Mostly confused, but a little… considering.
Ino looks between the two of them and has a revelation.
aka, how Sai instigates a poly relationship without realizing it 😀
edit: adding this to ao3 Dreaming One Shots as “Take A Step That Is New”
Hey anon, thanks for the prompt. Unfortunately, I don’t think I’ll be writing this exact prompt per se, seeing as how I’d feel compelled to fill in Sai and Shikako actually banding together to make a manga and how exactly that would have come about seeing as how Sai is still ~brainwashed~ and Shikako is way too stressed to take on a project that doesn’t directly lead to her/everyone’s survival.
That being said, this does kind of bring up something I’ve been meaning to write–so we’ll see?
A/N1: I didn’t want to have two missed posts in a row, even if this is just barely sufficient. So here are three sort of fusion/crossover fics from various fandoms that I’ve been pondering but wouldn’t want to or really know where to start.
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1) DCU x Assassin’s Creed
While training with Shiva, Tim Drake learns the truth behind a secret centuries-long conflict, the League of Assassins, and his own history. Five years later, the lost heir to Drake Industries and the Robin-that-wasn’t returns to Gotham.
In which Ra’s league is actually the Templars misappropriating the Assassin name and Tim’s legacy comes with a heavy set of responsibilities.
Visited my BFF and she was playing Assassin’s Creed III. Basically, while we were both having intense feelings over Conner and his doomed fate, I wondered a little about a possible fusion. At first, I considered Damian since he’s literally an assassin baby, but the more I thought about it the more I realized that there’s no way that Ra’s was an Assassin fighting for people’s right to freedom. No, he’s more like a Templar–fight for “peace” through order. But then… why is his organization called the League of Assassins?
Likely, the real Assassins are few in number and scattered, losing the war against the Templars. Shiva is one such true assassin and, having discovered Tim’s lineage, decided to teach him about his own heritage. And this was one of the few ways where I can picture Tim being derailed from his duties as Robin.
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2) Star vs The Forces of Evil x Elementary
When there are cases that stump other psychiatrists, they refer to Dr. Marco Diaz. For a such a bland seeming man, he has a talent with the more unusual patients.
Then he gets a call from a completely different dimension. He’s about to get a client who redefines the definition of unusual and an adventure for a lifetime.
This one, I admit, I was mostly influenced by me binge-watching Elementary and Star vs The Forces of Evil within the past month. Because the idea of a bewildered but competent adult psychiatrist Marco being drawn into the eccentric and conflicted Star’s evil/crime fighting paralleled Joan and Sherlock’s relationship very easily to me. Also, Tom and his demon horde as Irene/Moriarty? I dunno.
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3) Naruto x Avatar the Last Airbender
In which Sai can only express his heritage through art, Sakura rails against her role as a pink-haired novelty, Sasuke is still the last of his red-eyed fire-breathing clan, and Naruto will not let the Air Nomads be forgotten–even if he was a shameful abomination in their opinion.
Also includes Kakashi, the first moon-blessed baby to fire-bend, and Yamato/Tenzo, who can’t bend anything but plants.
Basically, expanded Team Seven in the Avatar universe! Because the elements match up pretty well with Sai being a water-bender, Sakura as earth, Sasuke as fire, and Naruto as air. As for Naruto being a “shameful abomination” I was trying to figure out what would be a jinchuuriki equivalent but then I remembered that, as far as we know, air-benders can also be spirit-benders. So what if Minato, the pride of the Air Nomads, took a journey into the Spirit World, fell in love with Kushina a fox spirit, and had a half-spirit half-human baby Naruto.
Then considering Kakashi’s white hair but lightning affinity I figured well… maybe his father was Water Tribe, therefore, moon-blessed but his mother was Fire Nation. Which could take the place of Sakumo’s failed mission–like, if he was considered a traitor to the tribe and so he left to have his family. But then Kakashi’s mother died and so Sakumo had no tribe, no wife, and a baby who he tried his best with. But grief/depression being what it is… well.
As for Yamato/Tenzo… I’ll be honest, I don’t know that much about him? Like… he’s got some Senju DNA and he was in ROOT/ANBU but not anymore? I dunno. Maybe I can have some kind of Dai Li subplot with him but… mreh.
Anyway, I figure this kind of happens concurrently with the series. So they’re all roughly the same age as the characters of the show. Even Aang and Naruto–Aang having been frozen in an iceberg and Naruto having some strange sort of slowed aging/immortality and having lived the century out. Well… maybe he was asleep too. I dunno. I know that throws off the Kakashi and Minato mentor/student relationship but I’m kind of fond of the idea…
Ooh! What if the Uchiha clan had Naruto sealed, but then Itachi did his whole massacre the clan thing but this time it was because he was such a principled person. Like, he couldn’t stand the idea that his clan’s success/status in the Fire Nation was because they had essentially enslaved a sentient being. So he kills them all (except Sasuke), sets Naruto free, then gets imprisoned. I dunno.
I also don’t want Sakura’s story to parallel Toph’s too much. Er, I suppose in my head her story would shake out a little bit to something like the shoujo manga Akagami no Shirayuki-hime. Aka Red-haired Snow White. In which a red-haired “commoner” is chosen to be a prince’s concubine because of her rare red hair, instead of agreeing, Shirayuki basically cuts off her hair, leaves for the neighboring kingdom in order to become a pharmacist/doctor, and accidentally meets/falls in love with the neighboring kingdom’s prince. It’s great, go read it, it’s super cute.
JackSGreyson Says 