I don&#39;t kill

"Why don't you just marry her and be done with it, if you want kids that badly?"

The sneer on Temari's face could have sliced through bone.

Shikamaru sighed. Then, without a word, he rolled off the bed. Picked up the articles of clothing scattered around the room. Had to look around a moment before he found the pack of cigarettes.

Temari's eyes had narrowed, he noted once he'd pulled his shirt back on.

"Run away all you want, asshole!"

He didn't answer, and she made no gesture to detain him as he made for the door, only shouting louder.

"One day you're gonna have answer that question for good!"

Temari's words echoed like a threat even after he was out.

From:

OH! *_*

InoSaku
NejiHina
IruAnko
LeeTen
GaiKaka

That...was more than one. D:

From:

InoSaku:

Ino is still there. Night has already fallen but Ino is still there, and her smile grows more desperate with every passing second.

Neither Shikamaru nor Chouji mentions it.

"I don't want to get back," Ino finally blurts out. "I don't--"

But she doesn't finish her sentence; only looks away, out of the window of Chouji's room. Her gaze loses itself in the cold darkness out.

"It just -- it's never going to end, now, is it?"

Neither Shikamaru nor Chouji answers. Ino isn't expecting an answer anyway.

Naruto and Sasuke are dead, Sakura is left behind, and Ino is not enough.

They've already had their ending.

NejiHina:

Yes, Hinata-sama. Thank you, Neji-niisan.

They're so wrapped in trying to break (out of) the Hyuuga that they end up breaking themselves.

IruAnko:

Anko tried. Anko tried so hard. She tried to put it all behind. She tried to believe in what she had left. She tried to love him.

He was a good man. An accepting man. He was a good ninja. Heck, he'd even be a good father, if she ever sprung it on him that he'd knocked her up.

So Anko tried.

If anyone could make her happy, it should be him.

He would even accept her for what she was - for what she had been.

She didn't.

LeeTen:

When they're alone together, Tenten always feels like there's something missing, and when they're with their team, Lee always feels like he's lying.

GaiKaka:

...I think you broke my brain with this. How can GaiKaka even be dysfunctional? Kakashi is made of dysfunctional. Gai makes him non-dysfunctional.

...

...

...

Gai does his best, and he thinks that maybe, if it was just him and Kakashi - the challenges, the silences and the companionship - it might work.

But they have students framing their encounters - the team Gai is guiding, and the children Kakashi isn't.

From:

NejiHina:

Yes, Hinata-sama. Thank you, Neji-niisan.

They're so wrapped in trying to break (out of) the Hyuuga that they end up breaking themselves.

Effing awesome and just the way it might turn out, even in the best of times.

And word up on GaiKakashi. Not enough people write them!

From:

There are so many ways for NejiHina to turn utterly unhealthy. This is just one of the most all-encompassing ones, 'cause there'd be really no getting out of that habit.

*laments lack of GaiKaka* hey, if you like GaiKaka, have you read

manicjoy's fics? She has a couple of them. And is also dreadfully UNKNOWN in the fandom, which is a great injustice.

From:

omnivorously.livejournal.com

What you say about Gai/Kakashi wins you your very own piece of the internet. Because you're totally right about why it might not dysfunctional and you're totally right about why it might be.

From:

And even then, I had to brain break for a good five minutes while doing D: faces at my screen to find ONE way GaiKaka could possibly be dubbed dysfunctional and not wildly OOC.

GLAD TO HAVE YOUR APPROVAL. :D

btw, I'm very sorry I still haven't written the responses to your prompts; I'll have them up on Monday, promise. (KakaSasu!flail. oh no wait I've got an idea.) Monday.

From:

Heee, loving so many of these. *_*

LeeTen broke my heart a little, because that's how I think it'd be too. That team are so close that I'm sometimes weary of splitting them up at all. And both Lee and Tenten carry quite a lot of individual angst, not of the most dramatic kind, but it's still there and a big part of what they are.

Much love for IruAnko. It'd be dysfunctional even on its good days. D:

And oh. I adore you for the GaiKaka. If you ever wrote that pairing I could die happy. I think you'd do an excellent job, even if you normally don't write Team Gai much.

Edited Date: 2007-11-13 04:24 am (UTC)

From:

Out of your prompts, InoSaku and NejiHina were definitely the easiest.

LeeTen, however, was not. If only because it's not a pairing I'm serious about, so I haven't thought about them as much as I did for other pairings, and it never struck me as having a high dysfunctionality potential, but if I had to go one way and keep them more or less IC, I'd probably go that route. (But then, it's one way to make practically any team pairing dysfunctional, except maybe InoChou.)

That team are so close that I'm sometimes weary of splitting them up at all.
Hee, preaching to the wrong person here - but what I'm afraid of, for Team Gai, is pairing them up and leaving the third one alone. I think that could split them up even worse than them having love-interests out of their team.

I feel like I stretched the boundaries of ICness with Anko. I usually don't see her that despondent. But then, it was the way that was the least DO NOT WANT inducing, so...

You know I love you, but I'm never gonna write GaiKaka. I can't write Gai AT ALL and I can barely write Kakashi (in relation to Team Seven, with much frustration and urges to just scrape his scene already) and ack. Thanks for the vote of confidence anyway, *snuggles*

From:

I'd imagine, since that's what you fic for yourself. :D And as for LeeTen, it's not a pairing that's dysfunctional at first glance, and I don't think that even if you push it their issues would run as deep as most other pairings. But there are their feelings of inferiority (I...like to think that Sakura becoming Tsunade's apprentice shook Tenten a bit, since she might have had some ambitions like that herself) and they could be unsure on how to feel and how the other one is feeling. But mostly, it's a very happy and normal pairing, and I love them for it.

I...don't think you stretched Anko's characterization that hard. D: Rofl now I wonder about my own sense of her character. XD

And welll I disagree, I think you'd be able to write him well if you wanted to. But if you don't then you shouldn't. ♥ I'd never want to push you or anything, but I still think you'd be able to get his character down. BUT I know how you feel, I'll probably never fic for Team 7 because...I'm not invested in them enough to wantand put down the tim and effort to write soemthing IC.

From:

Yay, it also means I loves me my ships when they're so pretty and broken and not getting anywhere.

(I...like to think that Sakura becoming Tsunade's apprentice shook Tenten a bit, since she might have had some ambitions like that herself)

I agree with that, but I like to think that Tenten's come to realise that her strength doesn't rest so much on medic-nin as it does on more fight-oriented things. Or Tenten secretly wanted to be a medic-nin at one point.

Anyway, not really a case for how many great kunoichi Konoha produces, I'm afraid. >(

Anko: I'm not sure myself. It's just that I generally don't see her dysfunctional for that reason, exactly. I see her more as one of Konoha's glorified headcases, but not so angsty. I like to think she's more or less okay with who she is. But I suppose she can have her moments!

Perhaps someday I'll have a scene popping in my mind between Gai and Kakashi or Team Gai that I'll want to write. So far...

As a side note. In an AU verse where Kakashi is a cop and Lee a would-be writer and they don't know each other. What would Gai be? I know what Neji is doing, and I have an idea for Tenten, but if you have an idea for Gai, or another one for Tenten, that'd be cool.

From:

Kakashi as a cop? Neji as a would-be writer? :D What is this aweomse AU you're speaking off? XD

And wellll...it depends if you want to keep the relationshipd canon or not. Like if you want Gai to be in a position where he can work as a mentor figure to Lee similar to the way he does now. Or if you'd rather emphasise his interactions with Kakashi.

I think that personally, I'd put him as a cop with Kakashi, because Gai working with the police makes sense, and him and Kakashi would have great and hilarious interaction. But of course it's hard to say, since I have no idea what this story of yours is about. DD: I'd make him a cop or something like that too. Or a very dedicated litterature professor at some university, or a critic who, tired of all the cynisism around, has decided to help and inspire young writers instead of shooting them down.

:D As for Tenten, if this has something to do with writing, I'd make her an aspiring journalist who's very realistic about her own creative writing, but still hides deep poems in her closet dreaming of some day publishing an anthology.

From:

gehayi.livejournal.com

Ron/Hermione. Or Remus/Sirius.

From:

For OTPs, they're surprisingly easy to twist. Particularly Remus/Sirius. Not sure what that says about me.

Ron/Hermione:

No, it's not that he doesn't trust her. Maybe he doesn't trust himself. Because, well, yes, maybe she is too good for him.

Maybe someday she's going to realise that and move on, and Ron will be standing there gaping like a big lump.

The only person Ron could talk about it and who would understand is Neville, because Harry still thinks when he said 'she's like a sister to me' he put all of Ron's worries to sleep, Ginny wouldn't get it, and Luna is nice and all, but... And it's not like Ron can ask his brothers. Not about Hermione.

So that'd leave Neville, except Ron is uneasy telling him about that, because - he'd have burst something laughing when he was eleven if someone had told him that, but Neville has grown up good. He's a hero now. He has admirers.

And Ron isn't sure Neville doesn't like Hermione. Didn't like her once, at least.

And Hermione?

Well, Hermione is bound to get more annoyed than usual at his foolishness, someday.

Remus/Sirius:

Sirius picks up fights about any little thing, except that which he really means.

Remus only retreats into himself, and at some point he might just up and leave.

So Sirius continues. If Remus lashed out, at least he'd have a warning.

From: (Anonymous)

Susuke x Hinata and Itachi x Hinata

From:

You've gotta admit, it'd be more difficult to think up one way it wouldn't be dysfunctional...

SasuHina:
At some point, they discover it’s not enough to be in love with the same person, and by that stage it’s too late; Naruto thinks they’re as happy together as he is with Sakura.

ItaHina:
Genjutsu can make her sleep fitfully when she’s having regrets. Sometimes, Hinata isn’t sure she’s ever awake.

From:

planetes.livejournal.com

For some reason,

ShinoTen
Yondaime/Tenten

From:

DDDDD: DUDE. ...Also, avoiding crack was hard, thus the shortness.

Yondaime/Tenten:
He’s dead.

ShinoTen:
She’s a normal girl. She thought she’d got used to silence, bloodline limits, and never knowing where you stood. She’d thought wrong. But he doesn’t say anything, and Tenten doesn’t want to be the bad guy. So she doesn’t leave and tries harder.

From:

loveroftheflame.livejournal.com

Tsunade/Orochimaru

Neji/Itachi

From:

Tsunade/Orochimaru:
He doesn't understand why he hasn't killed her yet. He isn't sure he understands why she hasn't killed him yet, either, and tha is almost more unnerving; Tsunade proved years ago that she was able to plan on killing him, and he isn't sure he likes what it says that she has changed so much.

She should want to kill him, at least, for being the reason her apprentice died; for being the reason the Kyuubi vessel was caught by Akatsuki, even if she'd stopped blaming him for Jiraiya's death. In that, she had more of a responsibility than he did.

But Tsunade's habit always was to automatically blame Orochimaru for everything Jiraiya did that went out of hand.

She should want to kill him for wearing the skin of the one her apprentice and the Kyuubi vessel gave everything to try and save.

For allowing Konoha to be destroyed.

He should kill her, he thinks sometimes when he sees her spending sleepless nights working silently in the laboratories of Sound. She's nothing but a memory of things he's since long outgrown.

He should.

Neji/Itachi:
Neji can never leave the guilt behind. He can't leave Itachi, either.

If he did, it'd mean everything he sacrificed is meaningless; and that a golden cage really sometimes is better than a costly freedom.

It'd mean that some people really are happier in slavery.

But still, sometimes, he's awoken at night by Hinata's empty eyes, her dead stare boring holes through him across the corpse-littered compound.

Itachi always wakes up, too.

From:

Itachi/Ino, thanks to recent fic. ;)

Also, AMAZING meme. Am stealing soon, I promise!

From:

No, seriously, you're trying to make my brain explode with bunnies, aren't you?... I have to tell you, though, it won't work. I just have too many things being written.

BY WHICH I MEAN, THERE, TAKE YOUR FICLET AND ASKLJDKSJL. DIE, BUNNY.

InoIta:

He has no way out. He doesn't remember the things he has done, or why he is hovering in this shadow village where people never look at him in the eyes - even though it's pointless now.

He has no way out, Ino knows, because Sasuke is not waking up and Sasuke is the one holding the key to Itachi's freedom.

Sakura used to have the key too, but Sakura is dead and Kakashi wasn't there to copy the world-altering jutsu she used on Itachi. Theoretically, he might be able to undo it with the power of his Sharingan, except that they are talking about Uchiha Itachi, and using one's Sharingan to do anything about him is not an option.

Ino doesn't really know how she ended up saddled with him, too. She know why; she just isn't sure about the how.

At first Itachi was staying with Naruto, because Naruto is without a doubt the person most involved about Sasuke, but it didn't work out. Then there was Kakashi, but he declined.

So Ino does it - Ino takes care of Itachi - because Sakura was her best friend and she died sealing Itachi away, so that when Sasuke wakes up he can undo whatever it is she did and he can finally kill his brother.

And everything will be over.

Ino is taking care of Itachi, she imagines, the sort of way people take care of the animals they're breeding, when they know they're going to kill and eat them.

But Itachi is not an animal. He's too quiet to be an animal; too quiet to be any form of life, she thinks. He walks down the street without looking either left or right, only ahead, and he does no more noise now than he did when he was still himself.

Itachi has no way out until Sasuke wakes up, but Ino doesn't have much of one either.

Taking care of Itachi has cut off most of her links with other people. Her team still visits, of course; but she can't go see Kurenai and her child, now. Hinata is unfazed by Itachi's presence, but Neji hates it. Naruto - the person in the world Ino thinks she can best relate to nowadays - can barely stand glancing at him.

She can't think of Itachi as an animal, because Itachi, when he is not being quiet, can talk. Not about anything; there are wide expanses of blankness in his mind, where Sakura swooped away what was important. But they can talk about the little things.

Itachi was so little of a person, before, Ino wouldn't have been surprised that, once the things he'd done (and why he'd done them, and who) were gone, there'd be nothing left. He was so hollow to begin with.

It's the reverse that happens.

From:

With the things that make him Itachi gone, it's almost like he's a person; a real person.

Ino can talk about flowers with him.

She can ask him to go and buy the paper, or if he wants to have take out when the fridge is desperately empty.

She can tell him about Shikamaru's last antics regarding Temari - the way he's completely denying he's keeping track of the days since the last letter, or the way he mysteriously disappeared for over four hours during their last mission out of the village, only to return with a bitemark glaring at everyone above the collar of his shirt.

Ino only knows this because of Chouji, of course.

Ino herself has a long-term mission in Konoha; taking care of Uchiha Itachi (though no-one calls him Uchiha anymore; he has lost that, as well) until Sasuke wakes up. Tsunade only agreed to name it a mission for Sakura, of course.

He's almost like a real person.

Except not really, because there's just so much missing. And even if there wasn't, in the end, he's still Itachi; meaning he's not.

Itachi never felt like a real person, from the tales Ino sought out.

And now, he's like the echo of a person; like a reflection through the mist.

He isn't real, and he doesn't even pretend all that well. Itachi used to be a master of genjutsu, and this transparent illusion of a person make Ino hurt for him.

It'd be more humane to kill him now.

But she won't.

In part it's because Ino is well aware she has grown attached in a way that will break her somewhat when he's finally put down.

Mostly, it's because he's all that remains of Itachi, and Ino fully intends on standing next to Naruto when Sasuke kills Itachi.

It's their only way out, now.

From:

::all but keels over now::

Jesus christ, woman, you write tragedy so goddamn well. It's like being stabbed through the chest repeatedly but wanting it all the more. It's just... seeing how Itachi is so broken and how Ino breaks trying to keep him alive just long enough to be torn apart permanently... knowing the unexpected things that will do to her but seeing a bleak and desolate freedom in it anyway...

You do realize this is calling out for a larger sequel or AU or something on this vine, right? ::puppy dog eyes you now::

From:

Yeaaaaaaah, the basic concept (memory-erased!Itachi) comes from a KisaIta fic which is awe x 10.

how Ino breaks trying to keep him alive just long enough to be torn apart permanently... knowing the unexpected things that will do to her but seeing a bleak and desolate freedom in it anyway...

Plus, and though she's willfully Not Angsting about it, he is the one who killed Sakura. Pretty much the only reason Ino hasn't killed him yet is that Sakura had other plans.

Go on. Write it. *sweet smile*

From:

Alas, I am backlogged with work and it doesn't look as though I'll be writing anything anytime soon. ;_; But tell me when your birthday is and I'll be happy to try and whip something up for you... ;')

From:

Orrrrr maybe I'll keep the birthday card for something else. Yes. I'll do that. *IS INDECISIVE, SO WHAT*

You do your RL thing, I'll wait for Ino to come kick my ass into writing something about that verse.

please Ino don't come too fast, I've got the smut theme set and the RL theme set and that ded wip from over a year ago that's started stirring, and that other fic where you meet Itachi, and that fic where Sakura comes for your help, and the one where you go for Hinata's help, and the one from the birthday present meme, and the 1sentence with you and Sakura that awoke after a peaceful slumber of 5 months, and NaruSasu and NaruSaku are telling me they want their 1sentence as well, and the 20 something pairings out of the alphabeticons meme, and, oh, god, the long Celebrationverse fic that's never getting written, and *breaks down and cries*

...

I'll...

see what comes up.

From:

HOMG GIRL. WHEN DO U FIND THE TIME 4 SLEEP?!

But I'm cheering you on in the side-ways nonetheless, you ridiculously talented darling! ♥

From:

The catch: I totally sleep instead of writing.

T_T

*snuggles*

From:

omnivorously.livejournal.com

Naruto/Sasuke
Naruto/Sasuke/Sakura
Sasuke/Kakashi
Sakura/Kakashi
Naruto/Kakashi never occurs to me, but I'd like to see what you'd do with it anyway ...
Kiba/Hinata

From:

Naruto/Sasuke angsty, dramatic OTP of doom ftw.

Sasuke leaves every time, of course.

Of course, Naruto goes after him.

Sometimes they’re back when Sakura swings by their apartement – really Naruto’s, but for his sake she’ll say theirs. Sometimes they’re gone for months.

Sakura resents being left behind less now than she did when she was younger, but then, she has Ino. She grew up when Naruto and Sasuke didn’t, and what she fears nowadays is that one day they won’t come back at all and Konoha will hear about the obliteration of half a country, and there won’t even be the hitai-ite left to bury.

She asked Naruto, once, why he kept doing it. It was one of the rare times when there had been signs that Sasuke would be leaving soon.

(Once, it was Sakura ringing at the door that awoke Naruto – and it was then that Naruto realised Sasuke was gone. One of the times in the beginning, of course; back when Naruto didn’t wake up before the crack of dawn. Sakura remembers Naruto’s conviction that Sasuke was still there, then his bleak desperation; then the anger, blazing with the Kyuubi’s chakra.)

You’re not happy, she said as she dressed Naruto’s wound in a way that wouldn’t hinder the regrowth of his hand. Chidori; a sure sign that Sasuke was getting restless.

Neither of you is happy.

Naruto looked at her. He’d tried and mopped up most of the blood with his sleeve, but there were still encrusted traces of blood on his face, though his nose, Sakura noted, no longer seemed to be broken.

Sakura refused to think about the state Sasuke might be in. He’d been well enough to get away before she arrived in any case, and he wouldn’t let himself die from something so stupid as a friendly spar against Naruto.

“We couldn’t be happier, Sakura-chan.”

He looked like he couldn’t understand why Sakura would say that.

Naruto/Sasuke/Sakura D:

Itachi always was the most important person in Sasuke’s life; his death doesn’t change that.

Sasuke/Kakashi

Two wrongs don’t, after all, make a right, and two uncomplete people will never make a complete one, even if they don’t know what they’re missing.

From:

Sakura/Kakashi

“Sakura—”

He catches her wrist before the slap connects; she glares at him for a moment before yanking her hand away. He tenses slightly in instinctive anticipation.

She’s upset enough that her first reaction wasn’t punching him. Kakashi doesn’t fancy fighting Sakura when she’s rendered unpredictable and illogical by anger – his sharingan is hidden beneath his hitai-ite and subduing her without using it would be uncomfortable, expecially if he has to worry about his own safety.

“Sakura, calm down,” he nevertheless finishes. His voice betrays none of his tension.

Her eyes are narrowed to slits, and she snarls, but she makes no move to hit him again – doesn’t move at all; blocking all her muscles to prevent herself from doing so, Kakashi recognises the terseness in her shoulders.

“Maybe, on the contrary, you should stop being so calm,” she hisses.

Kakashi frowns, but Sakura continues.

“I’m the one doing all the work in this – relationship, if you can even call it that with a straight face. Oh no, I forgot, of course you could keep a straight face!”

Her fists are clenched and her teeth bared. Kakashi would rather avoid this discussion, but he can’t just turn away now Sakura started it. It wasn’t like he hadn’t seen it coming, he berates himself. She’s been increasingly snappy recently, over the slightest things.

He regards her for a few minutes, taking in the way the fingers of her right hand are trembling.

“You knew me,” he points out. His tone is mild but he doesn’t otherwise soften the blows of what he’s saying. It’s only the truth; and the sooner Sakura accepts it the sooner they can put this madness behind them. “I told you what you could and couldn’t expect. You knew what you were getting into, Sakura.”

Sakura’s jaw is clenching as well, now. Her eyes are brighter, too, but he isn’t sure if that’s because of the flame rage lit or because she’s going to cry.

“You won’t even take that mask down,” she accuses. Her voice breaks over the last word, and she looks down.

Cold settles over Kakashi; knowing that he should, probably, take her in his arms and assure her that everything will be alright, but that she will see the empty words for what they are. She’s always been a smart girl; Kakashi wishes he could offer her the type of affection she wants. But he can’t promise it any more than Sakura would be disposed to believe a promise he wouldn’t mean.

Even for her, he won’t change who he is. Sakura knew this. He doubts she would have let him know how much his behavious hurt her if she hadn’t been at the limit of what she could take.

“Sakura...” Her gaze snaps up at him again, and Kakashi is struck speechless for a moment by the naked pain in her eyes. “You can’t heal me.”

After a moment, she nods feebly.

This time, Kakashi is the first to look away. In front of him, Sakura may be crying.

Naruto/Kakashi

When a person has three teammates, and gets with the third because the two others are dead, there aren’t many conclusions to be drawn. That’s tragedy.

What comes afterwards is mere details.

Kiba/Hinata

“Why don’t you find yourself a nice girl to settle down with?”

Hana’s tone is sarcastical, but her words aren’t.

Kiba looks away, and doesn’t reply, ‘one day she might need me’.

Instead he says, “we’ve already talked about that, right?”

From:

omnivorously.livejournal.com

In case I don't get around to saying anything insightful, I'm just gonna say right now that those were all so fucking awesome and heartbreaking. Omg the Kakashi/Naruto one, aaaah! Really, that's the only way it would happen. Naruto and Sasuke are way too fucked up to know how utterly utterly screwy their relationship is ("but ... rough sex?" "But you don't have sex, Naruto!" "But ..." "IT'S NOT HEALTHY!" But even Tsunade's threats that no one so clearly nucking futz could ever be hokage could make Naruto stop.) Naruto/Sasuke/Sakura: so fucking true; he's obsessed. When I do write Sasuke, I write him as obsessed. Gah, of all people, to have Itachi-niisan as the center of his emotional life! Sasuke/Kakashi: yup. The utter lack of real communication between those two would just blow yer mind, I'm tellin' ya. I mean, they don't even admit when it feels good *snickers* (How do I know? I'm on the Perving On Sasuke and Kakashi But Without Getting Involved Because They're Both Fuckwits team.) Sakura/Kakashi: I hate to admit it, but she *would* do that to herself. In some ways, she really isn't cut out to be a ninja, not on that team anyway. Hmm. I think what I need to think about for my fic is how she learns to deal with her losses ... but she can't do whatever it is that Tsunade does ... And I've got nothin' left for Kiba/Hinata. But hopefully he has lots of no-strings-attached sex in the mean time? Cuz that would be hot.

This is why I'm in the fandom, because people who already have what they want aren't interesting to talk or write or speculate about. I distrust fluffy fanfic, even as I enjoy it. I mean, they're *ninjas*. aaargh. Me and my weird interest in military types and war stories and child soldiers. (Needless to say, I loved *Ender's Game*.)

From:

Really, that's the only way it would happen.
It's my setting by default when I want to get people together and make them hurt. >_>

NaruSasuSaku:
But-but I like when they are happy ;_; When Itachi's death does in fact let Sasuke look beyond and his teammates can beat/sex him up back to happiness and sure they beat one another up and they all have a truckload of Issues and all, but they work!

Gah, of all people, to have Itachi-niisan as the center of his emotional life!

Just... word.

NaruSasu was so much easier to turn inside out. Lack of Sakura being involved to the same extent, I think.

KakaSaku: in a way I think it's the only Kakashi/Team Seven ship I could potentially see working, in a verse where Kakashi is prepared to deal with change, because Sakura, in many ways, strikes me as the most ready for change. She's stubborn and as devoted to bringing Sasuke back as Naruto, but if Sasuke was happy out of Konoha I don't think she'd cling to that.

In some ways, she really isn't cut out to be a ninja, not on that team anyway.
I see what you mean, but Naruto and Sasuke and Kakashi on their own without Sakura to counterbalance wouldn't be pretty. If there's a reason why Sakura asked Tsunade to take as her apprentice beside the factor that Tsunade = Hokage = most powerful shinobi around, it's probably that she thinks they need to heal, and she's going to help. Which, er, isn't that stupid an idea.

I think what I need to think about for my fic is how she learns to deal with her losses ... but she can't do whatever it is that Tsunade does ...

I think of Sakura as the one of Team Seven who can grow up most easily. She's much, much more willing to deal with what she did wrong and change her way of doing things than either Naruto or Sasuke have proven to be so far.

So I'd say that after a period of denial/angst/whatever, she'd probably suck it up and think about it, really. Would she be ready to change her way of doing things? Does she think the cost is too high? I don't think she'd necessarily be willing to pay any price.

It'd probably depend on what she's trying to achieve; for instance, in the case of getting-Sasuke-back, the choice was easy to make because she only needed to change the means of proving her love for him, and she'd already started to grow unhappy with who she was in the team. If it was something that was more essential to how she perceives her identity - say, if, five years down the line, Bad Things Happened and she has to admit there's really no saving Sasuke - it'd probably take a great deal more heartache.

KibaHina: yeah so when I don't see/like a ship I go the unrequited route, how stunningly original of me. No-strings-attached sex is a yes, but only where Hinata can never hear about it, because he doesn't need to her to get the wrong idea on top of everything.

I distrust fluffy fanfic, even as I enjoy it. I mean, they're *ninjas*.

I like drama with a happy ending. Cuz yeah. Gimme my angst, but gimme my happy ending.

people who already have what they want
That can make for interesting angst, too. >:)

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“You won’t even take that mask down,” she accuses. Her voice breaks over the last word, and she looks down.

Best summary of why Kakashi is and will likely always be a fucked up human being that's possible. Brilliant job.

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jheanne.livejournal.com

If you're still taking prompts... since you've already written three of my faves (ShikaTema, KakaSaku and NejiHina), how about Lee/Sakura or Kakashi/Rin?

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I'll... see what I can do. >_> leesaku asljlskljksljhard. lee saku not supposed to be dysfunctional for my tiny brain.

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