The Secret Spikora Reports

Status of fics

2008-11-02T17:53:53Z

Have been busy with school stuff and original fic, but I've been making slow progress on fanfics, kinda.

Grief's Wake: Kinda my top priority right now, but still slow to get written.

KHHSAU: Now has a tentative title, Control Freak. However, is on hold indefinitely. I realized my lack of motivation for it came from it's lack of humor and overabundance of angst, so I am trying to think of ways to inject it with some humor or light-hearted moments.

Everything else is the same as last time, pretty much.

automatic_data @ 2008-05-28T20:51:00

2008-05-29T01:54:28Z

Title: Grief’s Wake (1/?)
Rating: PG-13
Word count: 5000+
Fandom: Naruto
Characters/Ships: Naruto/Sasuke, Mikoto/Kushina, mentioned Fugaku/Mikoto and Minato/Kushina
Notes/Warnings: AU where Itachi didn’t go psycho and Kushina didn’t die. In this chapter, character death. Slash, femmeslash, adultery, sexual situations. Some messing around with characterization due to major differences in the timeline etc. Currently unbeta'ed.

For the better part of Sasuke’s childhood, he wanted to be just like his brother. Itachi was strong and powerful, and Father depended on him and was proud of him. Mother was proud of Sasuke, in her own way, but it just wasn’t the same as Father’s sheer respect of Itachi. It wasn’t just that, though – Sasuke wanted to be like Itachi because Itachi was also kind and smart. He’d cheer Sasuke up when he was sad, and while he was stubbornly unwilling to help Sasuke with training, sometimes Itachi would sit down and help Sasuke with his homework. He was the best big brother anyone could have, really.

It had come as a shock when it happened. Itachi had promised Sasuke that he’d return from his mission in time for Sasuke’s thirteenth birthday. Instead, an ANBU came and talked to Mother and Father in hushed tones that Sasuke couldn’t hear. Mother looked shaken, eyes wider than Sasuke had ever seen them, her hand hovering over her mouth as it shook. Father’s jaw was clenched tightly, but he nodded once, and the ANBU left. Mother turned to Sasuke and, voice shaking, explained.

Itachi was always horrible at keeping his promises.

Naruto hovered to the side as Mother explained. He reached out to touch Sasuke, but Sasuke threw his arm aside and bolted. He didn’t even know where he was running until he collapsed in the forest where Itachi had always trained. His own breath felt like it was scorching his lungs as he panted and his eyes had a weird tingly itching feeling that he knew meant he was probably going to cry.

His eyes widened as arms wrapped around him and pulled him back against a chest. He struggled against them instinctively. “Let me go!” he yelled, trying to wrench Naruto’s arms – they would only be Naruto’s, only Naruto was this stupidly stubborn – off of him.

“Yeah, right,” Naruto replied. “Like I’m going to let you go through this alone.”

“You don’t get it! You don’t –” Sasuke choked on his next words because of a sob welling up, and he wished his emotions could wait until he was done telling Naruto that he was an idiot.

Naruto held him tighter. “Maybe I can’t relate or whatever, but I’ll be damned if I’m not going to be here when you need me.”

Sasuke wanted to inform Naruto about how much of an idiot he was, but instead he just cried as Naruto held him. Eventually Naruto’s grip loosened, becoming more gentle than restraining, and he moved so he was sitting beside Sasuke. Sasuke didn’t run; he just clung to Naruto’s shoulder for support.

He supposed he really shouldn’t have been as surprised as he was when Naruto wrapped a comforting arm around him as a response. After all, Naruto was an idiot like that.

But, he decided, sometimes having an idiot as a best friend wasn’t a bad thing.

“I heard.”

Mikoto looked up from the shopping list she held in her hand. She paused at the sight of the woman in front of her, letting her gaze linger on the long red hair that flowed over the over woman’s shoulders. “Uzumaki-san,” she said finally.

The woman grinned, placing a hand on her hip, the shopping basket full of instant ramen dangling from the fingers of her other hand casually. “You don’t have to be so formal, Mikoto.”

Mikoto’s lips twitched a bit into a smile, if only for a moment. “Of course, Kushina.”

Kushina’s smile faltered a bit, and while her gaze still met Mikoto’s, her stance lost some of the cheerful confidence it had had even a moment before. “Naruto told me about … anyway. How are you holding up?”

“I’m … okay, I suppose.” She turned away, inspecting the shelves in front of her. Without thinking, she grabbed a box of dango and put it into the shopping basket. She looked back at her list, examining its contents for the item that was located closest to where she was currently. She preferred to do her shopping efficiently.

“Um,” Kushina said, “Mikoto?”

“Yes?” Deciding, she began to walk down the aisle, towards the produce section. She still needed to get tomatoes for Sasuke.

“Fugaku likes sponge cake better than dango, right?”

“Yes.”

“And you don’t like dango at all.”

“Not particularly, no.”

“And Sasuke hates sweets, right?”

Mikoto frowned, glancing back over her shoulder at the redhead. “He always has. Why are you asking questions you already know the answer to, Kushina?”

“Just one more,” Kushina said. “Why did you pick up the dango, then?”

Mikoto paused mid-step. Trembling, she glanced down into her shopping basket. “I – It was automatic,” she said, not able to keep her voice from shaking. “I’d always have dango ready for him when he came back from missions –”

Kushina laid a comforting hand on Mikoto’s as she reached for the dango. “I figured. Here, I’ll put it back –”

Mikoto jerked her hands away. For a moment – just for a moment – she didn’t want Kushina to put the dango back on the shelf, and she was furious at the redhead for even suggesting such a thing. Then her senses returned, and she took a deep, steadying breath. “No, I – I’ll do it.” She grabbed the dango and placed it back on the shelf, as gently as she could with the violent way her hands were shaking.

She let go of the dango and pulled back abruptly, as if her hand was scalded from touching it. She stared at her hand as if it was something alien, still trembling.

She felt Kushina’s arms wrap around her and she turned to face the other woman, burying her head in Kushina’s red hair and clutching her tightly.

She couldn’t help but think that if she let go, she’d fall apart.

Naruto had long ago come to grips with the fact that his father was dead. Kind of hard not to, when your father died the day you were born. He’d also accepted that half the villagers expected him to become like his father while the other half thought he was a good-for-nothing illegitimate brat.

A couple had even called him a monster, but any time his mother heard them call Naruto that, she’d stalk after them and the next anyone saw of them, they’d have a sizeable black eye. His mom would always look ridiculously pleased with herself, after that.

Sasuke, on the other hand, had always seemed obsessed with getting his father’s attention. It wasn’t that Naruto couldn’t understand, so much as … well. He couldn’t understand. If Sasuke’s dad was too much of a bastard to give Sasuke the attention he obviously wanted, then wasn’t he not worth trying to please? But Sasuke had never seen it that way, and told Naruto many times that he was an idiot for not getting it.

Naruto knew Itachi’s death would probably get a similar reaction from Sasuke – you’ve never been through this, so shut up before you show what an idiot you are – so he didn’t say he understood. He didn’t tell Sasuke he got where he was coming from.

He did, however, haul Sasuke out of the dimly lit room that Sasuke had locked himself up in and dragged him to the third training ground and when Sasuke refused to do anything, Naruto screamed insults at him until Sasuke gave him a taste of his nasty right hook. And then they fell into a fight that could, arguably, be considered training: taijutsu only, with Naruto goading the dark-haired boy on with yells of, “C’mon, Sasuke, that all you got?!” and Sasuke getting progressively more angry, his strength and speed increasing with every verbal jab of Naruto’s.

After the sun had started to set, Sasuke collapsed in a heap. It didn’t surprise Naruto; for whatever reason, he always had had more stamina than Sasuke. Instead of making some smartass comment about Sasuke not lasting till the end of the fight, he just hooked his arm around Sasuke’s waist, placed Sasuke’s arm around his shoulders, and started carrying him back.

“You,” Sasuke said, panting for breath, “are the most unbearable idiot I have ever met.”

“I love you, too, Sasuke,” Naruto replied cheekily.

“Only your mother could love a moron like you,” Sasuke replied defensively.

Naruto snorted. He hadn’t said Sasuke loved him, he’d just joked about him loving Sasuke, but apparently Sasuke was too tired to grasp the difference. “You’re forgetting,” he said, “that Sakura-chan and Ino both think I’m pretty hot.”

“Only after I showed no interest, blockhead.”

It wasn’t entirely true; Sakura and Ino seemed to think both he and Sasuke were very attractive, despite the fact that Sasuke ignored both of them and Naruto’s first attempt at asking out Sakura had been disastrous enough that ever since, she was more fond of punching him in the face than saying “yes” to his advances. (It got to the point where whenever he’d come home with a black eye, his mother would grin and ask, “So was it Sasuke or Sakura this time?”)

Naruto turned the corner and Sasuke gave him a dirty look. “My house is the other direction. Or is that too much for your tiny brain to remember?”

“My house is closer,” Naruto said simply. He didn’t mention that the second Sasuke passed something in the house that reminded him of Itachi, he’d probably barricade himself in his room again. It was annoying enough to get him out of the room the first time around, doing it again would cause Naruto to punch the bastard in the face, teamwork be damned.

“Whatever,” Sasuke said. He seemed to slump again, energy gone, but this time his weight seemed to shift towards Naruto rather than away.

“You can be a real asshole, you know that?” Naruto asked.

“Like I care.”

An urgent knock on the door made Kushina put down the latest of Jiraiya’s novels and get up to answer the door. To knock on her door this late at night meant that it had to be serious.

She was startled when opening the door revealed Mikoto, panting and out of breath. Her dress was ripped a little bit, presumably because she was running in it despite how it wasn’t designed for any strenuous activity, and her eyes were wide and panic-stricken.

“I can’t find Sasuke,” she said in a rush. “He didn’t come home on time, so I checked the training field and the woods behind the Uchiha district, but –”

“Mikoto, relax,” Kushina stated, holding up her hands to emphasize the point.

“I have to find him!” Mikoto argued. “Fugaku’s on a mission, and I couldn’t think of anyone else to help –”

It wouldn’t do, Kushina thought. Mikoto was too frantic, too panicked. It was reasonable – hell, if Naruto was missing Kushina would probably be ripping the village ap[art looking for him – but it made it so Mikoto would listen. Kushina sighed. Instead of attempting yet again to explain, she just grabbed Mikoto’s wrist and jerked her into the house.

“Eh?”

“Just follow me,” Kushina said, dragging Mikoto behind her. With her other hand, she opened the door to Naruto’s room. She let go of Mikoto’s wrist, letting the other woman take in the sight.

Sasuke had fallen asleep sitting in Naruto’s bed. He’d been reading, it seemed, as there was a book open in front of him. Naruto’s head rested on his shoulder, his hand resting on Sasuke’s.

“Sasuke’s fine,” Kushina emphasized, just in case Mikoto had missed it.

“I … I see,” Mikoto said, the tension easing from her shoulders. “Thank you, Kushina.”

“You can relax.”

“I know.” Mikoto looked over at Kushina. “I don’t suppose I could stay here? Just in case something happens.”

“You are a very paranoid parent,” Kushina laughed. “But of course you can stay. You can have my bed and I’ll take the couch.”

“No, I don’t want to impose –”

She raised an eyebrow. “So you’d rather share the bed?”

Mikoto faltered. “If – if it’s not too much trouble.”

Kushina laughed. “Oh, no trouble. We can stay up all night painting each other’s toenails and gossiping about boys, too, if you want.”

The brunette flushed. “That’s not what I meant, Kushina. We’re not children.”

“Fine by me, I was never into any of that girly stuff, anyway. And as for boys, who would we talk about? Minato is dead and Fugaku is boring.”

“Kushina!”

“Boring with a kind and loving heart, I’m sure, but boring,” Kushina amended.

Mikoto frowned. “He’s my husband.”

“Which is how I know that he’s a good guy somewhere under all that stoic non-emotion. Doesn’t mean I have to find him interesting. He’s your husband, not mine.”

Mikoto sighed. “Kushina …”

“I know, I know. Let’s get to bed before this turns into an argument, okay?”

The brunette smiled. “Okay.”

Sasuke woke up with a crick in his neck and a comfortable weight on his chest. Opening his eyes, he looked up at the unfamiliar ceiling and wondered what time it was. A soft mumble drew his attention to his chest, which – he took in a sharp breath, sleepiness forgotten – Naruto was snoozing on top of.

He thought about shoving Naruto away forcefully, but he was too tired. He realized, too, that somehow during the night he and Naruto had started holding hands. Not that weird, he supposed, as the idiot was trying to comfort him.

“Naruto,” he whispered, making sure to tug his hand free. “Naruto, wake up.”

Naruto mumbled something incoherent and snuggled into Sasuke’s chest more.

“Naruto, you moron, I’m not a damn pillow,” he hissed.

“Nnngh,” Naruto muttered, “Sasuke’s comfy.”

Sasuke’s heart skipped a few beats at that – what the hell, Naruto – but he still managed to scowl. “I’m not your damn pillow.”

“Mmmn,” was Naruto’s response.

Sasuke sighed. “You are a total and complete idiot.”

“Yeah, well,” he mumbled into Sasuke’s chest, “you’re a total and complete bastard, so we’re even.”

Sasuke snorted. “Better a bastard than a moron.”

Naruto grinned and struggled to sit up, managing to lean his back against the headboard … and his head on Sasuke’s shoulder. “Nope. ’S the other way around.”

Sasuke rolled his eyes. “And Mother says I’m not a morning person,” he muttered under his breath.

“You’re more grouchy in the morning,” Naruto said vaguely. “’Member that time Kakashi-sensei tried to wake you up for training and you practically chidori’d him in your sleep?”

His eye twitched Yah, he remembered. Vaguely, anyway.

“And then there was that time you gave Sakura-chan a black eye because she woke you up.”

He grimaces. Sakura hadn’t taken to well to being punched, so after that little mistake Sasuke hadn’t been able to walk without limping for weeks.

“And then there was the time –“

“Enough already, moron,” Sasuke replied. He swung his legs over the edge of the bed, causing Naruto to lose him balance. He stretched. “I should get home. Mother’s probably worried.”

“I’ll go with you,” Naruto yawned. We have a mission today, and if you freak out again we’ll be short one teammate and won’t be able to go. I need that money for ramen.”

“Whatever.”

He opened Naruto’s bedroom door and started down the hall, trying to stretch out the wrinkles from his clothes. Oh, well, he thought, he’d just change when he got home. He heard Naruto’s footsteps following him.

Once he got to the living room, though, he stopped. Naruto stopped, too, and peered around him to see what he was looking at.

His mother was … here. Laying on Naruto’s couch, her head resting on Naruto’s mother’s lap. Both women seemed fast asleep. Naruto’s mother must have been reading, because there was a book on the floor under where her arm hung down.

Naruto laughed. “Well, at least you mom isn’t going to be too worried, huh?”

Sasuke just rolled his eyes and hit Naruto over the head. “Idiot.”

Fugaku had never been one to show his emotions to others. It had never bothered Mikoto, much; when they were alone, Fugaku tended to let his stoic mask slip and be honest about what he felt. It had made Mikoto love him. But after Itachi …

Things changed. Fugaku no longer let anyone, her included, see what he was feeling. A wall had been built around his heart, and Mikoto didn’t know how to climb it. She’s touch his shoulder, and he’d pull away slightly. When they went to bed, he kept his back to her. Gone were the days of easy conversation and tender moments; Itachi’s death had changed that. Fugaku, while he loved Sasuke, had had hopes crushed when Itachi had died.

In some ways, t was as if she’d lost not only her oldest son, but her husband, too.

“I don’t know what to do any more,” she stated.

Kushina frowned. “It would be more comforting if you said that while crying or something, you know.”

Mikoto turned to stare at Kushina, puzzled. “Why?”

“Because you wouldn’t sound dead,” Kushina replied. She sighed. “I … haven’t ever lost a child. But if Minato had lived, and heaven forbid we lost Naruto, and he started acting like you say Fugaku is? I’d try to snap him out of it by pinning him down on the bed and –”

Mikoto held up a hand, startled. “That’s – quite enough, Kushina.”

Kushina stared into space, pondering, apparently not hearing Mikoto. “You know, I was reading Jiraiya’s newest book, and there was this one scene that I started to wonder whether it was even possible or not. If Minato were alive we could have tested it out.”

“That wouldn’t work,” Mikoto sighed. “Fugaku and I don’t have that kind of relationship.”

Kushina glanced at the other woman. “Mikoto, you had two children with the man. You’re married to him. Kind of hints that you in fact do have that kind of relationship.”

“You know what I meant,” she replied softly.

“No, I don’t, actually,” Kushina stated. “Isn’t the point of getting married to have tons of good sex and raise a family effectively at the same time?”

“It’s showing commitment,” Mikoto argued.

“Bullshit,” the redhead stated. “Minato and I never got married, but we were as committed as you can be.”

“It’s …” Mikoto sighed. “It’s complicated. Fugaku and I communicate, though. We enjoy each other’s company. We –”

“If you say that you two have only had sex twice I will demand that you go back to your house this instant, drag Fugaku into the bedroom, and get yourself laid.”

Mikoto blinked, surprised. “We’ve had sex more than twice.”

“Good,” Kushina stated. “You two are both so repressed, it’s a wonder you had children at all.”

Mikoto sighed, leaning back against the back of Kushina’s couch. “We have sex, Kushina. Just … the mood hasn’t been right.”

“That’s when someone needs to take the initiative and pin the other person down and make them like it.”

Mikoto’s lips twitched into a smile. “That could be considered nonconsensual, Kushina.”

“It would work, though,” Kushina grumbled.

“I know Fugaku well enough to say it won’t help.”

Kushina turned to look at Mikoto. “And what about you?”

“What about me?”

“Would it help you?”

“I told you, Fugaku won’t –”

“Forget Fugaku,” Kushina stated. “Would getting laid help you, if only for a little while?”

Mikoto drew in her breath quickly, surprised by the implications. Her – without Fugaku? No. Certainly not. However … “I don’t know,” she said finally, despite the voice in the back of her head that said she did know.

“You are both idiots,” Sakura growled.

Sasuke wisely stayed silent. He wasn’t usually on the receiving end of Sakura’s lectures – he’s always prided himself on not being moronic enough to deserve them – but he knew Sakura well enough to know that trying to contradict her would just make her angrier.

Even if it was Naruto’s fault, not his. The idiot.

Naruto, for his part, was not protesting either. He was unusually grim as Sakura healed his arm, staring as Sasuke with unsmiling eyes.

It wasn’t like Naruto could blame him, Sasuke thought bitterly. It was the idiot that was the one to leap in front of him to block the attack, not the other way around.

So why did he feel like it was his brother all over again, lecturing him silently, with only a stern gaze? Itachi could always convey so much that way; one look could mean “Sasuke, you are being foolish” or “Sasuke, be careful from now on.” He’d never needed words. It was the polar opposite of Naruto; Naruto always expressed himself in words, even when it was completely unnecessary. And yet, here Naruto was, seemingly trying to convey “you moron” without uttering a sound.

As if Naruto could call anyone a moron.

“There,” Sakura said, finally relaxing. “Your arm’s healed, Naruto. Do that again, though, and I might just tear it off for you. Sasuke’s capable of taking care of himself, so you don’t have to be a human meat-shield for him.”

“You can say that again,” Sasuke grumbled.

“And you, Sakura said, rounding on Sasuke. “You should have dodged faster or moved to defend yourself. You looked like you were just going to let that guy kill you!”

Sasuke looked away. Maybe he had been, he thought; maybe part of him just wanted to join Itachi in death. Was that true? No, it didn’t feel right; but he wanted some distraction from the emotional agony of losing his brother, even if that distraction was physical agony.

Maybe that’s why Naruto leaped in front of him. It would explain why Naruto was glaring at him. Wouldn’t explain why Naruto was an idiot, but it would at least make Naruto feel justified in his stupidity.

“I’m going to track down Kakashi-sensei,” Sakura declared, standing and brushing off the earth from her legs. “If you two do anything stupid while I’m gone, I’ll kill you both.”

The two stayed in silence as Sakura’s footsteps fades as she walked deeper into the forest. Naruto continued to glare at Sasuke, eyes never moving from his, seeming to not blink. It was disconcerting.

“What,” Sasuke finally asked.

“That was stupid of you,” Naruto said. “Opening yourself up for attack like that. Whatever happened to Mr. Top Rookie I’m-Better-Than-You Uchiha? All that praise push the smarts out of your head or something?”

“Stop that,” Sasuke hissed.

“I won’t stop until you listen!” Naruto yelled. “What were you trying to –”

“You aren’t my brother!” Sasuke interupted. “So stop trying to replace him!”

Naruto jerked back as if he’d been hit. His eyes seemed even wider than usual, staring at Sasuke disbelievingly. He got up, his impossibly blue eyes focusing on Sasuke as he stepped closer to where the other boy leaned against the tree. Finally, he stood right in front of Sasuke, glaring at him. He glared right back, arms crossed in front of his chest.

“I’m not trying to be your brother,” Naruto growled, and that was all the warning Sasuke got before Naruto grabbed his collar and pulled him forward, lips colliding with his own. His arms automatically prepared to push Naruto away.

It wasn’t something Sasuke was expecting. His first instinct was to shove him away, demand that the boy see a doctor because something had obviously jarred loose his brain, but halfway through raising his arms to do so, Naruto licked at Sasuke’s lips, causing him to gasp in surprise. Naruto took advantage of that to deepen the kiss, doing something with his tongue that made Sasuke grip at Naruto’s jacket and wonder just how the hell he’d done that.

Naruto grinned against Sasuke’s lips, and suddenly, Sasuke realized that he was being pinned up against a tree by Naruto like some girl (though, on second thought, perhaps that wasn’t the best analogy; Sasuke had frequently wondered whether one day Ino or Sakura would throw away their coy flirtations and do – well. What Naruto was doing now.)

Naruto was taking dominance over the situation, he realized. Naruto was winning.

Sasuke hated letting Naruto win.

He tightened his grip on Naruto’s jacket with one hand, and with the other, fisted his hand into Naruto’s hair, pulling back enough for Naruto to gasp. Sasuke took the opportunity to kiss his way down Naruto’s jaw, grinning as Naruto began to squirm in his grip.

“Damn it, Sasuke,” the blond gasped, pulling his face closer to Sasuke’s and nibbling at the raven-haired boy’s ear. Sasuke hissed, preparing to do something else in return – like hell was he going to let the moron upstage him – but the they both froze as the sounds of grass and twigs giving under the weight of footsteps approached.

They stepped apart, staring at each other as if they’d never seen each other before. Or at least, that’s how it felt to Sasuke; he was now looking at lips he’d just kissed, hair that seemed even more untidy than usual because of him … it seemed surreal.

“Oh, good, you two didn’t get in trouble,” Kakashi said as he followed Sakura into the clearing.

No, Sasuke thought, we did. We really did.

“Yo,” Kushina greeted, strolling into the kitchen. Mikoto looked up from where she was doing the dishes, surprised.

“Kushina?” she questioned, letting the pan slip back into the soapy water and wiping her hands on her apron. “How did you get in here?” The Uchiha District of Konoha wasn’t exactly easily accessed.

She shrugged. “Found my way in, figured I’d say hi.” She leaned against the counter, looking Mikoto over. “You know, the whole housewife look doesn’t suit you.”

Mikoto raised an eyebrow. “It’s the only way you’ve ever known me,” she pointed out. She’d given up taking on more serious missions once she had children; with Fugaku being so busy, she figured someone had to be home to help with the cuts and scrapes.

“Yeah, but you’re a jounin,” Kushina pointed out, “and Sasuke-chan’s a big boy now, he can take care of himself.” She snorted. “And even if he can’t, he has Naruto to knock some sense into him.”

“Oh?” Mikoto asked calmly, a smile tugging at the edges of her mouth. “Shouldn’t it be the other way around?”

The other woman laughed. “If you want to compare our sons in some type of competition, I’m backing Naruto all the way.”

Mikoto let a grin slowly stretch itself across her face. “Naturally, Kushina. But that doesn’t mean that Naruto-kun is necessarily the best choice.”

“Ha,” Kushina said, throwing her head back. “My son can take yours on, any time, any place!”

Mikoto laughed, trying to stufle it with her hand. Kushina was, in a lot of ways, predictable in her unpredictability; only she could take this so seriously and yet so playfully at the same time.

“I believe,” the raven-haired woman said slowly, “that Sasuke got top marks in his class. I don’t recall Naruto achieving anything of that sort.”

Kushina waved her hand dismissively, as if batting the thought away. “I was the same way when I was a kid, but look at me. He’ll grow.”

“Oh, Kushina,” Mikoto sighed happily. “You really are the absolute limit sometimes.”

The redhead grinned happily at Mikoto. “If it makes you laugh, I’m fine with that,” she declared. “It’s been awhile since I’ve seen you smile like that,” Kushina added more softly, turning away. Her long hair fell forward, hiding her face from Mikoto. “I’ve missed it.”

Mikoto felt her face soften. She reached forward, brushing Kushina’s hair out of her face and cupping Kushina’s cheek in her hand. Kushina leaned into the touch, and Mikoto stepped forward, letting her other arm wrap around Kushina. “I’m here,” she said softly.

Kushina seemed to hesitate, but then her arms wound around Mikoto, pulling her closer. “I know,” she said. “I’ve just … felt like Mikoto has been gone for awhile, you know?” She buried her face in Mikoto’s hair, tightening her embrace. “Like Itachi dying took away part of Mikoto, too.”

Mikoto held Kushina tighter, her hand moving from Kushina’s cheek to stroke her hair. “I’ll be fine,” she reassured. “Itachi wouldn’t want me to leave, so I won’t. I have Sasuke. I have you.”

Kushina laughed softly. “I know that, idiot. But do you?”

She smiled, pulling away a bit so she could look Kushina in the eye. “I do,” she said. She closed her eyes. “I do.” She leaned forward, kissing Kushina’s cheek softly, as if it were the most natural thing in the world. Her fingers twined themselves in the other woman’s long hair as she kissed her again, on the corner of her mouth.

“Mikoto …?” Kushina breathed, her breath hot on Mikoto’s cheek.

“Kushina,” Mikoto replied, meeting Kushina’s lips. Kushina inhaled sharply with surprise, her muscles tensing, but only for a moment; it didn’t take long for Kushina to slide her hands up Mikoto’s back, urging the other woman forward.

Mikoto opened her mouth and Kushina followed suit, deepening the kiss. She stood up straight, no longer leaning against the counter, letting herself fall into Mikoto’s embrace completely. She moaned into the kiss, making Mikoto gasp and try to pull her even closer. Kushina’s finger raked down Mikoto’s back, making the brunette shiver.

“Wha –” Kushina choked out efore meeting Mikoto’s lips again. She drew back again slightly, and Mikoto took the opportunity to kiss down her neck. “What about Fugaku?”

Mikoto froze. She’d forgotten. For one moment, one wonderful moment, she’d forgotten about all her grief, all her troubles, and somehow, about her marriage. She drew back suddenly, staring at Kushina with wide, frightened eyes. Kushina was panting for breath, flushed, her hair disheveled.

I did that, she thought briefly, before forcing the thought away. “I – I shouldn’t have done that,” Mikoto stammered. “I – I’m sorry. I –”

“Don’t worry about it,” Kushina instructed, pulling Mikoto into a hug again. Mikoto let her, but didn’t dare to return the embrace.

She didn’t trust herself to.

automatic_data @ 2008-05-27T19:19:00

2008-05-28T00:23:34Z

So this one fic I've been concentrating on? The plot keeps dragging itself out. It's annoying.

But here, have a snippet that got edited out:

“You complete and total moron!” Sasuke yelled.

“Me?” Naruto replied, outraged. He pointed accusingly at Sasuke. “You’re the one who leaped in front of me!”

“You were the one who was idiotic enough to just stand there while the enemy attacked you!” Sasuke snarled, standing up so he could glare straight down into Naruto’s eyes. Before he could straighten, however, Sakura jerked at him arm, tugging him back down again.

“Stay still,” she ordered, eyes flashing dangerously. Sasuke wisely shut him mouth and let Sakura continue healing him.

automatic_data @ 2008-03-01T10:46:00

2008-03-01T16:59:32Z

Because it's been ... um ... three months? Since I last updated, I'm going to let people know what's going on, fic-wise.

This term's been a lot more busy, homework-wise, which is probably why I haven't been posting that much. My writing's also been pretty sporadic; I keep having ideas for six different fics and consequently, nothing gets done. So a status report:

Resurrections: I don't think I've even started the second chapter, though I could be wrong. This is on hold for awhile, mostly because it's plotbunnies are being nice and quiet while other plotbunnies are eating me alive.

NEW Tidus/Yuna one-shot: ... I'm not sure what to do with it. Technically I could post it now as a ficlet/drabble, but. Hmmm.

NEW Grief's Wake: Still working on chapter one. Hit a (hopefully temporary) roadblock in terms of description.

Axelle/Roxanne: Still on hold.

KH/Naruto fic: Still on hold.

Two Akatsuki Members and a Baby: Still needs rewriting, so still on hold.

NEW KH high school AU: Still working on chapter one; read a snippet here.

NEW InterWorld Battle Royale: Still in the planning stages.

automatic_data @ 2007-11-26T18:02:00

2007-11-27T02:04:18Z

Story title: Resurrections: Chapter One
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: 4,555 according to Word
Fandom: Kingdom Hearts. Which of course includes Disney and the Final Fantasy series, to a certain extent. Later chapters will include other fandoms as well.
Characters/Ships: SO FAR only Marluxia/Larxene outright, but there’s also implied Sora/Kairi and implied Axel/Roxas, and it will later lave Sora/Riku/Kairi and a lot of others. And as for characters .... hahahaha LOTS.
Notes/warnings: Will contain slash and probably threesomes, along with ~~cute~~ scary monsters of daaaahknessss, fight scenes, references to sex, use of Kingdom Heart’s nature as a crossover, language, and Naminé and Roxas “existing” post-KH2. Spoilers for up to and including Kingdom Hearts 2; also spoilers for some interview-y type things, I guess? This was originally three chapters, but I decided that if LJ could handle it being in one post, it could be a chapter all by itself.

He had cursed Axel so many times over for putting them in the situation they were in that he had lost count. The betrayer, he thought ruefully, had become the betrayed. And because of Axel’s blatant backstabbing, Xemnas would probably continue to rule the Organization for another decade. The thought made him want to slice the keyblade master open just so he could see the boy’s entrails.

However, when Sora’s keyblade landed its killing blow and Marluxia faded into the air, nothingness wasn’t what was waiting for him. Instead, he was able to open his eyes, glance at the world around him, and smile.

He woke up disoriented in an abandoned alley with a Heartless looking down at him curiously from its perch on his chest. He blinked at it, unsure of what was happening. Heartless were usually pretty uninterested in Nobodies – one of the plus sides of having no heart – so why would a Heartless be staring at him so intently? And from his chest where it seemed to be debating whether or not to try to steal his (nonexistent) heart –

And then he heard it. Subtle, but getting slightly louder and harder as his confusion increased. Well. A heart. That was interesting. It explained the Heartless’s interest, too, and probably why it looked so confused. A former Nobody who had, in his days of being a Somebody, formerly had a limited ability to control the Heartless. It had to give the Heartless weird signals.

Well, he thought, at least it wasn’t gnawing his heart yet. That would suck.

He stood and the Heartless fell down almost comically. He merely stared at it. “So I have a heart now, huh?” he asked, voice sounding ... strange. “Jeez. I wonder how that –” He stopped, memories filtering back into place. Betwixt and Between, the Dusks and Assassins ... injuries that Saïx gave him weighing him down, a final attack ....

“Damn,” he stated, voice still eerily different yet familiar. “Damn it, damn it, damn it!”

Roxas – what happened to Roxas? Or rather, Sora, as Roxas was ... he didn’t want to think about it. If he found out that the kid had died despite all that, he’d kill someone. He didn’t want everything he’d done to be for nothing, instead of for a Nobody. Not just any Nobody either, but Roxas. And even if he couldn’t extract Roxas from Sora due to things, he’d be damned if he’d let Roxas die.

But, Axel realized with a start, he could get Roxas back now. The Organization wouldn’t be hounding him, as they would obviously have gotten the news of his impromptu death, and as long as he laid low ...

But did he need Roxas, now that he had a heart? He thought about it for a moment – what it would be like not to have Roxas around and just live, and his heart gave a weird lurching feeling. Sinking? Damn it, if only he could remember how this heart thing worked, maybe he could figure things out.

He sighed. Roxas ... he wasn’t going to give up finding the kid. Even if Axel had had a reason to be before – screwing shit up was a good reason in his book, at least, and so was messing with people’s – ever since Roxas had shown up, somehow his entire life had changed. He’d gone from not giving a damn about anything besides getting his heart back to – something. Something else. Something that had been worth betraying the Organization for. And heart or no heart, he wasn’t willing to let that go quite yet.

Why the hell did he have a heart again, anyway? He didn’t have to be a scientist to realize it was weird. And how was he alive?

He stepped out of the alley and was instantly hit with an overwhelming sense of recognition, like a damn semi-truck. Midgar. He was in Midgar. It was a place he usually avoided – too many memories, too many people he used to know ... the last thing he wanted was to run into his brother and have to explain, “hey, I’m not Lae anymore and your brother may as well be dead!” Even if it would be funny for people he didn’t give a damn about, at one point he’d loved Reno, so it would be awkward at best.

That and Reno might actually try to kill him. Never a good thing, that.

Still ... Midgar might actually be the last place anyone would actually look for him. He might as well stay as he regrouped and figured things out.

He turned to walk down the street and abruptly changed his mind once he caught a glimpse of his reflection in one of the store windows. His hair was still red, but shorter, and his eyes were slightly wider.

No wonder his voice had been so different, yet so eerily familiar at the same time. He didn’t just have a heart like Lae. He was Lae.

Saïx watched his outstretched hand dissolve, Kingdom Hearts still out of his grasp, black fading into the dark background of the sky and the golden glow of the heart of all worlds.

He had been so close to it, he thought in despair. So close ...

When he opened his eyes again, kind faces were surrounding him. Doctors, he realized with immediate distaste. Doctors and nurses.

He struggled to sit up but hands shoved him back down. He was weaker than he should have been. “Relax, sir,” a nurse said. “You were on the edge of death not too long ago.”

“The Heartless nearly had you,” a doctor noted grimly.

“Heartless?” Saïx asked, his voice surprisingly rough and ... different. Familiar.

“Yeah, they came here about ten years ago,” one of them stated. “We’ve been trying to fight the bastards off ever since.”

Ten years ... that sounded like it might be ... but it was impossible. The air smelled the same, maybe; he didn’t have VI’s acute sense of smell, so he couldn’t be sure but ... it couldn’t be, could it?

“Where am I?”

“A hospital,” a nurse said. Ignorant, most likely, of other worlds and the origin of the Heartless, because she didn’t tell him what world he was on.

He turned his head and looked out the window, studying the scenery intently, trying to identify the world himself. The skyline against the dark clouds confirmed it – he was “home.”

Which meant, he thought, that some anomaly had occurred. He would have to contact the Superior at once. And if that keyblade brat managed to finish off Xemnas before he could help, well ... there were back up plans.

Satisfied, he let himself drift off once more.

Soon, he decided. Soon.

“Something is wrong,” Roxas told Naminé one night after Sora and Kairi had fallen asleep. Kairi had fallen asleep on Sora’s stomach and Sora had flung out and arm over Riku’s chest. When Roxas had lifted Sora’s arm off, Riku had shifted in his sleep with a frown but otherwise not noticed.

“Yes,” Naminé replied softly. “I feel it, too.”

“Something’s …” Roxas struggled on how to describe it.

“Breaking,” Naminé replied, and Roxas nodded, though it still didn’t fit.

The feeling, he decided later, was more akin to things being torn apart while others were sewn together.

Sora woke up and instantly felt Roxas inside him, restless and agitated.

What’s wrong? he asked.

I don’t know.

That … really wasn't an answer, but whatever. Sora stretched, yawning as he rolled out of bed. He blinked the sleep out of his eyes as he glanced out his window. In the distance, he could see his island. Maybe he should go there today …

I wouldn't mind that, Roxas murmured, still distracted.

I don’t want to go alone, though. Over his travels he had gotten used to Donald and Goofy’s presence, but both of them had returned to Disney Castle. Donald needed to get back to Daisy before she got angry, and Goofy had mentioned something about needing to get back to “Max,” whoever that was. Sora had been too sad by their departure to ask.

You can grab Riku and Kairi, Roxas pointed out, and Tidus and Wakka and Selphie.

Sora smiled. Yeah, that’s right. And I have you, too.

He felt Roxas smile back, though Roxas’s smiles always seemed smaller and more sad than his own. Am I really company? I’m technically you.

Who cared about that? Roxas was Roxas and Sora was Sora, as far as Sora was concerned. Even if Roxas didn’t really believe it, it was true.

Let’s go, Sora decided, just the two of us. Without waiting for a response, he quickly changed his clothes and bounded out the door, heading toward his boat.

Roxas always liked the beach, and his feelings of happiness ended up echoing through Sora. It was weird, but at the same time, Sora thought it was cool that he could say “What makes Roxas happy makes me happy,” and mean it. Roxas told him once that he felt the same echoes – emotions that weren’t really his own, didn't feel like his own, but still there.

He docked on the island and climbed up. Have I shown you the Secret Place?

Sort of, he said, then explained, you went there with Kairi a little while back. Remember? That was when you noticed the paopu drawing.

Sora blushed at the memory. What does that mean, anyway?

It means she likes you.

But. It’s just people who you want to be with forever, right? It doesn’t say you halve to like like them. Right?

If you say so. Roxas sounded amused. You can ask her, you know. It would probably make her happy if she knew you even considered her as more than a friend.

Sora blushed more. Its not like that!

If Roxas could, he’d be laughing. If you say so.

Sora brings his legs to his chest, staring out at the shore. Do you want to tell me what’s bugging you? he asks Roxas.

I told you, I don’t know.

Guess, then.

Roxas sighs, and tilts their head back to look at the stars. Naminé and I both feel like something’s happening, but we’re not sure what.

Sora frowned. That was weird, all right. He reached toward Roxas, trying to feel what Roxas was talking about, and there it was: like someone was tugging on his sleeve while moving away, trying to make him move with them.

Maybe we should talk to the King? Sora suggested.

I don’t think it’s that big a deal.

Well, has Naminé told Kairi?

Um … I don’t know. Probably?

Then we should tell Riku. The three of us – er, five of us – can figure out anything.

Roxas smiled inwardly at Sora’s confidence. Sora could feel him reaching for his hand and grabbing it, even if it wasn’t a physical sensation.

Axel wasn’t sure how Reno would react to seeing his missing-for-almost-nine-years little brother, but he really couldn’t avoid seeing him for much longer. Someone in Midgar was bound to recognize him sooner or later, and word would get back to Reno. Being a Turk had advantages like hearing about presumed-dead brothers walking around, if Axel recalled correctly.

Though who knew, maybe Reno wasn’t even a Turk any more. Midgar seemed incredibly different; the Shinra Electric Company which might as well have been the government was nowhere to be found, and Mako energy seemed to have been replaced with more environmentally friendly sources of energy. The Shinra loyalist in Axel bristled at the changes, but the Nobody was dumbfounded. A world that had been falling into darkness had somehow managed to pull itself together. It was almost miraculous.

He had no idea if Reno would still live in the flat that they’d had before Axel had … changed, for lack of a better word, but he figured that was as good a place as any to start. It was inconvenient walking there, but he couldn’t teleport now and he didn’t have any type of vehicle.

He’d been startled when he’d realized he no longer had the powers he’d had as a Nobody, and frustrated as it meant he’d have to change his plans. He couldn’t leave this world and go to Destiny Islands to figure out a way to get Roxas back and he couldn’t even fight properly. Elemental magic came naturally to him when he was a Nobody, but as a human he’d have to learn it the old fashioned way. His chakrams, too, refused to be summoned, which struck him as strange; back when Riku’d been a brat eating darkness like it was candy, he’d been able to summon that Soul Eater sword or whatever incredibly overdramatic name it had, and there were other cases, too – mystical weapons could be summoned, whether you had a heart or no heart. He could almost feel his chakrams, too – they were out there, somewhere, but something was stopping them from leaping to his hands.

He hesitated in front of the door to the flat before stepping up the stairs. He took a deep breath – tried to assure himself that it wouldn’t be that bad if Reno tried to kill him – and raised his hand to knock on the door.

The door burst open before he could and he reeled back to avoid getting hit by it. Reno stood in front of him, looking over his shoulder as he said something to the man behind him – Rude, Axel dimly recognized – before turning forward and stopping at the sight of Axel.

There was a long silence where Axel and Reno stared at each other. Axel thought he saw Rude adjust his sunglasses behind Reno, but he couldn’t be sure. He was too busy trying to gauge Reno’s expression.

He was prepared for things to go wrong, for Reno to yell or hit him or something. In retrospect, he wasn’t sure why, but he was completely unprepared for the grin that spread across Reno’s face.

“Lae?” he asked, sounding absolutely elated. “Is that really you, you little punk?”

“More or less,” Axel replied. More or less.

“We’re going to have to tell the king,” Riku declared, prodding the campfire.

“Do you really think it’s that serious?” Kairi asked. She looked concerned and a little worried. Sora put an arm around her comfortingly.

“If Naminé and Roxas are feeling the exact same weird feeling at the exact same times, it can’t be good,” Riku explained. “It means that something weird is happening with the Nobodies.”

“But Organization XIII is dead,” Sora pointed out. “They can’t do anything, right?”

“In theory, yeah,” Riku noted, leaning back so he could look at the stars. “But something’s wrong, right? We need to check it out to make sure that the worlds are safe.”

Sora grinned. “Right!”

Kairi nodded, looking determined. “I’ll go with you guys this time.”

“It’ll take awhile,” Riku sighed. “We’ll have to get a letter to the king so he can bring the gummi ship.”

“Actually …” Kairi said, “Naminé can still use corridors of darkness. We could get to Disney Castle that way, couldn’t we?”

“Hey, I never thought of that,” Sora said. “That could work.”

Riku looked surprised, but he grinned. “So, when do you guys want to leave?”

“How about now?” Sora suggested. “We’ve got everything we need, right? And it’s not like they sell potions at the stores here.”

“But shouldn’t we tell our parents this time?” Kairi pointed out. “They’ll be worried, won’t they?”

“Oh yeah …”

“So we’ll leave tomorrow, after we talk to them,” Riku said, shrugging.

Kairi frowned. “But Riku, your parents are out of town, aren’t they? They won’t be back till next week, I thought you said.”

“I’ll leave them a note,” Riku grumbled. “Besides, if it turns out to be nothing, we’ll be back before they notice I’m gone.”

She didn’t look convinced, so Riku smiled to reassure her. “C’mon, my parents know I can take care of myself,” he said. “Besides, if you think I’m going to let myself slow you and Sora down, you’re crazy.”

Kairi smiled at that and nodded.

“So tomorrow?” Sora asked, leaning forward.

“Tomorrow,” Riku confirmed.

Roxas stirred inside Sora’s body, easing Sora to the back of their mind so he could take control. Slowly, he sat up, Sora’s brown hair lightening to Roxas’s blond. He tried not to disturb Riku, who Sora had fallen asleep on top of.

He glanced at Naminé to make sure she was still asleep inside Kairi. She was, Riku’s arm holding her close, a small smile on her face.

Roxas stood, walking toward the shore as quietly as he could so he wouldn’t wake any of them up. The sea rippled with the waves and the moon glimmered off of it, creating what looked like a pathway of diamonds. The lull of the waves was calming, but Roxas couldn’t help but frown.

He hadn’t wanted to say anything to Sora, or to Naminé for that matter, though she probably knew, but part of the strange feeling was achingly familiar. He flexed his hands before summoning Bond of Flame to his hand.

They keyblade complied, just as any other keyblade would, but Roxas couldn’t help but think that Bond of Flames responded to his call quicker than any other keyblade, even Oathkeeper and Oblivion. He knew it was foolish and stupid, but he liked to think Bond of Flames responded to him like Axel had: quickly, immediately, as if Roxas were the only think that mattered.

Part of the weird feeling, Roxas had noted, had a distinct Axel-flavor to it. He didn’t want Riku to know. Kairi, maybe, but Roxas wanted to hurt Riku enough as it was. He was sure that whatever Riku’s opinions on Axel being involved were, Roxas wouldn’t like them.

So Roxas kept the piece of Axel that the feeling gave him the same place he kept most things: on the other side of Sora’s heart.

Bringing Larxene back wasn’t easy. The procedure had been created for emergencies only, required massive amounts of energy, and would only work once, so he had never had the opportunity to perfect it before using it on Larxene. Therefore, he wasn’t surprised when her first gasps of air were curses and screams; what did surprise him (but only slightly) was what she was screaming at.

“That goddamn keyblade runt,” she gasped, “I’m going to tear open his chest and rip his heart out and laugh over his mangled corpse.”

“I take it,” Marluxia said gently as he took off his coat and wrapped it around her naked body, “that you are still angry.”

“What?” Larxene asked, still gasping for air and looking frantic. She clutched the coat to her chest, eyes narrowing as she stares at him. “Who the hell are you?”

“Larxene, I’m hurt,” he teased gently, leaning down to trace the curve of her lip with his thumb. “After all we’ve been through …”

Her eyes widened in recognition. “Marluxia?” she gasped.

“The one and only,” Marluxia said lightly, smiling.

Larxene looked intrigued by this; she let the coat fall and slid one hand up his chest and around his neck while the other hand fingered his hair, twirling a brown lock around her slim fingers as she inspected it. He knew his face was still the same; his eyes a bit narrower, perhaps. His build was the same, too. It wasn’t surprising that Larxene was fixating on his Other’s hair; he himself missed having rose-colored hair. It had been so amusing to see how people would underestimate him, just based on his hair.

“However did this happen?” she asked playfully, meeting his gaze. Despite how casual the question had been, curiosity burned in her green eyes. Marluxia knew better than to deny her answers.

“It appears that if our Others are still alive in their Heartless forms, we simply merge back with them upon death,” he noted. “The body you see in front of you is the body I had when I was Rauliam.”

Larxene grinned wickedly. “Does old Xemmy-poo know about this?”

“Not,” Marluxia said, “that I could tell.” He stroked her hair absently. “I figured that you would appreciate a second chance to get your heart back,” he added, a slight reminder to her that he’d brought her back.

“You guessed right,” she replied, nuzzling against Marluxia’s neck, “and I’m very appreciative,” she added before raking her teeth against his jugular, causing him to gasp slightly.

Larxene was already naked, which all things considered was really quite handy; she was wickedly inventive in how to take off Marluxia’s clothes, and as – enthusiastic – as Marluxia remembered her being. He’d be in pain afterwards, of course, from Larxene’s wonderful nails and her sadism, but it would be worth it.

It was always worth it.

Afterwards, Larxene curled against him like a contented cat, her head on his chest. Her fingers twitched when she heard his heartbeat and she grinned again.

“I don’t suppose,” she said, sitting up and looking down at him, “that you got me anything to wear?”

He smiled and gestured to the other side of the room. “I hope they’re to your liking,” he said blandly. He knew they would be.

Sure enough, once she stood and picked up the clothes, he’s rewarded with a dangerously sexy grin. “Oh, Marluxia,” she said, “you shouldn’t have.” Eyes glinting with glee, she eagerly dressed herself in the leather pants and corset that Marluxia had provided. Slowly, she put on the high-heeled boots and shrugged into the trench coat. Marluxia simply watched her, making no move for his own clothing. She spun toward him, looking down at him with the dangerous allure that he’d always found appealing about her.

“Let’s go,” she stated, and Marluxia smiled and got up to retrieve his clothes.

Sora didn’t like corridors of darkness. Kairi didn’t either, really, but it was easy to grip Kairi’s hand and let her cling to her arm a bit to make her feel better as they walked through Betwixt and Between. His own unease was another story. A couple times he wondered if Kairi’s holding him was supposed to be for his comfort, not hers, but he shrugged it off. It wasn’t like her reasons mattered in the long run; he still felt itchy to get out of the place.

You should, Roxas muttered darkly. Corridors of darkness erode the heart, or something like that.

Sora was tempted to retort that most of his unease was coming from Roxas, but he didn’t. He knew why Roxas didn’t like Betwixt and Between. You don’t know? He asked instead.

I kind of was almost asleep when Zexion explained it.

It was a relief when they were able to step out of the corridor and into the bright, happy world of Disney Castle. Sora heard Kairi sigh with relief next to him and her grip loosened on his arm.

Sora stepped forward, looking around the empty courtyard. There were flowers and hedges that had been elaborately shaped into what could have passed as statues, if it weren’t for the fact that they were made of plants, not stone. It all looked very official.

He took a deep breath.

“DONALD? GOOFY? YOUR MAJESTY? ANYONE HERE?”

“Sora!” Kairi exclaimed, looking startled.

Riku simply shook his head, sighing in exasperation.

“What?” Sora replied defensively. “How else are we going to find them?”

“We could just go to the King’s throne room,” Riku pointed out.

“Oh yeah …”

Riku grabbed Sora’s hood and dragged him forward, towards where Sora dimly remembered the entrance to the castle being. Kairi followed, chuckling.

The first person they saw upon entering was Goofy, peering around the corner. “Gawrsh, Sora, I thought we heard ya! What’re you doin’ here?”

“We’ve got a message for the King,” Riku said before Sora could reply. He still had a death grip on Sora’s hood, which was getting old, Sora thought. Still, he didn’t try to pull away. “Do you know where we can find him?”

“You bet!” Goofy replied. He began striding toward the throne room, motioning them forward.

Sora opened his mouth to thank Goofy, but Riku jerked him forward, dragging him by his hood again. “Hey!”

“You coming, Kairi?” Riku asked over his shoulder.

“Yep,” Kairi asked. It sounded like she was giggling. Was she giggling?

Before Sora could check, Riku jerked him forward again, this time letting go to Sora stumbled in front of him. Sora instantly realized that they’d made it to the throne room and straightened. “Um. Hi, You Majesty.”

“Hiya, Sora,” the king replied, “and Riku and Kairi too! What brings you fellas here?”

Sora took a deep breath and started to explain.

“So as you can see, you were correct in bringing us back,” Zexion finished. “We had no part in Marluxia’s plot.”

He looked around the meeting critically as he spoke, noting who was there as well as who wasn’t. Saïx had gone through the process of resurrecting Xemnas, and the two of them had brought back the majority of the Organization. If his theory was correct, it was startling to realize how many of their Heartless counterparts had been killed. He couldn’t help but notice, though, that there were still missing members: the traitors, Marluxia and Larxene, and oddly enough, Axel and Roxas as well.

“I assumed as much,” Xemnas replied. “Though it is … interesting … to hear about the events at Castle Oblivion from a perspective other than Axel’s.”

“It’s not really that surprising that Axel deceived us,” Saïx said.

“No, what surprises me is that the bastard basically finished you off himself,” Xigbar added.

Zexion nodded. “He did a splendid job of orchestrating the entire affair. I only wish I knew why he’d seen me as his enemy, as well. The rest of his actions could simply be dismissed as stopping Marluxia’s treason -” Vexen glared at that - “by extreme measures, true, but certainly not anything that would require my death.”

“He killed you because you were trying to get Riku on our side,” Xibar laughed.

Zexion frowned. “Wasn’t that the most reasonable course of action?”

“Maybe, but it went against Axel’s wishes,” Luxord commented. “Having the Organization have any keyblade master other than Roxas was something that Axel considered dangerous. A gamble he wasn’t willing to take, you might say.”

“What do you mean?” Lexaeus asked.

“It seems,” Luxord said, “that Axel had a lot invested in Roxas.”

Xigbar snorted. “God knows how he was able to some up enough emotion to care about the kid, but he definitely doesn’t like anyone messing with him.”

Zexion took note of this, staring at the empty seats of numbers eight and thirteen. Had Roxas betrayed them somehow, and Axel followed? From the conversation., it seemed to be the logical conclusion.

“So what is our goal now?” Vexen asked, drumming his fingers against the arm of his chair. “That keyblade brat has ruined everything, hasn’t he?”

“We will start from the beginning,” Xemnas said, “stealthily, so the Keyblade Master won’t discover our reestablishment.”

“You’re kidding,” Xigbar said, “I don’t get to kill the son of a bitch?”

Xemnas smiled. “I never said anything about that,” he said.

[Harry Potter] Study Hall - PG-13

2007-10-31T05:51:29Z

Title: Study Hall
Fandom: Harry Potter
Characters/Ships: Ron/Cho
Rating: PG-13
Word count: 700+
Notes/Warnings: For Megan; unbeta’ed, and written a looooong time ago but never made it onto this journal, apparently. (This journal didn’t exist when I wrote it.) Possibly OOC for Ron? *shrugs*

“Who the bloody hell cares what my ascendant sign is?” Ron burst out. “This makes no bloody sense!”

Why, oh why couldn’t Hermione have stuck with Divination, Ron thought for the thousandth time. Hermione always knew the answers to everything, and he knew her, but Cho –

“Do you listen to Trelawney and Firenze at all?” Cho asked, arching one elegant eyebrow incredulously. “Your ascendant sign is the ruler of your chart. See,” she pointed. “Your ascendant is Aries, so you’re probably really impulsive, and like starting things, am I right?”

Ron ground his teeth together. Hermione wouldn’t ask questions about what he was like, but Cho was, which was … well, okay, he guessed. He couldn’t help but be a little angry at Hermione, though; he guessed he was too dependent on her after all, which made him even more irrationally angry at Hermione.

“Yeah, but what does this have to do with Divination?” he spat, glaring at the astrology chart with disdain.

“Well, because you know what your ascendant is, you can figure out what house you have each sign in, and what houses your planets are in. It’s quite basic, really.”

Ron sighed and slouched back, glaring off into space. “This is so stupid,” he muttered. “When did Divination start to actually require effort?”

“Since Firenze started to teach with Trelawney,” Cho stated matter-of-factly. “Listen, I think you need a break. Let your mind relax. You’re too tense.”

Tense? Ron thought. Now I wonder why that would be. Hermione’s not here to help me and so instead I’m being tutored by a gorgeous girl who’s a year older than me and is my best friend’s ex. Why would I be tense? Especially with that blue shirt she has on. Bet she had to wear a sweater in Transfiguration so McGonagal wouldn’t pitch a fit over how low cut it was … Ron shifted in his chair. Now that he had started to stare at Cho, he couldn’t take her eyes off her. He could definitely see how Harry was attracted to her; she was the epitome of sophistication and grace. For once, Ron found himself not caring that she was a Tornadoes fan or that she was a Ravenclaw ... He found himself reaching forward ad brushing a strand of soft black hair from her face.

“What are you –”

“I’m taking my tutor’s advice,” Ron said. “I’m relaxing.” He leaned forward and kissed her lips softly.

He felt her grin against his lips. “You really are an Aries ascendant, aren’t you?”

“Yep,” he said, “impulsive as can be.” He kissed her again, gently prodding her mouth open with his tongue. She opened her lips and snakes her arms around him, and he moaned into her mouth. Grabbing her hips, he pulled her closer, thanking his lucky stars that they were in a corner of the library not often frequented. He pushed her against the wall and ground his hips into hers. She moaned and pulled him tighter, crushing her breasts into his chest. Ron gasped for air; he hadn’t a clue what he was doing, all he knew was that he wanted to be kissing this girl and every instinct he had was telling him what to do. As Cho began to nibble his ear, he decided that his instinct obviously had the right idea, so he might as well go along with it. He attacked her neck with his mouth, and she moaned. God, how he wanted to hear that sound again ...

“What’s that noise?”

For a second, time stooped as their eyes met in silent horror at the sound of Madam Pince’s voice – then they leapt apart, Cho straightening her shirt and gathering up her books.

She cleared her throat. “Well, Ron, I think that’s enough, er, studying for today.” She blushed. “I’m not usually that, er, well ... I don’t usually kiss a guy spontaneously like that.” She blushed even deeper, “It’s just that you’re a good kisser.”

Ron grinned, seeming more confident than he felt. “So, er, maybe you want to, y’know ... continue this later? In a place that we won’t be interrupted?”

“Only if you want to,” Cho said eagerly, eyes brimming with hope.

“I do,” he said grinning. “Can’t wait.” As he watched Cho blush and hurry off, he couldn’t help but think that he’s definitely start looking toward his study sessions with her more.

[Fullmetal Alchemist] Miracle - PG

2007-10-16T21:58:52Z

Title: Miracle
Word count: 630
Rating: PG for references to blood
Fandom: Fullmetal Alchemist (manga)
Characters/Ships: Winry, slight (platonic?) Ed/Winry
Notes/Warnings: UNBETA'D. Perhaps a weird interpretation of Winry? I meant to get more into her love of machinery, but I couldn’t do it and keep the serious tone.

When Winry was little, she could imagine nothing more miraculous than watching her parents work. They would mend torn flesh and remove disease from the body, something that machines would never be able to do. To her it was more fascinating than the automail Granny Pinako made. Automail just grafted metal onto flesh, she thought, but her parents melded flesh to flesh. She even tried to duplicate the miracle; when she was playing with Ed and Al and one of them would get cut, she would rush to get band-aids and carefully apply them to the cuts with the two boys watching, only mildly interested.

But then one day a suit of armor who was Al burst through the door, carrying a small child. An easily recognizable boy – Ed. Ed, with blood smeared all over his skin and clothes, barely conscious because of how much blood he had lost, with stumps where his arm and leg should be. Please save him, Al had pleaded. Please save him.

No amount of band-aids or medicine would be able to give Ed back his limbs or Al back his body, she realized. Even if her parents were still alive, all they would be able to do was stop the bleeding, like Granny Pinako did when she wrapped up what used to be Ed's imbs in medical gauze. As talented as her parents were, they wouldn’t be able to get Ed out of the wheelchair where he sat like a stiff corpse or make it so Ed could do alchemy like he could before.

Automail could.

Winry knew the basics of automail; it was impossible to live with Granny and not know them. Granny would make her help with the procedures and Winry had never really minded, even if it was weird to see adults crying and screaming in pain as they connected each of the nerves to the artificial limbs. When Ed declared that he would get automail, though, Granny was very reluctant to have Winry help. She insisted, though; her friends were in pain, and helping Ed get automail was the only thing she could do.

Ed was strong; stronger than a lot of the adults who came in to get automail. Winry knew that, and so seeing Ed’s grimace of pain and how he clenched his teeth to hold back a scream when they were attaching the artificial limbs was that much worse. Not only was it Ed, her friend since before she could remember, but it was Ed, the strongest person she knew, and he was still in so much pain. Watching the recovery process was just as bad, if not worse: his fever spiked and his despair bubbled to the surface more than she’d ever seen it before or since. “Al hates me. He has to hate me. How could he not hate me? This is all my fault.”

When Ed had recovered and was able to stand on both his legs and shove both his hands into his pockets with a casual shrug, it seemed more miraculous than anything Winry could ever remember her parents doing. The visit from the military people had put the strength back into Ed, but the automail made it so he could use that strength to take him wherever he wanted. While Ed immersed himself into alchemy more so he could give Al back his body, Winry plunged into the world of automail so she could make sure that Ed had limbs strong enough to carry the burden he’d chosen. She began finding ways to make automail stronger and lighter, giving Ed new designs to try out as he grew out of the automail he had (or, much to Winry’s dismay, broke or smashed it.)

They may not be her brothers in name or blood, but she’d be damned if she didn’t do everything in her power to help them get a miracle.

[Twilight] Every Fiber - PG

2007-10-16T04:01:26Z

Title: Every Fiber
Word count: 500+
Rating: PG for references to blood and violence.
Fandom: Twilight
Characters/Ships: Jacob, slight one-sided Jacob/Bella.
Notes/Warnings: I neglect books too much when I write fanfiction, which is too bad as I love them so. So I’m going to try to write more fic for them. Unbeta’d.

Every fiber of Jacob’s being hated vampires. The stench that rolled off them was sickeningly sweet, like the gas the dentist had used when he’d gone to get his wisdom teeth removed. The dentist had given him the mask as a souvenir, but Jacob had promptly thrown it away because of the overwhelming scent. Vampires smelled even worse; worse than the stupid perfume that Leah had worn before she’d changed, worse than anything else he could think of. Merely being around one of the Cullens was enough to make him feel like he’d overdosed on sugar to the point of making him sick, and he hated how that bloodsucker’s scent would be all over Bella sometimes.

Every fiber of Jacob’s being hated vampires. Bella, he supposed, would say that they were ethereally beautiful; to him they looked artificial, like porcelain dolls hand-crafted by someone who valued perfection over realism. He looked at some of them and couldn’t help but think of that Greek myth about the painter who hated women but fell in love with the statue of a woman he’d created and how Jacob had thought, when he heard the story, that loving a statue like that was stupid. You couldn’t love something fake. And that was how the bloodsuckers looked: fake. Fake and artificially perfect. Something impossible to love because it couldn’t be real.

Every fiber of Jacob’s being hated vampires. His muscles tensed whenever one got close; the hair on his arms stood up like hackles and he had to concentrate so he wouldn’t bear his teeth in a growl. The wolf got restless inside him whenever he was in the same room as a vampire, eager to reach out and rip out the bloodsucker’s throat like it probably ripped out human’s throats all the time. His skin would tingle with the urge to fight and his heartbeat would speed up, preparing so at the slightest moment he could change into the wolf and be primed and ready for a bloody battle.

Every fiber of Jacob’s being hated vampires. He’d heard the stories his entire life; stories of the bloodsuckers who had terrorized his tribe, murdering as they pleased in horrible bloodbaths, and how his people had become what he was to fight them. He’d imagined the blood and the primal urges of the monster called a vampire, could almost smell the blood in the air from the scenes that had been described to him as he grew up. That was the essence of the bloodsucker, not the “vegetarian” facade that the Cullens tried so hard to convince Bella of. They were uncontrollable, unstoppable demons, no matter how they said they changed or how good at suppressing their instincts they claimed to be.

Every fiber of Jacob’s being hated vampires. It was in his blood, his lineage, his history, his psyche. Worst of all, though, it was in his heart, and had been ever since he’d found out that the girl he loved more than anything was in love with Edward Cullen.

[Naruto] Red Sky At Morning - PG-13

2007-10-16T03:24:48Z

Title: Red Sky At Morning (Chapter Two, complete version)
Fandom: Naruto
Rating: PG-13
Wordcount: 2733 for this chapter
Characters/Ships: Sasuke, Neji, Ino, and Konohamaru
Notes/Warnings: Sequel to Remember Me At Twilight. Sasuke and the gang are around nineteen, making Neji twenty and Konohamaru fourteen by my logic. Ships are mentioned, but only in passing, and what ships they are is completely up to the reader – for instance, Ino mentions that she’s seeing someone, but doesn’t give any more detail than that. UNBETA'ED.
Previous chapters: http://automatic-data.livejournal.com/21213.html

“Four single rooms, please.”

The innkeeper frowned. “I’m sorry, sir, but we only have two doubles available.”

Somehow, Sasuke wasn’t surprised. The town was small, despite its almost ideal location on the path to and from Konoha. It was almost too small for its location; too many people passed through, but the inns and hotels didn’t have enough space for them all. The town could thrive, if only more of its people would get their act together and go into the hotel business. He sighed. “Fine, then we’ll take them.”

The innkeeper smiled doubtfully, casting a short glance at Ino, the only girl in the group, and went off to retrieve the keys.

Ino rounded on Sasuke. “How the hell are we supposed to work out sleeping arrangements?”

“Easy,” Sasuke declared coolly, “I’m sharing a room with Neji, you’re sharing a room with the brat.”

“What?!” Ino shrieked.

“I’d be okay with that,” Konohamaru said, leering.

Ino glared at him.

“Uh ... I mean ... I wouldn’t be okay with that?”

“I sure as hell am not sharing a room with you,” Sasuke told Ino with a scowl.

“Like I’d want you to! You may be attractive, Sasuke, but too much time alone with you and I’ll kill you!”

Thank the heavens for small favors, he wanted to say, but that digressed from the issue at hand. “Then room with Konohamaru.”

“The brat’s been taking lessons on how to be a pervert from Naruto for years!”

“I’m not a brat,” Konohamaru muttered. “And what about rooming with Neji?”

“He’s a boy!”

Sasuke, Neji and Konohamaru all stared at her. Finally, Konohamaru asked, “And the rest of us are ... what, exactly?”

“May I suggest that Ino gets her own room?” Neji sighed.

“The three of us won’t fit in one room,” Sasuke pointed out coldly.

“You’ll have to,” Ino declared, “because there’s no way in hell I’m sleeping with any of you.”

The innkeeper returned. “Here are your keys, sir.”

Before Sasuke could react, Ino turned to her, smiling. “Thank you so much,” she said brightly, taking one of they keys before throwing Sasuke a triumphant look and ascending the stairs to the room.

The innkeeper looked relieved. “It’s so nice to see boys noble enough to share a room so a lady’s reputation isn’t ruined!”

“Yeah. Noble,” Sasuke grumbled.

One wouldn’t expect a Hyuuga to snore, Sasuke thought irritably, pulling the pillow tightly around his ears. It was a soft snore, and even seemed somewhat dignified, but it was still noise. Ever since Sasuke was a child, noise of any kind tended to keep him awake. When he’d shared rooms and tents with Naruto during missions, the noise problem had been easy to solve: simply kick Naruto any time he snored, repeat as necessary. Naruto, the deep sleeper that he was, never really minded getting kicked. It never completely woke him up, so he’d usually yawn, mumble a “Sorry, Sasuke,” and fall back to sleep.

Sasuke wondered whether Naruto was still such a deep sleeper. If he had improved as a ninja enough to become an ANBU, then surely he had attained the ability to be at least partially aware of his surroundings as he slept.

Konohamaru snorted in his sleep and turned over, earning him a glare from the Uchiha.

After a ridiculous amount of tossing and turning, Sasuke eventually fell asleep. He dreampt, as he often had done in Oto, of Team Seven: Kakashi grinning through his mask as Sasuke, Sakura and Naruto attempted to set up a picnic, Sakura yelling at Naruto for being clumsy, Naruto laughing, Sasuke rolling his eyes. Naruto turning toward him, grinning, and yelling. “Come on, bastard, we’ve got tomato onigiri just for you!”

Sasuke awoke quite abruptly. For a split second of disorientation, he wondered if he had fallen off the bed, but then he looked up to find Neji towering over him.

“What the hell was that for?” Sasuke yelled.

“You snore,” Neji said shortly, glaring, before returning to his own bed.

“We have no clue where Naruto is,” Ino stated, “We don’t know what direction he went or anything. How do you expect to find him, O Fearless Leader?”

“Neji’s good at tracking, though, right? Byakugan and all?” Konohamaru asked.

“Only if Naruto isn’t too far away,” Neji replied.

“We’ll do reconnaissance, it’s not that difficult,” Sasuke replied, annoyed.

“You can’t do reconnaissance if you don’t know where to start,” Ino said. “You should have had the foresight to realize we’d need Akamaru’s nose or something.”

“And would Kiba have been willing to defy the council just to save a missing nin?”

“Why not? It’s Naruto!”

“Yeah, Naruto, who Kiba ridiculed in the academy and thought of as a rival ever since the chuunin exam.”

“Kiba is Naru-niichan’s friend,” Konohamaru put in. “I mean, c’mon, even I thought of Naru-niichan as a rival!”

“Speaking of, Sasuke,” Ino said cynically, “If you want to talk about rivalry, the rivalry between Kiba and Naruto was nothing compared to Naruto and you!”

“He’s my best friend!” Sasuke snapped.

“Sasuke, you yourself said you wanted to – what words did you use? ‘Break those bonds,’ I believe?” Neji asked calmly.

Sasuke whirled around, glaring. “What I said when I was thirteen –”

“Thirteen? I’m only taking this from Yamato’s report, from when you were sixteen. Naruto declined to give a report on the events at the Valley of the End, if that’s what you’re referring to.”

Sasuke growled with frustration. “Fine! You want an animal that can track?” He bit his finger violently, glaring. “I’ll give you one!” He brushed up his sleeve and smeared the blood across the seal on his arm. “Kuchiyose no jutsu!”

He withdrew his hands from the ground as he felt the smooth, serpentine scales materialize under them. He glared up at his three team members. “Now, did any of you have the foresight to grab anything of Naruto’s?”

“This is different. We didn’t know –” Ino started.

“Is it okay if I’ve been wearing it for awhile?” Konohamaru interrupted.

Sasuke glanced down at the snake. It rose its head, contemplating the boy. “I should be able to subtract your scent from the other scents, yes,” it said.

“This shirt,” Konohamaru said. “Naruto let me borrow it before he left.”

With a reptilian grin, the snake slithered toward him; Konohamaru shuddered as it crawled up his arm, testing the air with its tongue.

“Got the scent?” Sasuke asked.

“Yes,” said the snake, unwinding itself from the boy’s arm. “This way ...”

“Wow, Sasuke,” Ino said, “you actually managed to do something right.”

“Shut up.”

Neji was the first to step forward to follow the serpent, Konohamaru following shortly afterward. Exchanging glares, Ino and Sasuke turned to catch up.

Konohamaru and Ino seemed to have the most aversion to the snake, and were more than willing to take up the rear. Neji stayed behind Sasuke, watching him carefully. The snake led the way, with Sasuke so close to it he appeared to be walking beside it.

“He took his time,” the snake explained. “Make haste, make haste, and you will catch up. He followed the path ... yes, this path. He took it at a normal pace.”

“There’s a town up ahead,” Neji added helpfully. “He probably stopped there. There wouldn’t be many ninja to recognize him in these parts.”

“The scent doesn’t deviate from the path,” the snake said. “I can sense it, far ahead.”

“You better not be lying. You know what the penalty is for lying to me,” Sasuke told it.

“Of course, Sasuke-sama, of course.”

“You can go now, then,” the Uchiha informed the snake harshly. With a poof of smoke, the snake obeyed, and Sasuke could hear Ino’s relieved sigh behind him.

“So Naruto went to the town straight ahead of us, right?” Konohamaru asked.

“Yeah,” Sasuke confirmed.

“That makes sense. I think I know it – Naruto took me there once when I was complaining about feeling cooped up in Konoha.”

“That’s a ways away for just needing to get out of the village,” Neji commented.

“Yeah, well, Naruto knew people there. He’d definitely been there before, for a mission or something. He – hey! He’s probably staying in the same place!”

“Why would he do that?” Ino asked dubiously.

“He knew the people who owned it. Hey, this works. We actually know where Naru-niichan it going!”

“The question is,” Neji said, “will he still be there when we arrive?”

Konohamaru shrugged. “We’ve got to try, right?”

“Yeah,” Sasuke said. “We do. Lead the way, brat.”

They arrived in the town late that night.

Konohamaru remembered the city well. He recalled the nice lady who ran the inn and her daughter, whom Naruto had flirted with shamelessly. He remembered the ramen shop down the street and the way Naruto had complained that there was a strange taste in the broth – some herb that Ichraku didn’t use. He also remembered the stack of empty ramen bowls that Naruto had left. He knew this town, and how Naruto knew it, better than the other three combined. He doubted that the older ninja were aware just how much they held him back when they were in this town instead of the other way around.

That was why he woke up before the others, trying to be as quiet as possible so he wouldn’t wake Sasuke and Neji – especially Sasuke. Konohamaru remembered how Sasuke had “accidentally” tried to strangle Neji after the he had woken him up.

“Konohamaru?” Neji asked from his bed.

“Go back to sleep,” the boy replied.

“I was awake anyway.”

“Make sure Sasuke doesn’t snore, then.”

The Hyuuga sat up and regarded him. After a long pause, he said, “I will.”

Konohamaru grinned and left the room. He went down the stairs, taking two at a time, hoping, hoping – and yes, there was there. That girl, the daughter of the innkeeper. Her name – what was it again?”

“Arisa-neechan!” he called.

She looked up and smiled at him. “Konohamaru-chan! What a surprise!”

“It’s nice to see you,” he said as he reached the counter she was working behind. “I don’t suppose you’ve seen Naru-niichan?”

“You just missed him,” Arisa said. “It’s strange – he got the oddest look when I told him that Mother mentioned that some other Konoha nin checked in last night.”

“Where’d he go?”

Arisa laughed. “Where else? To get ramen.”

“Thanks, Arisa-neechan,” Konohamaru said, darting out the door.

The ramen shop wasn’t far – Konohamaru even suspected that Naruto was familiar with the inn primarily due to its proximity to the place. He spotted it easily and watched as the small building grew nearer, searching for the tell-tell orange that Naruto liked to wear.

He was surprised when the ramen shop was empty.

“Excuse me, has Naru-niichan been here?” he asked the owner. “He wears orange, in case that helps.”

The owner paused from preparing ramen for a customer as he considered. “I haven’t seen someone like that since yesterday.”

Konohamaru thanked him and walked back to the inn, searching the street for Naruto. It was odd, he thought; Naruto would have gone straight to the ramen shop, unless ...

He reentered the inn. “Arisa-neechan, what else did Naru-niichan say?”

Arisa looked puzzled. “Not much. I thought it was kind of odd, actually. Naruto-kun was always one for long goodbyes, but he seemed to leave in such a hurry.”

His eyes widened. “Leave?”

“Oh, yes, he checked out. Why?”

Naruto had checked out after hearing that Konoha nin were in the same inn and had told Arisa that he’d be somewhere he wouldn’t be. It wasn’t difficult to figure out why.

Konohamaru hoped against all hope that Sasuke wouldn’t punch him for waking him up.

“He left?” Ino shrieked.

Sasuke cringed at the sound and rolled over, hoping to block out the kunoichi’s shrill voice.

“This is an obstacle,” Neji sighed. “It appears we’re back to square one.”

“You’re telling me,” Konohamaru replied.

“Shut up,” Sasuke grumbled, trying to block out all their voices. If it wasn’t bad enough rooming with a snoring Hyuuga and a brat who was loud enough to rival Naruto, he had to deal with –

Wait. Ino shouldn’t be in their room.

“What the hell’s going on?” Sasuke grumbled, sitting up.

“Naruto-niichan left, that’s what.”

Sasuke stared. “What?”

The shock, he thought, wore of too quickly, leaving sheer frustration in its place. Of course Naruto would leave just as they caught up with him. He just had to be that perfectly frustrating.

“Do we know why he left?” Sasuke grumbled, struggling to wake up.

“Arisa-neechan told him we were here,” Konohamaru stated. “He apparently bolted right after that.

Of course. The utter idiot.

“We’ll simply continue tracking him then, I suppose,” Sasuke groused. “And this time, we’ll be more stealthy instead of flashing our Konoha forehead protectors everywhere.” He looked up, surveying his makeshift team. “Get ready to go as soon as possible,” he stated.

His team nodded in acknowledgement.

When Sasuke left Oto to find Itachi, he had constructed what he considered to be a near to ideal team. They obeyed his commands (even Suigetsu), they weren’t overly annoying (though, granted, Karin had her moments) and they could get the job done. They also, Sasuke remembered fondly, were capable of getting ready on time.

Not so much with this team.

Konohamaru would be ready, he supposed, but the kid kept thinking of new things that they “absolutely had” to bring with them. It was tolerable the first couple times, but quickly became annoying.

As for the others, he couldn’t decide who took longer to fix their hair. On the one hand, Ino insisted on making sure every strand of her bangs was in the proper place, her hair clipped back at the right angle and her clothes completely in place. One the other hand, Neji insisted on brushing out every singly tangle in his hair before tying it back. Both seemed equally annoying. Why did people think having long hair was a good idea, anyway? Didn’t it get in the way of everything?

“Are you two finally ready to leave?” Sasuke ground out.

“Well, excuse me for wanting to look presentable,” Ino scoffed.

“Every moment we spend here is another moment Naruto can travel farther!” Sasuke snapped.

“I’ve been thinking about that,” Konohamaru said. “Arisa-neechan didn’t tell Naruto-niichan it was us, right? She just said it was some Konoha nin.”

“And?” Ino pressed.

“Naruto-niichan knows this area pretty well, I think, and he’ll try to use that. He doesn’t know that the Konoha nin are people like us, who can piece together where he’s been before. He won’t be thinking he needs a new place to go, right? He’ll be going to places he knows.”

“There is a town,” Neji stated quietly, “not to far from here. Naruto and I had a mission there once with Sakura-san.”

“We’ll start there, then!” Konohamaru said.

“And if it’s a dead end?” Sasuke asked.

“Then you summon your snake tracker again,” Neji said. As if it were obvious.

Sasuke wondered, briefly, how much trouble he’d get into if he killed Neji. “Snake summons,” he ground out, “aren’t the most trustworthy. They are powerful and have a large range of abilities, but the smaller ones like to lie and the larger ones start demanding payment in return. It would be stupid to keep using them when we have other options.”

“But that’s the point,” Ino sneered. “We don’t have a lot of other options.”

Ino, Sasuke decided, needed to die, too. He opened his mouth to retort, but Neji rose a hand to gesture to stop.

“Sasuke did bring up a good point before, Ino, about how Naruto is getting away as we speak,” he pointed out. “We should start going to the town so we can investigate.”

Sasuke simply scowled.

[Kingdom Hearts] Pirates Versus Ninja - G

2007-09-29T04:55:05Z

Yes I am doing everything I can to keep my mind off being homesick shut up.

Title: Pirates Versus Ninja
Rating: G, you %&^*ers.
Word count: Over a thousand.
Fandom: Kingdom Hearts
Characters: … everyone I can fit in.
Notes: My writing teacher discourages flashbacks. Ha, I say, so much ha. Also, I blame this on an OOC CFUD post. Unbeta’d cuz that would spoil the fun.

I’m booooored, Sora told Roxas one day while listening to the teacher drone on about particles of speech. Tell me something cool.

Roxas paused. Um. Well. We could always talk about who would win, pirates or ninjas?

Sora would later remark that’s where it all started.

Roxas knew better.

“There’s no way,” he had told Luxord, “that pirates could beat ninjas.”

“Oh, but I beg to differ,” he had replied. “Pirates know the art of gambling and how high the stakes are.”

“But ninjas are silent and deadly,” Roxas argued. “The pirates would be dead before they knew it.”

“Larxene,” Luxord said, waving at the other blond across the room. “We need another opinion. Who would win in a fight, pirates or ninja?”

Larxene cocked an eyebrow, and before either Roxas or Luxord could react, a kunai had nearly taken a few of Luxord’s hairs.

Luxord paused, examining the scenario. “Ah,” he said finally.

There’s no way, Sora told Roxas, that ninjas can beat pirates. I mean, look at Jack!

You’ve never met a ninja, have you, Roxas mused.

“For what it’s worth,” Axel had said, “I agree with you. Stealth is more important than people realize. Have you ever heard of a pirate being stealthy? No, because they’re bad at it. They rape, pillage, then get out with a bang and usually have a dozen white hats tearing after them. If they were more subtle, no one would be the wiser.”

Roxas snorted. “Somehow, that doesn’t surprise me, coming from you.”

Axel simply grinned.

“Riku,” Sora asked. “Who would win, pirates or ninjas?”

“Ninjas,” Riku replied without hesitation, not even looking up from his book.

Oh, this meant war.

“Pirates can retreat into the ocean and cannon ball the ninjas, though,” Demyx said, turning to Luxord for support. “Ninjas can’t do crap in the water, right?”

“Ninjas,” Marluxia said, “are masters at unexpected, though. I believe they would find a way to infiltrate the pirates’ ship.”

“The ideal situation,” Vexen mused, “would be some sort of ninja-pirate hybrid, I believe …”

“As if,” Larxene replied. “Ninjas are perfect the way they are.” She paused. “Though I must admit, the alcohol and wenches are kind of appealing …”

“The pirates would have the advantage of force,” Lexaeus pointed out.

“But not of skill,” Zexion said.

“Still, the ninjas only have one means of transportation – by foot. The pirates can supply themselves better and retreat and regroup more easily,” Xaldin added.

“Definitely pirates,” Xigbar had said.

“Subtlety will work against the ninjas, in the end,” Saïx agreed.

“Can we please continue with the meeting?” Xemnas asked impatiently.

“I’m telling you, it’s ninjas,” Axel said.

“Look,” Riku said, “Jack might be an okay guy, but pirates wouldn’t stand a chance against ninjas. The ninjas are way better trained for combat, and pirates mainly go around stealing things.”

“They’d still win,” Sora retorted.

“I’m going to agree with Sora on this,” Kairi laughed. “The pirates have the sea, and songs, and are just less tightly wound in general. They’d win because they wouldn’t have as many issues.”

Riku shook his head. “You guys aren’t getting to the heart of the matter, which is that the fighting skills of the ninjas are way better than the pirates.”

“Even undead zombie pirates?” Sora challenged.

“Those don’t count.”

“Pirates, man,” Hayner had said. “They can blow stuff up and it would be awesome.”

“Ninjas can blow stuff up, too, though,” Pence replied. “And they can do magic.”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Olette said. “Most of that ‘magic’ was just illusions. The pirates would win.”

“But the ninjas are just better in general,” Roxas said. “They blend into the night and steal cable and all that crap.”

Pense laughed. “They can remove your –”

“Pense!” Olette snapped.

“– and you wouldn’t even notice!”

Dear Donald and Goofy,

Hey, how are things in Disney Castle? Good, I hope. Things are okay here, but Riku and Roxas think that ninjas would win against pirates. Kairi agrees with me, at least. What do you guys think?

– Sora

I’m not sure I agree, Naminé said.

Hmm?

About the pirates winning, she replied.

Kairi sat up straighter. What about it?

Well, pirates do have a certain poetry to them, but … she hesitated. I think I agree with Roxas.

The answer Sora got back seemed to be a war between Donald’s handwriting and Goofy’s – Goofy’s loudly proclaimed “pirates” while Donald’s seemed t say “ninja.” With that letter came one from the king, which said that arguments like this were fine as long as they didn’t tear apart friendship … and in any case, it was ninjas.

Sora thought that King Mickey must have been spending too much time around Riku.

“What do you guys think?” Riku asked, lounging against the paopu tree.

“It’s totally ninjas,” Selphie said.

“I think it’s the pirates, man,” Wakka said.

“I guess it depends,” Tidus mused. “But whichever side I’m on would totally win.”

“Do you remember that old fight Hayner’s friends had about the pirates versus the ninja?” Vivi asked.

“Pirates,” Fuu said.

“Yeah, the pirates would totally win, ya know?” Rai said.

“You losers are both wrong. Ninjas are the most like knights, so they’d win. Pirates are disorganized and don’t have anyone to whip them into shape. The ninjas have disapline,” Seifer declared.

“Um … I agree with Seifer, I guess,” Vivi said timidly.

“This is ridiculous,” Riku said. “Look at Captain Hook, Maleficent, and Ansem – all of them were in the pirate camp, and look where they are now!”

Kairi raised an eyebrow. “And how do you know what side they were on?”

Riku paused. “That’s personal.”

Why are you so hung up on the stupid ninjas? Sora asked. Were you one in a past life or something?

No, that was Larxene. I was a Samurai.

Huh?

A mental sigh. Never mind.

“The next person who says they think it's pirates,” Larxene had finally growled, “will get my kunai shoved somewhere where the sun don’t shine, got it?”

And that had pretty much ended the fight in the Organization.

Hayner, Pense, and Olette, if Roxas remembered right, had pretty much forgotten it by the next day.

Not so with Sora, Riku, and Kairi, though. Kairi was willing to let it go, but Sora and Riku battled constantly over it – on the bus, between classes, on the island.

They finally settled it with a fight with their old wooden swords. It ended in a draw – both got so exhausted that they collapsed about the same time.

No one really did ever get a definite answer, Roxas realized.

Tags and Drabble Post

2007-09-24T04:52:02Z

Okay, two things:

1) I've updated the character tags to include surnames. The ones from anime shows that take place in Japan or China or somewhere similar will have surname first, given name last (i.e, Akimichi Chouji, Cho Hakkai) Even if I'm more familiar with a dub or translation which places the surname last *cough*FruitsBasket*cough* for the sake of consistency and logic, it will still be Surname Given name (ie, Sohma Kyo). I will always try to go with the romanization that the official translations use (Sohma Kyo as opposed to Souma Kyou).

This also means that there will be spoilers for familial relationships in the tags. Sorry.

2) Drabbles. Spoilers for recent Naruto chapters in all. Not very shippy, but I might expand on some of them later. EIDIT: One of them was contradicted by canon, ohs noes. Keeping it up anyway.

Kushina wasn't sure she was fond of how the flesh and muscles of her stomach stretched out slightly more with each passing day, but she knew that this thing that was growing inside her - this child - was worth all the damn trouble it was giving her and would give her. It was, after all, Minato's, and even if she didn't know how to tell Minato or if she should tell Minato, it was his. Even if it took after her in every way, if something happened to Minato, she would still have a piece of him.

However, when the child was finally born, and Kushina glanced at it as she felt the last of her strength drain from her, she hoped that Minato would be able to keep a piece of her through this child.

"How the heck do you do that?" she asked one day, staring in awe at Tsunade as she expertly healed a wound of an ANBU member.

Tsunade grinned indulgently. "Lots of practice and control."

"It's really cool," Kushina stated. "Could you teach me?"

Tsunade smiled again. "Since when has your style been suited for any type of self-control?" she asked coolly.

"Well," Kushina said thoughtfully, "I've never tried. It's much more fun to just beat the crap out of the other guy."

"You stick to your style," Tsunade told her, "and I'll stick to mine."

Kushina had taken an almost disliking to the Uchiha clan. Minato had been puzzled by it, but she'd never been able to explain it to his satisfaction: "They're so high and mighty," she once told him, "they're just asking for someone to punch their lights out."

Still, there was one member of the Uchiha clan that Kushina liked. She was quiet, and when her son had been born she'd chosen to stay at home and raise him instead of remaining on active duty. She'd smile at Kushina when they passed in the streets, acting like a normal person instead of royalty. Kushina liked it, and even stpped to chat with the woman ocassionally; her name was Mikoto, and while her child was a genius, she didn't boast about his skill, but rather worried about how the praise would effect him. She genuinely loved the child, and wanted to have another.

Kushina admired her.

One of Minato's teammates was named Konan, and she was beautiful. Kushina often found herself getting jealous of the other woman; she was elegant, but in a gothic way that set her apart from the mistresses of the Hyuuga clan, and Kushina could easily see how someone like Minato could be attracted to her.

Konan, though, seemed almost conceited in how above everyone she seemed. Still, she'd been on a team with the perverted hermit and Minato, so she couldn't be all bad, right? So Kushina kept trying to talk to her, to get her to open up and to seem human.

The one and only time she seemed to have a breakthrough managed to creep her out more than anything else. She's been looking through a huge stack of forms she needed to fill out to achieve Konoha citizenship, Konan siting beside her and examining her nails. One of the papers sliced through her index fingerand she yelped, jerking her hand back as if the paper had bitten her.

"Let me see," Konan had remarked, sounding bored.

Confused, Kushina extended her hand. Konan had traced the cut gently with her fingers, examining it before taking the finger and putting it in her mouth.

Kushina had been to surprised to do anything, and Konan had never mentioned the event ever again.