Dopplerdee
Accident Prone(Yes the caps are necessary)
- Location
- Happy Place
- Pronouns
- She/Her
I feel like those are outliers.
Sakura Haruno The Gaming Addict, and Her Gamified Life [Naruto]
- Thread starter Sendicard
- Start date
I think its one of those cases where its "It Depends"
The average missing nin WILL be less effective than they were as a village nin, because they don't have regular and varied missions keeping them sharp, eating consistently well is hard when on the run and their logistics is now whatever they can make themselves or carry on their person from random villages.
The problem is the outlier of missing nin who aren't actually on the run anymore, because they can solo the mobile forces of any Village, and you need entire Jounin teams to get them. Their abilities are largely internal, unique attributes and they can self-manage easily due to that.
- Location
- England
No, Sakura, I'm pretty sure you just said that out loud.
I think it's amusing that we're showing the same quality Iruka described Sakura having a dozen chapters ago:
Neji is an ally, our commanding officer, and considers himself our superior as a ninja. He spoke several pieces of information, and neither Sakura nor we have considered any of them might be Neji being wrong. Despite him being a violent, sheltered teenager in his own right. He just had to sound kind of authoritative, and suddenly we're assuming it's unvarnished exposition.
- Location
- It's a whole new world we live in
Youth, maturity, same difference right?
Nah, if she was watching, surely she'd be able to guess how many there are
@Sendicard i have a potential candidate for Sakura's maybe summoning clan. Can you guess?
Its the wombat! Why the wombat? I think theyre native to Australia, so that instantly makes them innocently deadly like her sorta. Theres also the weird fact they have cubes or square dense shits, and they twerk predators to death. I shit you not their ass is a weapon. Read it up.
Its the wombat! Why the wombat? I think theyre native to Australia, so that instantly makes them innocently deadly like her sorta. Theres also the weird fact they have cubes or square dense shits, and they twerk predators to death. I shit you not their ass is a weapon. Read it up.
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Chapter 41: Arc 4 - Brawling In The Streets: The Boys are Not Okay
Sendicard
Writer of Sakura
- Location
- New Mexico, USA
- Pronouns
- YouPick
The collection is awesome. I even got the posts on site instead of requiring download (you can still download the chapters) and I didn't just do it for new stuff, Patreon's chapters go all the way back to CH 12. Which is a little awkward because there's a bunch of "premium only" chapters you can read here. Oh well.
Patreon got 62 today, use that number I guess.
I also added a reward to the previously just for funzies $10 tier, I'm now hosting Monday/Tuesday polls for the Wednesday Side story, giving those that want more control a little power over what they want to see. I wanna add more to it but I'm so lost on what people would even want?
Uhhh, that's about it for Patreon news. I'm taking it seriously now because I suddenly need more money for a few fun reasons I won't get into here, but hella got into on Patreon.
"So, what's this team normally like?" She finally decides to prod the green boy after a few hours on the road. It's not very social, they're kind of just silently darting forward on a pre-made path. No need to go through the trees when there is a road, and that means there's not even casual tree based acrobatics to kill time.
"We strive to be the very best we can be at all times!" Gai's Mini-me's a little loud, but it's better than nothing. They're faster than her, so she can't whip out a game and play while they run like she can with her team. Her boys are stronger than her, but Naruto's the slow one in that group which normally affords her a lot of time to focus on both the game and movement, that's just not the case here at all. "We are sure to impress you once the mission really starts."
"Uh-right, but that's not really what I mean." Sakura hisses uncomfortably. "Do you uh, always just run silently while staring in the direction of your destination?
"Neji has put a ban on all unnecessary conversations." The boy explains to her. "I am Lee Rock, it is nice to meet you, beautiful golden goddess!"
"... Holy shit." That didn't just happen. That definitely didn't, was that, but-
She shoots a look to the other two visible teammates. Neji is forcefully looking as far away from them as possible, and Tenten, for the first time in their entire knowing of each-other, looks at her with pity. "Did you really just shoot your shot, right now?"
A single week ago she might have missed it, but that totally just happened! It helps that she also has a lot of experience being flirted with by boisterous guys, which means phrases like that click with her a lot faster than they should. He's a little better spoken than Naruto's old flirting, but it's the same concept.
"Yes! I believe I should approach every engagement with honesty and my full foot forward!" The boy throws a fist into the air while giving her the brightest smile she's ever seen. It reminds her of some of Naruto's fake ones, which he's admitted to her were a thing - her bad for missing them - and which stick out in memory quite well.
"That's, I mean I appreciate it, really." She's flattered, truly, no one besides Naruto has ever said anything like that, and those were more annoying to her exhausted mind of ages past than invigorating like this is. If she hadn't dyed her hair recently, and therefore it completely missed the mark and sounded like it was directed at Ino, she'd probably be a flushy mess. It seems raising her charm has made her more vulnerable, which is odd, none of her other stats work like that. She definitely doesn't remember the period after raising her constitution where she suddenly got one-tapped by everything. Though, to be fair, if that had happened, she probably wouldn't remember it from all the blacking out she would have been doing. Her healing reset upon sleeping would have fixed the brain damage, she thinks. It gave her back her freaking eyes, so, it can probably work on her brain.
On the topic of flirting - specifically the current situation -, she's also pretty used to flattery from Ino so that's another reason she's able to stay standing at this boy's random knockout attack. It's not quite as effective as a defense, because Ino's flattery is different, but, well actually now that she knows better it's probably not. She hasn't given the girl's words credit up to this point. Friends compliment each other, that's normal, that's all she thought it was, and she was too blind to realize things were right in front of her face.
She feels nothing but embarrassment. Is that normal?
What do others feel when kind words are thrown their way? What is romance, is it supposed to feel nothing but awkward and imposing? What does this boy feel? His feelings clearly motivated him to speak to her like that. "But I'm already in a relationship of sorts." Sakura lies through practically chattering teeth. She's glad she lost that trait not too long ago, maybe he'll really believe her.
It's best to lie to him than to reject him, when he's clearly a nice boy with a heart on his sleeve. Besides, by his interactions with her, he clearly already likes Tenten. Why flirt with her in front of her?
Is he playing a game?
"Really?" It's not Lee that talks, it's Tenten, looking back at her with wide eyes. "I heard about that but I didn't think it was real! You're really dating the Yamanaka heiress?"
"Uh-erm, well, she kissed me in public, that's a dating thing to do." Sakura says with as much confidence as she can manage. She didn't intend for this to become a thing, she was just trying to be nice! "Right?"
"We have so much to talk about, I've never met a lesbian before!" Tenten appears to have gotten over her aversion to her, for at least a minute, and Lee's back to quietly blushing so, maybe this is a win? Neji looks annoyed but he can sit her sword for all she cares, the stick up his ass would likely form a new sheath for her instead of cutting him.
"Ah, me neither, erm, I mean until the other day, or I guess I knew one but didn't know uhhh, I'm a bad friend." Sakura beams with tomato cheeks and a little bit of a clumsiness to her step. What has she gotten herself into…
She hopes the boys are okay, Kakashi said the training was going to get even crazier with her gone…
"This is training ground forty-four." Kakashi says, introducing them to the massive gate in front of what is quite possibly the largest man made structure they've ever seen. The entire forest is intentional and manufactured instead of just having appeared over years. It all has that distinctive Konoha specialty vibe to it, and while he's sure Naruto's missed it, Sasuke clearly notices this place is unnatural right away. "It's otherwise known as the forest of death, and it's very good at killing genin."
"I'm pretty sure you stop getting paid if you kill us!" Naruto shouts, throwing a fist in Kakashi's direction.
"Don't be a baby." Sasuke scolds, both hands in his pockets, and a keen eye on their training ground. He spots an animal rushing around back there, something ferocious and hungry for his kunai. Sasuke is sure he'll do fine, and that's unacceptable in Kakashi's eyes.
"This will be your new home until Sakura gets back." Kakashi stresses with no small amount of dramatic flair to his demeanor. "Her mission should take her out of Konoha for a couple of weeks at the minimum, and knowing her and her ability to get into or cause trouble, I would be surprised if she's back this month."
"Wait, we're going to live here!?" Naruto points at the forest with a waving finger, shock and possibly awe written on his features for the cyclops. Kakashi can't tell exactly what he's feeling when it comes to Naruto, the boy is so used to hiding his emotions behind others that even when he's being genuine it can be difficult to figure out exactly what's going on. His face makes reflexive motions in ways he doesn't mean it to, and his indignation comes off like he's secretly happy about it.
He's possibly better at hiding his emotions than actually emotionless soldiers, Kakashi's met a few of them and he absolutely prefers trying to decipher their thoughts via their body language and subtle twitches than trying to figure out exactly what's going on with a boy who's own body doesn't display what he means accurately.
Something broke Naruto at some point, and his recovery isn't so much fixing the problem as it is making him forget about it. He wonders how Mebuki deals with it… He'll have to ask sometime. He hasn't checked in on that family since he learned that Mebuki heard about Wave.
No one wants to get yelled at by a pissed off mom, not even Kakashi.
At least he knows it could be worse, Sakura is probably completely lost at all times with the boy. "Yes, you'll be going through a cycle. You'll rely on each other to survive while trying to find hiding places from me. I'll give you an hour's head start, and then I will come find you. The consequence for being found is a beat down, followed by an hour to recover. You will then head out again, where I'll give you an hour headstart before I come and find you."
"That doesn't give us time to sleep." Sasuke says, "with how important a theme proper rest has been on this team, that feels sudden." The cocky boy tilts his head a little, taking Kakashi in anew, "is that whole thing just a show for Sakura?"
"No." Kakashi denies, "I would like you to get as much rest as you can whenever you can, because you won't always have the opportunity to get rest in the field. You never know when your next meal or wink of shut-eye is, so you find and force it. Consider matters like that a part of your training."
"How are we supposed to run from you and sleep?" Naruto growls.
"That's for me to know, and for you to figure out, my cute genin." Kakashi's lone eye smiles at them in a way that sends shivers up and down their spines in rhythm. They're certainly not ready for it.
Patreon got 62 today, use that number I guess.
I also added a reward to the previously just for funzies $10 tier, I'm now hosting Monday/Tuesday polls for the Wednesday Side story, giving those that want more control a little power over what they want to see. I wanna add more to it but I'm so lost on what people would even want?
Uhhh, that's about it for Patreon news. I'm taking it seriously now because I suddenly need more money for a few fun reasons I won't get into here, but hella got into on Patreon.
"So, what's this team normally like?" She finally decides to prod the green boy after a few hours on the road. It's not very social, they're kind of just silently darting forward on a pre-made path. No need to go through the trees when there is a road, and that means there's not even casual tree based acrobatics to kill time.
"We strive to be the very best we can be at all times!" Gai's Mini-me's a little loud, but it's better than nothing. They're faster than her, so she can't whip out a game and play while they run like she can with her team. Her boys are stronger than her, but Naruto's the slow one in that group which normally affords her a lot of time to focus on both the game and movement, that's just not the case here at all. "We are sure to impress you once the mission really starts."
"Uh-right, but that's not really what I mean." Sakura hisses uncomfortably. "Do you uh, always just run silently while staring in the direction of your destination?
"Neji has put a ban on all unnecessary conversations." The boy explains to her. "I am Lee Rock, it is nice to meet you, beautiful golden goddess!"
"... Holy shit." That didn't just happen. That definitely didn't, was that, but-
She shoots a look to the other two visible teammates. Neji is forcefully looking as far away from them as possible, and Tenten, for the first time in their entire knowing of each-other, looks at her with pity. "Did you really just shoot your shot, right now?"
A single week ago she might have missed it, but that totally just happened! It helps that she also has a lot of experience being flirted with by boisterous guys, which means phrases like that click with her a lot faster than they should. He's a little better spoken than Naruto's old flirting, but it's the same concept.
"Yes! I believe I should approach every engagement with honesty and my full foot forward!" The boy throws a fist into the air while giving her the brightest smile she's ever seen. It reminds her of some of Naruto's fake ones, which he's admitted to her were a thing - her bad for missing them - and which stick out in memory quite well.
"That's, I mean I appreciate it, really." She's flattered, truly, no one besides Naruto has ever said anything like that, and those were more annoying to her exhausted mind of ages past than invigorating like this is. If she hadn't dyed her hair recently, and therefore it completely missed the mark and sounded like it was directed at Ino, she'd probably be a flushy mess. It seems raising her charm has made her more vulnerable, which is odd, none of her other stats work like that. She definitely doesn't remember the period after raising her constitution where she suddenly got one-tapped by everything. Though, to be fair, if that had happened, she probably wouldn't remember it from all the blacking out she would have been doing. Her healing reset upon sleeping would have fixed the brain damage, she thinks. It gave her back her freaking eyes, so, it can probably work on her brain.
On the topic of flirting - specifically the current situation -, she's also pretty used to flattery from Ino so that's another reason she's able to stay standing at this boy's random knockout attack. It's not quite as effective as a defense, because Ino's flattery is different, but, well actually now that she knows better it's probably not. She hasn't given the girl's words credit up to this point. Friends compliment each other, that's normal, that's all she thought it was, and she was too blind to realize things were right in front of her face.
She feels nothing but embarrassment. Is that normal?
What do others feel when kind words are thrown their way? What is romance, is it supposed to feel nothing but awkward and imposing? What does this boy feel? His feelings clearly motivated him to speak to her like that. "But I'm already in a relationship of sorts." Sakura lies through practically chattering teeth. She's glad she lost that trait not too long ago, maybe he'll really believe her.
It's best to lie to him than to reject him, when he's clearly a nice boy with a heart on his sleeve. Besides, by his interactions with her, he clearly already likes Tenten. Why flirt with her in front of her?
Is he playing a game?
"Really?" It's not Lee that talks, it's Tenten, looking back at her with wide eyes. "I heard about that but I didn't think it was real! You're really dating the Yamanaka heiress?"
"Uh-erm, well, she kissed me in public, that's a dating thing to do." Sakura says with as much confidence as she can manage. She didn't intend for this to become a thing, she was just trying to be nice! "Right?"
"We have so much to talk about, I've never met a lesbian before!" Tenten appears to have gotten over her aversion to her, for at least a minute, and Lee's back to quietly blushing so, maybe this is a win? Neji looks annoyed but he can sit her sword for all she cares, the stick up his ass would likely form a new sheath for her instead of cutting him.
"Ah, me neither, erm, I mean until the other day, or I guess I knew one but didn't know uhhh, I'm a bad friend." Sakura beams with tomato cheeks and a little bit of a clumsiness to her step. What has she gotten herself into…
She hopes the boys are okay, Kakashi said the training was going to get even crazier with her gone…
"This is training ground forty-four." Kakashi says, introducing them to the massive gate in front of what is quite possibly the largest man made structure they've ever seen. The entire forest is intentional and manufactured instead of just having appeared over years. It all has that distinctive Konoha specialty vibe to it, and while he's sure Naruto's missed it, Sasuke clearly notices this place is unnatural right away. "It's otherwise known as the forest of death, and it's very good at killing genin."
"I'm pretty sure you stop getting paid if you kill us!" Naruto shouts, throwing a fist in Kakashi's direction.
"Don't be a baby." Sasuke scolds, both hands in his pockets, and a keen eye on their training ground. He spots an animal rushing around back there, something ferocious and hungry for his kunai. Sasuke is sure he'll do fine, and that's unacceptable in Kakashi's eyes.
"This will be your new home until Sakura gets back." Kakashi stresses with no small amount of dramatic flair to his demeanor. "Her mission should take her out of Konoha for a couple of weeks at the minimum, and knowing her and her ability to get into or cause trouble, I would be surprised if she's back this month."
"Wait, we're going to live here!?" Naruto points at the forest with a waving finger, shock and possibly awe written on his features for the cyclops. Kakashi can't tell exactly what he's feeling when it comes to Naruto, the boy is so used to hiding his emotions behind others that even when he's being genuine it can be difficult to figure out exactly what's going on. His face makes reflexive motions in ways he doesn't mean it to, and his indignation comes off like he's secretly happy about it.
He's possibly better at hiding his emotions than actually emotionless soldiers, Kakashi's met a few of them and he absolutely prefers trying to decipher their thoughts via their body language and subtle twitches than trying to figure out exactly what's going on with a boy who's own body doesn't display what he means accurately.
Something broke Naruto at some point, and his recovery isn't so much fixing the problem as it is making him forget about it. He wonders how Mebuki deals with it… He'll have to ask sometime. He hasn't checked in on that family since he learned that Mebuki heard about Wave.
No one wants to get yelled at by a pissed off mom, not even Kakashi.
At least he knows it could be worse, Sakura is probably completely lost at all times with the boy. "Yes, you'll be going through a cycle. You'll rely on each other to survive while trying to find hiding places from me. I'll give you an hour's head start, and then I will come find you. The consequence for being found is a beat down, followed by an hour to recover. You will then head out again, where I'll give you an hour headstart before I come and find you."
"That doesn't give us time to sleep." Sasuke says, "with how important a theme proper rest has been on this team, that feels sudden." The cocky boy tilts his head a little, taking Kakashi in anew, "is that whole thing just a show for Sakura?"
"No." Kakashi denies, "I would like you to get as much rest as you can whenever you can, because you won't always have the opportunity to get rest in the field. You never know when your next meal or wink of shut-eye is, so you find and force it. Consider matters like that a part of your training."
"How are we supposed to run from you and sleep?" Naruto growls.
"That's for me to know, and for you to figure out, my cute genin." Kakashi's lone eye smiles at them in a way that sends shivers up and down their spines in rhythm. They're certainly not ready for it.
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"and my full foot forward!" Directly into my mouth if necessary! 
"We have so much to talk about, I've never met a lesbian before!" I'll just be over here. Cringing on her behalf...
"How are we supposed to run from you and sleep?" learn to take two hour naps while injured
"We have so much to talk about, I've never met a lesbian before!" I'll just be over here. Cringing on her behalf...
"How are we supposed to run from you and sleep?" learn to take two hour naps while injured
Evaunit02mark1
S-s-smell the Prey, S-s-start the Hunt.
...
Lee liking Tenten is, new for lack of a better term. That or I got sucked so deep into the unintentional Homoerotic reading of Naruto as a teenager I missed the subtext.
Still chin up bushy brows, there's always another red headed sociopath in the sea, and that one's coming at you like a cruise missile made of daddy issues and psychological trauma.
I'm pretty sure that's just Sakura misreading the signs and being flat out wrong in this case.
Canon-Side Story: Sasuke Talks to his Guy about Vampire Gato
Sendicard
Writer of Sakura
- Location
- New Mexico, USA
- Pronouns
- YouPick
Another week above $70, another Side story. We're at over $150, which is actually significantly closer to the $300 goal than I ever thought we'd get. Which is when I start writing 4 chapters per week instead of 3, which I guess would only benefit patrons, but like, still.
To mark the occasion I finally added a benefit to the $10 tier, I now hold weekly polls on what the Wednesday side story is going to be, and the $10 tier gets to make that vote. It's a small thing, and I doubt there'll be many takers, but as long as I have one person voting I'll keep doing it. This week was voted on by one person, so in a way this is kind of like a personal piece from me to them.
And you all get to watch, you voyeurs..
Sasuke's "guy" has been mentioned a few times, especially back in Wave. There's no formal therapy in Konoha at this point in the timeline, and while this is AU it's not AU in that way. That being said, having some form of guy you can talk to when you're about to snap just makes sense. So Sasuke doesn't have a therapist, and this isn't exactly how your therapist should be talking to you, but he does have a guy he talks to.
Introducing, Sasuke's guy!
"The blood was so thick I couldn't see. Me, an Uchiha, I couldn't see anything. Even with my Sharingan active, all I managed to do was memorize the shades." The boy sits in his awkwardly large chair, across a table from an elderly man with a kindred smile. There's two steaming cups of tea, neither are touched, and neither will be.
"That must have been demoralizing." The elderly man says.
"No, well yes, but… It was more helplessness." Sasuke grunts.
"That would be very much the same thing, for someone like you." The old man shakes his head at the boy.
"It would," Sasuke agrees, palming his forehead a bit, and giving a nice long groan, "but I knew Sakura would have a plan, and Naruto would follow it well enough it'd work. I can't say I was demoralized because I knew we'd win, I just wasn't useful."
"You would be surprised how much just being there can impact a bad situation." The older man says. "For instance, what if Naruto felt the same way you did?"
"What?" Sasuke asks, giving the man a bit of a brow.
"What if Naruto felt confident you could all win, because Sakura would have a plan, and you would follow it well enough to work?"
"Uhh…"
"Just by being there, you've boosted morale, and Sakura has two of you to come up with a plan for, doubling your options, which in tactics is practically quadruple."
"I guess I hadn't thought of that," Sasuke admits, "but I don't think any of us were really thinking. It was a vampire in a room full of blood, throwing around a magical spear. None of us were exactly… doing our best."
"I think you were all doing your best," The old man denies his claim, "that your best wasn't as good as it might have been in a more familiar situation hardly takes from that. If anything, it makes it all the more special. At least in an old man's opinion."
"I was still worthless." Sasuke points out dryly.
"Everyone is worthless sometimes, that's why you have teammates," The older man says, "back when I was a ninja, I had the worst sense of direction. Did I ever tell you about the time Hibiki slapped me upside the head because I was following the map upside down? We had to redo an entire day's travel, not to mention walking it back."
"You have, but I don't see how that's relevant here…"
"We all make mistakes, Sasuke, the fact that your team isn't giving you crap about it means that they don't feel like they performed amazingly either." The old man says with a bit of a glint to his smile.
"Or they're just too nice to say it." Sasuke grunts at him with furrowed brows.
"From what you've told me of Sakura, I don't think she's one to mince words very well… No, I think she would call you out if she wasn't too busy scolding herself more than enough for the three of you." A whistle enters his tone, and the older man takes a deep, almost wheezy breath. "I think the two of you have a lot in common, on that front. You're both balls of nerves too preoccupied with what's going on inside of you to dare cast judging daggers outwards. You'll never throw a stone if you crush it in your hand the moment you pick it up."
"And Naruto?"
"Maybe he's too nice," The man shrugs, "but you all survived a horrifying situation, without a prior plan, and succeeded in your mission at the same time. I don't think anyone can truly criticize you, except you. I would suggest you stop doing that quite so proactively. It's all well and good to be aware of your limitations and areas for improvement, but if no one else has said anything, your faults cannot be as glaring as they seem to you."
"What if people just don't want confrontation?" Sasuke asks.
"People oftentimes speak their minds only when looking into a mirror, that much is true," a hand lands on his thick beard, the older man's white hairs trailing down so lengthy that they rest just above his own lap. There's a lot of room to stroke, and he takes pleasure in doing so. "But it's for that very reason that you cannot listen to what a mirror says back to you, especially not when you're as adept at reading lips as you are."
"Cryptic as always." Sasuke grunts.
"I thought I was speaking quite straightforward, my apologies," the man hums to himself, "why don't we circle back to your thoughts then. What made you feel so useless, beyond just sight? Surely something else happened if you're this down about it?"
"Well, Sakura didn't do so well in the fight," Sasuke says, "while I was trying not to get too hurt shambling around, she went blind stuffing glass into her eyes."
"Why?" The man asks.
"So she could see." Sasuke deadpans.
"Right, that is normally why I shove glass directly into my eyeballs," The old man nods to himself, "and it worked?"
"Apparently. How am I supposed to keep up with that kind of out of the box thinking? Was she even thinking at all? Was there even a box? I can't understand her thought processes, it makes me feel like an outsider on my own team."
"Perhaps, that's a good thing. Between Naruto and her, and if my memory of Kakashi serves well enough, your team needs rationality. Taking refuge in absurdity is good enough, until it's not. Someone needs to be around to say no or you'll find yourself starting a war by accident, and then everyone will be mildly miffed at you, to say the least."
"And if I can't say no to her?" Sasuke asks.
"Then we have something to talk about," Sasuke's guy says, "let's focus on that, that seems important."
To mark the occasion I finally added a benefit to the $10 tier, I now hold weekly polls on what the Wednesday side story is going to be, and the $10 tier gets to make that vote. It's a small thing, and I doubt there'll be many takers, but as long as I have one person voting I'll keep doing it. This week was voted on by one person, so in a way this is kind of like a personal piece from me to them.
And you all get to watch, you voyeurs..
Sasuke's "guy" has been mentioned a few times, especially back in Wave. There's no formal therapy in Konoha at this point in the timeline, and while this is AU it's not AU in that way. That being said, having some form of guy you can talk to when you're about to snap just makes sense. So Sasuke doesn't have a therapist, and this isn't exactly how your therapist should be talking to you, but he does have a guy he talks to.
Introducing, Sasuke's guy!
"The blood was so thick I couldn't see. Me, an Uchiha, I couldn't see anything. Even with my Sharingan active, all I managed to do was memorize the shades." The boy sits in his awkwardly large chair, across a table from an elderly man with a kindred smile. There's two steaming cups of tea, neither are touched, and neither will be.
"That must have been demoralizing." The elderly man says.
"No, well yes, but… It was more helplessness." Sasuke grunts.
"That would be very much the same thing, for someone like you." The old man shakes his head at the boy.
"It would," Sasuke agrees, palming his forehead a bit, and giving a nice long groan, "but I knew Sakura would have a plan, and Naruto would follow it well enough it'd work. I can't say I was demoralized because I knew we'd win, I just wasn't useful."
"You would be surprised how much just being there can impact a bad situation." The older man says. "For instance, what if Naruto felt the same way you did?"
"What?" Sasuke asks, giving the man a bit of a brow.
"What if Naruto felt confident you could all win, because Sakura would have a plan, and you would follow it well enough to work?"
"Uhh…"
"Just by being there, you've boosted morale, and Sakura has two of you to come up with a plan for, doubling your options, which in tactics is practically quadruple."
"I guess I hadn't thought of that," Sasuke admits, "but I don't think any of us were really thinking. It was a vampire in a room full of blood, throwing around a magical spear. None of us were exactly… doing our best."
"I think you were all doing your best," The old man denies his claim, "that your best wasn't as good as it might have been in a more familiar situation hardly takes from that. If anything, it makes it all the more special. At least in an old man's opinion."
"I was still worthless." Sasuke points out dryly.
"Everyone is worthless sometimes, that's why you have teammates," The older man says, "back when I was a ninja, I had the worst sense of direction. Did I ever tell you about the time Hibiki slapped me upside the head because I was following the map upside down? We had to redo an entire day's travel, not to mention walking it back."
"You have, but I don't see how that's relevant here…"
"We all make mistakes, Sasuke, the fact that your team isn't giving you crap about it means that they don't feel like they performed amazingly either." The old man says with a bit of a glint to his smile.
"Or they're just too nice to say it." Sasuke grunts at him with furrowed brows.
"From what you've told me of Sakura, I don't think she's one to mince words very well… No, I think she would call you out if she wasn't too busy scolding herself more than enough for the three of you." A whistle enters his tone, and the older man takes a deep, almost wheezy breath. "I think the two of you have a lot in common, on that front. You're both balls of nerves too preoccupied with what's going on inside of you to dare cast judging daggers outwards. You'll never throw a stone if you crush it in your hand the moment you pick it up."
"And Naruto?"
"Maybe he's too nice," The man shrugs, "but you all survived a horrifying situation, without a prior plan, and succeeded in your mission at the same time. I don't think anyone can truly criticize you, except you. I would suggest you stop doing that quite so proactively. It's all well and good to be aware of your limitations and areas for improvement, but if no one else has said anything, your faults cannot be as glaring as they seem to you."
"What if people just don't want confrontation?" Sasuke asks.
"People oftentimes speak their minds only when looking into a mirror, that much is true," a hand lands on his thick beard, the older man's white hairs trailing down so lengthy that they rest just above his own lap. There's a lot of room to stroke, and he takes pleasure in doing so. "But it's for that very reason that you cannot listen to what a mirror says back to you, especially not when you're as adept at reading lips as you are."
"Cryptic as always." Sasuke grunts.
"I thought I was speaking quite straightforward, my apologies," the man hums to himself, "why don't we circle back to your thoughts then. What made you feel so useless, beyond just sight? Surely something else happened if you're this down about it?"
"Well, Sakura didn't do so well in the fight," Sasuke says, "while I was trying not to get too hurt shambling around, she went blind stuffing glass into her eyes."
"Why?" The man asks.
"So she could see." Sasuke deadpans.
"Right, that is normally why I shove glass directly into my eyeballs," The old man nods to himself, "and it worked?"
"Apparently. How am I supposed to keep up with that kind of out of the box thinking? Was she even thinking at all? Was there even a box? I can't understand her thought processes, it makes me feel like an outsider on my own team."
"Perhaps, that's a good thing. Between Naruto and her, and if my memory of Kakashi serves well enough, your team needs rationality. Taking refuge in absurdity is good enough, until it's not. Someone needs to be around to say no or you'll find yourself starting a war by accident, and then everyone will be mildly miffed at you, to say the least."
"And if I can't say no to her?" Sasuke asks.
"Then we have something to talk about," Sasuke's guy says, "let's focus on that, that seems important."
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- Pronouns
- He/Him
Who IS this guy? The Eternal Genin?
Sendicard
Writer of Sakura
- Location
- New Mexico, USA
- Pronouns
- YouPick
Probably the most valid criticism I've received this entire story.
If he wanted to know about the glass, then I wonder why he didn't just ask. It's not like she wouldn't have told him.
It could only be his son. Since his dad's death is kind of a big part of his story.
Shadow Archon
Protoss Preserver
- Location
- Louisiana
Why would the Tsukiyomi victim not ask about creepy eye shit? It's a mystery!
there are two people that are Eternal Genin. One is Might Doi, Father of the punchies of punch wizards. The other is a dude that got traumatized in one of the ninja wars and started rejecting all promotions and focusing on basics until he was basically an old s-ran beast that still went around doing d-ranks like patroling the least visited parts of the defenses, and for that, requires the rank of genin.
Ah yes, the old 'we shall kill anyone who sees us kill someone' plan. Which all too often 'escalates quickly' as it were.
Guy is no therapist but he makes a decent elderly proverb dispenser.
- Location
- Victoria, BC
It's Danzo! He's playing the long con. First spend a few years lowering Sasuke's guard, then POW! Make him kill the Sandaime and Jiraiya and every other candidate for Hokage. All according to keikaku.
SolipsistSerpent
Endlessly Devouring
Of course Danzo is most invested in his well-being, if Sasuke dies without having children first, Danzo will never be able to replace any of the eyes in his arm!