Sai is this aloof, distant character who knows nothing about social etiquette or what it means to connect with other people. He has no friends, he has nobody he holds affection for, and what little memory he does have of such things is buried under years of trauma and conditioning.
Enter: Naruto. Loud, abrasive, and so connected to life and the people around him. Naruto understands how others work, and knows exactly what to do and say to hit someone at their core. Even with enemies, he somehow manages to worm his way in. To appeal to their emotions.
To Sai, this must be utterly fascinating.
Naruto is his opposite. He's bright, loud, full of vivid color. Sai is like a washed out drawing, pallid and unnerving. Naruto goes through any range of emotions literally by the second. If anyone can teach Sai how to understand others, it's him.
So, he pokes. He prods. He makes tasteless jokes he knows are offensive, just to see what Naruto does in response. He expects that Naruto will hate him. That he'll grow annoyed enough to blow up, and through that, Sai will learn even further what it means to be human.
Only, Naruto isn't needlessly cruel like the handlers in ROOT, and he's far too used to ridicule for it to do much of anything to him. All Naruto does is gripe back at him, or roll his eyes, or groan and smack him on the shoulder.
Sai is taken aback but accepting of this. What he doesn't expect is for Naruto to decide they're friends. That somehow, Sai is worth protecting.
He's never had someone stand up like this for him before. Naruto willingly throws himself into harm's way for others, for Sai, and is interested in him. He invites him places, and asks about his day, and wants to know what he's drawing, and why, and if he can watch. He includes him in any team activities they do, and invites him out when he hangs out with his friends, even though Sai can tell they're all wary of him and his demeanor.
It's fascinating and new and something he's so unused to that he isn't sure what to do with it. Nobody has ever smiled at him like that. Nobody has ever wanted to know about Sai simply for the sake of knowing, because they actually give a damn about what he thinks and who he is.
Sai starts to crave it. He starts to want those eyes on him, and that smile, and that care. He seeks it out, inserting himself next to Naruto as he tries painstakingly to figure out what the hell it is he's even feeling.
It's not until Naruto rolls his neck to the side one day after training, the tan expanse of it bared to the world, that it occurs to Sai what this is. He wants to bury his face there. He wants to press his tongue to his pulse, to know what it feels like thumping against his lips.
He wants. And logically, when you want something, does it not make sense to take it?
Hell if he knows how this normally works, so he reads books. Every book he can get his hands on. When you want to possess another person, what do you do? How do you win their heart? How do you give yours in return?
He starts with the basics. His insults shift to compliments, because the books say that's what you're meant to do to get someone to truly like you. He starts holding the door for him, pulling out his chairs, making sure to stay close to him. He asks him questions and commits the answers to memory, because remembering shows you care.
Naruto is confused about the sudden shift, and hesitant. He's even more confused when the flowers come into play. Every day, Sai gives him a flower. But he also buys him ramen every day too, so you know. That's fine too.
Sai absorbs every dating manual he can get his hands on. Dinner at Naruto's favorite place every night, check. Flowers, compliments, manners, check. Interest in him and his life, check. Compelling conversations to connect, check.
He and Sai get even closer. It's not long before it's commonplace to see them together, training, or eating, or simply walking about the village. Naruto jabbers away and Sai graciously listens, nodding along dutifully all the while, even taking notes.
Naruto is skeptical, but he's also secretly overjoyed. He loves the rest of his friends, but he's never gotten close to someone like he's getting with Sai. He and Sai didn't know one another growing up. Sai didn't see the village hate him, and didn't have that residual instinct clinging to him. The rest of the Konoha 12 are his closest friends now, but he knows he still offsets them sometimes.
The first time Sai reaches out and laces their fingers together, Naruto sputters slightly and kinda tries to tug his hand away. Sai doesn't let go, and Sai is weird anyway, so Naruto just... let's it happen. Sai is his friend, and it feels nice. Why stop?
Beyond his general want and like for Naruto, another thing soon becomes glaringly apparent. That thing being Sasuke, and it's at this point Sai feels his first truly, deeply negative emotion since being freed from ROOT.
Jealousy. Insane, deep, almost frenzied jealousy. He knows he resembles Sasuke to an extent, and he knows Naruto wants more than anything to bring his ex-teammate home. Sometimes, it's all he can talk about.
Sasuke this, Sasuke that. Naruto is so stuck on that moron it makes his teeth grind. Sasuke left him behind— he doesn't deserve Naruto. He doesn't buy him food, he doesn't hold his hand, he doesn't listen to every word he says. He doesn't treat him like he's supposed to.
Sai doesn't know what to do with jealousy, so he lets it fester. Smiles benignly around it, reaching for Naruto all the while.
They get close enough for Naruto to open up about his childhood and doubts and fears. He gets used to looking over his shoulder and seeing Sai there. He starts to rely on him, lighting up when he sees him, smiling up at him and trusting him.
Sai kisses him for the first time and it feels so good. Sai has read every manual on how to do this, and how to do it well. And once he gets his hands on Naruto, the idea of taking them off feels torturous.
Sai feels. Fully, wholly, with the entirety of his being. He's happy, and he's satisfied, and he's yearning, and wanting, and grasping, and taking.
His bottled up want explodes, and Naruto is smothered in it. He's never been wanted before. He's never had someone see him for him and decide he's their goal. Sai took things step by careful step. He gave enough of a damn about Naruto to do this right.
He treats Naruto like he's precious. He's so careful, even though Naruto is tough as stone, he acts as though he's glass. He focuses on him, on the reactions he gives and the best way to swallow them. He maps every inch of his body and learns it.
He's gentle. Naruto knows a lot, but he doesn't know gentle.
They don't tell anyone, but they're together. Their love is quiet but pointed. Sai spends his days drawing Naruto, capturing his likeness on paper through careful ink. Naruto has someone to turn to who cares about him, who takes the time to genuinely try to examine his feelings and react to them.
They have hobbies together outside of their identities as shinobi. Sai is the only one who knows how much Naruto loves to garden and keep plants. He helps him with it, and Naruto spends hours keeping him company while he draws. They spend time crafting seals, Sai with steady enough hands for it, and Naruto willing to share his knowledge with him.
Sai doesn't treat Naruto like an idiot or brush him off when he's upset. If there's something he doesn't know or understand, he asks Naruto to explain it, or he reads about it in a book. He takes every single one of his concerns seriously, and soothes him as best he knows how.
The first time they run into Sasuke, Sai would be so incredibly smug. Sasuke would seethe because this is basically his replacement here, and boy has he replaced effectively.
Sasuke might want Naruto later, after all is said and done, but it'd be too late. He left, and Sai was here. Sasuke might claim to be the "better version" but that doesn't mean he won, because unlike him, Sai actually gave a shit.
Sakura finding out they're dating and being like "I'm sorry, what 🧍 since when??"
Naruto would be like "For the last four months! We make out like, all the time!"
I feel like they'd unironically be so healthy. Sai would actually research this shit and how to do it right. Naruto wouldn't even know what to do with this much stability. Can't be an emotionally unreliable mess if you don't understand emotions very well, let alone feel many of them, am I right?
Ft. Down bad Sai who knows what he wants and is willing to read as many books as it takes to get it. They'd share an apartment and garden together on the roof. They'd invent seals together while debating their constructs back and forth. Sai would dunk on Sasuke every chance he got. It'd be beautiful 😫
🌀 I like to imagine it all starts with Naruto using his newfound proficiency in seals to take the one on Neji's forehead off.
🌀 He already gave Neji the courage and means to choose his own path during their first confrontation at the chunin exams, but for him to come back from training with Jiraiya and to immediately think of him? To come to him, to work so hard to remove the stain on his skin that's weighed him down like an anchor and caged him like a bird?
🌀 He would give Neji the freedom to choose, and Neji would choose him. Because this came out of nowhere, and now he's afloat with nothing to grab onto. Blindsided, but more than happy to grasp what's closest to him.
🌀 Neji devoting himself to Naruto as a new path to follow. Naruto gave him the realization of what he'd always thought was an impossible dream, and Neji can see him so clearly now. Neji sees, and he wants.
🌀 For the first time in his life, Neji has the freedom to take. To do whatever he wants. So, he does.
🌀 Naruto's kindness and goodness is astonishing. The depth of his will to help others is so noble and selfless he can barely believe it's real. The village despises him, but Naruto loves it and the people in it despite that. In a way, Naruto is in a cage too, but he doesn't let it define or stop him.
🌀 Neji's curiosity very quickly turns to obsession. Naruto's got a smile unlike any other, and eyes that sparkle like the ocean when he's happy. He's enthusiastic, and energetic, and somehow the freest person Neji knows despite his circumstances.
🌀 Golden hair and sunlit skin. Cousin like cousin, he'd start to follow Naruto. Using his Byakugan to find him and observe from a distance, learning everything there was to know about him.
🌀 He's interesting to watch. It's enamoring to see him in action and to realize just how deep he truly is as a person. For as immature and childish as he can be, there is a depth to him that few have. Neji wants to peel back all the layers and see it all.
🌀 Naruto, being a natural sensor, picks up on him. Instead of reacting badly like Neji expected him to, he beams like a sun ray. He invites him closer, includes him effortlessly, like there's nothing he'd like to do more. He treats Neji warmly, like they've been friends for years.
🌀 And maybe they have been, and Neji simply never realized it until now.
🌀 Naruto would be so touchy. Neji has never let anyone close, but he can't help it now. He slinks into Naruto's space knowing how clingy Naruto is, taking advantage of it, letting them grow closer and closer together until the gap between them is nigh imperceptible.
🌀 He'd start to notice the small of Naruto's back, and how it arched under pressure. The delicate blonde of his eyelashes, the allure of his eyes and lips. His obsession with him and his ideals, his future, would deepen until Neji desired it all.
🌀 He'd follow him everywhere. To the point that he stops going home to the Hyuga compound at all, always a step behind him. And Naruto would never really question it, simply accept it as being how it is and welcoming him effortlessly.
🌀 Neji stalking after him like this second shadow, always listening with rapt attention. Soon, it would be commonplace to see Naruto dragging Neji along by the arm, yammering away while Neji answered in slow, low tones.
🌀 The first time Neji follows him to his door at night, Naruto would just kind of squint at him and raise an eyebrow when he failed to go away. He'd step away from the door and Neji would follow silently past the threshold, and Naruto would shrug, because alright. Sure.
🌀 Neji climbing into bed next to him and curling around him. Running his hands up the knobs of his spine, snaking them under his shirt to feel every divot of his skin. Letting their chakra ting together, tapping at all the pressure points that'll help Naruto relax best.
🌀 Naruto would get the best sleep of his life and promptly decide that Neji wasn't allowed to ever leave again. Neji would have zero problems with this, of course.
🌀 Neji knowing Naruto's chakra so intimately that he could recognize it even with his kekkei genkai off. The warm buzz of it would be something he could drown in, would drown in if Naruto let him.
🌀 He'd have unwavering faith in all Naruto's dreams and pursuits, and would do his utmost to help him work towards them in any way he can. If Naruto says he'll be Hokage, he'll be Hokage. It's as simple as that.
🌀 Neji wanting to give Naruto everything because this is his new path, his new life's dedication. His new future laid out for him in blinding orange, but Neji is content because it's what he's chosen for himself, and he knows he's chosen well.
🌀 Beyond wanting to help Naruto make his dreams come true, Neji wants to give him everything else too. He wants to feed him, to help him sleep, to give him safety. He wants Naruto to have everything, and he wants to be the one to give it to him. His devotion is unshakable now that it's cemented.
🌀 The Hyuga clan disowns him when they realize the seal is gone but by then he's mostly staying with Naruto anyways. Naruto is so indignant on his behalf that he makes their living together official, and Neji feels satisfaction and glee curl in his gut.
🌀 Neji starts inserting himself into even more aspects of Naruto's life. He takes over cooking, he cleans, he runs his hands through his hair when he groggily wakes up in the morning. He massages his muscles after training, and insists on helping him wash his hair and back.
🌀 Naruto wakes up with morning wood, as teenage boys do, and Neji insists on helping with that too. He wants to give Naruto literally everything. Pleasure included. He lets his hands snake down and Naruto is too flustered to do anything but hold on and bury his face in his chest out of embarrassment.
🌀 Service top Neji with a praise kink a mile wide who practically breaks apart when Naruto tells him how good it feels.
🌀 Neji being able to see Naruto's chakra and memorizing every single unique branch, tattooing them on his body and across his back as a show of dedication. Replacing the Hyuga Clan's brand with one of his own.
🌀 I can see him being wild about wanting to carry Naruto places. He'd insist Naruto perch on one of his shoulders or get scooped into his arms every two seconds.
🌀 If Naruto gets hurt all bets are off. Even though he heals fast, Neji doesn't care. He's handling it all. He's making homemade soup, he's fretting over the injury, he's changing the bandages every hour and cooing over him
🌀 Naruto has never had someone worry over him or take care of him and has no idea how to react. He just looks at Neji with big, hesitant eyes and asks him if he's sure about this. Like yeah, obviously he's sure. He's so sure he tattooed your chakra pathways on his body, not that you know that.
🌀 Naruto would loveeee his hair. Braiding it, fiddling with it, helping wash it. He'd get so distracted just running his fingers through it and marveling at how soft it was.
🌀 Neji doing literally anything Naruto says, often without question. He says stop, he stops. He says sit, he sits. He says harder or again, he goes harder or again.
🌀 Basically incredibly devout Neji and Naruto who is semi clueless to how deep that devotion runs.
The concept of Tobirama deciding HE wants an Uzumaki wife, traveling to Uzu, and then getting himself zapped by a time travel seal amuses me almost as much as the concept of Naruto x Tobirama in the canon series timeline does. The beef between Tobirama and Sasuke would be unreal, and the comedic potential? Like oh, you ran off to kill your brother and get cozy with Orochimaru? Well I'M dating the second Hokage! So take that!
Tobirama is probably mean as hell too. Literally nobody can tolerate him for more than five minutes. Or so Tobirama thought— enter Naruto, who literally just lets it roll off his back. He has a grumpy tailed beast in his stomach and is on a team with not only Kakashi Hatake, but Sasuke Uchiha. Heee can see under all that.
Kakashi fucking the thoughts and words right out of Naruto and being genuinely distressed when he stops responding verbally to him so he tries harder bc his hindbrain is like “you aren’t doing well enough right now. You need to do better and the he’ll praise you again” until he’s sobbing and begging and asking Naruto to answer him he’ll do anything just tell him what to do which is enough to snap Naruto out of the haze so he’s like aw I’m so sorry puppy you’re doing so well. I’m so sorry for not answering. You made me feel so good I couldn’t think of anything but how happy I was puppy. You did so well. You’re so perfect for me. So good for me. Made me stop thinking sweetheart. And Kakashi is like 🥹 really? I did ? I did a good job? I made you feel that good? So Naruto just cuddles and praises and kisses him for hourssss
KibaNaru in your font might be bearable please share
KibaNaru headcanons!
(That absolutely nobody asked for. Except you, fellow anon. This is for US, twin ♥)
🐶 I feel like it starts to happen as soon as Naruto gets back from training with Jiraiya. He's grown up, stronger, past puberty, and man... he smells good.
🐶 I can just imagine him smelling absolutely DIVINE to Kiba's souped up dog clan senses. Foxes are canines, and Naruto has been exposed to Kurama's chakra since his literal conception. All that refined fox energy has coalesced and ingrained itself as a central part of him.
🐶 Kiba would 100% deny it to himself at first. Naruto Uzumaki? Seriously? If anyone ever found out, he'd never live it down.
🐶 But then there Naruto is, golden hair and golden skin and god, were his eyes always that blue? Every time he came around it'd be like getting scent bombed in the face. Eventually, Kiba would do what any dog faced with a divine smell would— he'd follow his nose.
🐶 Naruto would absolutely not get it at first. He may have marinated in canine juju or whatever but it's not like he grew up in a dog clan or has any idea what that means. I imagine Naruto, having come from the royal line within the Uzumaki clan and imbued with Kurama's chakra, would be near purebred status. Kiba is basically a scruffy street mutt by comparison, a mix of too many breeds to be any one, distinguishable thing.
🐶 But they've always kind of gotten along. They're similar in a lot of ways, rough and tumble, willing to get their hands dirty, a little dumb but loyal to a fault. And when Naruto the social butterfly naturally gravitates closer, it's only a matter of time before Kiba is inching in more and more, starting to register some internal concept of territory when he looks at him.
🐶 He'd get so close. Naruto, with his no sense of personal space and no healthy frame of reference for friendship, wouldn't question an arm slung over his shoulder or a nose hovering too close to his neck. The way Kiba would start to crowd into him and trail after him, always poking fun and teasing, trying to get a rise out of him.
🐶 Suddenly, Kiba would become acutely aware of how skinny Naruto was. It wasn't right for him to be eating so little, and as a member of the head family, he'd have access to all the funds needed to feed him. And his apartment— it was awfully drafty. Naruto could get sick if he stayed in a place like that. It seemed only right he goad him into moving, perhaps into one of the very properties his clan owns.
🐶 Kiba would start doing all the things a dog does when it finds a mate it wants. Feeding him, housing him, trailing after him doggedly and baring his teeth at any perceived competition. Basically dancing to a tune nobody else could hear.
🐶 (Except Kakashi, who probably just raises an eyebrow and scoffs when Kiba glares at him because what is a dog compared to a wolf. Kiba bearing his teeth at him would be amusing if it weren't so sad.)
🐶 Kiba would start taking Naruto's clothes and leaving his own. Trying to get his scent on Naruto in any way he could. He'd stage it as barging into the "new place he helped Naruto find" but his motives? Fully ulterior, obviously.
🐶 Naruto is a clueless little moron that we love and adore and would probably at least start to catch on around the time Kiba started trying to groom him. A good lick to the face would definitely have him pausing in his tracks.
🐶 Kiba would definitely just fucking lie, dude. Why risk scaring him off when he's this far in? Like nah, bro. It's a normal Inuzuka thing! Who doesn't lick the homies goodnight? He tastes all his friends' necks and bites down hard enough to leave marks!
🐶 Naruto is like "well if you say so 🧍" even though he senses something is off. He tries to talk to Sakura about it but she deadass is ignoring him tbh. Like how ridiculous. Kiba, the straightest straight guy to ever exist, fuckboy energy, total moron? Being gay? With Naruto of all people?
🐶 More likely than you'd think. But I digress.
🐶 Kiba would definitely pull the "wait, you haven't had your first real kiss yet? I'll help you practice. Nah, dude, it's totally normal to help your friends practice. All really close friends do it!"
🐶 And then they're just making out. Kiba is regularly licking every inch of visible skin and chewing on him like an old shoe. Kakashi probably whoops him for it later because Naruto isn't a chew toy but in the meantime, Naruto is just letting this happen and trying to clumsily reciprocate because even if it's new and odd, it feels good
🐶 Not only is he finally close with someone the way he's always dreamed of being, the strange, groaning, fragile part of him that always aches has finally settled. All these weird itches he's had all his life have finally been scratched. Something in him eases as Kiba drags him further and further into his instincts.
🐶 Like, this is kind of what he needed all along. Another canine to not complete him per se, but to show him how to live and give him a place to. Kiba is rough in his handling— he's in tune with his instincts and animalistic. And Naruto, through being with him, learns everything he never got to.
🐶 Basically Kiba "nah, trust me bro"ing Naruto into a gay relationship. And somehow, nobody but Kakashi notices. Kiba is literally the most obnoxious, pigtail pulling, nasty, horny, persistent little idiot and not a soul picks up on it. And he wasn't even trying to hide it. He has literally been growling at people and actively posturing.
🐶 Naruto: "Sakura, Kiba keeps kissing me. But like, with tongue. Like he's trying to eat me or something. And it kinda feels really good but he also keeps biting my thighs and falling asleep between them and he says it's normal but it kinda feels gay, believe it."
Sakura, not paying attention: "Hmmm sounds like normal Kiba, Naruto. I wouldn't worry about it."
🐶 They eventually bang for real and Kiba just,,, decides that's it. The tipping point. They're together now. Mated. Married. Same difference.
🐶 Kiba would be insatiable after that and Naruto would be like wow, this is a cool new thing that feels really, really, really good. Why not keep doing it? He's heard the term friends with benefits before. It's fine, it's cool. Kiba says not to worry about it and acts so casual, of course it isn't weird!
🐶 Kiba would be rough but Naruto has the stamina of a god, he could take it. Kiba would definitely be the type to see Naruto covered in mud and shove him back in the puddle to slobber over him. Dirty, clean, outdoors, inside. He's a dog at heart, he doesn't give a shit.
🐶 Naruto would like save the village from Pein and yk Kiba would want that cookie SO bad. And he'd make it good as hell, too. Naruto saved everyone and is so strong, and he's perfect, and he smells good, and now the entire village adores him. As his mate, it's Kiba's job to give him everything. To provide, whether that be sustenance, security, shelter, or pleasure. Whatever Naruto wants, Kiba is gonna give it to him.
🐶 Naruto would drop a "good boy" in the steamy thick of it and Kiba would never recover.
🐶 Kiba: "This is my boyfriend, Naruto!"
Naruto, who's been making out with Kiba, getting railed and gnawed on by him, who Kiba has been unironically calling babe for two months now: "I'm your what?"
🐶 Pro gaslighter Kiba would be like "Huh? You mean you forgot we were dating? But Naruto, this was your idea!"
🐶 Kakashi would appear out of the mist to stop the manipulation. Like, hold on now. That's HIS pup first, you disgusting little degenerate mutt.
🐶 Naruto belatedly realizing that the last year has just been a steady build up for them getting together disguised as bromance because Kiba is an idiot and was unwilling to say it out loud or be honest: "Ohhhh! Does this mean you'll keep buying me ramen?"
🐶 Like baby, Kiba has been crawling into your bed at night, stealing your clothing, has spent hours worshipping your body, basically chases after your tail anytime you go anywhere, actively pants over you anytime you start to sweat during training, listens to everything you say, obeys your every whim, and is obsessed with everything you do. Yeah he's probably gonna buy you more ramen.
🐶 Kiba is the type to brag about how independent he is and how he's in charge and listens to no one but what Naruto says sit, he SITS
🐶 Naruto is just happy it means he gets to live with Akamaru now. And yes, Akamaru likes him more because I said so (and because Naruto slips him chicken like a real one)
I haven't posted a draft lately so HERE 🫵 have some KakaNaru
Title: By The Gods
Summary:
After getting hit by an enemy seal, a twenty year old Kakashi Hatake from a war torn world finds himself in a new version of Konoha. Though struggling, it's nothing like the near wasteland he comes from. People are happy here, safe. Alive. There's another version of himself, older and strong enough to be crowned Kage.
There's an angel, too. One with gold hair and blue eyes and far too pretty a smile to let slip away from him.
More:
Kakashi is twenty years old when he dies and wakes up in a world that isn't his own.
It's immediately evident that the Konoha he comes to in isn't the same one he fell protecting. Things are different here, from the style of the buildings, to the extra faces dotting the mountainside. Even the chakra seems calmer, not polluted by the strife and bloodshed of war as Kakashi has always known it to be.
Everything is a haze, his vision blurred and his ears ringing. Flickering memories of a seal lighting up the ground— swallowing him whole in a pit of fiery magma— flit behind his eyelids every time he blinks. He can still feel it scalding against his skin, the burnt orange glow stained into the edges of his vision.
At first, he thinks he must've died. It's the only explanation that makes sense at the time. The clean air, the peaceful atmosphere, and... and him.
The blonde man.
It's not Minato-sensei, because Kakashi has known him his entire life and never once has he felt like this. His hair is a shade off from his teacher's, a near perfect gold that reflects the sun like glitter. Blue eyes peer down at him, raging whirlpools a mixture of so many hues he could never hope to piece them apart.
He looks like the embodiment of summer, the solstice in all its highest glory. His chakra laps at him like the soothing waves at an ocean's sandy shore, easing the lingering scald of whatever seal picked him apart and then put him back together again.
Kakashi reaches for it, he's quite sure. He can't see much, can hear even less, but he knows with certainty that those fingers laced with his, if only for a moment. That when he reached his hand out, for the first time in his life, somebody reached back. Somebody pulled him up.
Kakashi sees his father's masked face from the corner of his eye. His knees give, and that hand slips away to catch him by the arm. When Kakashi blearily turns his head, all he sees is gold. A golden coast and the bluest waters. Somehow, Kakashi has made it into heaven.
Blessedly, he's been touched by an angel.
More:
His name is Naruto Uzumaki, and he's the most wonderful thing Kakashi has ever seen.
He smells like tangerines and something spiced, and his beauty is beyond what Kakashi thought possible. He's so kind, so warm and overwhelming good that he wants to bury himself in him and never come back out.
Kakashi is used to wanting. Wanting for safety, for food, for even the briefest of breaks. There's was no time for kindness in the world he came from. To be gentle was to be a liability, and no good came from coddling one another.
It was best to detach yourself, because with attachment only came pain. Kakashi doesn't remember the last time anyone smiled at him, and never has anyone done it so brightly. Naruto is enthusiastic and joyful, this radiating ball of positivity that Kakashi leans into like a flower to the sun.
He's beautiful. A representation of all the best ways this universe varies from Kakashi's own, and God, Kakashi wants. He always, always wants, but this time it's with a hunger. With itching teeth and aching hands and the urge to grab on and never let go, lest he lose the gem he's found.
Because Naruto— Naruto loves him. He cares, and Kakashi knows that's just because his sensei is an older, far more lax version of himself, but he doesn't care. Greedily, he wants whatever he can get, whatever Naruto will give him.
"Okay! I think this'll totally work for us, believe it!" Naruto's hand was in his again, their palms slotted like puzzle pieces. "I know my place isn't the biggest or nicest, but I think we can make it work! If you're seriously okay with bunking with me. I know I can be like, a lot."
"Of course I'm okay with it." Kakashi intoned, voice devoid of any inflection that may give him away. He gazed down at Naruto, committing his expression to memory. "Thank you for allowing me into your home."
"Any Kakashi-sensei is a Kakashi-sensei I'll lay my life down for." Naruto proclaimed. "Or in this case, my sheets. I hope you weren't lying about being used to sharing, because I don't own a futon and my couch has a hole burned through the middle of it right now. Long story."
Kakashi didn't quite smile. He wasn't sure how to yet. At this rate, he was certain it wouldn't be long until he found out.
Notes:
-A 20 year old Kakashi from a war-torn world gets plopped in canon shortly after the Pein attack and meets a 19 year old Naruto who is so overwhelmingly positive it's blinding.
-Kakashi immediately wants him with a blinding hunger that makes him sick. Naruto is so kind to him, reaching out to touch him, to talk to him, to smile at him. Naruto is so used to his Sensei version of Kakashi that treating this one familiarly comes easy as water through a river bed.
-This Konoha just rebuilt and recovered from the Pein attack. Naruto is adored by the entire village at this point and there's this weird pocket of peace and settling now that the disaster has passed. Kakashi barely knows what to do with himself— he's never been in a situation where he can be off edge.
-Kakashi is a very quiet and bleak person. He doesn't ask for anything. If he doesn't like something, he doesn't say. He came from a world that was almost completely devoid of warmth, because that kind of affection was a liability. It would get you killed.
-So here he comes, this depressed, touch starved man, and here Naruto is, opening his doors to him, loving him, feeding him, and somehow knowing his likes and dislikes without him ever having to say.
-Naruto is so bright. His universe was all smoggy skies and death, but Naruto practically glows. Kakashi wants to possess him more than anything, wants to run his hands all over him, taste him, give him everything
-He's also afraid he'll taint him. That he's dirty and will ruin Naruto somehow, but he's not strong enough to resist the pull either.
-Naruto says his bed enough is big enough for them to share without ever touching. Technically, he's correct. Except at night he's a magnet and immediately attaches himself to Kakashi
-Kakashi does not mind
-Pathetic dog Kakashi who would do anything Naruto says and wants him with a writhing desperation. Follows him quietly everywhere. Has little interest in much else. Always wants to hold hands or be in contact with him, and Naruto is the touchiest person ever, so it works.
-Hokage Kakashi is kinda concerned but almost views this other him as a sort of younger brother in a way. He understands intimately how he ended up like this, because he'd almost ended up this way himself.
-Naruto never existed in Kakashi's universe. Kushina died long before Kakashi could meet her.
-Sakura is kind of freaked out because this Kakashi is scary as hell. He's covered in scars, his expression never changes, he moves without making a sound. He answers with nods and shakes of the head. Naruto doesn't seem spooked by him at all, but he's just unnerving
-Anyone who meets him agrees. Naruto is like this fluffy little golden retriever next to this ex pit fighter dog. Kakashi is fucking scary. Something is wrong with him, and everyone can tell. He seems benign until provoked, and then he looks like a literal psycho, zero to sixty.
-Naruto kind of just gets him, though. He sees past whatever walls he's got up and simply understands. He treats him like any other person, not realizing that Kakashi has never really had that before. He's always been a tool, but now someone looks at him and sees a man.
-Kakashi wants him ravenously. He grew up in a world where if you find a good thing, you take it. Because if you don't, somebody else will.
-Naruto yaps, Kakashi listens. Naruto goes, Kakashi goes. Naruto showers, Kakashi sits outside on the floor with his back against the door, envisioning licking water off every inch of his skin.
-Naruto just absentmindedly does stuff in front of Kakashi, like change clothes or stretch before training, and Kakashi wants that cookie. He's constantly reaching out to touch and sniff and even lick. And Naruto doesn't see anything wrong with it, so he just lets it happen.
-Why are you straddling Kakashi, Naruto? Because he was sitting on the couch and silently pulled you down on top of him with no explanation? Okay, makes sense. Why didn't you move? Oh, because he put his hands on your thighs and held you there? Makes sense, continue comparing ramen flavors and playing with his hair.
-Kakashi is the most down bad ever but he's also insanely dangerous. Anything that gets in his way is getting eviscerated, and heaven help anyone that threatens Naruto specifically.
-Kakashi is a machine. He's terrifyingly intense, the direct opposite of Naruto and his absentmindedness, but somehow they work. Naruto is like the sweet to his sour.
-Naruto is like a clueless, fearless white woman that goes "AWWW! Look, a puppy! It's so cute!" and then brings home a literal wolf thinking it's a stray dog.
-Kakashi is the wolf that's so blindsided that he lets himself get domesticated.
-When they finally kiss Kakashi is going to quite literally eat him alive. That bed frame is going to break. Give him a taste he's gonna take the platter.
-Basically more Kakashi panting over Narut, but make him quieter, more traumatized, and a desperate yearner who knows nothing about socializing.
It had started as a passing curiosity, Shikamaru thinks.
When he'd seen the scar cleaving its way up Naruto's calf, disappearing under the garish orange fabric of his bunched up sweatpants, he'd only idly wondered how far up it went at the time. If it stopped above the knee or went higher, curving around the muscle of his thigh, digging into the bone of his hip.
It was so pale against his tanned skin, this stark white lightning bolt that looked deep enough that it would've impaired anyone else for life. Naruto's fortitude was likely the only thing that had saved him from having to retire as a shinobi entirely, with his immense pool of chakra and tendency to heal like a young plant growing towards the sun.
Seeing it wasn't supposed to turn into this. He'd only gotten a glimpse of it before Naruto had flipped himself to his feet, pant leg falling to obscure the old injury once more. A scar like that is nothing of consequence in the shinobi world. It's a given that a lifestyle like this will break you down— not a matter of if, but of when.
The fixation forms the same way a worm wriggles its way into an apple. Slowly, but no less sure of its goal to make it to the center. Shikamaru had been teetering on some unspoken edge since Naruto got back from training with Jiraiya, and perilously, it seemed this was what had tipped him over.
Would the scar be rough, or smooth and shiny like some old wounds got? Did it diverge from its straight path, twining its way elsewhere as evidence of an attempt to dodge? How did it look when Naruto's leg muscles tensed? When he crouched, ready to propel himself up into the branches of Konoha's towering trees?
It's a stupid thing to want to know, but Shikamaru does. Only slightly at first, and then with a growing fervency every time his dark eyes meet starry blue. Naruto has always seemed impervious to permanent harm, has always bounced back so readily from every challenge thrown his way.
To think something could truly mark him made that heavy thing in Shikamaru's chest finally blink itself awake and turn its head. Lazily, it seemed to genuinely consider what it saw— the bright supernova that is Naruto Uzumaki, and the one injury that'd managed to stick.
Every time Naruto laughs, Shikamaru imagines sliding his hand up that scar. Using it as a guide, following it like a law. The most contact he and Naruto have ever had have been friendly bumps of the shoulder and brief touches during assignments at the academy, but what if Shikamaru touched him... more?
What if Naruto let him?
"I thought your tailed roommate handled the permanent stuff." Shikamaru's with him again. He seems to find himself with Naruto a lot lately, drifting closer like a moth to a flame. "That scar on your leg, I mean."
"Oh, that? I think it was a bit too gnarly for even him to handle, believe it." Naruto laughed embarrassedly, rubbing the back of his neck with a bashfulness that made his cheeks go a pleasant pink. "It's a lot longer than it looks! The guy got me good!"
More questions than answers, and really, it's all one great, big drag. There's no point to this. There's no conceivable reason Shikamaru should be so latched onto this one, painstaking detail about Konoha's brightest dressed shinobi.
Yet, his fingers itch to touch. He wants to ask a million questions and get detailed answers to every single one. He wants to see it, feel it, maybe even taste it if Naruto would let him. He wants to bend Naruto in every possible way, just to see how it warps.
"How long is long?" Shikamaru asks as casually as he can muster, gaze locked on the smooth hollow of Naruto's throat. "Coming from you, that could honestly mean anything."
"I'm choosing to be the bigger person here and not to take offense to that, so. You're welcome." Naruto side-eyed him. Shikamaru's favorite color might be blue. "And I mean far, dude. Kinda up and across, all the way to my shoulder. It took forever to stop hurting when it finally closed."
Shikamaru's tongue felt heavy in his mouth. Naruto looked golden in the sun, like the second coming of a lost god nobody could remember the name of. He was so determined, yet someone had caught him unaware. For as fast and versatile as he was, even he had been subject to a close call.
To think something had almost taken him away made something cold shiver down Shikamaru's spine. It made him want to see it even more, made him want to understand. Made him want to—
"Can I see it?" Shikamaru blurted out. When Naruto's head tilted, Shikamaru couldn't stop himself from clarifying. "The scar. Can I see it?"
It's just the two of them out here. It's been just the two of them for a while now, paired together on missions more often than not. Naruto has grown, no longer the loud, all-bark-no-bite boy from the academy. He's become something far greater, a person Shikamaru knows will rise to unimaginable heights.
The thing inside him wants to be right there with him. It wants to claw its way up after him just so it can bask in the warmth he exudes. Shikamaru craves it with a ferocity that scares him, as though having a single taste is all it's taken to get him addicted.
Naruto is amazing. His kindness, his inherent goodness is so rare that Shikamaru feels in constant awe of it. To think such a person can exist. To think he'd have the privilege of being with him.
"The scar?" Naruto asked cluelessly. If he found it weird, he didn't show it. "If you really want to. It's kind of more embarrassing than anything else."
He shucks his shirt off before Shikamaru can say much else, and there it is. The very roadmap Shikamaru had known it would be, and every inch as horrifying as he'd feared.
It's not even an inch from his heart, far thicker where it cuts down his chest and across his abdomen. It had started at his left shoulder, and Shikamaru can envision the exact way Naruto must have turned for it to slide across him and down his leg the way it had.
It was too thick to have been any kind of blade, jagged at the edges and much too large. It had healed beautifully on Naruto, looking like the rippling foam of a wave crashing to shore. It shifted when he did, highlighting the lean plane of his stomach. It disappeared beneath his waistband in a way that made him shiver.
Shikamaru stares at it, unblinking. He wants to touch it. He needs to touch it. He needs to memorize it from end to end, to burn it into his head so it can never leave.
"Pretty ugly, right?" Naruto splayed a hand over it. Shikamaru watched the paleness of it gently cave slightly under the press of his fingers. "It definitely won't give me any luck with the ladies."
"Don't worry." Shikamaru's fingers burn. His tongue does too. "I don't think you'll need to worry about that."
When Naruto's lips curled into a grin, Shikamaru couldn't help but want to touch those too.
KibaNaru in your font might be bearable please share
KibaNaru headcanons!
(That absolutely nobody asked for. Except you, fellow anon. This is for US, twin ♥)
🐶 I feel like it starts to happen as soon as Naruto gets back from training with Jiraiya. He's grown up, stronger, past puberty, and man... he smells good.
🐶 I can just imagine him smelling absolutely DIVINE to Kiba's souped up dog clan senses. Foxes are canines, and Naruto has been exposed to Kurama's chakra since his literal conception. All that refined fox energy has coalesced and ingrained itself as a central part of him.
🐶 Kiba would 100% deny it to himself at first. Naruto Uzumaki? Seriously? If anyone ever found out, he'd never live it down.
🐶 But then there Naruto is, golden hair and golden skin and god, were his eyes always that blue? Every time he came around it'd be like getting scent bombed in the face. Eventually, Kiba would do what any dog faced with a divine smell would— he'd follow his nose.
🐶 Naruto would absolutely not get it at first. He may have marinated in canine juju or whatever but it's not like he grew up in a dog clan or has any idea what that means. I imagine Naruto, having come from the royal line within the Uzumaki clan and imbued with Kurama's chakra, would be near purebred status. Kiba is basically a scruffy street mutt by comparison, a mix of too many breeds to be any one, distinguishable thing.
🐶 But they've always kind of gotten along. They're similar in a lot of ways, rough and tumble, willing to get their hands dirty, a little dumb but loyal to a fault. And when Naruto the social butterfly naturally gravitates closer, it's only a matter of time before Kiba is inching in more and more, starting to register some internal concept of territory when he looks at him.
🐶 He'd get so close. Naruto, with his no sense of personal space and no healthy frame of reference for friendship, wouldn't question an arm slung over his shoulder or a nose hovering too close to his neck. The way Kiba would start to crowd into him and trail after him, always poking fun and teasing, trying to get a rise out of him.
🐶 Suddenly, Kiba would become acutely aware of how skinny Naruto was. It wasn't right for him to be eating so little, and as a member of the head family, he'd have access to all the funds needed to feed him. And his apartment— it was awfully drafty. Naruto could get sick if he stayed in a place like that. It seemed only right he goad him into moving, perhaps into one of the very properties his clan owns.
🐶 Kiba would start doing all the things a dog does when it finds a mate it wants. Feeding him, housing him, trailing after him doggedly and baring his teeth at any perceived competition. Basically dancing to a tune nobody else could hear.
🐶 (Except Kakashi, who probably just raises an eyebrow and scoffs when Kiba glares at him because what is a dog compared to a wolf. Kiba bearing his teeth at him would be amusing if it weren't so sad.)
🐶 Kiba would start taking Naruto's clothes and leaving his own. Trying to get his scent on Naruto in any way he could. He'd stage it as barging into the "new place he helped Naruto find" but his motives? Fully ulterior, obviously.
🐶 Naruto is a clueless little moron that we love and adore and would probably at least start to catch on around the time Kiba started trying to groom him. A good lick to the face would definitely have him pausing in his tracks.
🐶 Kiba would definitely just fucking lie, dude. Why risk scaring him off when he's this far in? Like nah, bro. It's a normal Inuzuka thing! Who doesn't lick the homies goodnight? He tastes all his friends' necks and bites down hard enough to leave marks!
🐶 Naruto is like "well if you say so 🧍" even though he senses something is off. He tries to talk to Sakura about it but she deadass is ignoring him tbh. Like how ridiculous. Kiba, the straightest straight guy to ever exist, fuckboy energy, total moron? Being gay? With Naruto of all people?
🐶 More likely than you'd think. But I digress.
🐶 Kiba would definitely pull the "wait, you haven't had your first real kiss yet? I'll help you practice. Nah, dude, it's totally normal to help your friends practice. All really close friends do it!"
🐶 And then they're just making out. Kiba is regularly licking every inch of visible skin and chewing on him like an old shoe. Kakashi probably whoops him for it later because Naruto isn't a chew toy but in the meantime, Naruto is just letting this happen and trying to clumsily reciprocate because even if it's new and odd, it feels good
🐶 Not only is he finally close with someone the way he's always dreamed of being, the strange, groaning, fragile part of him that always aches has finally settled. All these weird itches he's had all his life have finally been scratched. Something in him eases as Kiba drags him further and further into his instincts.
🐶 Like, this is kind of what he needed all along. Another canine to not complete him per se, but to show him how to live and give him a place to. Kiba is rough in his handling— he's in tune with his instincts and animalistic. And Naruto, through being with him, learns everything he never got to.
🐶 Basically Kiba "nah, trust me bro"ing Naruto into a gay relationship. And somehow, nobody but Kakashi notices. Kiba is literally the most obnoxious, pigtail pulling, nasty, horny, persistent little idiot and not a soul picks up on it. And he wasn't even trying to hide it. He has literally been growling at people and actively posturing.
🐶 Naruto: "Sakura, Kiba keeps kissing me. But like, with tongue. Like he's trying to eat me or something. And it kinda feels really good but he also keeps biting my thighs and falling asleep between them and he says it's normal but it kinda feels gay, believe it."
Sakura, not paying attention: "Hmmm sounds like normal Kiba, Naruto. I wouldn't worry about it."
🐶 They eventually bang for real and Kiba just,,, decides that's it. The tipping point. They're together now. Mated. Married. Same difference.
🐶 Kiba would be insatiable after that and Naruto would be like wow, this is a cool new thing that feels really, really, really good. Why not keep doing it? He's heard the term friends with benefits before. It's fine, it's cool. Kiba says not to worry about it and acts so casual, of course it isn't weird!
🐶 Kiba would be rough but Naruto has the stamina of a god, he could take it. Kiba would definitely be the type to see Naruto covered in mud and shove him back in the puddle to slobber over him. Dirty, clean, outdoors, inside. He's a dog at heart, he doesn't give a shit.
🐶 Naruto would like save the village from Pein and yk Kiba would want that cookie SO bad. And he'd make it good as hell, too. Naruto saved everyone and is so strong, and he's perfect, and he smells good, and now the entire village adores him. As his mate, it's Kiba's job to give him everything. To provide, whether that be sustenance, security, shelter, or pleasure. Whatever Naruto wants, Kiba is gonna give it to him.
🐶 Naruto would drop a "good boy" in the steamy thick of it and Kiba would never recover.
🐶 Kiba: "This is my boyfriend, Naruto!"
Naruto, who's been making out with Kiba, getting railed and gnawed on by him, who Kiba has been unironically calling babe for two months now: "I'm your what?"
🐶 Pro gaslighter Kiba would be like "Huh? You mean you forgot we were dating? But Naruto, this was your idea!"
🐶 Kakashi would appear out of the mist to stop the manipulation. Like, hold on now. That's HIS pup first, you disgusting little degenerate mutt.
🐶 Naruto belatedly realizing that the last year has just been a steady build up for them getting together disguised as bromance because Kiba is an idiot and was unwilling to say it out loud or be honest: "Ohhhh! Does this mean you'll keep buying me ramen?"
🐶 Like baby, Kiba has been crawling into your bed at night, stealing your clothing, has spent hours worshipping your body, basically chases after your tail anytime you go anywhere, actively pants over you anytime you start to sweat during training, listens to everything you say, obeys your every whim, and is obsessed with everything you do. Yeah he's probably gonna buy you more ramen.
🐶 Kiba is the type to brag about how independent he is and how he's in charge and listens to no one but what Naruto says sit, he SITS
🐶 Naruto is just happy it means he gets to live with Akamaru now. And yes, Akamaru likes him more because I said so (and because Naruto slips him chicken like a real one)
Expansion on this, Naruto somehow already knows all their names. Turns out they've been going behind Kakashi's back to take care of and check on Naruto his entire life once they realized Kakashi wasn't allowed to.
To be fairrrr, Minato knew Sakumo first and got Kakashi when he was what? Five? I know it was stated Kakashi apprenticed under him even before joining a team under him, and it's implied Jiraiya knew Sakumo as well due to them being the same age. So it's possible Minato even knew him as a baby. Not to mention Obito actually did have his grandmother at home! Her status was unconfirmed but it's assumed she was alive and died in the Uchiha massacre. Kakashi was completely alone, but he did have an entire clan left and a direct relative in the house with him <3
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