Was just wondering if you have any crumbs to give us from IR,TSWAT. I love love love that fic sm and soooo want an update 😁😁
Hi, I'm sure doing .
Just joking. Thank you for the well wishes, apologies it took me so long to get back to you. I've been inactive for a reason which I may talk about in greater length in a different post on another day. For now, however, your wish is my command.
In Retrospect, The Signs Were All There - Unreleased Chapter Nine Excerpt
"Village Spirit Team is a lame name," Kakashi said after the assembly of forgettable civilians shuffled out of the Hokage’s office.
Minato hummed and shuffled his papers into a neat pile. "I think it’s endearing."
"I don't see why..." Kakashi trailed off as Minato's eyebrow rose. "It isn't... clear to me why my presence is needed at this... village... party."
Minato's eyebrow lowered, and Kakashi exhaled a quiet breath.
When Minato gave his signal, Kakashi stretched his tight muscles and put his eye to rest. The snapback was predictably awful, and he braced himself preemptively. For a moment he considered the low thrum of his drained chakra slogging through his system and wondered when it'd become a forgotten ambiance.
"It would be best we rested well, we have a long day ahead of us," Minato said and Kakashi rolled his eyes out of sight - every day was long - and then immediately cringed because what if Minato knew somehow.
He risked a glance back. Minato's face was as serene as ever, his signature look. Phew.
On the day of the Village Spirit Team announcement, the extensive production of the event smacked any snide comments from his slack-jawed face. Shinobi and civilians alike adjoined in a temporary cluster of gazebos destined to be replaced with a permanent structure, a building they would call the village hall.
Ridiculously portioned canapes floated around with civilian caterers. Servers offering champagne flutes patterned and intersected their movements at equal intervals. Kakashi couldn't help but draw up mental schemes as if he were cataloguing guard rotations.
Fairy lights entwined with the skinny wooden support beams, linked up to a generator half hidden by table cloth sewn together from doilies. A lone chūnin stood guard on the off chance an enterprising idiot blew the thing up. Besides him, the rest of the guards were far less visible and light on the body count. Likely due to the heavy presence of infamous hidden leaf shinobi mingling with the rest of the guests.
Kakashi stood in one corner of the largest gazebo, adjusting his position as needed to keep his comparatively small stature hidden behind the crowd. Minato had originally deposited him by the punch stand in full view of several bored guests fishing for conversation. The moment the fishmonger turned his eyes to him, he fled.
The crowd quieted and rippled towards the stage. Kakashi couldn't see Minato, but he could hear his voice. He'd forgone a microphone but his audience were captivated and his words projected.
Privy to the script, Kakashi slipped out and headed to the smallest gazebo, home to various spare supplies and, most importantly, the generator.
Read Chapters 1-8 here. Hopefully, 9 will join them soon.
Disregard of Proprietary and Privacy. Off-screen, he has taken clothes from Kakashi’s apartment and relocated them to his place, without asking for permission.
Along the same lines, he slipped a hiraishin seal into Kakashi’s shirt before Kakashi even put it on, unknown to Kakashi until later revealed by Minato himself (although he neglects to explain how he slipped it on without Kakashi noticing - Kakashi notes that they hadn’t seen each other that day and is confused)
Manhandling. If Kakashi is not immediately arranging himself to Minato’s will (so far, when he has been confused by an order and when he was disorientated from the hiraishin) he picks Kakashi up and places him where he wants him to be. A casual disregard for Kakashi’s agency.
Condescending words. Minato treats Kakashi both like a child and a full grown soldier when it suits him.
Vague explanations. Kakashi often finds himself in the dark and sometimes frustrated with Minato’s lack of elaboration. Minato often ‘misreads’ cues and redirects conversations or answers questions without saying much of substance.
Charisma. Minato’s actions ring alarm bells. Yet he talks as though the alarm bells are natural ambience and convinces the people he is speaking to of this as well.
In general, he disregards the rights of others but he isn’t overt about it.
He’s particularly bad on this front regarding Kakashi because Kakashi will not question Minato - due to a combination of self-doubt, admiration and PTSD, Kakashi will turn it onto himself or he just assumes Minato ‘has his reasons’ - and Minato has a sense of ownership over Kakashi that he doesn’t have over anyone else (not only is he hokage, he was Kakashi’s sensei and is the only remaining close connection Kakashi has since everyone else died).
Note: this excerpt is much further along in my fic than I have fleshed out as of yet, the dialogue tags are limited because it is a flashback that bleeds into the present which will be split between the dialogue.
One summer afternoon, Kakashi had been sat beside Rin on her bed, looking at the hanging pothos plant, head leant against the wall. The occurrence itself wasn’t so strange, the two of them were close. They had to be.
The conversation in particular wasn’t so odd, either. Rin was often taken by musings that were both whimsical and grounded, folded into her words over and over, realities just two steps to the left of theirs. Hypotheticals and wishes for the future.
Hung on the wall next to her literature collection was a bucket list, a pinned up piece of scrap scroll decorated by varying colours of inked goals written at different points in time. She had been here and there, like that, cared more for function over aesthetics. Personally, Kakashi liked a balance of both. A balance he kept by laying claim to next to nothing at all.
The conversation had been about luck and its surrounding superstitions, she’d seen a spider that morning and killed it, wanting to see what would happen to the rest of her day.
“It’s bad luck to kill a spider in the morning, good luck at night. But what if the opposite is true? I haven’t had anything unlucky happen to me so far,” she said.
“I’m here,” he replied.
“Must be a lucky spider, then. I’ll have to let my grandma know she got it wrong.”
“Maybe she didn’t. I don’t feel lucky.”
“Ah, but I have more evidence. You’re not supposed to draw conclusions on limited data, but I’m pretty sure the rules of luck are actually for a different world from ours.”
“Different world?”
“Well, we had to get the rules from somewhere, didn’t we? And I know they’re not based on this world. It’s like looking into a mirror, they’re opposites.”
“Okay, like the spider, but what else?”
“You know lucky numbers?”
“I know four is supposed to be unlucky.”
“Mmhm, know any others?”
“... Seven? I think seven is supposed to be lucky.”
“Yeah, it is. But I don’t think team seven has ever been very lucky.”
She was right. And then whatever ruling force - luck, destiny, some twisted God or demented deity - saw fit to prove her right again just a month later. She wasn’t there to bring up her theory again in the light of new evidence, but Kakashi understood.
// Fandom: Naruto // Rating: Explicit // Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings // SFW // No Smut // No Ship // dldr //
Summary:
Danzo makes a proposal. Minato considers it. Kakashi’s life gets a little bit more complicated.
Read on ao3
Excerpt:
Another week, a challenge with Gai, several memorial visits, and two dinners passed before the first event of any interest occurred: council member Danzo Shimura arrived precisely on time for his appointment with the Hokage and ordered Kakashi to leave.
Minato refused.
“Just ignore him,” Minato said, waving a dismissive hand at Danzo’s inquiry as to why Kakashi was perched on his desk, said desk-percher zoning back in as he realised he was the topic of conversation. He had grown used to being talked around, a piece of the scenery. People often gave him confused looks at first but those were quickly dropped by the time the second meeting came around, if there was a second one. Funnily enough, civilians didn’t even question his presence. He chalked that up to them being on the periphery of the shinobi world and accepting everything at face value because ‘that's just how those shinobi folk are.’
“Ignore him? This is sensitive information, Namikaze, not for just any shinobi to hear,” Danzo said sternly, gaze lingering on Kakashi for a long moment. While he couldn’t pinpoint the specific subject of his gaze, Kakashi got the sudden urge to ask if something was on his face. However, he didn’t give in to the temptation, he pointedly looked up to the hokage portraits and pretended he wasn’t there at all. While Minato had never explicitly stated it, Kakashi knew that his role wasn’t to be a part of the meetings but rather an accent to the setting. He still wasn’t entirely sure to what purpose he served but it was clearly working since Minato hadn’t dismissed him. Although, if Kakashi didn’t get a mission soon he was going to go stir crazy.
“You shouldn’t worry so much Danzo! Honestly, Kakashi has been under my charge since he was five years old, he’s very well trained,” there was a slight conspiratorial edge to Minato's smile. “I won’t be changing my mind,” he said brightly and settled his intertwined hands on his desk, leaning forward invitingly.
The lines on Danzo’s face shifted from indignation to irritation as he acquiesced to Minato’s conditions. Kakashi had to suppress a shiver as Danzo shot one last calculating look in his direction before following suit, acting as though Kakashi wasn’t in the room. He pulled off the impression the best of all so far, even those who had grown used to the oddity that was Kakashi’s side job gave him a cursory glance once or twice. To Danzo, it appeared that he may as well have been a houseplant.
Nevertheless, his words were hidden by a shroud of obfuscation and indirect meanings, “while I appreciate your enthusiasm for my work - an acceptance I couldn’t have hoped to have received from Hiruzen, may he rest in peace - there are still ways in which we could protect the village further that perhaps you would not be as willing to endorse.”
“If you didn’t think there was a chance that I would, I don’t think you would have brought it up to me at all,” Minato replied, his happy-go-lucky manner betraying none of the severity of the implied situation that Kakashi suspected it held. In contrast, Nara Shikaku hadn’t glossed over his words when discussing the high-security details of the jounin command earlier, although he did hum when Minato’s answer to when Kakashi would come back into the fold was an indefinite ‘soon’. Kakashi hadn’t known that his leave from active duty had been official until then and came to the realisation that he must only skim the surface of the Hokage’s duties in his time at Minato’s side if he was missing details like that.
Danzo smiled. It wasn’t a nice smile, so Kakashi stopped paying so much attention to his peripheral view of him. “Indeed, I shall cut to the chase then, I wish to retrieve my former head researcher from his impromptu sabbatical. I believe that, under appropriate supervision, he could contribute much more to the village than he already has.” Whatever that was, it sounded dodgy, but Kakashi lacked the contextual knowledge to confirm how shady the proposed operation was.
From what little interaction they had had, Kakashi knew that Danzo had airs about him of greater-goods and mystery, the kind that came from living so long as a ninja. He was reportedly one of the most loyal to Konoha, the extent of that loyalty boundless. Kakashi wondered just what exactly that meant for his will of fire and the heated decisions it would prompt him to make. Kakashi was rash in the field and had nearly lost his head to recklessness on more than one occasion, although he couldn’t completely kid himself into thinking his ‘dedication to the completion of the mission regardless of the risks’ smoothly translated to 'dedication to the village'. How different would things be if he was as loyal as a man like Danzo? Not at all, possibly, but the concept gave him something to chew on as his shift dragged on.
“Hmm, I won’t deny the merits of your proposal,” Minato said after a few moments of contemplation before leaning back into his chair, decision made. “However, I also cannot deny the risks. Provide me with the means to eliminate the risks and the rest I’ll leave to you.”
“Understood, Hokage-sama,” Danzo dropped the informality he had picked up in his earlier irritation, leaving the room at a sedate pace, his posture revealing neither that he was happy with the conclusion of the meeting nor that he was dissatisfied. If Kakashi had to guess, he’d say a bit of both.
“Oh!” Minato exclaimed just as Danzo’s hand wrapped around the handle of the office door. He paused and turned his head towards them, body angled to leave. “I have a favour to ask,” he scratched at his neck sheepishly.
“A favour or an order?” Danzo replied, slowly shifting to face them. Understandably, he seemed a little irritated at having been called back despite the meeting having reached its end. Minato had a bit of a habit of doing that, the veteran shinobi treated the behaviour with fond exasperation, the civilian women found it endearing while the younger shinobi were almost always thrown off balance. Danzo struck out his own category: gravely displeased.
“Oh, well, if you have to be like that, it’s an order,” Minato said with a small laugh that did nothing to lighten Danzo’s mood. “I’d like Kakashi to train with your division once a week, I think your methods will benefit him greatly with what’s to come.”
All at once, Kakashi was promoted from house plant to shinobi as the focus of the conversation and Danzo’s acute attention was placed on him. He knew not to question his Hokage when in the presence of others, Kakashi had a role to fulfill outside of their bi-weekly dinners that he didn’t completely understand but knew how to play nonetheless, but he couldn’t help but send a questioning look at Minato’s side profile.
Meanwhile, Minato maintained that his conversation with Danzo was a two-player game, “you can send one of your shinobi to pick him up when you’ve decided a time and place, his schedule is free for the next week. Do pick a day and stick to it, though, I have plans for him.”
Danzo’s sharp gaze switched from Kakashi to Minato and analysed him, Minato’s cheery attitude unfaltering, before speaking, “understood, Hokage-sama.”
Meeting actually over now - Minato never pulled his spontaneous idea routine more than once - Danzo’s hand twisted the doorknob and he left the office.
“So, Kakashi,” Minato turned to him, a little more upbeat than usual, “we’re going to have a nice conversation over dinner about a little something called Root and what I’ll be needing you to report back to me.”
The entirety of ‘Reasonable’ (my Dark!Minato political fic) has been plotted out and Part One has been plotted down to each individual chapter’s contents.
Apologies for the long post, Tumblr Desktop won’t allow me to place images side by side for some reason.
// Fandom: Naruto // Rating: Explicit // Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings // SFW // No Smut // No Ship // dldr //
Summary:
Minato drags a severely sleep-deprived Kakashi to an interview for the local newspaper.
Read on Ao3
Excerpt:
Kakashi suppressed a flinch at the bright light of a camera’s flash, the all-encompassing and unexpected whiteness was a little too alike a flashbang.
Sat beside him on an old but maintained blue couch, Minato was unphased and carried on his sentence as though nothing had happened. As he had done the six previous times the camera flashed already.
“Hmm, my favourite hobbies?” Minato tapped his chin before an answer came to him visibly, his face lighting up. “Ah, I know! I’ve taken to cooking lately, I never had much of an interest before and Kushina was a lovely cook. But since I took Kakashi under my wing, I’ve had more of a reason to, I guess.”
Perking up at his mention, Kakashi turned his head to Minato, still blinking out the after-print of the light from his vision. Since Minato had shuffled him out of bed this morning and dragged him to Matsumoto’s print house for an interview, he hadn’t been all too focused on his surroundings.
Only a night had passed since his last mission and he hadn’t had nightmares, per se, but he’d been painted into a still-life tableaux of the nameless clan’s master bedroom. Flickering candlelight slanting across the wooden floorboards, a tall shadow obstructing his view, Spider contorted into surrender by her captors.
The captors themselves were shades of real people and he couldn’t make out any meaningful details, but the horrified faces of the civilians he’d never met crowding at the door and looking through windows he knew didn’t exist were all too stark in their clarity.
He’d seen plenty of horrible things, plenty of worse scenes starring people he knew and loved, but the night after tended to have a grip on him.
Except from In Retrospect, the Signs Were All There: Chapter Eight (untitled and unreleased)
Only a night had passed since his last mission and he hadn’t had nightmares, per say, but he’d been stuck in a tableaux of the nameless clan’s master bedroom. Flickering candlelight slanting across the wooden floorboards, a tall shadow obstructing his view, Spider contorted into surrender by her captors. The captors themselves were shades of real people and he couldn’t make out any meaningful details, but the horrified faces of the civilians he’d never met crowding at the door and looking through windows he knew didn’t exist were all too stark in their clarity.
He’d seen plenty of horrible things, plenty of worse scenes starring people he actually knew and loved, but the night after tended to have a grip on him.
