Sasori: The brains of worms aren’t large enough to experience the complex emotion of love, so the better question is: would you still love me if you were a worm?
—
Kakuzu: That’s the plan, does anyone have any questions?
Deidara: Yes! Would you still love me if I was a worm?
Kakuzu: No, dismissed.
Deidara: You didn’t even hesitate!
—
Hidan: Important question for our relationship, would you still love me if I was a worm?
What are your top 7 favorite ships ever (can be canon or non canon) from any media? Thanks 🌻
Answering this is a little complicated for me because, while I generally just bounce around the same list of ships, I do jump between quite a few different ships depending on my mood and whatnot. I’m indecisive, what can I say? Since I haven’t been in a shipping mood lately (more of a “let’s explore this character’s need for therapy by throwing them in a meat grinder” mood), I’ll just list the ones I most frequently go back to.
For Naruto, NaruSaku and LeeSaku are the ships I most frequently go back to when I’m thinking about canon. But if I’m feeling more cracky: ShinoHina and ChoSaku are both somewhat comfort ships for me, SasuShino in a rivals au (whether they’re platonic or romantic) is also an idea I flip around in my noggin a lot, and KakuDei, KisaSaso, and ItaHida have become my default Akatsuki ships when I’m imagining what them being in/building a healthy relationship might look like. I’ve mentioned a lot more in the past, but these are the big ones.
Outside of Naruto, Royai from fma, DouWata from xxxHolic, and Clois, Batlantern, and TimKon from dc are the only ships I really, properly ship and not just occasionally read fanfic of or scroll through their fandom.
Sorry that this wasn’t really what you asked for, but I didn’t just want to answer with “I’m actually too inconsistent in my opinions to have consistent ships, let alone consistent favorite ships.” If you only count the canon-lens Naruto ships and non-Naruto ships, then I only listed seven.
NejiNaru - insemination with Hinata or Hanabi as the surrogate and Sakura as their doctor. Neji did most of the arranging and planning beforehand, Naruto acted as support for everyone involved and told the Hyuga elders to shove it when they inevitably tried to stick their nose in their business.
ShikaKiba - insemination/reciprocal IVF with Hana as the surrogate or adoption. Neither of them entirely knew what they were getting themselves into, but their moms were there every step of the way. Hana and Kiba made jokes about her ruining the child’s health before Yoshino shut down any mentions of any harm coming to her grandchild.
TemaHina - ROPA method with Temari providing the egg and Hinata carrying the child (Kou provided the sperm). Temari has lingering anxiety related to childbirth from her mother’s death, so she didn’t want to get pregnant and she is absolutely at Hinata’s side every step of the way. Hinata helped to sooth a lot of that anxiety even if she was anxious about everything too (it was more of a good anxious though). They might also go with insemination with Hinata carrying, but their whole relationship was already a political minefield and getting Gaara and Kankuro more biologically involved would’ve added to that (especially Gaara).
ShinoLee - adoption. It was the only choice. Lee wanted to follow in Gai’s footsteps in adopting YOUTH and Shino found the other options to be too invasive. Friends and family are very much involved in the process of adopting and the raising of their child. Their child is the Aburame clan and Team Gai’s child.
KisaSaso - artificial reproduction using jutsu and ninja technology. It would’ve been faster and cheaper to go the artificial fertilization or adoption rout but 1. Sasori wanted as much control over the process as possible 2. neither of them had a surrogate in mind to begin with and didn’t feel like kidnapping a kid off the street (no they didn’t consider adopting through legal means) and 3. Sasori, in part, wanted to prove he could do it. Orochimaru may have helped and Sasori kept a close eye on them the entire time. In a modern au, they would’ve settled on adoption.
KakuDei - adoption or Sasori’s artificial reproduction. They probably considered surrogacy but quickly realized that they didn’t have anyone they trusted to carry their child. Konan was the closest one to that but she wasn’t comfortable with it. They do trust Sasori though and that worked out (Kisame may or may not have had to convince Sasori to actually help them). Yes adoption and Sasori’s method being cheaper for them played a major part in their decision.
HidaIta - pretty much any route. One of the artificial fertilization routes with Izumi as the surrogate in an everyone lives/modern au, adoption (via Hidan picking a kid up off the street or Itachi adopting legally), foster care in a modern au, Sasori’s method or Orochimaru helping using a method similar to how they made Mitsuki (though both would probably be suspicious/hesitant at first), or even coparenting/one of them already having a kid from a previous relationship/one of them having a kid because they were a godparent in an au. When it comes to having a family, they aren’t picky.
I talk about shipping a lot, but since I talk about whatever’s popular over what I actually like (this may or may not change), you might not know what I actually ship. Or you do because you stalked me or read the few fanfictions that I posted here and will probably move because it’s weird to have fanfics on a mostly commentary focused blog.
Regardless, for anyone who’s interested, here’s what I actually do like. Also, just to make sure that all of my credibility goes down the toilet, all accept one (maybe two) of these is a crackship.
The Ships I Sold My Soul To
These are the ships I like the most. Yes, I’ve already imagined AUs with them and I’ve given them all children. I promise I have a thought process that makes sense (to me) behind them all. However, I don’t want to turn this into a 100,000 word essay, so I’ll try to summarize what I like about them in 1-2 (potentially run-on) sentences. Just know, there’s more to all of these.
NejiNaru (Neji Hyuga x Naruto Uzumaki) - Both characters had their lives decided/changed at birth against their will, but walked out of it with vastly different perspectives. This combined with them having complimentary personalities makes me think that they could have very positive impacts on each other’s lives if they were given just a bit more time to get invested in each other.
GaaSaku (Gaara x Sakura Haruno) - Both characters would greatly benefit from having (emotional) support in a relationship and both characters are deathly loyal to a fault. They also both need and have different perspectives that they wouldn’t hesitate in sharing with each other.
SasuIno (Sasuke Uchiha x Ino Yamanaka) - Both are highly confident, independent people who wouldn’t take shit from each other (which is important when both absolutely pull some shit). They’re also loyal to anyone who earns it, are very driven, don’t stand for people getting hurt unjustly, care deeply for their clans and clan traditions, and roll their eyes at their friends’ shenanigans despite everyone knowing that they’d both kill and die for them.
ChouTen (Chouji Akimichi x TenTen) - They are similar in the best ways and different where it counts. TenTen would motivate Chouji to work harder then complain with him about how hard it is to work hard and Chouji would absolutely help her have more faith in ninjas being able to become great with hard work alone.
ShikaKiba (Shikamaru Nara x Kiba Inuzuka) - Like Sasuke and Ino, they come across as very different on the outside but have a lot of similarities when you dig a little deeper. Along with them being good to have in each other’s lives, each other’s families would also be good influences on them (Shikamaru would benefit from being around very expressive and strong female role models, and Kiba would benefit from being around patient people with higher IQs).
TemaHina (Temari x Hinata Hyuga) - They could relate with each other when it comes to growing up as the older sisters trained to be weapons since birth overlooked in favor of their very talented younger siblings with physically absent moms and emotionally absent, abusive fathers that are not only skilled ninja but also hold great social-political power, but they could still offer each other different perspectives. Temari could help Hinata gain more confidence and stand up for herself while Hinata can help Temari learn how to approach situations with kindness rather than the anger/violence that’s been taught to her.
ShinoLee (Shino Aburame x Rock Lee) - These two are so fucking different and they cover each other’s blind spots so fucking well. Rock Lee is very passionate and memorable, but he doesn’t realize he can rely on others (seriously, he does everything alone) while Shino doesn’t have direction and is insecure about not sticking out, but he’s characterized as being very aware of the importance of teamwork, even when it’s with people outside of team 8.
KakuDei (Kakuzu x Deidara) - Both characters value respect and strength, are able to keep a clear mind even when their short tempers get the better of them, and are deceptively intelligent. Kakuzu could also benefit from taking more risks and Deidara could benefit from keeping his head on the ground, both of which the other could force help them to do.
ItaHida (Itachi Uchiha x Hidan) - Both of them are so devoted to their beliefs that it’s actually a problem (they both only think inside the box and are the opposite of self aware) and both of them would jump at the opportunity to call the other out on it. In the cases where they wouldn’t be able to influence (Itachi making Hidan a bit more patient, Hidan making Itachi more willing to call out bullshit, etc) or call out each other enough to change, they’d be able to easily cover for the other’s weaknesses (like, so easily that they’d be a horrific combat pair).
KisaSaso (Kisame Hoshigaki x Sasori) - These two know what it’s like to believe one thing for years and years then have your worldview shattered in an instant, making them potentially very affirming for each other. They both also value honesty and commit when they decide to trust someone or do something because of their past experiences.
Comfort Ships
These are the ships that I don’t have too much reason behind (even if there is some), I’m not super committed to finding or making content for, and I don’t really think of them in any deep or sophisticated or analytic way. They’re comfy, they’re chill, and that’s all I want them to be.
SasuKarin (Sasuke Uchiha x Karin Uzumaki) - I’ve read so many think pieces about these two and their relationship that this was inevitable. I did this to myself.
ChouSaku (Chouji Akimichi x Sakura Haruno) - They both have body image issues and a deep love for their friends. They are so fluffy, I want them to cook together, and their child would be nicknamed Cherry.
LeeSaku (Rock Lee x Sakura Haruno) - Their development during the Chunin Exams still lives rent free in my brain and they’re both such romantics. This one I switch in and out of shipping.
LeeHina (Rock Lee x Hinata Hyuga) - They have a weird amount of similarities and they’d be cute. That’s it.
SasuHina (Sasuke Uchiha x Hinata Hyuga) - They look nice together and have a bit of a night sky aesthetic. This one is the one that I think about the least, like, I’m not entirely sure if I actually ship them or I just like looking at fanart of them.
