[Fic] Naruto One-Sentence 'Fics'

[tj_dragonblade]

naruto_meme ran a one-sentence meme for the second half of January and the stars aligned such that I managed to take part. One sentence in response to a one-word prompt is refreshingly easy to turn out, the anonymity encourages delving into a wider range of material than the usual comfort zone would dictate, and this ended up being a whole lot of fun. I turned out 76 fills; there is crack and angst and smut and AU and fluff; there are characters/pairings I love as well as those that I don't and those to whom/which I'd never given much thought; there is gen and yaoi and het and yuri(!) and threesomes; I think I have a new zeal for this fandom in general and a new favorite pairing that seems practically non-existent, alas, but I digress. The meme was a lot of fun, and I'm itching now to give it a try in my other fandoms.

Anywho. Here are my single-sentence 'fics'; the first day is a little wobbly imo but they tend to shape up better as they go along. Prompts included because they tend to make more sense that way. A couple of these so far have spawned proper fics, which will be along whenever they get finished. Knowing me, that could take years. ;_;
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~~~Written 1/12/11~~~

Prompt: Asuma/Shikamaru; second-hand smoke
It wafts across the shougi board between them, insubstantial as shadow, and Shikamaru breathes deep, contendedly contemplating the intimacy of Asuma's breath in his own lungs.

Prompt: Naruto, Sasuke; ending
As the film of death dulled sightless sharingan eyes, Naruto stared down (dripping tears, dripping bloody hands) at the hatred still etched in Sasuke's lifeless (broken, empty, bitter, I've killed him I had to Sasuke WHY couldn't I change your mind???) face and found himself wondering if the advice of friends through the years (you're better than this, Naruto, he doesn't want to be saved and he's not worth the devotion you've invested in him) hadn't been right after all.

Prompt: Kakashi/Iruka; vacation
"Hatake Kakashi, you shameless pervert, when I said we should relax and 'let it all hang out' I Did Not Mean at a GOD-DAMNED NUDIST RESORT!!!!!"

Prompt: Sasuke; Anger Management
They'd given him a little rubber man/doll/...thing, in those stupid classes - 'Squeeze it when you feel angry; it helps to channel your aggression out,' they'd said, and Sasuke had figured they were full of crap until he painted the thing orange and fitted it with a wig of bright yellow yarn.

~~~Drafted 1/12/11, Finalized 1/13/11~~~

Prompt: Naruto/Hinata; sunshine
He inspires her, uplifts her, brightens every aspect of her life, and she blooms like a flower in the warmth of his smile.

He kisses her on the bridge, in the park, while the sun high overhead throws bright shards of light off the water that mirror the sparkling effervescence in her soul.


~~~Written 1/13/11~~~

Prompt: Genma; chewing gum
He hunkers down in his seat and politely tries to keep the popping to a minimum--just the chewing is obviously already an irritation to some of his fellow passengers--but airport security wasn't about to let him through with a senbon in his mouth and seriously, what's an orally-fixated shinobi to do?

Prompt: Gai; Weltschmerz
Mostly he cries with zeal, proud manly tears of joy loud and public for all to behold; but sometimes, in the dead of night when the mission has left his soul battered and his heart heavy, the tears are quiet, private, and unfailingly brief on behalf of a world that will always fall short of his optimistic ideals.

Prompt: Naruto/Gaara; dictionary
Naruto has never been much for big boring books meant to Teach Stuff, but he'll listen to anything--even the freakin' dictionary--so long as Gaara reads it to him, in bed, in that honey-rich voice that makes his metaphorical insides turn to goo.

Prompt: Shikamaru; troublesome
When she'd brought it up, his first thought had of course been 'Troublesome'--two other people in bed meant he'd have to do even more of the work, most likely--but the way his best friend's eyes kept flicking guiltily, hungrily his way while Temari talked Chouji into it told him there was merit to her idea after all.

Prompt: Sasuke; crossdress
"Tell Orochimaru--assuming he's really the one who wants me to wear this--" Sasuke hurled the slinky, shimmery blue gown in a wad at Kabuto with far more force than was actually necessary "--that it will look better on him than on me."

Prompt: Team Gai; puberty
1. Neji was grateful when his voice finally ceased cracking and settled into its deeper register; the hair still threw some people off but at least they no longer mistook him for a girl once he spoke.

2. Tenten frowned, poking at the softly-rounded contours blooming beneath her shirt; if these things got very much bigger she was going to have to revamp her whole fighting style to account for alterations in weight and balance and...and in-the-way-ness.

3. Lee grinned at the scattered hairs sprouting on his puffed-out chest and gave his reflection in the mirror an enthusiastic Good Guy Pose (thumb high, teeth sparkling properly, eye squinched up in a confident wink); every hair, after all, was one step closer to looking just like his Handsome Teacher!

Prompt: Naruto/Hinata; sunshine
Naruto's mouth between her thighs is warm, soft, like the give of his bed beneath her; his tongue moves with confidence, slick and wet, and Hinata can't stifle the sounds in her throat as her pleasure swells, sunshine flooding and overflowing through her veins.

Hinata is still asleep in the tangle of his sheets and Naruto curls himself around her, basking in the warmth of her bare skin and the puddle of sunlight streaming over them from his open window.

Prompt: Kakashi/Iruka; entwine
Kakashi never says the words, of course, but the fervent, tender press of intertwined fingers when he pins Iruka to the bed tells the other that he feels them all the same.

Prompt: Naruto/Gaara; dares
"Other children used to try to touch me, as a dare," Gaara says, out of the blue, eyes unfocused and far away; and Naruto slips gentle arms around him from behind until the memory lets him go.

Prompt: Hinata; warrior
Akamaru is slowed by the the weight of carrying two, and their pursuer is gaining; Hinata stops, activates her byakugan and turns to engage the enemy one-on-one, determined that her injured comrades and the information they carry will reach Konoha even if it means that she won't.

Prompt: Gaara/Lee; hidden talents
"Why, Gaara," Lee enthused, utterly surprised and absurdly touched by the Kazekage's off-key caterwauling warbling serenade beneath his window even as he tried not to wince, "I didn't know you could...erm, sing!"

Gaara leaned into the light touch of Lee's fingertips along his jaw, amazed all over again that hands capable of pulverizing the sparring posts at the training grounds could be so gentle, so delicate when touching him.

Lee stares, wide-eyed and furiously red-faced, at the neat little knot tied in the cherry stem between Gaara's lips.


~~~Drafted 1/13/11, Finalized 1/14/11~~~

Prompt: Gaara/Lee; hidden talents
He was fashioned to be Suna's greatest weapon, to kill and destroy on a grand scale; but the first time Lee is underneath him glassy-eyed and breathless and desperately stuttering his name as they move together, Gaara is pleased to discover that he's capable of much, much more.

Lee's face lights up for him, glowing with genuine happiness; Gaara reflects on this with satisfaction--that look is for him, because of him--and realizes that not only does he receive love from Lee, but at long last, he has learned how to give it as well.


~~~Written 1/14/11~~~

Prompt: Gaara/Lee; hidden talents
"Oiroke no jutsu," Gaara murmurs, forming the seals that Naruto taught him, and Lee promptly passes out when the 'poof' clears, a thin trickle of blood escaping his nose.

Prompt: Sai/Neji; technicolor
In the trees beyond the training grounds Sai kisses him, presses his mouth uncertainly to Hyuuga Neji's; it is warm, and soft, and human, and unexpectedly the monochrome world inside Sai's head is bursting into new shades and hues in a palette that puts the rainbow to shame.

Prompt: Kakashi/Gai; hot
Gai is really, really hot, surprisingly enough, once you strip off the green spandex and stop him carrying on about the Springtime of Youth and your Hip, Modern Rivalry (your tongue in his mouth being the most effective (and also most pleasant) means of doing so); you're tempted for a minute to share this revelation with the rest of the village, vindicate him a little except that...he's hot, and naked, and in your bed, and you suddenly realize you'd really rather hoard the secret for yourself anyway.

Prompt: Kakashi; vampire
When she walked through the doors of his high school gates of the village all introverted and ethereally waif-like and smelling like heaven in a human body, Kakashi knew he had found his soulmate; if he could just show her how he sparkled (like DIAMONDZ!! *_*) in the sunlight she'd be his, he knew, his One Tru Luv foreverz or at least until the werewolves came along.

Prompt: Kiba/Sai; scent
Kiba stares at Sai--at the full curve of his unsmiling lips, the lean stretch of his midriff, the teasing jut of hip bones above the (oh, so low) line of his pants--and breathes deep; Sai smells of silk and steel and skin and ink and ricepaper but also of musky warmth and earthy life and sharp arousal and a note of vibrant lust running underneath and fuck if it isn't the most mouth-watering scent Kiba has ever encountered in his life--

Prompt: Sai, lingerie
Sai adjusts the garters on his black lace stockings again and delicately extracts the matching thong from his ass for at least the fifth time; he doesn't understand the appeal of such clothing (completely nonfunctional, offering no protection and nowhere to hide or carry weapons), but the girls in Naruto's magazines (the ones under his mattress, which Sai thinks a very strange place to keep reading material) dress this way, and Sai desperately (desperately) wants to get Naruto's attention, so...

Prompt: Naruto, Shikamaru; band
Deep in Sherwood Forest, Friar Nara sighed and reflected that, while joining Naruto's band of Merry Men had certainly been the right thing to do, sometimes it was entirely more troublesome than it was worth.


~~~Written 1/15/11~~~

Prompt: Gaara; future children's names
There were thousands of children yet to be born in Suna, Gaara reflected, watching a gaggle of pre-genin students chasing about the playground; he did not know their names (neither these nor those future generations), but he did not need to--so long as he was Kazekage, they were his to protect and defend regardless.


~~~Written 1/16/11~~~

Prompt: Rock Lee; keepsake
It is only a thin strip of sand, hard-packed into stone by the Kazekage's singular jutsu; but Lee treasures it, keeps it tucked into the weights beneath his legwarmers so that even when he isn't in Suna, Gaara will always be with him.

Prompt: Genma/Raidou; burn
Raidou watches, far more raptly than he probably ought, the way Genma absentmindedly works his senbon; he follows the flick and twirl of the slender metal between slack lips, the wet flash of tongue as it's flipped effortlessly end-over-end, and tries not to feel the heat burning low in his gut.

Prompt: Shino; Onomatopoeia
The faint buzz of his swarm within him had unnerved him in the beginning; by now, however, he is thoroughly accustomed to it and relies on the minute variances in that background hum to keep him fully informed about his surroundings.


~~~Written 1/18/11~~~

Prompt: Naruto/Sai; drool
Sai is well-acquainted with neither jealousy nor envy, but as he watches Naruto salivating hungry-eyed over the wares at Ichiraku he wonders, fleetingly, which is the proper emotion to describe his sudden irrational enmity toward a bowl of broth and noodles.

Keyed-up and hungry and just returned from a solo mission, Naruto is hard-put to say which makes him drool more--finding Sai sitting on his kitchen table wearing only a smile, or the bowl of steaming ramen strategically obscuring Sai's lap.

The human mouth is host to a myriad of germs and Sai has always found the thought of someone else's saliva in his own mouth rather offputting, but when Naruto kisses him (soft touch and warm lips and wet tongue and oh, ohh, ohh--) somehow it ceases to matter.

Naruto kisses with zealous enthusiasm, but his lips are dried and rough and he's clumsy with his tongue and terrible at managing his own saliva and Sai thinks that if they are going to be doing this regularly from now on (which, yes, he rather likes that idea) it will only benefit them both if Naruto learns some of the seduction techniques they teach the kunoichi.

Prompt: Gaara; strike
Gaara strikes a match, sets it to the portrait of Yondaime Kazekage, observes with a myriad of emotions glittering in his eyes as flame and smoke consume this effigy of the man who made him a monster; he could have shredded it with the sand far more quickly, yes, but there is greater satisfaction in watching it blacken and burn.

Prompt: Temari/Tenten; bossy
"Come here," Temari says, and "Kiss me," and "Take off your clothes" and "Open your legs" and Tenten kind of hates that she's so bossy all the time; but Temari's fingers are moving fast and slick between her thighs and Temari's mouth is warm and wet on her breast and Temari's skin is hot against hers, and Tenten's legs are trembling and her heart is racing and she's biting her lip and she can't really breathe past the sounds that are caught in her throat and she thinks that maybe, maybe she can let it slide in the end.


~~~Drafted 1/18/11, Finalized 1/19/11~~~

Prompt: Naruto/Sai; drool
Sai is sleeping facedown and naked in their rumpled bed, all long smooth lines and lean muscle and slender limbs and pale skin washed by morning sunlight; groggy and just-woken, Naruto is reminded briefly of stories Iruka-sensei once told him about mysterious beauties from other realms and divine creatures who take human form, but the saliva drooling from between Sai's slack lips is enough to put everything back in perspective.


~~~Written 1/19/11~~~

Prompt: Gaara; birthday
Gaara huddles in the corner, teddy bear clutched in a violent grip while he struggles with a palette of emotions he can hardly name; he knows he is six years old today but again, as always, the birth of a monster is nothing worth celebrating in anyone's eyes.

Prompt: Sai; delicate
Firm lips press softly to the delicate skin of his inner wrist, a warm wet touch of tongue between them; it is an intimate kiss to an unexpectedly sensual place and Sai shivers while his pulse throbs beneath it.

Prompt: Sasuke; crack
As a shinobi, Sasuke totally realizes that his lifelong dream of being a pirate is unrealistic (after all, as everyone knows, ninjas and pirates are the fiercest of arch-nemeses), but that doesn't stop him from dressing the part once he defects to Orochimaru.

Prompt: Tenzou/Sai; lick
"On some level, I've wanted to do this since the first moment I saw you," Yamato tells his young teammate as they tumble into the privacy of the bushes, and draws his tongue firmly up the exposed contours of Sai's abdomen.


~~~Drafted 1/19/11, Finalized 1/20/11~~~

Prompt: Tenzou/Sai; lick
Sai's tongue sweeps up the pad of Tenzou's finger and swirls around the tip, hot and wet; Sai's full lips close over the first knuckle and draw off slowly, so slowly; Sai's dark eyes meet his from beneath a fringe of sooty lashes and Tenzou wonders, as his blood flows swiftly southward, if this is really a good idea.

The tip of Yamato's tongue traces a wet, delicate line up the underside of his penis and Sai shudders, leaning back on his elbows and spreading his legs wide; superfluous words tremble silent in his throat--more, please more--and his teeth catch his bottom lip on an indrawn gasp as Yamato's mouth closes around him.

Prompt: Iruka/Gai; authority
Iruka's suspicion that Gai has a thing for authority figures is confirmed the first time he beds the Green Beast, and while he can put up with being called 'Iruka-sensei' when they're having sex (truthfully, it kind of gets him hot too), he draws the line--very firmly and with great finality--at the mention of schoolgirl uniforms, because the idea of Gai in a miniskirt is just plain wrong.


~~~Written 1/20/11~~~

Prompt: Jounin; quirky
Most high-level jounin are quirky in their own right--take for example Kakashi's porn habit, Genma's senbon, Kurenai and her mummy-wrap-minidress fashion sense, Anko and her...well, best not to dwell on Anko's quirks too heavily; but Gai with his manly tears and his bracing speeches and his self-imposed challenges and his green spandex and orange legwarmers really takes it to a whole new level.

Prompt: Neji/Hinata; control
They meet in secret, creeping into one another's bed chambers in the dark of night to trade soft touches and urgent kisses, lose themselves for a time in sweet carnal knowledge; their clan dictates nearly every moment of their lives but this, these fleeting stolen rendezvous, are theirs and theirs alone.

Prompt: Kakashi; vampire
Gai's blood is vibrant and full of vigour, like the man himself; it sates Kakashi's need for sustenance but wakes a deeper hunger that burns low in the pit of his belly long after his feeding is done.


~~~Drafted 1/19/11, Finalized 1/21/11~~~

Prompt: Neji/Hinata; control
Hot and hard and intimate, Neji moves inside of her, thrusting gently again and again and again; he is controlled and intent on her pleasure as he tenderly kisses her mouth, her throat, her breasts and Hinata stifles a moan with her fist, overheated and unraveling.


~~~Written 1/21/11~~~

Prompt: Neji/Tenten; fate
When he kisses Tenten the first time, Neji is struck by a profound sense of rightness and harmony, as though the stars themselves are trying to tell him This is where you belong; reflecting on it later, he is pleased to realize that fate needn't always be a bad thing.

Prompt: Akatsuki; kindergarten
Iruka's first week teaching kindergarten is enough to make him reconsider his career path: Deidara only ever wants to do art, and the messier the better; Zetsu can't be pried away from the trays of sprouting beans in the window; Hidan throws fabulous tantrums every chance he gets (and the mouth on that kid, holy crap); little Kisame terrorizes the goldfish at least five times a day; Itachi frets in his sleep at naptime, always mumbling about the brother he left behind in preschool; Sasori spends his playtimes hoarding all the dolls while Konan folds origami clothes for them; Tobi is forever eating paste when he's not being shaken down by Kakuzu for lunch money; and Iruka is no psychology expert but he's pretty sure that little Pein, with his gaggle of imaginary friends, is suffering from some kind of multiple personality disorder.

Prompt: Chouji/Shikamaru/Temari; acquiescent
Temari drops it on him after sex, out of the blue while he's deep in his post-coital lassitude--"Your friend has the hots for you, y'know, and I've seen the way you look at him when you don't realize you're doing it"--and Shikamaru is too stunned by her perception of things he only barly realizes himself to do anything but agree, dazedly, when she suggests bringing Chouji in as their third.

Prompt: Yamato; draconian
Whatever name he assumes, whatever his duty, he is fiercely and unfailingly loyal to his village and his Hokage; he is a dragon in a shinobi's guise to be unleashed upon Konoha's enemies and, like a dragon, he defends what is his with all that he has.

Prompt: Itachi/Konan; hug
Konan has been the most tolerable of all his Akatsuki associates next to Kisame; the gesture does not come easily to him, but when Itachi sees her for what he senses will be the last time, he gives her a solemn hug in farewell.


~~~Written 1/22/11~~~

Prompt: Sai; pretty
In the dead of night in Godaime-sama's office, Sai closes the pilfered file of currently-active Konoha shinobi and concludes, with the barest hint of smug satisfaction, "It would seem I'm still the prettiest."

Prompt: Gai/Kakashi; rough
It may be Kakashi who makes the first move, but it's Gai who takes the initiative thereafter and Gai who throws him down atop the kitchen counter and Gai who tears the zipper clean off his jounin vest in his haste to get them naked and Gai who fucks him and fucks him and fucks him until he sees stars.

The first time Kakashi manages to convince Gai to quit being so damn chivalrous in bed, he feels it (deep and aching and gloriously intimate) for a week.

The hair on Gai's chest is wiry and rough, but the heartbeat behind it is solid and strong against Kakashi's ear, reminding him that in a world which takes perverse joy in yanking the rug out from under his feet, Gai is and has always been utterly reliable.


~~~Written 1/23/11~~~

Prompt: Kakashi/Sai; Icha Icha
"Marry me," Kakashi interrupts fervently, and Sai (currently trying to bond with Kakashi by discussing the literary merits of the Icha Icha series) pauses to blink, uncertain if Kakashi is serious or not.

"Wanna try page 235 next?" Kakashi asks, mostly teasing, but 'As you wish!' Sai dimples brightly, and in the next instant he's twisted himself beneath Kakashi in a scintillating show of flexibility and Kakashi decides, as Sai's limbs wrap around him like an octopus and Sai's mouth latches wetly on to his balls, that he's totally in love.


~~~Drafted 1/23/11; Finalized 1/24/11~~~

Prompt: Yamato; draconian
Yamato's threats of 'draconian methods' no longer seem to phase Sai, who often responds with his typically bland face but a spark of fire behind dark eyes that says 'I dare you'.

Prompt: Yamato/Sai; UST
More and more often he finds himself staring at Sai, at the graceful line of his neck, the full curve of his lips, the flat contours of his stomach and the shadowed dip of pelvic muscle peeking from beneath his waistband, until Sai looks up and Yamato always glances away, pretends it didn't happen; but sometimes he catches a flicker of something not unlike heat in Sai's gaze, and he wonders.


~~~Drafted 1/23/11; Finalized 1/26/11~~~

Prompt: Yamato/Sai; forbidden
All too quickly he loses himself to Yamato's lips at his throat and Yamato's fingers in his hair and Yamato's voice whispering his name breathless and longing at his ear, Yamato's hands touching down across his body and Yamato's mouth warm and wet against his and sensation running hot under his skin like water and Sai burns with it, desires it, while the echo of his training (forbidden, forbidden, forbidden) clamors futile and unheeded in the back of his mind.


~~~Drafted 1/26/11; Finalized 1/27/11~~~

Prompt: Kakashi/Anyone; sticky
"Sorry about your mission report," Kakashi says afterwards, indicating the sticky smear of lube that has rendered the ink beneath it illegible, and Tenzou just sighs, not sure that post-mission sex over the writing desk had really been the best idea when it means having to rewrite the report.


~~~Written 1/27/11~~~

Prompt: Kakuzu; kitten
The kitten, fitted with an overly-bejeweled collar and shiny gold tags, was obviously the pampered pet of someone with far more money than sense; Kakuzu held it distastefully at arms' length by the scruff of its fluffy little neck and wondered if it was worth his time to investigate how much the owner would be willing to pay to get it back.

Prompt: Kakashi/Zabuza; reticent
Kakashi is reticent to bury Zabuza with his great sword--after all, there's no telling what might happen to it in the future--but it's the honorable way for a warrior to be laid to rest, and affording his opponent that respect is the least he can do, all things considered.

Prompt: Naruto; ramen
"Better than sex!" Naruto pronounces, upon finishing his first bowl of Ichiraku ramen since returning to Konoha, and he is blithely unaware of how his comment makes Ayame blush behind the counter.

Prompt: Naruto/Sai; squirm
Naruto leans in from behind, runs light fingertips over Sai's naked stomach and nibbles gently on his earlobe; Sai squirms in his embrace, equal parts ticklish reflex and arousal, and arches back against him for more.

~~~Written 1/28/11~~~

Prompt: Kakashi; open
Kakashi stands outside the bookshop with his nose pressed to the window like a little kid, impatiently waiting for them to open; his Icha Icha Paradise went 'missing' on his recent mission with Tenzou and he desperately needs to replace it.

Prompt: Yamato/Sai; inebriated
When Sai climbs into his lap and starts kissing him, Yamato wonders how much his young teammate has had to drink; when he does nothing to stop Sai, he realizes that he's had too much himself; when he puts his arms around Sai, when Sai presses closer, when Sai's mouth opens at the touch of his tongue, he realizes that it's far too late to care.


~~~Written 1/31/11~~~

Prompt: Any ninja squad; sentai
Gai-sensei watches with Tears of Manly Pride streaming from his eyes as his Trio of Precious Students flawlessly join their individual machines into the Mighty Green Beast Megazord; he knows he has Trained Them Well and that all the evil forces in the universe Don't Stand a Chance against their Youth and Optimism and Teamwork.

Prompt: Sai; sexy no jutsu
"Sai," Yamato says, very gently, to the voluptuous young woman lounging naked in his bed, "I'm impressed that you've mastered Naruto's technique so flawlessly, but I will always find you more appealing without the curves."

Comments

[marasmine.livejournal.com]

I enjoyed those even though I've no idea who the characters are. It's a great idea and I'm glad it has inspired you.

[tj-dragonblade.livejournal.com]

Thank you very much for reading through them even without any frame of reference for the characters. ^_^ I'm glad you got something out of it anyway.

I totally want to get one of these memes going in Saiyuki, now; if enough people participate it could be so much fun.

[hemlock-inyx.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the giggle. Its good to see you writing again.

[tj-dragonblade.livejournal.com]

*tackleglompsquish* Hey you! Glad you got at least a giggle out of it. It's really good to be writing, even if only in one-sentence ideas. And there are two proper fics so far that have spring-boarded out of this, so I can't complain. ^_^

How are things with you atm? ♥

[entitys.livejournal.com]

we especially liked the Naruto/Sasuke ending, Naruto/Hinata, and Akatsuki kindergarten. really liked the Temari/Shikamaru/Chouji. looked forward to more bits and pieces throughout but there were none and we were sad. nevertheless. awesome read.

[tj-dragonblade.livejournal.com]

That Naruto/Sasuke 'ending' one I think kind of sucks as a coherent sentence, but it was a concept that I really needed to process. I get so frustrated watching Naruto pour all his energy and devotion and heart into Saving Sasuke when I just can't see Sasuke being worth all that--he so clearly does not want to be 'saved' and I wish to god that Naruto could see that, but I suppose he wouldn't be Naruto if he could/did/gave up, y'know? But it's still frustrating.

But with that out of the way, it was easier to tackle some of the cracky Sasuke prompts. He's much more palatable in small doses and on crack, I find. ^_^

The Akatsuki kindergarten one surprised me, because I never imagined I'd get anywhere near writing anything remotely Akatsuki but I really like how it turned out. That was the great thing about the meme - getting out of comfort zones and perceived boundaries was very easy and very liberating when all that's expected is a single sentence under anonymity.

The ShikaChouTem - I'm sorry there wasn't more. I want to do something substantial with the three of them, and still hope to cultivate a proper bunny one day; maybe these two little snippets can help me find my way to something more. That's the thing with Naruto as a fandom - there are so many awesome characters that I want to write in all kinds of ways, but I lack the bunnies for the most part. But. The Gai/Kakashi vampire one and the Yamato/Sai inebriated one have spawned proper fics so far, and I'm hopeful that some of these others might too. And there's only a little more that needs to be written on the NaruNeji fic I started writing from your prompt a long time ago, too, if I can wrestle down the right words to capture the concepts I'm after.

Aaaanyway. Thanks for giving these a read-through. Glad you got something out of some of them. ^_^

[entitys.livejournal.com]

coherency wasn't what was liked about the sentence at all. it really was the conglomeration of feeling. honestly though, i don't think Naruto's inability to let Sasuke go is his completely his fault. Naruto is a product of his environment. his environment dictated that failure was not an option a monster could have. (its almost the same problem Itachi had in doing what the village needed to keep the peace, rather than what he wanted to ensure his brother grew up sane) Naruto knows how to lose, but he was never taught how to fail. and there is a difference. at some point, i think it becomes less about Sasuke and more about not wanting to feel like that unloved kid again by his village.

true. in tiny doses, even i can take Sasuke. he annoys me as a villain, but as comic relief he excels.

in other news, we look forward to whatever ficcage you deliver. especially TemShikaChou *drools*.

[tj-dragonblade.livejournal.com]

i think it becomes less about Sasuke and more about not wanting to feel like that unloved kid again by his village

Mm, could be, could be. That also kind of feeds into that damn 'promise of a lifetime' he made to Sakura about bringing Sasuke back, and his nindou about never going back on his word.

Like I say, I hate that he's so determined to get Sasuke back, but he wouldn't be the Naruto I love if he wasn't. It's a frustrating dichotomy.

[supergerbilbaby.livejournal.com]

These are all just lovely.

You've got such a good grasp of the characters; they are still so clearly them, even in such short pieces.

I'm especially partial to the Naruto/Sai ones, but I'm sure you could have guessed that already :)

[tj-dragonblade.livejournal.com]

Heh - thank you! Your comment really makes me grin, because for the most part these represent first attempts at the characters and/or pairings involved. ^_^;

And yes. I'm not at all surprised that those catch your fancy. ^_~

[gokuma.livejournal.com]

Awww, I love them! And I think you should write more! ^__^

Your Gai is always so full of Youthful Enthusiasm; and I like Shikamaru/Temari/Chouji ficlets.
The one about Naruto and Gaara (with a prompt "Dare") was so sweet. I'd love to see it as a part of a longer fic... :)

[gokuma.livejournal.com]

"Mostly he cries with zeal, proud manly tears of joy loud and public for all to behold; but sometimes, in the dead of night when the mission has left his soul battered and his heart heavy, the tears are quiet, private, and unfailingly brief on behalf of a world that will always fall short of his optimistic ideals."

And this to; I think I haven't seen any fics showing Gai dealing with sadness, grief and pain. It would be interesting to see him showed as a more complex personality (and, perhaps, his over-the-top optimism as a kind of coping mechanism...)

[tj-dragonblade.livejournal.com]

Yeah, there's a lot of potential for character exploration in Gai, like I was trying to say above.  Hopefully my muses aren't done with him just yet.  ^_^

[tj-dragonblade.livejournal.com]

Thank you!  Gai is a fun and very interesting character; I love the surface goofiness to pieces but I like trying to get underneath that to see and develop the three-dimensional person beyond the persona, too.
 
Out of curiousity, have you ever seen Shikamaru/Temari/Chouji in the fandom before?  I haven't, and I'd figured that there's probably nothing out there, but I'd love to be wrong.  ^_^

[gokuma.livejournal.com]

No, I haven't. But for me Temari/Shikamaru is the only het pairing from Naruto I could like (...I'm not really into het ^^''') and I like Shikamaru/Chouji. One of my favourite Naruto fics is about Shikamaru and Chouji who try to prove (to themselves, not to one another) that they are not gay and end up in very unhappy relationships (Shikamaru with Ino and Chouji with some random Konoha girl). But finally they realize that they would be much happier together and that it doesn't make sense to pretend or try to be someone else just to appear 'normal'. In that fic Ino was first angry and hurt after discovering that her boyfriend is in fact gay, but then - she made Shikamaru admit how he really feels. In that text Shikamaru didn't really love Ino - but I can see him falling in love with Temari AND Chouji.
I wonder though if Chouji would like to share - he seems to be someone whose feelings can be easily hurt and I'm not sure if he felt okay in a threesome.

[tj-dragonblade.livejournal.com]

I think, for me to really buy into the ShikaTemChou as a viable threesome, there would have to be a lot of relational development between Temari and Chouji. Otherwise, it's just two overlapping couples, or a triangle, and I think Chouji would definitely be getting hurt in either case.

And I think that's where I get stuck on the idea of trying to write it myself; I sort of suck at developing a believable relationship from scratch when there's no canon subtext to really build from. I'm not sure if Temari and Chouji have ever really interacted in canon, even.

re: TemariTenten

[gsyh.livejournal.com]

Yeaaah, that's totally how I see it!

Come to think of it, during the match, I think Temari is the only sandsibling who didn't try to kill, and she could have. Tenten could have cracked her skull if she fell on the floor, and she could have broke her spine on the fan, but she didn't, and before she threw TenTen she gave her teammates plenty of ninjatime to get down to catch her.

A lot of it is her being smug, but I can't help but think it was a good reality kick for Tenten and Lee not to get overconfident and that not everyone cares about someone who tries hard...

...and I'm of the opinion that Tenten would be both offended by bossy Temari and be impressed by her strength as a kunoichi.

Re: TemariTenten

[tj-dragonblade.livejournal.com]

Mmh. You make good points about Temari not being out to kill and Tenten being impressed by her. It would be interesting to explore that match further, especially since canon didn't see fit to even show it. T_T

In any case - I'm glad you like, and thanks for taking the time to drop a comment. Thank you!

Temari/Shika...Chou?!

[koenma.livejournal.com]

Spent a good majority of my time just browsing through for some ShikaChou goodness and bumped into this!

Really enjoyed reading these prompts and the prompt: Chouji/Shikamaru/Temari; acquiescent!

In terms of relationships, don't you think that these three would somehow balance each other out? Shikamaru and Temari are not as emotionally expressive as Chouji. Shikamaru, on the other hand, always seems to be the one guy who doesn't want to make things more troublesome as it is and allows Temari to take charge. Temari is blunt and straightforward, as you expressed in the prompt with her pointing out that Shika has the hots for Chouji :)

Could also see Temari attempting to grasp the whole dynamic between Shikamaru and Chouji. You know, females grasping the emotional concept a little bit better than males ;)

I do love ShikaChou but with you writing this prompt with Temari... Makes the mind run off in an attempt to see if there is a possibility of making it work :3

Keep up the excellent work! And thank you for the rec to Entity's work as well! It has been a while since I've gotten back into fic reading -- I have a lot of time on my hands during the summer~

Re: Temari/Shika...Chou?!

[tj-dragonblade.livejournal.com]

Well, hey, thanks for stopping by and glad you enjoyed the reading!

ChouShikaTem - yeah. entitys is responsible for planting that idea in my head a few years back, actually. I think they'd work really well all together. I love ShikaChou, definitely - they just make so much sense. At the same time, I see where the ShikaTem comes from and truthfully, I kinda like it too. And it's plausible to me that if ShikaTem happened, Chouji is a big enough part of Shika's life that he and Temari would have plenty of opportunity to get acquainted and I think it quite likely that they'd all 'click' in the ways necessary to support a decent threesome. Y'know? Like you pointed out - they're different-yet-complementary enough to create that ideal balance. Someday, somehow, I'd really like to write something more than just a sentence or two dealing with the idea. 'Cause it's really got merit.

In any case. Thanks for the feedback - this kinda made my evening. ♥ ^_^

Re: Temari/Shika...Chou?!

[koenma.livejournal.com]

I agree with you that if ShikaTem ever did happen that there could be a development between Chouji and Temari for the sake of Shikamaru. Besides, a strong female wouldn't mind feeling loved directly rather than indirectly ('cause Shikamaru would be good at that for sure :3). Chouji seems like the guy who would be open-minded enough to be flexible to accommodate both sides! Then Temari would kind of grow to love Chouji for himself... eventually!

Awesome concept and I do hope to read more of your fanfics ;) If you ever do attempt to write this, I will be cheering you on 100%! And happy to have made your evening a little better ♥