slipping sideways

Fandom: Naruto
Characters: Nara Yoshino, Shikamaru/Temari
Rating/Status: G / 207 words, complete
Summary: This day may have arrived sooner than she originally thought, but Yoshino couldn't have said she was all that surprised.

Author's Note: Originally written back in 2010, during my bout of run-on sentences phase. I had left it lying around because I kept wondering if I should expand on it further. Reading it again recently, I realized that there really isn't much I want to add, so I'm posting it as is, with a bit of clean-up.

Applicable prompts: 500themes, #364 - Bless the union.

( Nara Men )

Fandom: Naruto
Characters: Yuuhi Kurenai, Sarutobi Asuma
Rating/Words: G / 66 words for fanart

Author's Note: This picture is so beautiful - and sad, because well, Asuma. 'Nuff said. I couldn't resist writing a few words for it. Looking at the picture just makes me think of "after Asuma is gone" more than "while he is still alive" so I ended up with this.

What is Art Fic? | Direct Link to Tumblr Post | Picture Source

( Kurenai remembers Asuma... )

Fandom: Naruto
Characters: Mitarashi Anko
Rating/Status: G / 100 words, complete
Timeline: Shortly after manga ch.328, Shippuuden anime ep.80, spoilers for events around then.
Summary: Anko prefers her blunt brand of support.

Author's Note: While digging through my huge folder of unfinished Naruto drafts, I unearthed a weird one about Anko and the way of shinobi that I don't even remember writing. No wonder too, because it was a horrible 2000+ words of convoluted crap. So I dove in, trying to see if I can salvage anything, but only ended up saving one line - which eventually grew into this drabble. :P

( Bluntly Sane )

Fandom: Naruto
Characters: Gaara
Rating/Status: G / 214 words, complete
Timeline: After manga ch.281/vol.31-32, several months after.
Summary: Gaara remembers too well.

Author's Note: For naruto_contest, theme: Control. I'm kind of dissatisfied with the way this came out. :\ I envisioned it being, well... better.

( Residue of Control )

Fandom: Naruto
Characters: Haruno Sakura, Hatake Kakashi
Rating/Status: PG / 499 words, complete
Timeline: Future fic, probably 2-3 years after The Strongest
Summary: They left her behind, and she finds herself living the lives of the dead.

Author's Notes: A stand-alone sequel-ish thing in the same universe as The Strongest, though I didn't originally intend to write anything of the sort. Somehow, my brain started brewing a ton of "Where Sakura Goes From Here" type of scenes. A couple of them morphed into Terribly Monstrous Things, none of which I'm able to tackle at the moment... so I compromised with this, to shut my brain up. It may or may not eventually serve as backstory to one of the aforementioned Terribly Monstrous Things, but I suppose it's irrelevant anyway as this stands on its own.

( Paths of Deaths )