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Harry turned slowly. “You saw Malfoy last night.”

“Unfortunately.”

“He had grey eyes.”

“Oh no.”

How to train your dragon vibes? GOT or HOTD vibes? There’s so many possibilities here, and I’m gonna go look up some fics that might tap into this more as soon as I’m done with this one.

Fair warming: since this fandom is aprox as old as time, a large amount of these are abandoned, and will remain that way possibly indefinetly.

However! This doesn't mean that they aren't delightful to read, regardless. Give 'em a chance, won't you?

Another thing: a significant portion is from fanfiction.net - this doesn't mean they're garbage!! It just means this fandom is old as shit. I have taste.

This is how it works:

A black dot • means it’s a one-shot

Brackets (…) means it's still being updated/not done/WIP – and I'm paying close attention to it

Izaranna: “Welcome to Tomorrow” (...) (general) last update: 2018 In which a plot is demolished because a dimple-cheeked baby gave Obito a gummy smile, and then proceeded to raise a minion army with hugs, cuddles and an assortment of saccharine treats. 

KannaKyomu: “It Ends at Dawn” (...) (general) last update: 2019 She couldn't remember if she was a little girl, a grown woman, or some kind of wild beast. All she wants is what everyone wants- a purpose, a reason to be. The day she meets the man who embodies the ocean, is the day she chooses the path she will take in this life. Because it wasn't about her. Maybe it never was. 

Phoenixyfriend: “The Universe’s Newest Puppet” (...) (general) last update: 2017 Fate's strings are really more of a garotte at this point. - In which an SI OC ends up as Uchiha Sasuke's twin sister, and commences planning because this is either a seriously entertaining coma or her unfortunately permanent new reality.

Joyous Flamboyancy: “Blank Space” (...) (Itachi/OC) last update: 2017 It's been said that when you die you'll see your past, present, and your supposed future. Well, no one said anything about seeing my sorry ass in a finished manga. Seriously, this sucks.

Artsome: “Clockwork and a Teacup” (...) (general) last update: 2020 What if you woke up to a role so completely unfitting and with a future already made? With a contrasting mindset, knowledge in a convoluted mess and ambitions steered a different direction, this only completed the odd assembly that was the new Haruno Sakura. Welcome to her life.

Shadownumera: “Clearing Mist” (Kisame/OC) I have the worst luck ever. First off, I die. Then I get reborn into the Naruto universe. Yay right? WRONG. Nobody ever said you get to be reborn into Konoha. Which makes finding out where I am in the story line that much harder. I don't know if I can change anything, or if the bloodbath is far behind me. One thing's official though. I'm screwed.

Strawberry and creme: “Whispered Nothings” (...) (general) last update: 2019 In which a sick little girl changes absolutely everything and nothing. *this was was re-written with one chapter, the rest was deleted, here's the google doc for the original version (21 chapters)

Iaso:  “On Freedom and Other Formalities” (...)(Genma/OC)              last update: 2020 When push comes to shove, Hiwa Inuzuka doesn't go down easy. Reborn into a new, dangerous world? She puts her past life as a spy to work. Thrown into a war? Hiwa does her duty, for Konoha. And when she's forced into an arranged marriage? All there is to do is beat them to the punch and get married first. Thankfully, Genma Shiranui is willing to lend a hand. Literally.

Vixen Tail: “108 Earthly Temptations” (Tobirama/OC)               A character study into why the older generations of shinobi are harsher and less inclined to compromise. SI/OC Pre-Konoha, Warring States Period. Post-Founding. Part One, the beginnings of Sekanji Terazawa. Poison Mistress, occasional kunoichi Lady, and the aunt of Orochimaru. Part Two, the establishment of Konoha and the character of the village Founders. Part Three, the end.

Erimies: “The Clan of Samsara” (...) (Madara/SI-OC)                    last update: 2015 They were the clan everyone avoided, for a good reason. But Hashirama wasn't like other people and Karma ended up tangling in the ninja world revolution anyway. What he didn't know was that she knew the script of the story. 

DianaMoth: - “The Yondaime’s Assistant” (Genma/OC/Kakashi) part of a series, one of three (unconnected) When I reincarnated in the world of Naruto, I was lucky enough to live in Konoha but not lucky enough to get all the superpowers you could hope for. I failed my jounin-sensei test and ended up in the Genin Corps. Bye-bye jounin rank! However, considering it also meant avoiding the battlefield, that was fine with me. Now I just had to get a position allowing me to change History...

DianaMoth: “Guardian Angel of Trouble Twins” (general) Reincarnating as a crow was nicer than you would think... until the Trouble Twins found the summoning scroll for the Karasu. Then they grew on her, and she had to save their lives. How annoying. They better gave her lots of almonds or she would elope with the ninken summoner! Uchiha Massacre Fix-it DianaMoth: “Guardian Angel of a Troubled Man” (Kakashi/OC) Reincarnating as a crow was nicer than you would think... until the Trouble Twins found the summoning scroll for the Karasu, and she failed to save Number One. Now that only Itachi was left, she would do anything to protect him... no matter how many almonds it took. *This is an AU of the 1st part of this series. You have to read it to understand this, as this differs starting from the end of the first chapter of Guardian Angel of Trouble Twins. In short: this is what would happen if Shisui died like in canon.

Masqvia: “Fatespinner” (...) (general)                                       last update: 2017 The ability to speak to ghosts sounded like a joke—at least it did, until it put a target on my back. Survival was at the top of the list and changing the future was laughable at best. Then I got attached, and the whole game changed. 

RosesToPaint: “Of Bonds and Hugs like Chokeholds” (general) The ultimate dream: being born into your favorite manga. But the ninja life is in no way as romantic as it looks. But it's also not all that terrible. Hisana is fervently working on keeping it that way. RosesToPaint: “Of Cutting Cords and Forging Chains” (...) (general)      last update: 2018 The Chuunin Exams are almost in sight and Hisana is faced with her biggest challenge yet: Keeping Sasuke in Konoha and Orochimaru out of it! And then there's Itachi, who's a class all of his own. *Part II of "Of Bonds and Hugs like Chokeholds".

Sage Thrasher: “Sanitize” (...) (general) last update: 2023 Basic medicine and sanitation are simple. During the Warring Clans era, they become revolutionary.

Sage Thrasher: “An Eye for an Eye” (...) (general)                          last update: 2019 Reincarnation. In an anime. As a blind Uchiha. You've gotta be kidding me.

Yuuki no Yuki: - “Bee’s Purple” (...) (general)                        last update: 2020 People always talk about how great the Sharingan is, 'it can see through any genjutsu' 'It can recreate any ninjutsu' 'It can predict the future.' But I never really believed them. Not until I unlocked my own pair, and made a startling discovery, "Itachi-nii I can see new colors!" Yeah, I may not have been the most noble of Uchiha, but hey, at least I was having fun?

The-world-builder: - „This Transient, Floating World“ (...) (general)       last update: 2019 Due to a paperwork mistake in God's waiting room, I was reincarnated with my memories intact. No pain, no gain, or so they say. But with a bit of luck, this might just turn out alright.

Snow-Nightshade: “Living in a Really, Really Weird World” (...) (general) last update: 2019 Her name is Kazeshini Uzumaki and she was born even before Madara Uchiha was around, she doesn't want to fight head on and so fights as an assassin, she's a dauntless sword user who carries a nodachi a few inches taller than her, and she's a girl who really just wants to bear hug the ever adorable Naruto and he isn't even around yet.

FlitterFlutterFly: “True to Myself” (...) (Skikamaru/OC)     last update: 2016 I never expected to die young, but if I had I would have probably thought something normal like a car accident. I wasn’t given a peaceful death though. Maybe the trauma I went through on that night, the same night as the Uchiha massacre, is the reason I found myself in the Naruto world. I was far from happy about any of it, but I’d always been a determined person and I learned to make the best of the situation.

Fishebake: “Moonflower” (...) (general)                                     last update: 2020 They say that destiny is set in stone. Most people are willing to accept this and move on - Yamanaka Inoko is not most people. Her father's life is on the line, and she knows that if she wants to keep him safe, she's going to need a seriously big sledgehammer.

Shanatical: - “Addendum” (...) (general)                                    last update: 2018 Or, 'How I Learned to Stress Out and Ruin Everything': a gripping tale of tears, danger, tender hearts and derring-do, in which I take on a world that isn't as made-up as I thought it was and my choices really, really matter.

Chadsuke: - “Crying is alright” (...) (general)                             last update: 2020 “-in its way while it lasts. But you have to stop sooner or later, and then you still have to decide what to do.” - C.S. Lewis Waking up from the death of your entire family with memories of a past life isn’t something that happens to most people - especially when that past life includes visions of your own future.

LadyNyxRavus: - “An SI's Guide to Surviving the Shinobi World without Dying Tragically” (...) (general)                                                         last update: 2024-01-11 Honestly, I just want to make it past thirty this go-around. Contending with Uchiha Clan Nonsense, an Orochimaru still convinced he needs my baby cousin's eyes, and the knowledge of precisely how bad all this can go, that's looking more and more out of reach by the day.

infraredphaeton: - “Morpheme” (...) (general) last update: 2024-04-02 A morpheme is the smallest part of a word that still has meaning. If you take away everything else, you still know what it means. When you take away everything else of me, this is what remains. ...It's mostly good hair and a love of language. Everything else is take it or leave it, really. (In which a very sarcastic guy gets reborn into a small poisoner's clan in Konoha, and accidentally saves a life. Things change.)

Authorship: “Yeah, Kunai are cool but have you had dessert?“ (Shisui/OC) Easy, I thought, like the idiot I still was. Open a bakery and try not to die (again). Seemed pretty simple...until you factor in that I, a civilian, have the last Big Cat Summon. And Ino, Shika and Chouji think I'm their nee-chan. ...I didn't think to factor in the overwhelming force of Shisui's puppy eyes either. Some - rather large - oversights then. SI/OC Patissier and Baker...."What do you mean you don't know what fucking caramel is?!" OR Okay, I'll admit seeing my new dad's Hitai-ate was a massive kick in the (thankfully metaphorical) balls. Sorry, but I don't kill people! AKA an SI/OC fic where the girl is more concerned with the alarming lack of pastries...and appropriate female role models...and adopting misfits and cinnamon rolls...err, oops? At least, I get to troll people! *This work is unfinished and will remain so. A rewrite, including nonessential plot points, is currently in the works until the title "Let Them Eat Cake". right below  Authorship: “Let Them Eat Cake” (...) (Shisui/OC)                            last update: 2020 Whatever I had imagined the afterlife to look like- It was not this. I'd ask for a refund but, in all honesty, I was going to milk this second chance as much as I could. Amazing what a suddenly callous attitude to death could do to someone's decorum.

Araceil: “Thanatophobia” (...) (Shisui/OC)                             last update: 2019 Komuro Ietsuna was a timid boy from a different world, but still, despite this world of Ninja and Gods, he's determined to survive the odds. Even if this means abandoning his Village. But you know what they say about Mice and Men, and all the best laid plans between them.

PRETTYHEART: “Pyromaniac” (...) (Naruto/SI!Sasuke/Sakura) last update: 2022 In which Uchiha Sasuke wasn't always Uchiha Sasuke - but that's okay. Somewhat. It's somewhat okay. He's dealing with it. The only thing that could make the whole situation better is if Sakura would let him light the Hokage monument on fire. Something that ugly has to be destroyed. (Featuring a pyromaniac tomato crazy Uchiha Sasuke, a morally exasperated Haruno Sakura, and a completely confused Hatake Kakashi. As for Uzumaki Naruto, well, he's just happy to be there. You see, he plans on painting the new monument Sasuke wants to build.)

So when I first saw the big bad demon king guy, my first thought was thinking back to the first three hunters.

And the idea I had was the first three hunters were his daughters.

Now hear me out here’s my thoughts/idea for this AU. the demon guy was a sorcerer/soul manipulator.

My idea is he was a guy that messed with souls made deals with the cost of souls or something anyway he’s married. He has daughters and these daughters get his connection to souls or whatever.

And eventually he ends up being corrupted by the souls cause he was taking from bad people so their souls sort of corrupted him.

And now they’re having to fight their father because of how changed he is and they’re trying to save and do what he originally was doing, which was serving the people.

And then these three sisters eventually get married and have children which starts the three Hunter families.

And then every generation or every few generations when there are three girls. they get together and work and become the new hunters.

Being trained by the last hunters or by their parent, that is in the know.

So the families are sort of spread out, but then they come back together to be hunters.

So just an AU and just some thoughts I had.

These were just my thoughts I don’t have all the information and I’m not really hard-core into it, but please let me know thoughts and ideas and then if anyone makes a fic please send it to me.

<3

It becomes an ANBU initiation ritual, trying to catch and impress this summons and if you can get within a certain distance you are GOD, OKAY? 

He hadn’t expected to see it lounging around in ANBU headquarters, washing his paws and head. Seeing the feline hurt though: Minato-sensei had fed the feline regularly. The snow leopard was around enough to the point that it was whispered that the cat would have graced Minato-sensei with the contract if Minato-sensei hadn’t already contracted with the toads. It wasn’t like the feline was an unfamiliar sight, but…

“Bear, don’t tell me that Tobi’s stolen your food again!” Kakashi’s would-be captain said sharply but tinged with resignation.

“I won’t but I may have to go out to get lunch today.” The ninja with the bear mask said cheerfully; his frame suggested that he was an Akimichi.

Another ANBU -this one in a bird mask- sighed. “I don’t get why cat-proofing is so much harder than securing a place against ninja. No one is going to catch that cat or gain approval for the summoning contract.”

The snow leopard attempted to look innocent. Between the size, the shape of the head and those curious red markings looking so much like Senju Tobirama’s facial markings… it failed.

The long tail was even wagging; not like a dog’s but it was a happy playful curl and unfurl.

“Wolf, your mission record and history say good things about your skills. However we are ANBU, the shadow protectors of Konoha and all she stands for. We need to test your skills to see how suited you are to join us.”

Kakashi focused on this. A test to pass would be challenging but it was also something to focus on other than grief.

“You are to catch the Nidaime’s Envoy, who we’ve nicknamed Tobi in his honor as he has not provided us his name.”

“I will not fail, sir.”

The mission to cat Tobi was nothing less than an utter mind-fuck, Kakashi realized several hours into his second day of attempts and tries. It was nothing like chasing and tracking lost pets like he did a few times during the brief time he was a genin.

The first day he had hope.

Bribes didn’t work. Trickery didn’t work. Traps, snares and tricks didn’t work.

The first day, the cat had just evaded everything with contemptuous ease and done the ‘very-not-impressed’ thing that cats could do by just looking at someone.

The second day, the cat started fighting back.

It was subtle first off. Genjutsu that distorted his perception so that he’d run into things. The even more subtle genjutsu that made him doubt his feelings, choices and entire life’s purpose.

It was worse than what the Yamanaka, the Yuhi and the Kurama could do with genjutsu. The sort of thing that would inspire a man like the Nidaime to create a genjutsu that prevented the enemy from seeing at all.

And then Kakashi lost his sight entirely, crouching in a tree in a training field. The Nidaime’s famed Bringer-of-Darkness technique. It wasn’t so bad, from an academic standpoint. It was really clever, he thought as he jumped some distance away from where he was. Experiencing it while knowing that a snow leopard was either stalking you, going to lead you into a trap or run away… not as fun.

Where was it?

He could smell the feline, but this was the fifteenth time that they’d been through this training ground in the past two days which hadn’t been straight cross-throughs and… Kakashi had just realized that the cat had been planning this from the beginning.

He was loosing in a battle of wits against a cat!

Which might be the problem in his thinking. He was thinking of the Nidaime’s Envoy as a cat to catch like it was a lost pet! Not a summon beast or a contracted one like his own ninken. Mostly because the cat never spoke to anyone anyway, although…

…the cat was most certainly evil enough and smart enough to do have managed it so far. Tobi -think of the cat as an enemy ninja and using the name helped with that- was cunning, dubious and most certainly had no qualms about being vicious and tricky.

And this is why he was a dog person.

The third day of attempting to catch the Nidaime’s Envoy was where Kakashi admits that he got almost as equally mean.

Almost because the cat didn’t mind water at all and seemed to enjoy taunting him as Konoha had a steady heavy rain of water fall from the clouds.

The third day was miserable and Kakashi would like to have forgotten about considering the amount of mud and filth he ended up covered in.

The fourth day, Tobi started using ninjutsu. Some water, some earth, nothing particularly large.

The fifth day, Kakashi suffered nothing but ambushes and felt like one huge bruise.

The sixth day, Kakashi ended up in the hospital after finding out first hand that grabbing the tail led to electrocution.

The seventh day Kakashi was inducted into ANBU.

He’s been a favorite victim of Tobi ever since.

His apartment smells of cat! There’s shed fur and Kakashi has found it sleeping in his shower far too many times that he’s not surprised by it and the leopard doesn’t even bother doing more than waking up when Kakashi turns the water on. More to the point, Tobi will roll on Kakashi’s bed while still wet and…

(Cat-proofing a place is so much trickier than ninja-proofing it, he finds himself agreeing with Falcon.)

Here @blackkatmagic have evil cat Tobirama who has figured out how to use jutsu as a cat but not how to get out of the transformation or speak. I’m not sure why he doesn’t henge into his human-form but there may be reasons or he hasn’t thought of it yet?

Despite Kakashi being tormented, I get the feeling that he’s strangely happy to have the leopard around. Although Gai probably works as cat-repellent as cats don’t like loud people.

He had expected to die holding off the Gold and Silver brothers of Kumo and the twenty jonin that had ambushed him afterwards.

He had survived the battle, but he knew that he and Shinshin wouldn’t survive their wounds. Maybe his students would send someone for his body after they had gotten clear.

He and his summon had collapsed next to each other, too tired to tend to injuries they knew they wouldn’t survive anyways. Maybe if he had the chakra he could have; his brother was not the only healer within the Senju for all that it was one of the few areas Hashirama was more talented at naturally.

“Bisetsu,” the dying snow leopard growled.

Tobirama didn’t even complain about the nickname. No more than usual when they were in private, which was to say not at all; he had white hair, so of course his eyebrows were white too.

“You remember how audacious I claimed you were?”

“As my most frequent accomplice, I’m well aware.” He replied factually. Breaking the boundaries between life and death, those of time and space with nothing more than thought, chakra, will and relentless and extensive testing.

“Wanna do something as equally audacious?”

“Surviving at this point would be quite the feat.” He chuckled, at his own dry humor.

“Let’s break the boundaries between man and beast. My body, your soul. A life for a life.”

“That’s a terrible idea Shin.” Tobirama sighed as he estimated how much longer until he lost consciousness. Maybe a few more minutes?

“It’s the only one we have in which we survive.”

“And the body will break down without a compatible soul. We’ve tested that remember? It is why those that are used for the Edo Tensai are dead afterwards.”

“And that’s why we’ll build a body to house us both. You’ve still got blood to bleed and I’ve got the chakra for it. Bisetsu, this isn’t the worst thing you and I have ever contemplated doing or done.”

“Just the most sloppy.” Tobirama muttered, as he focused his breathing and what chakra he had. He needed to think and act-

No one ever recovered the Nidaime Hokage’s body. The reigning theory in Konoha was that if it wasn’t stolen by Kumo then his summon had taken it to their lands for honorable burial.

As with any prototype there were flaws in the design.

The first was that Tobirama had no idea how to move as a cat. Oh he could identify muscles and so on, how they contracted and expanded for movement. But that was from an outside perspective; he couldn’t know how to use them first hand until he tried.

Grace he was not. Not for some time afterwards.

Second was that Shinshin, unlike Tobirama was far less attached to the body. The souls of summoned animals were not like human souls for all that some had a human-like personality. Shinshin stayed for as long as possible but that wasn’t very long at all. Shinshin was gone -faded- into a bundle of instincts within the first three days, but his body -their body- was not.

This body would be seen as an abomination by many; that Tobirama knew. So it was best that no one ever found out. Not unless Tobirama trusted such a person with the secret. He might entrust Konoha to the young Saru, but not his secrets. Especially not this one, not when he didn’t know what all it entailed.

Third was the lack of hands. Tobirama prided himself on his chakra control, but with a new body and slightly altered chakra -and possibly altered soul- meant that he had none and no short-cuts. Handsigns helped to mould chakra, but that could be done without them. If you had excellent chakra control and were familiar with the technique.

Until he had regained that level of chakra control he would be defenseless except for his teeth and claws.

And this body was young. Grown by the normal standards of normal snow leopards, but it was constructed of a summon beast and an old ninja. Just born out of two corpses.

If he was more poetic he might have named himself something different to symbolize a different start. To symbolize a new life.

But he was a war-hardened shinobi who grew up watching brothers die. He was used to Tobirama.

And now he was a cat, but he was still Tobirama.

And he was still dedicated to Konoha and his brother’s dream. So he’d return.

It wasn’t like the improvised ritual had left his body in a place to be scavenged by enemy ninja. He was confident that he could manage something as basic as a henge in a few days.

He could use the transformation jutsu; he just couldn’t hold it. Not even the more refined version of the technique that just went beyond a surface illusion.

Further experimentation with his chakra and jutsu proved that he just couldn’t shape chakra like he used to. His tenketsu and chakra gates had changed position, changing the chakra flow in ways he couldn’t adjust for. Yet.

Three weeks after his last stand, he limped into Konoha; electrical burns were never fun, especially on your feet.

Another issue was his lack of speech. He hadn’t thought about it. A human being can speak, Shinshin could.

This new body couldn’t. At least not in any recognizable way. Maybe if someone could bear the muzzle-shaped accent. Also how cat vocals did not work the same way human ones did.

He wasn’t sure how but Mito knew. She came up with a brilliant cover story, gave him time and space to adjust.

To practice being a snow leopard instead of being Senju Tobirama and all that being Senju Tobirama entailed.

He was just glad that his cousin didn’t know, having passed on a few months earlier. She knew all about his jutsu creations: successes and failures and those with mixed results.

This would most certainly be one of the latter. He was alive, as a cat.

She never would have let him hear the end of it.

There were advantages to being a cat. Even a large one like a snow leopard.

A better sense of hearing, smell and balance; once he grew used to having a tail that long. He mostly retained human eyesight, although his night vision was improved from what it was.

He knew it did not quite match up to Shinshin’s former ability to see in the dark.

Other advantages were mostly bound up in being a cat, no matter how uncommunicative he might be. Sleeping was a great pleasure no matter how hard the surface. Pettings were maybe a trifle undignified, but still enjoyed.

Quiet mornings next to Mito, smelling the fresh hot tea as snow fell outside became a favorite memory. Graceful strokes through thick fur had him purring in pleasure.

Except to his tail, especially if it was from someone he didn’t like. That irritated him and he learned how to channel lightning chakra through it quickly.

Reduced to mostly being a cat with a cat’s limitations -even a summon had those- was irritating at times.

But it also meant he was free to chose who to spend time with and how.

Tobirama was dutiful, always had been, so he watched as the Senju clan declined. Targeted on missions and during the Third War that Saru couldn’t stop. Soon all the Senju left were civilians who married into other clans or had retired, like Hashirama’s granddaughter.

He still haunted the home, even after Mito’s successor moved out.

Tobirama was exacting, always had been, so he made sure that those who tried for his favor were worth it. Most were aiming for the Nidaime’s summoning contract but most also gave up within the first day.

He had to test them somehow and an impossible test seemed like the best choice to keep Mito’s story intact and alive.

Tobirama was cool, always had been, but that didn’t mean he was without passion or feeling. He expressed it quietly but intensely.

He had his favorite people. People he trusted to sleep nearby to, to feed him when he didn’t feel like hunting his own food.

Being a snow leopard didn’t change that. He was still mostly himself, thinking the thoughts and making the plans for just in case that others wouldn’t.

When he wasn’t doing cat things that he couldn’t quite stop himself from doing.

He thinks he might have lost the part of himself that cared about decorum in public, with the change in being so encompassing and so messy. Being a cat is very liberating, freeing even. Minus of all the attention and social pressure that had been part of his life. The younger brother of the heir, father’s favorite, the genius inventor, brother to the Hokage and Hokage himself.

He probably shouldn’t hack up hairballs on Danzo’s desk whenever his ‘successor’ does something unwise out of fear but he just can’t help himself!

And really, Saru’s desk was the best to sleep on in the afternoon with the light coming through the windows just right.

He’s alive, he still watches over Konoha to the best of his ability and tests her shinobi to prove their worth.

It’s a good life.

(But he still wants hands sometimes so he finds a way. No one needs to know until much later…)

Hands are complicated from a medical standpoint. There’s twenty-seven bones, a further eight in the wrist. All the nerves, ligaments and muscles, the veins and arteries to feed blood and oxygen to flesh. The nails growing to protect, the ridges of skin making patterns on fingertips. Little hairs, skin with oil glands and so much.

People pretty much know how to use them instinctively. Training for ninja dexterity and speed aside.

Tobirama hasn’t quite solved his transformation problem, but he’s got a partial solution to it. His normal form may look like a snow leopard but it is not; it is a desperate gamble, made to see if they could both see the next dawn.

Transforming all the way to human, as he was just isn’t possible. It is probably some sort of spiritual law governing this limitation. He just hasn’t worked around it. Yet.

A hybrid of it however… that works. There’s features he can’t be rid of unless he wants the transformation to fail, but he can make alterations. Adjust until he has fine-tuned things to as perfect as he can make it.

Having two-feet again is so awkward after being on four for so long.

Mito is around to see it, but all the other Senju have left. He only figured out the compromise too late to save his brother’s grandson but he had thought that his sensei -the teammate to his brother’s granddaughter- would…

“How beautiful, Tobirama.”

“I suppose,” he replies. His hands are furless, the claws mostly human looking enough to pass without remark. They look like Inuzuka nails.

His head feels off balance but that may be because of the cat ears. More sensitive than human ones but not in the best place for balance. Maybe some more work to get them a little closer to a human position?

He’s going to have to do quite a bit of thinking and adjusting so that he’d have the muscles to make cat ears twitch like they should.

However he looks and feels mostly human. Tail, ears and nails aside. It feels like a form he can stay in.

“You look so young too.”

Tobirama hasn’t exactly seen himself yet, but he feels like he hasn’t hit full growth yet. It’s a disconcerting feeling, but some summons could get huge. Shishin was large, but not a giant. Tobirama is mostly the same size as a full grown snow leopard.

It makes a twisted sort of sense that he’s not exactly full grown. The Senju weren’t the Uzumaki, but most of the Senju lived longer than average if they didn’t die fighting before then. Uzushiogakure is far enough away from the mainland that they can get away with growing to old age far more often than other clans.

Mito shows what he looks like in a hand mirror, ever-prepared as she was.

He looks young, is his first thought. Second was that his hair was going to get into his eyes if it grew and he didn’t get it out of his face somehow. His eyes are still that pale red, pupil more oval than slit or rounded. His teeth weren’t human normal but were close enough. His tongue was still cat-rough.

He still had cat ears, a tail that seemed to have a mind of its own that had no qualms about showing off tells and there were other little signs.

It was a terrible transformation into his former self.

It was still a success, if one that showed clearly how much he had changed.

Sloppy work didn’t mean it was bad; just that it was unfinished.