#narutoepisode

「 NARUTO | CHUNIN EXAM CATCH-UP 」

« Why would you give me your scroll? » Gaara asked, and rightfully so. Yukiko proceeded to explain what led her to the conclusion she was out of the game.

In this catch-up cession of the exam there was one subtle change of rules in the Forest of Death challenge: Anko did NOT say they had to get to the tower with the two scrolls in their possession as a team.  If Team 18 had been incredibly efficient so far in this exam, they finally crumbled when Tiago decided to continue on his own. He was well aware he was the most skilled of the three and the other two were holding him back. And that was it for Kaito who was already on the verge of a panic attack. He had given-up and decided to stay hidden in a bush until the end of the exam. Yukiko had discreetly taken the Heaven scroll from Tiago, but that wasn’t enough to raise Kaito’s spirit. So Yukiko just wondered off trying to find the entrance again but her poor sense of directions got her lost! But she too had given up. She grew-up believing that Tiago was the strong one, always had been, always will be. So much so she didn’t even question this belief before. And Gaara’s question « When did you forsake yourself? » called her out on it. 

What Yukiko doesn’t know is that earlier that day Tiago had a talk with Satoru-sensei who told him he was relying too much on her. Cause if he was the one providing physical protection Yukiko had always been the emotional support, keeping the pieces of his mind together. And this made him want to prove him wrong by succeeding on his own. 

Gaara refused to take Yukiko’s Heaven scroll and in his cold way invited her to keep fighting.

___

🍵 CAPTURING MEMORIES 🍵 This is a photo Temari took a morning at home. Kankuro was teasing his brother for being always so serious even in the morning. Unlike the rest of the house he was already dressed up and ready to go. 

Yukiko was laughing at Kankuro’s grins. Gaara looked at them with amusement. His idiots! Dear idiots … Shikamaru was yawning openly, totally unaware Temari was snaping the moment, freezing it in time. Shikamaru being the one in charge of the communication between Konoha and Sunagakure, he was often in Suna… And especially after the war he was often staying 

at the sibling’s for a day or two. Yukiko on the other hand stayed for longer periods. Breaks from the cold and sadness of Land of Iron, far from the reality of her dysfunctional family. She felt like home with the sand siblings. They made sure she would. If Temari was first a little picky about Gaara’s girlfriend she quickly bonded with her over the most trivial things. Kankuro had immediately accepted her, long before Gaara himself even realised his feelings for her. She had a positive influence on him, like Naruto. She was appeasing him, and that Temari saw too. Yukiko’s spontaneity and genuine kindness was refreshing. And as she was also very cultivated and had a huge imagination, discussions were endless with her. Even Gaara could find himself quite talkative and open around her. She was a good listener. Having Yukiko home allowed Gaara to breath a bit from his kazekage duty. 

Having her singing around and just being herself was brightening their monotonous days. She always had new crazy ideas and projects. She mostly got outside after sun set or at dawn, but if she was to go out she would take her umbrella Gaara gave her. 

©️ Credits: Character and background art by me

Naruto instagram : https://www.instagram.com/k0l0rless/

🥀 GAARA MEETS YUKIKO 🥀 I redrew it once again ! Last year I had put it on the « right background » a Konoha forest bg. But I missed the cold wintery ambiance of the previous one. So here the background is not accurate to the story, but it’s pretty so … fuck it xD Context : Yukiko offered Gaara her Earth scroll during the re take of chuunin exam. She was assuming he already had it, or took it from another competitor, but as she didn’t need it anymore (disqualified, her team mates let her behind) she offered it with a smile. She tried to sound assured, but it was hard to find the words to break the silence. He was staring at her, and she expected to be attacked any second. 

But he wasn’t moving, it’s like he had frozen still. Thorns vines were growing all around them, circling them. Was it a trap? Red flowers started blooming all over it. Yukiko was quite confused but tried to hide it. Never before she had seen flowers bloom off her thorns. 

He didn’t feel threatened by her, but he couldn’t let his guard down so he coldly asked where were her teammates and why he would take this scroll.She answered those questions very sincerely and spontaneously. If she was lying she was a master! He couldn’t spot any sign of lying. She seemed genuine. Yukiko added that she replaced the scroll of her team mates by a blank one so they’ll have the surprise once in the tower. 

©️ Credits : reference was used for Gaara, characters and background by me. 

Naruto instagram : https://www.instagram.com/k0l0rless/