My try at a soulmate AU and yes, I shouldn't have started something new, but I did it anyway.

There are nine different stories for nine different types of soulmates. This will show the struggles of such a world for these characters. This story has straight, yaoi and yuri pairings, but I won't go much into the sex part of their relationships.

...

Sakura

Days, weeks, months, even years she was willing to wait on her soulmate. There was no rush to find them. Now she simply had the time to prepare. Practise her first dates and figure out what she wanted for herself in life before she settled down with someone. Sakura really had all the time in the world. Why rush when life was so long? Graduating from college with high grades and after that working her ass off in the hospital, now she had finally managed to get a secure job as a nurse, even leading her own little team of interns.

Her life was steady and she was enjoying it to the fullest. There was only one thing that screwed things up and that was the guy that stalked her. Every day she would find a little note in her mailbox, wishing her a great day. Every week a big bouquet of roses would be delivered to her house. There was nothing really dangerous about it, it was just creepy sometimes. Knowing someone was watching you through the window whenever you were cooking dinner in the kitchen. But because he had never actually approached her, she could not get a restraining order against him. She wasn't even exactly sure what he looked like.

It would've been so much easier if she had found her soulmate already.

Nagato

Of course to everyone around Nagato always pretended he didn't care much for the name written on his wrist. Waving it off as something that was for the future to worry about. It would happen in good time and then would he think about what it meant for his life.

But that was not how he really saw it. Secretly he cherished the name written on his wrist, loved looking at it and smiled every time he said it out loud. Figuring out on his own what the name would sound like was the most interesting part and he had enjoyed it, all alone in his apartment. That was where he fantasized about his soulmate, imagined what he would look like and how their life would be together.

You can imagine how happy he was when he finally found that person. The one he had been waiting on all these years. Yahiko. The smile wouldn't leave his lips after the other had introduced himself and Nagato held onto his hand as if his life depended on it. But Nagato never got the same recognition when he said his name. Yahiko stayed calm and polite and Nagato thought he was just playing it cool.

Until Yahiko introduced Nagato to Konan, his soulmate. And the names written on their wrists didn't lie.

Gaara

Soulmates. Was it really necessary to have one? Gaara firmly believed that you didn't need one in your life and it was far easier to live it without anyone else meddling in. Gaara never had been a fan of people in general. Spending time alone is what he had done since he was a child. At first because kids didn't want to play with him for whatever reason and soon after that he actually started to prefer being alone.

Those hopeful glances he sometimes received when he met new people just saddened him. Everyone was so fixated on finding that person that would make them happy. His sister had gotten married far too early and was now constantly fighting with the guy that was supposed to be her soulmate. How could that really make you happy? Every time Gaara would come by, he wished he would never meet his soulmate. He was better off without anyone and more and more people started to agree with him. For different reasons though.

The thing is, Gaara didn't have a name on his wrist and was considered broken by many.

Suigetsu and Karin

'Why don't you just get your stuff and leave?'

This was how they spend many of their days. Fighting. Why? They didn't actually know and some said they were crazy for staying together for this long. There was just this strange pull they had to one another and every time Suigetsu looked at her, he fell more and more in love. Of course he also just loved seeing her angry. How passionate she got was just this amazing sight he couldn't let go of. He loved Karin with all his heart.

'Are you sure you want me to go?' Suigetsu shouted back at her. Standing in their kitchen they shared during many happy times. Cooked together, danced together to crazy tunes, laughed together and shared those intimate moments that were only meant for that one special person. 'We both know I can easily find someone else to replace you,' he added and that was when he had crossed a line. Tears started to streak Karin's cheeks and Suigetsu quickly embraced her, murmuring soft apologies, because he didn't want to lose her.

Talking about someone else was always a low blow. It stung more than it would for other people. Because Suigetsu and Karin had decided they would give up on finding their soulmate, ignore the names on their wrists and choose each other.

Their might just be someone out there that fitted them much better.

Ino

Waking up in the morning next to a warm body was nice. Cuddling that person and start the day with kissing that person made things even better. Sharing a shower and then preparing breakfast together made it the best day in her life. Ino was happy, she really was. There was nothing in this world that could tell her she should live her life differently, even if she too ignored the name on her wrist.

The person she woke up next to was a male. A very normal and slightly lazy man. The name on her wrist belonged to a female.

This was what Ino had known since she was little. At first it was fantastic, because having a name on your wrist meant your soulmate was out there. But the older she got, the more she realised what this meant. She would end up with a woman. Never in her life had she ever been attracted to a woman. Never had she thought, yes she is indeed very beautiful and I would like to kiss her. She had actually tried. Went on a date, shared a goodnight's kiss, but after that she knew this was not what she wanted. The butterflies she felt when a guy held her, when they bought her flowers and took her on amazing dates. How devastated she felt when one would dump her for their soulmate.

So Ino ignored the name on her wrist, because she wasn't attracted to girls and she never would be.

Deidara

Often Deidara wondered. All the what ifs had gone by already. What if I had chosen another profession? What if I was raised in another country, a different environment? What if I hadn't met my soulmate yet…? Maybe this was odd for someone to ask themselves. He should be happy that he had found the person that was right for him. According to same greater power or something. Deidara never really understood how soulmates were created or how that name suddenly formed on your wrist. Did it really matter anyway?

It was just that his relationship was difficult. Sometimes Deidara felt like he was walking on egg shells every time he entered the house. They didn't fight often. Yes, they agreed on certain points and that was fine. There was just something standing in between them.

Sasori was… not easy to deal with. He was closed off, didn't care much for physically showing you cared for someone and he was also very impatient. Sometimes Deidara just wished there was more. There were times Deidara knew Sasori loved him deeply. When the artist suddenly created something that resembled him for example or when Sasori came home with a gift for Deidara and it was the watch he had been eyeing the week before. It was those small things that made Deidara smile all day. And yet it was not enough.

He understood why Sasori was so distant sometimes though. Why they didn't have sex very often and why the I love you's they shared were kept to a minimum. Really Deidara couldn't blame Sasori at all.

Absently Deidara stroked his wrist as he listened to Sasori's brush sliding over a fresh and clean canvas. The name there would never disappear, edged into the skin. A forever reminder that maybe Sasori was not the one for him. That maybe his other wrist was lying.

Who knew that having two names written on your wrists could cause this much trouble?

Kakashi

Those shocked faces. He would never forget them. But it wasn't his fault. It's not like he had planned this. If he could've actually chosen someone, could've said he didn't want this soulmate. He would've scrubbed off the name and lived on all alone.

Kakashi was born without a name and that was fine. Not everyone was born with one. Some names appeared later when your other half was a little younger than you. But as Kakashi got older and still no name ever appeared on his wrist he started to think he was broken. There had been enough stories about some people never finding a soulmate. They said they had been made to be alone. That there was something so wrong with them that they could never love anyone.

Right now Kakashi wished those rumours had been true about him. He wished that a name had never appeared and that he would forever be alone. That he was too broken to be fixed. That he could never love anyone.

But life was cruel and it hit him hard in the face as the seventeen year old entered the hospital room. As did his friend's hand, the one that had helped him out through all these years and that had stayed with him even through the hard times.

Because there in the bed laid his soulmate. Kakashi's name written on the soft skin of a small baby's wrist. And there on Kakashi's wrist in black neat letters stood the name: Naruto Uzumaki. A one day old baby boy.

Itachi

Babies were the most precious thing in the world. Itachi was convinced they were. Their little hands and their little feet. Those little clothes that still seemed to big on them. Chubby cheeks and hair only partially spread out on their scalp. To think Itachi now had a baby brother that had all these things and that Itachi was allowed to hug him and play with him. This was just the most amazing thing in the world to him.

He had heard the hushed whispers going through the hallway and had noticed the odd stares he had received from the adults around, but what did he really know? He was only five years old. Had just started school and was slowly adjusting to this new life. Focusing on all the strange things adults did around them was not on Itachi's mind at all.

His mother was looking into the baby room where Sasuke was lying in his little crib with this sad look on her face. But Itachi never noticed. He was too focused on watching his baby brother sleep. How the little arms flailed a little when Sasuke had a dream was this amazing thing and Itachi couldn't help but giggle at the awkward movements the little baby tried to make.

Reaching for Sasuke's little hand, the tiny fingers wrapped around two of Itachi's and held him tightly, as if to say please stay here. It gave Itachi this perfect view of Sasuke's wrist where Itachi's name was written down in special swirly letters. Looking over at his own wrist his smile only grew, because there it was, the proof that they would always love each other. Sasuke's name edged into Itachi's pale skin.

Obito

There she was. It had taken Obito such a long time to finally find her. The name had adorned his wrist since he was only one year old and ever since then he had hoped every day that he would meet her. But year after year passed by and never did he come across anyone with that name. At times he felt desperate and stepped outside in the pouring rain, searching street after street in the hope that she would be walking around somewhere, doing the same.

Maybe it was odd that he had this obsession with the name on his wrist, but the idea of having a soulmate was just this beautiful thing. There was someone out there that was specially made for you. They belonged with you.

And then when he hit thirty years old he got tired of waiting. No, he didn't move on. Obito couldn't turn his back on her, ever. This was the one for him. He hired a private detective instead and made him search for her. It wasn't long before he came back with information on her and Obito was ecstatic to find out where she was.

Dressing to perfection and buying the most beautiful flowers he could get Obito went on his way. It was lovely out. Sun shining bright in the air, slight breeze rustling through the trees. Nothing could make this day go wrong.

And there she was. This cold hard black stone, name roughly slammed into it and then dates added to it. Flowers were spread around, showing so much love, but not as much as Obito would. Laying the flowers down beside them he murmured a soft apology, a tear slipping from his eyes.

Because Rin had died two years ago.

...

Characters © Masashi Kishimoto

Let me know what you think and what your ideas are on the current stories!