We are excited to introduce our next shining star for the Creator Spotlight… @Cyhyr!
This is a member’s only activity where we reach out to one of the talented people in our community each month to find out all about them and their kakairu creations, and then show them off to the world!
We hope you enjoy learning about Sarah & her creations as much as we did. Please give her some love 
Pronouns: She/ Her
Type of Creator: Writer
Where to find her:
1. How long have you been creating KakaIru fanworks?
I’ve been actively creating for KakaIru for about 4 months as of the typing of this interview.
Although, I first dipped into creating KakaIru way back in late 2012 with two fics I posted on ff.net. I took those down a few years ago, along with the rest of my early works. I never lost my fondness for the pairing and always wanted to create more, and so after a quarantine rewatch of the series in May 2021, I finally just dived right back in and I’m so very glad I did.
2. What are you working on right now?
My current WIP is Branding, a whumpy marriage-to-avoid-a-worse-fate fic set in a canon divergence where Danzō takes over the Hokage seat after the Third dies. It had originally been a oneshot for my Summer of Whump series I did in June 2021, but I had a few readers interested in a continuation and I also had a few ideas I felt I could develop within the ‘verse.
3. What is your favourite trope to create for?
Favorite?! Do I have to pick just one??
Because my favorite fluff trope to write is The One Where They Are Both Disgustingly Devoted To Each Other—it gives me happy butterflies and I get to pull a lot of inspiration from my relationship with my spouse in order to write those scenes.
Buuut, my favorite whump trope is Defiant Iruka. Love that man telling his captors to get bent, only to get hurt in retaliation!
4. Which of your creations is your favourite, and why?
Right now, my favorite of all my works is Branding. I’m excited to see where the story goes and I’m hoping we’ll all get to see the ending I have in mind. It helps immensely that it feels like everytime I turn around the kudos, comment, and/or bookmark counts go up! Recognition is always nice as a creator, am I right?
5. Do you have any WIPs you’re excited about?
I have an omegaverse fic in my WIP folder that I’m excited to get a chance to work on. I’ve also got a few AU adaptations that I’m also slowly plugging away at. But for right now, I’m just trying to focus my energy on Branding to keep that momentum going!
6. Do you have any original characters? If so, tell us about them!
I have my dear ANBU OC, Otter. They do not yet have a name outside of their codename, but I’m working on finding one that fits them. They’re a medic on Yamato’s squad who finds Kakashi’s and Iruka’s relationship absolutely adorable. They have made appearances in a couple of my fics so far, the earliest I believe being in a whump oneshot titled Death. I do have an idea for a oneshot staring them and Yamato, but I really gotta figure out that name first…
7. What was your hardest piece to create, and why?
Hands down, The Scrolls of Freol. I fought the self-doubt monster hard with that one; it would have never made it past the first 3k words if not for my friend reading it and demanding to know what happens next. There’s some fluff and whump, which I’m good at writing, but also a lot of mystery and suspense which I have always felt very weak in. But it was well received and what’s better is that I had fun writing it and I now feel more confident writing suspense. Not mystery, though; I’m still not secure in that yet! Ultimately, I’m glad my friend had me finish that story, because it’s now one of my favorites—and it’s the piece that let me complete the Maze Challenge!
8. Do you have any favourite scenes from something you’ve created?
If I had to pick just one, it’d be the soul-marriage scene from The Devil’s Bridge. In it, Kakashi follows Iruka to a cursed bridge and pledges his soul to Iruka, and Iruka makes the same vow back. In doing so, Kakashi’s soul becomes a beacon for Iruka when he ultimately travels across the bridge and into a different dimension. I hadn’t planned for this to happen when I started writing the fic, but once it happened I realized that the story was leading itself to that point the whole time. It’s a very emotionally charged scene and I love it.
9. Where does your inspiration come from?
If not from a prompt list, then from music—usually from musicals, but I have been known to branch out into other genres. Other than that, a lot of my inspiration usually comes from Atereal (Tumblr). She comes up with so many great ideas and is gracious enough to let me run around and play with them too!
10. Which of your creations is the most meaningful to you, and why?
Storms. It was… very cathartic. I don’t particularly want to go too far into the why’s behind this answer, but if you can safely read Storms, I think it speaks for itself.