Belated birthday wishes (Remix, remake)
So here is a story I wrote for NaruSaku day awhile back I revisited it and polished it up a little.
The war ended. Naruto kept moving. Three years passed. The world transformed around him. He changed too, but not enough. Days blurred together, each one echoing the last. Then one day the ground started to slip from beneath.
It started the day Sakura returned from spending eight months in Shikkotsu Forest.
He saw her and stopped cold. For a brief instant, he stopped breathing.
Sakura looked tired. Her hair hung long and tangled, clothes streaked with dirt. Sunlight caught on her, bright for a second, and he felt it.
He couldn’t remember her looking more alive.
He knew the problem. Some people fall for the same person again and again.
He was one of those people.
He told himself it would pass.
Again.
He tried to act normal, slip back into their old friendship. Around others, it worked. Alone, it fell apart. Sometimes he caught himself leaning in, almost close enough to kiss her. The silences were worse. They settled in, thick and easy, until he lost track of what he was supposed to feel. Restless, he asked for a mission. Something solo. The samurai in the Land of Iron needed help.
He took the job.
As he was leaving, Sakura touched his arm.
"Don't take too long, okay?"
Her voice barely carried. She walked off. The air stayed tight. Her touch lingered on his arm. He made it three steps past the gates before he almost turned back.
Maybe he imagined it. Maybe not. He kept walking. Promised himself he’d figure it out later.
The mission dragged. Two months gone. He missed Sakura’s birthday. She moved to a new place while he was away. Missed that too.
Back in the village, he thought about ramen, a long nap, and how to make it up to her.
He surprised himself as much as her, standing in her living room.
He hadn’t meant to end up here. Not at first. But here he was.
She looked up. He let his bag drop. She set her scroll aside.
Red-faced, he said, "You shouldn't leave your door unlocked. Someone might just walk in."
“You mean like you just did?' Sakura asked.
"Yeah, I mean, no…"
She smiled, "In civilized villages, we knock on people's doors before coming in."
"Thieves don't knock." Naruto countered.
"Thankfully, we are lacking thieves as strong as you are.”
He glanced at the door. “It’s not just thieves. Sometimes kids wander in and mess around.”
"Oh, some kids," Sakura stood up, "it’s funny you sound like my dad. But his concern involved perverts."
"He's right about perverts."
Naruto glanced over. There were boxes stacked beside the windows.
"Right," Sakura smiled. "The perverts could sneak into a girl's house and stare at her while she is reading."
"Or they might turn to the left and…"
Sakura's eyes followed Naruto's line of sight. One box sat open, its contents visible. Bras and panties, some edged with lace.
"Gah!" Sakura yelped, rushing to the box.
She slammed the box shut, grabbed it, and disappeared through the sliding door.
Naruto looked around. Sakura had moved, started over. He’d missed it. Missed her birthday. Missed this new start. He should have been there.
A moment later, Sakura cleared her throat from the doorway.
"I saw nothing," he lied.
She exhaled, slow.
Naruto managed a smile. "Let’s start over."
She grinned. "Welcome home, Naruto.”
They smiled at each other. Silence settled in, warm and close.
He broke it as soon as he could. "Sorry, I missed your birthday."
Sakura shrugged, "You only missed it by about five days. Ino would call that fashionably late."
She smiled and opened her arms wide. "Well, what do you think?"
Naruto looked around. Boxes, bare walls. Sunlight poured through the enormous windows. He scratched his cheek. "Some more furniture wouldn’t hurt. Unless you’re going for the monk look."
Sakura snorted. "I enjoy anko dumplings way too much for an ascetic lifestyle."
They watched each other. Silence again. Too easy to fall in.
“I’m still furniture shopping; I haven’t really decided yet on what it’ll all look like.”
"I see," Naruto said, smiling.
She smiled back.
“So how's turning twenty treating you?” Naruto asked.
"I guess I feel lucky and grateful.”
He nodded. "Yeah, I can understand that. Does getting older scare you at all?"
"I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a little worried. Someday my big old forehead will start drooping."
Naruto considered this. "You know, I never thought your forehead was all that big."
"All that big?" Sakura inquired.
"It's the right type of big," he said.
She rolled her eyes. "The village is a really different place when you’re not around."
“I understand. I bet it's probably really quiet. Sometimes I can be loud.”
“Yeah. That’s what I missed.”
He froze. Silence stretched between them.
Until he broke it with an abrupt slap of his own forehead. "Oh yeah, I got you a gift!"
Naruto hurried to his bag, dug through it, and pulled out a package. He handed it to her, awkward as a rookie in front of his teacher.
She stared down at the box, covered in dark green wrapping paper, then looked up at him.
"Naruto, you shouldn't have."
Part of him agreed. Not that he shouldn’t have gotten her something. Just maybe not this. He remembered wandering into a jewelry shop in the Land of Iron, acting on impulse. The jeweler asked for a description of the person receiving the gift. Naruto tried, spent too long on her eyes. The jeweler nodded, disappeared, came back with three necklaces. Naruto hesitated. The jeweler told him to trust his heart.
He picked the one that felt right.
The jeweler who approved of his decision then stated, "Excellent, sir. When she wears it, make certain to tell her she is the most beautiful woman you have ever encountered.”
Tearing off the paper, Sakura held a dark green cardboard box. She opened the box and found a green velvet jewelry case inside. Once she was holding the case, she glanced up at Naruto again. "You really shouldn't-”
Sakura paused, opening the case. Inside: fine pearls, a single green gem at the center. Simple, unadorned. She held it up. The gem caught the sun, sharp as a star.
Finally, she whispered. "Can you um..?"
"Oh…right," Naruto said, snapping out of his worry.
He took the necklace. Sakura turned her back. He slipped it around her neck and fastened the clasp.
Sakura turned, eyes shining. "How does it look?"
The jeweler's words echoed in his head. He bit his tongue before he could say it.
"It looks good on you," he said. "Really good."
Color rose in her cheeks. She looked away.
"Thank you. For this. For everything, Naruto."
She toyed with the gem, eyes down. Neither of them looked up.
"Ah I almost forgot! I saved you some cake!"
Sakura slipped out, eyes down. Naruto paced, checked his breath, shrugged off his jacket, put it back on. Ran his hands through his hair. Foolish.
Seconds later, Sakura came back with a plate, a thick slice of chocolate cake on it.
Naruto inhaled the cake, barely tasting it. It was gone in seconds.
Finished, Naruto looked at Sakura. Hope flickered.
She smiled playfully. "Yes, I saved you another piece."
Their fingers brushed as she handed him the plate. Warmth shot up his arm. He tried to ignore it. Naruto shoved another bite of cake into his mouth, just to do something. Just friends. That should be enough.
Sakura looked down. Her mood shifted. She sat on the tatami beside him, took a breath. Naruto kept eating more slowly this time.
"May I ask you a personal question, Naruto?" She said.
Naruto grunted, mouth full of cake.
"You and Hinata were getting pretty close before I left for the Shikkotsu Forest. I figured you'd be engaged by the time I was back.
He stopped. Cake forgotten.
“I got back, and nothing had changed. If you don't mind my asking…why?"
Naruto paused.
“Why, what?”
It was Sakura’s turn to pause.
“She liked you a lot.”
He met her gaze.
“I…” he started and faltered.
“Be honest with me,” she said.
“The thing…”
“Consider it an extra gift.”
"I don’t…” He drew in a breath. “I don’t know if it’s fair to be with someone and hope one day that you'll feel for them what they feel for you."
He left it there.
"Are you seeing anyone now, Naruto?'
Naruto chuckled and returned to his cake. "If I were, you'd already know, Sakura-chan. The village is full of gossiping busybodies, y’know,”
"Naruto, would you like to be more than just friends?”
"What?!" Naruto gasped, choking on cake.
Sakura looked away. "I'd like us to be more than just friends, Naruto."
“Stop joking.” Naruto rubbed hard at the back of his neck. “Seriously, Sakura. Don’t do that.”
Sakura turned to him. She wasn't teasing.
"You….Sasuke," Naruto said, voice flat.
"He is my friend. I care for him dearly.”
"You love him."
Sakura considered this.
"A good medical ninja is smart. A great one possesses a tranquil and steady mind. A hurried mind makes fatal mistakes."
She paused.
"Tsunade said the best medical ninjas aren’t just skilled. They’re balanced. Wisdom is their lens on life."
She smiled at him.
“Tsunade mentioned this to me following the war. So I went to Shikkotsu Forest with her. Most of my training there was getting lost. My sense of direction failed. My chakra scattered. My senses were taken or overwhelmed. I got lost every day. And every day, I found my way back to camp. In between, I had time to think."
She looked down.
"There were no wars. No one I loved was in danger or pain. I had all the time in the world to think about myself. And when I thought about myself, I thought about Sasuke."
She let that sit.
"How amazing it was that he finally acknowledged me. How good it felt that he saw me as someone worth coming back to. I wanted him back so badly because I loved how he made me feel about myself. I thought if he looked at me differently, maybe I could look at myself differently too."
She met Naruto's eyes.
"The more I thought about my feelings, the less it sounded like love."
Naruto set his cake aside. "Sakura, you can't just…"
He paused. What couldn’t she do? Fall out of love? He’d tried. Maybe you could. Maybe not. If he could, could she? Should he even be thinking about this?
"This isn't a decision you make lightly."
She shook her head. "Lightly? Hardly. When I went to the forest, I loved Sasuke. I wanted him to be happy. When I left, I still cared for him, still wanted him happy. But I didn’t love him. My mind didn’t change. My perspective did."
"This makes no sense," Naruto said.
Sakura’s eyes narrowed. “You think I haven’t spent months saying the same thing to myself?”
She gave him a sad smile. "Do you think I’m lying to you?"
"Sakura..”
"Am I lying, Naruto?"
Naruto slapped the floor. Frustration rising. "I don't… Why now?"
Sakura licked her lips.
"Did you know why I went to Shikkotsu Forest?"
"You wanted to become stronger."
"Yeah." She nodded. "But why did I want to get stronger?"
"Because Tsunade advised you to?"
Sakura shook her head.
"I wanted to support you."
She paused.
"If I have any choice in it, I won't let you die before you become Hokage, Naruto. I'm excited to see the world you shape."
Naruto drew a slow breath. The room seemed to shift.
"Turns out I'm greedy too. I realized…I didn’t just wanna see it. I wanted—…I wanted to be there with you."
She held his gaze.
"I'm not asking you to answer right away. I don't want to push. We have a complicated history. I just want you to think about it. At least that."
Naruto laughed. Sudden. Sharp. Too loud in the quiet room.
Sakura moved. Her fist was near his skull before he saw her coming. The laugh died. He rolled back and hit the wall. The room shook.
"Sakura, wait—" He sat up. "Before you kill me, hear me out."
Sakura's eyes flashed. She stalked toward him.
"I didn't mean to laugh at you." Naruto held up a hand. "The whole thing just felt funny. Life's strange and—" He stopped. "Wait. I've gotta say something. I should have said it ages ago."
Sakura paused. Color returned to her face.
"Please sit," Naruto said.
She studied his face. Then she sat.
Quiet settled in.
"Just thinking about you makes me want to smile all day," Naruto said. “You’re smart. And scary. And beautiful. And you yell too much. But when I think about home…I think about you.”
Sakura blushed. Her eyes stayed on her hands.
"But that's just a piece." Naruto’s voice dropped. "Back then, when you scolded me, got mad at me, it wasn't because I was the demon child. It was because I was a pest. Not a monster. Not an ugly scar on the village."
He drew in a breath.
"You don’t know what that did to me as a kid. Most people found it easier to ignore me. I never understood why a little boy needed to be ignored."
He let it go.
"You looked at me and just saw me. Ugh. That sounded better in my head. Anyway. Even after you learned about the Kyuubi. After I hurt you on the bridge. After I became the hero. You saw me."
He looked at her.
“That’s why I can’t lose you, Sakura. Doesn’t matter what we are."
Naruto waited, then grinned.
"Just don’t mess around with me, Sakura. Because if this is real, Sakura, I’m coming over there"
Sakura looked away. "Well, you don’t believe me."
"I want to believe. Help me.”
She nodded. "Okay,”
She drew a breath.
"We've known each other a long time, Naruto. I think we'd be good together. We want the same thing."
Naruto rose. “Uh-huh.”
Sakura swallowed. The sound was loud in the quiet room. "I want the version of you no one else gets."
Naruto edged closer. Her eyes widened.
"Don't give up," he encouraged.
Sakura lifted her chin. “I want you, idiot. There. Happy?"
“I’m almost there."
Sakura met his eyes. "I didn't plan this. But I want it."
"One more push," he whispered.
Naruto knelt beside her. He cupped her face. She leaned into his hands, eyes closed, and pressed her lips to his palm.
"I love you, okay?! God, why are you torturing me like this?"
He held her face.
“Don’t stare at me like that,” she whispered.
He kissed her forehead, her eyelids, her cheeks. Then her mouth, slow, trying to remember every second. They stayed like that, not letting go. The world shrank to the space between them.
"You know, love you, Sakura."
Tears slipped down her face. He brushed them away with his thumb. Her skin was warm.
"Naruto, if you break my heart, I will kill you."
He grinned. "I already know that."
"I swear, if you do, I'll dissect your heart."
"I won't. You know I won't."
"I know," she said, as he kissed each tear.
Naruto pulled back. A smear of chocolate marked her lip. He smiled.
He laughed, pointed at her lips. "I think I got chocolate on you."
Sakura licked her lips, her tongue brushing his thumb. Naruto’s breath caught. The air pressed in.
"Wow. We can’t leave you two alone for one afternoon?" someone else in the room said.
Naruto and Sakura turned their heads in unison to see Ino beaming at them.
"Not like your crappy flowers and vase, Shikamaru."
Shikamaru brushed past Ino, carrying a bucket of paint in one hand and a paintbrush in the other. "Anyway…you guys seem busy, so we're just going to work on that wall."
He offered Naruto a shrug, “Sorry about the troublesome timing, seriously.”
Chouji trailed behind his best friend. "Is anyone going to finish that cake?"
Sai appeared at Sakura's side. "As much as I am pleased by your coupling. I must recommend that you avoid becoming the couple that always kisses in public. From what I can gather, nobody likes that kind of couple. Physical affection appears significantly more awkward when witnessed unexpectedly.”
Naruto looked around, stunned. Half their friends were there, already unpacking paint cans.
"We'll handle the living room. You two can work the bedroom." She said suggestively.
She glanced at Sakura, then at the leftover cake, then back at Sakura.
"You've got a little something on your forehead." Ino chuckled before walking away.
Naruto turned to her.
"Sakura…"
"I forgot they were coming to help," she sighed, face bright red. "I’ll be locking my door from now on."
