just so everyone knows I do block anyone under 18 if they like my content, and i really do check every note. If theres no age listed then i obviously cant know, but please do not exploit this.
Summary: Link and Zelda try their hardest to focus on the growing list of duties that have been dumped on them now that Ganon is gone, while being tempted by their insatiable lust for one another.
or
Link hates himself and causes a self imposed slowburn while Zelda tries her hardest to focus on the fact that she has a broken county to lead, and not the fact that Link seems to be even more oblivious than he was before the calamity.
Link ran to where she fell, stumbling over himself the whole way there, he was desperate for her. His hands shook as he gripped her shoulders, this was what he was working for all this time. Zelda—she wrote his memories, and helped him in his path, he couldn't be more grateful.
As he studied her face he felt tears pricking the corners of his eyes. She was what he was working for, his purpose. “You did amazing, thank you Zelda.” His voice was hoarse, and his body was weak, but he had to finish his job, he had to take her home.
Hateno was the safest place he could take her, no one would know who she was, it would be peaceful. In the back of his mind there was the nagging thought of how Impa would want him to take the princess to Kakariko, but he chose to ignore it. He wanted to be selfish, his home was her home.
Link tried his hardest to be discreet, but it was hard not to notice a man carrying a body into his house. He was grateful the villagers chose to ignore him.
As he carried Zelda through the door he could feel stinging tears threatening to fall. It was strange, all the feelings that were bubbling up he didn't really remember, but the weight of her in his arms allowed them to spill into his mind. All the adoration her felt for her washing over him, so much that he felt like he might drown. He wouldn't let the tears fall though, instead he carried her to his bed and laid her down, letting her rest for the first time in a century.
Link let out a ragged sigh. He unbuckled his scabbard tossing it to the side hearing it clatter on the floor, and all but threw himself into the chair at his bedside desk. His legs felt weak, and he was covered in muck from his fight. He was too tired for a bath though—he couldn’t even bring himself to change out of his grimy clothes. Zelda was even worse, her prayer dress was torn and frayed at the hem, grass and mud stains littered the simple bodice.
Then he saw the stains. Deep brown splotches littered the skirt of the dress. It was not her blood of course, Link had made sure of that when the incident happened.
For the longest time, the moments before he was taken to the shrine of resurrection were locked away from him, similar to the rest of his memories. Over time he could remember bits and pieces, but the full series of events evaded him. Now, seeing the ruined dress, he was brought back to the impact of the guardian's beam. The white hot pain that ripped through his body, the strain in his voice as he screamed. He felt himself hit the ground, a dull thud drowned out with the sound of Zelda's cries as she ran to him. Her hands found him, and pulled him onto her lap.
Lifting a hand from his chest showed just how much blood he was losing, the thick liquid dripping off his palm. He was sure it was soaking his maiden’s dress, ruining it. Zelda’s sobs rang in his ears. Her begging, no, beseeching her Goddess to change his fate. He wished for death, he failed to protect her, so he no longer deserved this life.
He came to, gasping for air, the memory seeming to have stolen it from him. Why would his brain subject him to a memory of that caliber? Why at this time, when he no longer had the time to process it? His mind worked against him in many ways but it had never given him a memory that was this graphic, this repulsive.
He failed Hyrule, he failed his people. He deserved to be beheaded in the square for the transgression. It crossed his mind that he hoped Zelda felt the same way. He hoped she would be the executioner if he was to be honest.
Not even a moment after he had decided his punishment, Zelda began to stir. She whispered his name, as if it was a prayer. His heart skipped the moment her eyes met his.
He was at her bedside before she could even sit up, almost knocking the chair over in his haste. “Zelda, fuck—I’m here.” He backpedaled the moment the words left his lips, he wasn’t as well versed in the proper was to speak to royalty as he once was. “My apologies princess, I… am here if you need assistance.”
Before he was finished speaking she had grabbed on to his tunic, pulling him into a rib crushing hug. Her fingers dug into his back as her whispers of ‘thank you’ flooded his ears. “You may speak however you please, you’ve earned that much at least!” She pulled back to look at his face, her tears leaving streaks in the dirt on her cheeks.
She huffed, Link knew that she must have been exhausted. Her body had been forced to be alert for a century, never a moment for rest. He wondered if she had known he was coming back for her. Was there ever a moment that she had given up on the possibility of getting saved?
“Let me run you a bath, I think I remember how you like them. Steamy and bubbly?” His voice was apprehensive, he didn’t want to overstep. Her eyes welled with tears once again as she answered, “That would be lovely, thank you.”
Link wasted no time leading her to the washroom, he wanted to do everything in his power to bring her comfort. The light patter of her feet on the hardwood floor grounded him, she was real. He was holding her hand to guide her, their palms fitting together naturally like puzzle pieces. The heat of her hand in his made his heart race in a strange way. While he had known for a while that he must have had feelings for her before the calamity, he didn’t think that they would follow him to his current life. He failed to think that maybe the reason he was set on saving her after he woke up was because the vastness of his love for her bled through the locked memories. He knew now that he was foolish to ever deny his heart. It was a tragedy he would never have her.
When they entered his washroom, Link released Zelda’s wrists and started her bath. The water flowing out of the faucet was warm and inviting. It made Link wish her bath was for him too. While the tub filled Link gathered a bar of soap and a fresh towel to place on the edge of the tub. “I’ll leave you to get in the bath while I grab you a fresh set of clothes, okay?” Zelda nodded.
Link closed the door behind him hesitantly to give her privacy, not wanting to take his eyes off of her now that he has her back. He chose a forest green tunic and a pair of his black underclothes to bring her. It was too warm to give her socks to lounge with indoors.
As he stood up from the clothes drawer under his bed he looked out his window. The sky was fully in twilight. Pinks, oranges, and purples bled throughout the sky, giving into dark blues and blacks at the horizon. It felt like even the sky was celebrating his victory against Ganondorf.
Link made his way back to the bathroom and knocked on the door, “Come in!” Zelda chirped in response. The sight Link was greeted with when he opened the door was nothing short of goddess made. Zelda was lounging in the tub, the smooth skin of her chest accentuated by the water glistening on her skin. He shouldn’t be seeing this. Her breasts were hidden, barely, by her soapy water. Link was almost overwhelmed by the sight, his knees felt weak. “I have clothes for when you are ready to dry off, I’ll leave them on the sink counter.” He said, his voice came out more gruff than he intended, “Thank you, Link, I’ll be out soon.” Link’s stomach twisted in diluted arousal from her gaze.
He smiled at her and exited the room, closing its door behind him. He then gathered his own clothes and a spare bar of soap from his kitchen sink cabinet and left to the lake behind his home to wash off quickly. Zelda was sitting on his sofa having finished her bath soon before Link came back from the lake, goddess she looked divine in his clothes.
Link was perched on the cushion next to her, a respectful distance apart. He was enthralled with the sight of her side profile, this was the same Zelda from his memories. The one who once hated him and then grew to like him, the one who he swore his life to protect, his Princess.
She was writing a letter, already at work. Link wished for her to rest, at least for the day, ideally for the foreseeable future. “Hey,” he started quietly, “at least give yourself a few days to rest. Whatever it is, I can write it for you or it can wait if you prefer but you just defeated the Demon King — let yourself rest princess.” Link began to reach for the paper, and the notebook it was resting on.
Zelda leaned away, “Always a worry wart,” Zelda giggled in a way that made Link’s chest flutter. “I’m writing a letter to Impa. I was going to have you deliver it to her if you’ll allow it, I want her to know that I’m safe. She must know Ganon is dead, she will be waiting for an update on how I am. And I feel like it would be best for her to receive the news that I’m okay from my own mouth, well pen.”
Link nodded, “That's okay I suppose, shall I capture a photo as well to show her?” Link didn’t know what came over him to suggest that, He supposed he wanted a picture of her for himself as well. Another way to remind himself that she’s real.
Zelda smiled at him, “That's a great idea Link! She would love that I’m sure, she's as much of a worry wart as you are!” Link nodded and readied the camera on the slate, Zelda positioned herself to face the camera smiling brightly, and the camera clicked. “Got it, looks good. Impa will like this for sure.” It looked more than good to Link, he was in awe of how beautiful Zelda could be even in just an old tunic and his underwear, but of course he couldn’t say that.
The rest of the evening was spent quietly, Link and Zelda sparsely spoke save for little questions here and there, nothing too deep, safe. He wasn’t sure if Zelda had any of the same feelings for him that he had for her and he was too scared to ask. Too scared to ruin the safety he had just gained. When it came time to lay down for the night they argued playfully about who would take the bed. Link begging Zelda to take it, and Zelda saying she can’t possibly take it from him seeing as it's his bed and his house. Link won.
The morning was much the same, little talking, just peace. Link admired Zelda at the breakfast table, she was the Goddess incarnate, to put it in as few words as possible. He knew she would want to rebuild in the future so he wanted to savor her as ‘Zelda’ before she falls back into the role of ‘princess’. He hoped that she would stay away from her duties for as long as possible, he hoped she would stay with him.
Later that day Zelda sent Link on his way to Kakariko to deliver her letter. He was iffy on leaving her by herself, but Zelda reassured him that she could handle herself if the need arose. With that, he disappeared into blue dust, teleporting to Kakariko.
Link arrived in the village clumsily, stumbling off the landing of the shrine before he found his footing and paraglided to Impa’s house. He landed in front of her stairs and nodded at the guard posted in front, the guard nodded back in silent approval. He walked through the door and up to Impa as she meditated, she roused from her trance giving Link an expecting look. “Where is she?”
Link handed her a letter, rolling his eyes playfully. Then, remembering the photo, he fumbled with the Sheikah Slate, pulling up the photo album. “I have a photo of her to go with it,” he turned the slate around so Impa could see. “She’s eager to see you, but all she can give you now is a photo.”
Impa smiled at him, then at the picture, “She will come here when she is ready I assume? Your home in Hateno is not a proper place to house a princess.”
Link’s face fell as she spoke, but he swallowed his anger as he responded. “She will live where she sees fit, it is her choice.” Link could feel his hands shake as he took his slate back from the old woman. He hoped she would not ream him for his response.
“I suppose,” she started, “that if she chooses to live in that house with you there is nothing I can do. I can only ask that you do not let your lust blind your judgment as a knight.” Her eyes pierced his as she spoke, a direct order. Link has not been ordered around since the fall of the kingdom, but the feeling of submission would never leave him.
“Yes Impa,” was his only response. She seemed satisfied with his lack of argument, moving on to discussing niceties of how Link was feeling after his fight.
The rest of their visit was a blur to Link. He had gotten permission to house the princess, nothing else mattered in his mind. That is, until Impa started speaking about marriage. She spoke so sure of herself, so sure that the princess will marry a foreign man. One with lots of influence, one who has rubbed elbows with only the most influential leaders of the continent.
Link felt his body move before he was fully aware what was happening, hands already fumbling with his slate. He selected Hateno on his map, and before Impa could object, dissipated into a blue mist.
His landing was rough as he reappeared at Hateno’s shrine. His anger causing his hands to shake as he hooked the slate back on his belt. He bristled as one of the villagers waved at him from the road, only waving back after a deep breath to ground himself. He must have looked more disheveled than usual because the villager scurried away after getting a good look at him.
Link sat outside for a long time before going back to the house to face Zelda. How was he to tell her that his conversation with Impa went sour. Moreover, how was he to tell her the reason it went sour? ‘I cannot fathom ever leaving your side again’? Right and then she will take his hand in marriage right then in that living room. How could he tell her that he ran away because he couldn’t fathom the thought of not having her to himself?
From what he could remember of pre-calamity, hearing of Zelda's royal duties didn’t make him feel like this. Now the thought of her moving out, or Goddess forbid getting married off was like a gut punch. What a knight he was, yearning for the one person he is destined to not have. The myths never spoke of how the hero got to grow old with the princess.
Link eventually worked up the nerve to face her. When she let him in, the smile she gave him made his mouth go dry, he hoped she didn't notice how dry his voice sounded when he greeted her. “So, did she like my letter? The picture as well? I smiled sincerely for her, unlike my smile for the royal portraits my father had commissioned.”
Link swallowed, “She was appreciative of both the photo and the letter but was rather pushy in her insistence of having us discuss Hyrule’s future.” That's all she needs to know about the conversation.
Zelda pursed her lips, “Of course she's focused on that right now. It makes sense I suppose. She has spent her whole life at this point worried for Hyrule, she’s probably ready to pass on the torch. However, that doesn’t give her the right to pressure my knight over it. I will discuss it when I am ready, which I’m sure you told her.”
Link nodded, reveling in the fact she said 'my knight'. “I did, I let her know that everything will be your choice and on your time. There’s no need to rush you.”
They chattered on about Kakariko, Link artfully avoiding the topic of the second half of he and Impa’s conversation. It crossed his mind that Impa might send a letter asking about what had happened, she may even send guards to collect the princess after deeming Link to be unfit as a knight. He shook the thought out of his head, he could intercept a letter, and Impa would never think to take the princess from him this early.
The sound of Zelda’s stomach growling pulled him from his thoughts. Wordlessly, he moved to the kitchen, pulling out a pot and a baking sheet. Salmon risotto was on the menu tonight, only because that was the only fish he had managed to catch in the river recently.
Zelda watched curiously as he cooked, her eyes tracking his hands as he washed the rice and cleaned the fish. “I didn’t know you could cook, my knight is multifaceted!” She fake swooned as she spoke, but Link could tell there was real surprise behind her words.
He nodded as he continued his preparation, “I learned in the last two years while in the wild. Turns out people are reluctant to house a strange man carrying a sword.” Zelda snorted, but her face quickly turned grim.
“You were homeless for two years? Not one person could find it in their heart to let you in?” Her face was a study of textbook rage as she spoke. It scared him how quickly the air had changed after her words.
“I was looking for you for most of that time, so camps sufficed. I was able to afford this house before the cold really hit in the fall.” He hoped his words calmed the fire brewing in the princess’ chest. It wouldn’t be a good look for her to begin her new reign with a chip on her shoulder.
“Well it’s still unacceptable that you had to buy your own parents house back. It should have been reserved for you.” Her words were news to him.
He gave his focus to her fully, “What do you mean? My parents lived in Hateno?” Zelda nodded as if this information was well known. Link blinked at her, then set his focus back on the meal he was preparing, this was too much information for him to process at the time. “I didn’t know, thank you for telling me.”
Zelda huffed, “Once I am queen I will be having a talk with the mayor to see if we can get your money back. Those rupees would be better spent on armor and food.” Link nodded though he was sure that those rupees were long gone, they would have to give him money from the treasury and that didn’t sit right with him. As he finished the cooking, Zelda set the table. He noticed that instead of sitting them across from each other she made their seats next to each other. He felt his stomach flip, she wanted to sit so close to him. He set their plates on their respective mats, waiting to sit after she sat.
He let her have the first bite as well. She took her bite, promptly turning to give her review. “Link, this is so good. I don't think I've had food this good even when I had a personal chef.” He knew she was exaggerating but it felt good to hear regardless. He thanked her for her compliment, and started on his own plate.
He couldn't seem to be normal about her words, his cock made quick work of showing his arousal. While Link was no stranger to this feeling, he knew that it was improper for him to react this way while the princess was right next to him. He would go as far to say that it was perverted in nature. His only measure to hide it was crossing his legs and placing a napkin over his lap, and of course his knee hit the table as he moved it. with shame bubbling over, he decided to take a vow of silence for the rest of the meal.
After Zelda made several failed attempts to speak to him, he decided he was done with his meal and wanted to take a bath. The princess made no attempt to argue as he cleaned up his plate, and tidied the kitchen. His lake was calling to him, at least he couldn't make a fool of himself out there.
He wanted privacy, even though his thoughts were far from private activities. He wondered if Zelda would think that sounded foolish. Maybe she was plagued by the same thoughts? He couldn’t know. a part of him didn't want to know.
As Link undressed his thoughts wandered to sharing a bath with her. The image of her perfect breasts barely covered by bubbles in her bath flooded his mind. How he wished he could see more, maybe even feel them, her nipples hardening under his touch. He could feel his arousal straining in his pants, the desperate throbbing of his cock was embarrassing. He shouldn't touch himself, he couldn't, he never has and he frankly was scared. If the princess caught him...
He ran his hands down his face out of exacerbation. Then stopped for a moment, considering. Was it worth it, would he be satisfied after? He started to run his hands down his chest, then abdomen, all while looking down at himself. He needed to know if it would calm his salacious tendencies.
He moved to palm his throbbing cock through the fabric, hoping to relieve the deep ache that settled under his stomach. He felt how wet he was from the way he leaked through his underclothes. What a mess it was. He watched himself move his hand away and saw the way a strand of his pre-cum stretched across the space between his clothed cock and his fingers. He wondered, if Zelda had seen that, would she be revolted or aroused? Would she tell him that he's doing good, or would she leave him to tend to his lust on his own?
Link covered his mouth to muffle a whimper. He shoved his hand down his shorts, gripping himself and gently stroking, focusing on the base as the head was too sensitive. His knees buckled underneath him, betraying him and sending him to kneel in the grass. It was surely a provocative pose and it was not lost on him that Zelda could come out anytime and see. The thought made his cock jump in his palm.
He ventured to stroking his full cock, using the pre-cum as lubrication, making his strokes feel heavenly. He could almost imagine what Zelda's hands would feel like, gripping him in the same way he was doing to himself. The knot in his stomach tightened, and his whimpers broke into full moans, not even his hand could muffle them fully.
It was then that he became aware of the picture he painted, slumped over, rubbing at himself like a sex-hungry dog. As abruptly as he began, he stopped. He pulled his hand out of his pants, trying to ignore the way it shined with his arousal.
It was hard but he managed to undress himself, shame burning at his cheeks. He dared not think of if someone heard, the answer to that question might put him in an early grave.
He walked into the water, letting the chill ground him. A pervert like him did not deserve warmth.
Don't You Know Who I Think I Am? (They Say Quitters Never Win)
MDNI 18+ eventual sex !!!
Chapter 2
Sakura for all her knowledge of medical practices, and general intelligence, has no idea what to do when a messy love triangle happens in her own apartment. Her fix? Make it so much messier, to the point where she doesn't know where she ends and they begin.
Or:
Sakura, Sasuke, and Naruto explore love, sex, and each other's bodies together, frequently, and with enthusiasm. All while trying to navigate their lives outside of each other.
It felt like everyone had moved on, left her behind in the oppressive grief that left her a husk of her former self. She wished she could break free from the routine she created for herself. Late grueling nights at the hospital, into sleeping just enough to keep her on her feet, into sulking, finally ending back at the hospital. When everyone else had found their footing, a way to keep going, she had hers ripped away, sent to prison awaiting a trial that never seemed to come. Sakura had counted every day that he had been in that damn cell, six hundred and eight days. Six hundred and eight days since he and Naruto had their altercation. It was sickening.
There was one person Sakura knew was taking it just as hard. Naruto was paralyzed with grief. He let it consume him, blanket him when no one else was able to hold him. No one wanted to check in on the war hero, just chew him up and spit him out into marketable mush.
On her off days she usually tried to get a hold of him, get him to see the sun before he withers away. Before the war she spent these days with Ino, buying useless shit she didn’t need, teenage fodder. He was usually in bed, back to the door with his knees in his chest. She always started with pleading with him, appealing to his sense of survival. He usually only budged when she spoke about Sasuke. She told him everything she knew, about when the trial was rumored to be held. By the time she was done he was usually ready to get up, start something of a day.
Today was different, not in any tangible way, but she could tell that there was more of that spark of life in him as she spoke. He didn’t usually speak, not compared to the past, when she used to daydream of silence. She was surprised that she stuck with her career path as a genin, what with the team that she was stuck with. When he did speak, he spoke about nothing in particular. Just about general regrets, things he thought he could have done differently when it came to bringing Sasuke home. Sakura listened, was there for him when nobody else seemed to be. Today he surprised her, he was already so much more lively, asking questions, even laughing when Sakura tripped over his messy room (he helped her clean up after that).
They cleaned for a while, taking small breaks intermittently. In one of these small breaks the air was split with a question.
“Sakura, are you lonely?”
It was the type of question that would seem normal in this type of situation, she was a nineteen year old girl that went to her depressed friend’s house to clean and seek company when she knew he couldn’t give her any. Of course she was lonely. The question still curdled in her stomach, like she didn’t want to admit ‘yes Naruto I am so lonely without yours and Sasuke’s company. I crave it so bad that I get rejected by you every day on the hopes that one day you’ll let me in.’ So instead she said:
“Yeah, sometimes.”
She expected that to be the end of it, that all he was looking for was mutual loneliness. Confirmation that he wasn’t the only one that was impacted like this, but he surprised her again.
“We should live together, Sasuke too when he gets released. Might solve our problems, help each other move on from this… situation.”
She couldn’t say no, even though the thought scared her. It was Naruto, the boy she spent her childhood with, the man she went to war with. They were as close as she could be with anyone. She had spent more time with him than her own parents at this point, so there was no question in her mind when she said yes.
She had a two bedroom apartment already, and the second bedroom had become an unused office. Her preferred study area had become the kitchen table ever since she started night shifts at the hospital. They agreed to look for a three bedroom when they got news about Sasuke’s release.
It felt comfortable letting Naruto move in, like he was the missing piece in her apartment. He looked natural as he moved his boxes in, and as his stuff was slowly unpacked it didn’t look like foreign objects filling her space. She started to feel clarity for the first time since the war.
Some time after the dust had cleared from his move Naruto asked, “Sakura, why did you let me move in so easily? I know you know I’m obnoxious, you’ve said it many times over the years.”
Sakura was in the kitchen cooking dinner for the two, Naruto’s idea of dinner would have been cup noodles or Ichiraku’s, so he was banned from helping. She shrugged, “I know you need the company right now.” Really, she was desperate for her team, she wanted them together again. She never thought of herself as the sentimental type, always ready to let go of something that didn’t serve her. She couldn’t let go of her original genin team, they had bonded better than any other team she had been apart of since. She didn’t have the same camaraderie with Naruto and Sasuke that they had with each other, but she was still more than close with them. She missed the nights they spent on the road together; the meals they shared, and the laughter that rang through the night when they weren’t attempting to kill each other. They meant safety to her.
Naruto nodded, a thoughtful look on his face, “What about when you and Sasuke get married? Will you still let me live with you like this? Another man in the house would probably be such a buzz kill for Sasuke, he might think you’re having sex with me on the side!”
“Way to ruin my mood, why are you even thinking of that?” she put the knife she was holding down, refraining from throwing it at him like a kunai. “I haven’t thought about marrying him since I tried to convince you to give up on him in the Land of Iron.” She felt her face heat up as she recalled the events, she felt shame for being so manipulative, but she was desperate. She wanted Sasuke to come home as much as Naruto, but watching him put himself though so much pain was more torturous than losing Sasuke forever. So she did the only thing she could think to do at the time, and confessed her love for Naruto in hopes that he would give up on his promise. Though now she realizes it was never about the promise.
“I think you will, you have to because you’re Sakura and he's Sasuke. It just makes sense, like how we all make sense as a team. Plus, you have been in love with him since you were like eleven. That has to count for something.” He looked so hopeful for her as he spoke. It almost convinced her that he was right, that she deserved Sasuke. She had her own theories though, Naruto had been unwilling to give up on Sasuke. Unwilling to even hear a plan that didn’t include saving him. As children he was inseparable from the other boy, and when Sasuke left almost everything he spoke about had to do with saving him. Sakura thought that there were some repressed feelings at play, that Naruto’s love was more similar to her own for Sasuke than he would admit. She would never assume though, so she stuck to quietly observing.
The first few days with Naruto were quiet. While she was comfortable with his presence, he was still too shy to claim the house as his own. She saw him often enough, and noticed signs of life though empty ramen cups on the coffee table occasionally, but he only hung around when invited. It wasn’t until Naruto caught her studying late at night that the ice had begun to break.
“Shouldn’t you be sleeping? I thought you worked mornings on Wednesdays.” He was leaning against the open doorway that led from the living room to the kitchen/dining room. His arm crossed over his chest as if her poor time management disappointed him. As if he could speak on time management.
Sakura looked him up and down, He had only a pair of sweat pants on, shirt discarded somewhere in his room. She noted the curves of his torso, and the dip of his hip bones into the waist of his pants. Her eyes settled on the trail of hair that led to his pubic area, and snapped back up to his face. He said nothing of her gaze other than letting a light-hearted smirk play at his lips.
“Shouldn’t you? I’ll have you know I’m studying for a surgery I have coming up soon, one that involves you.” She was reading up on limb transplants, she wanted to make sure she had all her information right before she attempted her first on him. Her fear was that she would botch him and he would be living proof of her inadequacies.
“I’m sure that’s not for another few months, another year if we’re being realistic. Granny said she could only work so fast with all her other responsibilities.” He waved his hand flippantly, “Besides, you’re no use to anyone on poor sleep.”
Sakura scoffed, “Okay just because it won’t be for another few months doesn’t mean that I shouldn’t learn as much as I can. And don’t call her ‘granny’!” She sighed, “I’ll go to sleep soon, let me finish this chapter.”
Naruto crossed the room to stand next to her, then leaned over her to close her book. She endeavored not to think about how enticing he smelled as he entered her personal space.
“You can finish it tomorrow, you’ll complain about lack of sleep if I don’t stop you now.” He glowered at her while he spoke, years of her morning complaints flooding into her memory.
She pushed the book to the middle of the table with a huff, “Okay, I get it. I’ll see you tomorrow okay?”
He nodded, stepping back to let her up, “G’night Sakura.”
“’Night, sleep well!” she tossed back as she made her way to her room.
°❀.ೃ࿔°❀.ೃ࿔
Sakura was prepping for another long shift when an ANBU officer dropped by her window. She held a letter that had the Hokage’s official seal. Sakura let her in and took the letter, noting how the ANBU left as soon as she passed the letter off, she did not have to respond to the message.
The letter was simple, stating that Sasuke was to be released that day, and that his trial had concluded. She felt a smile form before she had a chance to think about the information on the page. Before she knew it she had already sent a message to Tsunade saying she would be out of work, and was on her way to Naruto’s room.
She barged through the door and shook his shoulders to wake him, she had no time for polite gestures. “Wake up, wake up! He’s out, free to come home to us!” She shook him once more before he cracked his eyes open, it only took him a moment to register the occasion.
He said nothing as he wrapped his arm around her neck and pulled her down into a crushing hug. She didn’t protest, instead choosing to return the affections. He had gone through so much to get Sasuke back, had been so patient while he was incarcerated, and now it was over. Sakura thought he might kiss her as he let her lean back, but he only smiled big and wide.
“Hes really back?” His voice was heavy from sleep, and the weakest part of Sakura reacted to the sound like a starved dog. She held back, barely, and nodded. His smile widened impossibly, pulling her back into a hug that lasted what felt like a life time, neither made an effort to get up.
They dressed in a hurry after reluctantly pulling themselves apart. Sakura’s skin was slick with sweat in all the parts that were touching Naruto, he ran too hot for her liking. She couldn’t bring herself to care though, as they had someone to meet. He would only wait for so long.
They raced as they left the house, Sakura taking to the rooftops for the advantage of faster travel. Naruto joined her soon after shouting it was unfair. The smile on his face as he chased her twisted her stomach into knots. She brushed the feeling aside as excitement, but under her denial it boiled through her veins.
She won the race but only by a hairs width. Naruto had improved in so many facets, including his speed, and she found herself working twice as hard to stay ahead. She loathed his abandonment of he genin laziness in moments like these, wishing she could stay in her throne for this one thing. She would find time to be ashamed of her insecurities later.
They stopped abruptly at the doors of the prison, Sakura stopping herself on her own, and Naruto using her as a stopping block almost taking them to the floor. Sakura used the pager next to the door asking when Sasuke would be released. The person on the other end answered ‘who’s asking.’ and when Sakura began to answer the other end laughed interrupting with ‘just kidding’ before telling them he was finishing up paperwork and would be out soon. Kakashi must have sent word that they would be coming.
It was twenty minutes of waiting before the big doors opened with a creak. Sasuke stood in the door way with a look of uncertainty as he took in the sight before him. Sakura and Naruto were practically vibrating in excitement before pouncing on him like a feral cat would to its prey. But instead of yowls of anger they cried loud in happiness. When Sasuke finally pushed them off Sakura could see where her face had been pushed into his chest by the stains left from her tears in the white fabric.
“I’m on house arrest, for a year.” His voice was solemn, and quiet, like it hadn’t been used in days. “After six months I will be able to return to missions inside the walls, and after the punishment is over I will return to regular missions.”
Sakura nodded taking his words in, six months to live with Sasuke uninterrupted. It might be the worst decision she's ever made, but it might also be the most rewarding.
Naruto asked what she had been too choked up to, “Will you stay with us? Instead of staying in your old grimy apartment alone?”
Sasuke made a face, like he wanted to say no, but he couldn’t, not to them, not to Naruto. “Yes, if you have the room.”
Sakura explained how she wanted to get a three bedroom with the two of them, how she had a listing picked out and that she and Naruto would tour it in the coming days. Sasuke nodded, and followed them as they started to walk back to her—their—apartment.
idk why but im getting notis that my posts on here are getting likes and stuff and they arent shoeing up and on ao3 i actually AM getting kudos and stuff but those emails arent showing up.. very strange
Don't You Know Who I Think I Am? (They Say Quitters Never Win)
MDNI 18+ Sexual Content!!
CW: Dry Humping, Making Out, Reference to Sasuke and Naruto as genin sparing and getting 'close' with each other BUT i do not describe the act Naruto is simply referencing that it happened to Sakura. Any real sexual content is done between consenting adults.
Summary:
Sakura for all her knowledge of medical practices, and general intelligence, has no idea what to do when a messy love triangle happens in her own apartment. Her fix? Make it so much messier, to the point where she doesn't know where she ends and they begin.
Or:
Sakura, Sasuke, and Naruto explore love, sex, and each other's bodies together, frequently, and with enthusiasm. All while trying to navigate their lives outside of each other.
The three of them moved as soon as they possibly could into the apartment Sakura had picked out some weeks prior. From a birds eye view of the move, one might think they hated each other, as they were throwing things and yelling as they went. Sakura definitely felt anger coursing through her as Naruto kept man handling her most fragile possessions, but it never dipped into hatred.
Sasuke was quiet throughout the process, a mirror of Naruto when the former was still imprisoned. He helped pack their things, trying to be polite, but Sakura could tell he wished he was elsewhere. Sakura caught his eyes and smiled at him, hoping to reassure him that he was wanted there—that he belonged with them. She wasn’t sure if a simple smile would convey the depth of her message, but the sentiment was there. He held her gaze for a moment and looked away, focusing on the pile of things in his lap.
Naruto watched the interaction from his seat on the sofa, sharing a worried look with Sakura. Sasuke was quiet, sure, but his lethargy was another thing. He had been through major trauma in the years past, and it was showing just how much he had changed once adrenaline wasn't running through him. His need for revenge had kept him going for so long that he must have been unsure of his place in the world without it.
Naruto smirked as he made his move in their long standing game of psychological chess. “Whats the deal dumb-ass? You come home, and all you want to do is sulk?” he goaded from his perch, goofy smile on his face. "You have stupid hobbies."
Big talk coming from the number one sulk-er, Sakura almost couldn’t believe the hypocrisy.
“Naruto! Its only been a couple of days, leave him be.”
“I'm tired of seeing your face, so I'm ignoring it.” Sasuke leered, ignoring Sakura in favor of taking Naruto’s bait. "You think if i didn't have to be here, I would choose to stay? So self-centered."
The belittlement was childish, and unoriginal, but Naruto could never let his insults go unpunished. He was even more childish in that way.
He bared his teeth in an almost canine action, and lunged towards the other in mock anger. Sasuke didn’t dodge him, letting The other shove him to the ground, as if he wanted it.
It quickly turned into a scrabble that was less about their argument, and more about dominance, at least on Naruto's end.
Sakura watched as Naruto straddled Sasuke in a manner that grazed intimacy, but wasn’t quite there yet. He held Sasuke’s arm above his head as they struggled on the floor, and she felt her stomach knot. Was she a pervert? She reminded herself that they were only fighting before moving to rip him off of the prone Sasuke.
Naruto landed with an ‘uhf’ when thrown to the couch, the look in his eyes was carnal in the way that sex sometimes is. His breath was heavy, but it didn't seem to be because of the grapple. Sakura chose then to turn her attention towards Sasuke who was already standing to brush himself off. He looked the same, heavy breathing, a tinge of red to his cheeks. She knew then that it was deeper than the petty fight.
Sakura cheeks flamed as she watched Sasuke fix his clothes. He peered up at her through his eyelashes, as if asking ‘what?’. She knew she should be jealous, of their bond, of the intimacy they shared. She felt strange, she only felt the need to get closer, to match them.
As if he read her mind, Naruto brushed past her, touching her lower back as he went. Deliberate and almost domineering, as if he wanted to include her in—whatever this was.
“I know you would rather be in this apartment, than all by yourself in that cell. You get lonely.” A calculated flirt.
“Being lonely beats hearing your voice, its very grating after a while.”
Naruto clenched his fist again, and Sakura took that as a sign to separate the two before they made her lose her security deposit one week before the move. She grabbed him by the scruff of his neck akin to dealing with a feral cat, and yanked him back.
“Would you please get some takeout? I’m starving, and I’m sure you are too.” She pushed him towards the door and slammed it barely giving him enough time to clear the doorway. “No Ichiraku’s,” she shouted at the door hoping he would hear and listen. After the fiasco, she and Sasuke sat in silence, a heavy blanket of uncomfortable tension.
“Do you actually prefer the cell?” her voice fell flat, as if the room was noise insulated.
“No.”
The absolute in his tone comforted Sakura. He wanted to be here, even if he didn’t show it very
well.
They went back to packing, sitting closer than they were before the fight. Sakura could feel his eyes on her every once in a while, sizing her up. She said nothing.
Aside from essentials, the apartment was fully packed when Naruto arrived with the food. Sakura was looking through a picture book on the sofa, it was full of pictures from team seven’s genin days. Something Kakashi had gifted her when she became a jonin. Sasuke stood behind her watching as she flipped each page, pretending like he wasn’t interested in the contents. The scene was a stark contrast to Naruto’s interruption.
Naruto burst through the door barely being careful enough to avoid it crashing on the wall. “I went to the market and they had a poke stand. I got tuna, salmon, and crab, though the crab is probably imitation… I’ll take that one.”
“Well hello to you too, glad you didn’t get ramen,” Sakura giggled at how he rolled his eyes as she spoke. She took the salmon bowl from his hands as he handed the two shinobi their food. It wasn’t her favorite meat but it was far superior to tuna, that was Sasuke’s domain.
“Is that your picture book?” Naruto made room for himself next to Sakura on the cushion , taking the book from her hands, “I didn’t think Kakashi was so sentimental, until he gave you this.”
“With the things hes been through, he probably just wanted to make sure he would remember our faces later on in the event we… died. The gift idea was an afterthought for sure. There’s some with Sai on the later pages.”
Sasuke scoffed at the mention of the newest addition to team seven, and Sakura hid a smile behind her hand. “Jealous?” she chided, hoping to get a rise out of him.
“Not in the slightest, hes a piss poor copy of me.”
“You’re right, your eyes are the tiniest bit less soulless,” Naruto chimed in, “They can do cooler things too. You would probably be a better artist!”
Sasuke put on the slightest smirk hearing Naruto fluff his ego, it made Sakura’s chest flutter to see him enjoy their company.
°❀.ೃ࿔°❀.ೃ࿔
Moving day came quick, gone were the nights of waking Sasuke with her morning habits. she didn't mean it—but he was a light sleeper and she liked to make food that seemed to always produce a cacophony that rivaled her alarm clock. She hoped he never held it against her later on.
As they moved the apartment down the block, Sakura couldn't pretend she felt normally about Sasuke and Naruto's relationship. She wasn't a conspiracy person, (Leave that to the civilians!) but when there was nothing else to focus on, her mind could only go one place. The memory of how their hips ground together as they struggled with each other the week prior. Had they done that before, in a different context? The looks they shared never seemed purely platonic either, there was always a fire in their eyes that burned so very hot. Her cheeks burned, because of the blossoming summer heat, and not her deviant thoughts about her roommates.
They were more communal after that night, she found them together in the living room more often than not, although Naruto did more of the talking. She admired him for that, his never ending optimism in the face of adversity. Even if Sasuke hated him, Naruto's weakness would always be Sasuke, and they were definitely co-morbid in every bingo book.
The idea should make her jealous, Naruto and Sasuke being together. She had the recent realization that she was only jealous that they hadn't considered to include her, similar to many times before. It scared her—her perversions. Is that what it was, was she just a fetishist? Or was this something deeper—a true craving for them together?
Her introspection was interrupted as they had come up on their building, and carrying heavy objects up stairs, and less than optimal focus on the task at hand did not mix.
While she did help, with some less than kind directions on how to efficiently carry some of the heavier items, she tried to stay towards the back. Mostly to do the important job of spotting them, but also to admire their strength. It wasn't every day she got to be the second strongest in the room, albeit she did like being the strongest in the room in general.
She found herself gravitating towards Naruto more than once, watching the way his arms flexed, or the way his back appeared broader than it used to. She could almost see his back muscles, the faint memory of his shirtless form washing over her.
She shook her head, she thought she was past juvenile gawking. This was okay for fourteen year-old's—welcome even, at nineteen it was embarrassing. For fucks sake, she was pushing twenty.
Naruto Slipped. It was almost comical how slow he fell, and it made him an easy target to catch. She held him by the arm and helped him pull himself up, she was on the stairs higher than him so it wasn't a hard feat. He steadied and was eye to eye with her. His eyes were gorgeous, a deep blue color that darkened towards the center.
She almost got lost in them as she watched them flicker down towards her mouth for a moment, pupils blown as they re-centered with hers. She glanced down at his too, a smile playing at his lips. Her skin tingled with warmth, a reaction she wasn't expecting. It scared her, the butterflies in her chest beat a sharp rhythm.
She glanced back over her shoulder towards Sasuke, they made eye contact for a moment before he purposely looked away. His anger was palpable, it always had been, but this was different—more sour. Jealousy? She knew what for, Naruto was never good about hiding his feelings, but Sasuke was looking at her. Maybe her feelings were on her sleeve as well.
Shit.
She looked back, focusing on Naruto's eyes again, but they flicked between her and Sasuke, piecing something together. there was no way to be sure what he was thinking, what he could be thinking. She took a step back, a nervous laugh bubbling in her throat, "Excuse me—we should finish."
Naruto furrowed his brows watching her for a moment, then nodded, and stepped aside to let her through. It was as if nothing ever happened, but Sakura could still feel the excited patter in her chest, the not quite yearning feeling that gnawed at her ribcage.
Unpacking moved quickly, and Sakura found herself picking shifts up at the hospital to fill her time again. She should go back to full time, return to some sense of normalcy, but she waited. She waited for the other hat to drop—for someone to be taken from her, or for some life changing event to happen. She waited for things to move off course again.
She and Naruto shopped together on Wednesdays, it was a newer part of her routine that still felt a bit stilted. She hated changing her daily patterns even in little ways, the repetitive nature of her routine was a comfort. They went down familiar streets, stopping at stalls along the side-walks. The village was just as bustling as it was before the war, maybe even more-so. People passed them on the street whose homes had been destroyed, and rebuilt. They were greeted boisterously as some passed , thanking them for their contributions. others just gave a nod of acknowledgement—'hello I see who you are'.
Naruto never strayed far when they shopped, always close behind, or by her side. It struck her as out of character at first, he used to be everywhere, bouncing from stall to stall to admire all the wares. Though, were any of them the same as they were before?
Sakura stopped at a fruit stand, he was newer, younger, than the one she usually shopped with. He smiled, like her usual, waved politely as well. But as soon as he really looked at her, the smile dropped, and his tone flattened.
"Hey, you took that freak in, the one who wanted an end to the village?"
Word spreads fast, gossip is almost as valuable as coin. Sakura never thought she would be on the negative end of the transaction though.
She straightened, "Whats it to you?"
"He should have never been released, his kind, they're going to spell doom for this village eventually."
The sentiment was true in a way, if left unchecked like he was, people like him would always go down that path. It didn’t mean that the tone in his voice was any less upsetting.
Sakura felt anger rise in her chest, "You don't know him, and you never will. It's pathetic that you're judging us, as you will never get as far in life as we have. You're what, twenty-three, and you're taking over your daddy's fruit stand,” She breathed, voice solidifying in confidence, “He is the leader of his clan, a stronger ninja—let alone man, than you will ever be, and a hero in my eyes. Pick on someone at your own level, before you embarrass yourself again."
Her fists were clenched and she could feel her nails digging into her palms. The rest of the market had quieted, as if to let her speak, and she could feel her shame start to creep in. Naruto rubbed her shoulder in an attempt to soothe her, but she couldn’t shake how she felt. She knew he felt it too though, she wasn't alone in this volatility.
"You're just as bad as him then, war hero be damned I guess." The merchant scoffed as he turned his back to them, busying himself with the merchandise.
Naruto's grip on her shoulder tightened, like he knew that those words would be the final straw. "Let's move on," he said in a low whisper. She never imagined that he would ever be the voice of reason, but she let herself be led away from the stand, and away from the whispering groups that had formed.
She knew that the topic of Sasuke would be a sore one for the village, and even she was confused on why he did what he did. But she knew he had his reasons, good reasons, and the rest of them would realize that too, if they knew him better.
When they were children his life was full of adults who were only kind to him because of his name, and his eyes. His usefulness died out once they realized he wasn't a normal Uchiha. He was advanced, but not advanced enough. They failed him at every step and now blame him for their mistakes. He is at fault for the damage caused, but the village is at the root of the problem. It disgusted her to know that the Konoha that she grew up in and loved would allow something so heinous to happen to one of their own. She could only imagine how Naruto felt.
Naruto didn't speak to her until they got home. They were in his room after putting away they few groceries they got. Naruto was on the bed and Sakura stood by the door ready to storm back out and confront the whole village
"You okay?"
Sakura looked incredulous, "What do you think? My village has the narrative that one of my best friends is a complete monster, and has the audacity to spew it to my face. No I am not okay."
Naruto winced, "I don't like it either. But they don’t know the truth, I think its only natural for them to feel like that."
"Saying it to my face is out of line."
"Yeah… but arguing with a guy who isn't even a ninja is a little out there. could've just ignored him." Naruto rubbed his forehead, "I just don't want to draw a bunch of attention when we go out you know? Others are going to have worse shit to say once the news spreads farther. I don't want to hear it either but I'd rather them say it to me than to him."
His words were far more introspective than Sakura was used to, he had grown far more than anyone gave him credit for.
She relinquished her anger, "I know you're right… I know from their perspective they're justified. It just hurts, everything hurts now I think."
Naruto nodded and Sakura felt seen. She hadn't vocalized how she felt, not in anyway that mattered. She had told Tsunade that she was sad a couple times, but that never gave her the satisfaction of telling someone who understood, someone who was right there with her.
In the silence that had blanketed them she moved to hug him.
She didn't know what possessed her, but it felt natural. He was warm, and smelled sweet. Not in the sticky little kid way that someone might expect from knowing who he was in the past, but in the way that some colognes smell like vanilla and musk. His arms wrapped around her waist and pulled her in tighter, and their bodies fit together in a way she couldn't have expected.
they sat there like that wrapped in each others arms, Naruto stroking her hair while her nails scratched lightly up and down the column of his spine. She felt safe, she almost wanted to say she felt loved.
It felt natural as well when Naruto leaned back and kissed her forehead, lips pressing on her seal. She looked at him, eyes wide before slowly moving to kiss his lips. It felt exactly how she thought it would, his lips were a bit chapped, though not so much that it would be disgusting. He was surprised and it felt like he would move away, but he didn't, to her relief.
The kiss started out slow, their lips slotting together lightly, she would call it polite. But as the kiss went on, it got deeper, hungrier. She moved her hands up to his hair, combing her fingers through until she got to the longer parts then pulling lightly. This earned her a small whimper, almost inaudible, but definitely there.
Naruto pulled her onto his lap, gripping her hips like he was afraid she would get up and run away. The movement allowed her to sit right on top of his hardened cock, she felt it throb as she ground down, his hands guiding her pace and rhythm.
Naruto broke the kiss first, looking at her like he was trying to find something in her face. When he didn't find whatever he was looking for, he rolled on to his back, taking her with him.
Sakura felt heat rise up her chest and neck at the realization of what was happening. She looked down at where their hips met, watching as he continued to grind them together. The new position allowed her to feel the way his cock rubbed on her better, rubbing into her clit finally. She leaned over him, mouth over his ear, and whined.
"—feel okay?" Naruto asked, trying and failing to stop himself from bucking his hips into her.
His voice was low and husky in her ears, the hot air sending tingles down her neck.
She nodded, "very—!" Her sentence was cut off as he started leaving open mouthed kisses on her ear. It was strange but the feeling sparked down her spine straight to her abdomen. She almost protested when he left the spot to give attention to her neck, but the part he was kissing felt just as good.
Sasuke.
Sasuke was home.
Sasuke was home and they were dry humping.
Sakura's movements were abrupt as she pulled away from Naruto.
"What's wrong?" The guilt in his voice was evident. He thought he did something wrong.
"You didn't do anything!" Sakura panicked, "I just thought about how Sasuke would feel if he heard us…" she trailed off, studying Naruto's face.
"Oh."
She felt his still throbbing cock underneath her, did he… like the idea of Sasuke listening in?
"Do you—" she giggled nervously, "Do you have a thing for… Sasuke?"
The setting was not how she thought this conversation would go. She wanted it to be a more comforting conversation, so that he might be more honest.
"A little…" he answered apprehensively, like she may start laughing at him. "I figured at a young age that he was special to me, and well, one day we were sparing… and—and we—well we were using taijutsu and it turned into us touching in a different way—similar to right now." His head was turned to the side, hiding his face, like this conversation was more embarrassing than what was happening beforehand.
"so a couple weeks ago in the living room—"
"If you weren't there I can't guarantee that we would have kept our hands to ourselves." He hid his face in his hands as he spoke, his palms muffling the sound.
"Wow."
Sakura felt giddy, like she had just unlocked a new route in a game. She had her suspicions, even before Sasuke came home. But to have them confirmed by Naruto himself was euphoric.
Naruto whined, "So we can't do this anymore," gesturing to Sakura sitting on him
"I didn't say that—"
Sakura was cut off by Naruto pulling her into a bruising kiss, followed up by his hips twitching up into hers. She can't say no to the way he feels grinding on her clit.
trying ellipsus and i actually like it better than libre office and it has cloud sync so i can work on my fic from my laptop now without having to like email myself :3 im #wet
Don't You Know Who I Think I Am? (They Say Quitters Never Win)
MDNI 18+ eventual sex !!!
Chapter 2
Sakura for all her knowledge of medical practices, and general intelligence, has no idea what to do when a messy love triangle happens in her own apartment. Her fix? Make it so much messier, to the point where she doesn't know where she ends and they begin.
Or:
Sakura, Sasuke, and Naruto explore love, sex, and each other's bodies together, frequently, and with enthusiasm. All while trying to navigate their lives outside of each other.
It felt like everyone had moved on, left her behind in the oppressive grief that left her a husk of her former self. She wished she could break free from the routine she created for herself. Late grueling nights at the hospital, into sleeping just enough to keep her on her feet, into sulking, finally ending back at the hospital. When everyone else had found their footing, a way to keep going, she had hers ripped away, sent to prison awaiting a trial that never seemed to come. Sakura had counted every day that he had been in that damn cell, six hundred and eight days. Six hundred and eight days since he and Naruto had their altercation. It was sickening.
There was one person Sakura knew was taking it just as hard. Naruto was paralyzed with grief. He let it consume him, blanket him when no one else was able to hold him. No one wanted to check in on the war hero, just chew him up and spit him out into marketable mush.
On her off days she usually tried to get a hold of him, get him to see the sun before he withers away. Before the war she spent these days with Ino, buying useless shit she didn’t need, teenage fodder. He was usually in bed, back to the door with his knees in his chest. She always started with pleading with him, appealing to his sense of survival. He usually only budged when she spoke about Sasuke. She told him everything she knew, about when the trial was rumored to be held. By the time she was done he was usually ready to get up, start something of a day.
Today was different, not in any tangible way, but she could tell that there was more of that spark of life in him as she spoke. He didn’t usually speak, not compared to the past, when she used to daydream of silence. She was surprised that she stuck with her career path as a genin, what with the team that she was stuck with. When he did speak, he spoke about nothing in particular. Just about general regrets, things he thought he could have done differently when it came to bringing Sasuke home. Sakura listened, was there for him when nobody else seemed to be. Today he surprised her, he was already so much more lively, asking questions, even laughing when Sakura tripped over his messy room (he helped her clean up after that).
They cleaned for a while, taking small breaks intermittently. In one of these small breaks the air was split with a question.
“Sakura, are you lonely?”
It was the type of question that would seem normal in this type of situation, she was a nineteen year old girl that went to her depressed friend’s house to clean and seek company when she knew he couldn’t give her any. Of course she was lonely. The question still curdled in her stomach, like she didn’t want to admit ‘yes Naruto I am so lonely without yours and Sasuke’s company. I crave it so bad that I get rejected by you every day on the hopes that one day you’ll let me in.’ So instead she said:
“Yeah, sometimes.”
She expected that to be the end of it, that all he was looking for was mutual loneliness. Confirmation that he wasn’t the only one that was impacted like this, but he surprised her again.
“We should live together, Sasuke too when he gets released. Might solve our problems, help each other move on from this… situation.”
She couldn’t say no, even though the thought scared her. It was Naruto, the boy she spent her childhood with, the man she went to war with. They were as close as she could be with anyone. She had spent more time with him than her own parents at this point, so there was no question in her mind when she said yes.
She had a two bedroom apartment already, and the second bedroom had become an unused office. Her preferred study area had become the kitchen table ever since she started night shifts at the hospital. They agreed to look for a three bedroom when they got news about Sasuke’s release.
It felt comfortable letting Naruto move in, like he was the missing piece in her apartment. He looked natural as he moved his boxes in, and as his stuff was slowly unpacked it didn’t look like foreign objects filling her space. She started to feel clarity for the first time since the war.
Some time after the dust had cleared from his move Naruto asked, “Sakura, why did you let me move in so easily? I know you know I’m obnoxious, you’ve said it many times over the years.”
Sakura was in the kitchen cooking dinner for the two, Naruto’s idea of dinner would have been cup noodles or Ichiraku’s, so he was banned from helping. She shrugged, “I know you need the company right now.” Really, she was desperate for her team, she wanted them together again. She never thought of herself as the sentimental type, always ready to let go of something that didn’t serve her. She couldn’t let go of her original genin team, they had bonded better than any other team she had been apart of since. She didn’t have the same camaraderie with Naruto and Sasuke that they had with each other, but she was still more than close with them. She missed the nights they spent on the road together; the meals they shared, and the laughter that rang through the night when they weren’t attempting to kill each other. They meant safety to her.
Naruto nodded, a thoughtful look on his face, “What about when you and Sasuke get married? Will you still let me live with you like this? Another man in the house would probably be such a buzz kill for Sasuke, he might think you’re having sex with me on the side!”
“Way to ruin my mood, why are you even thinking of that?” she put the knife she was holding down, refraining from throwing it at him like a kunai. “I haven’t thought about marrying him since I tried to convince you to give up on him in the Land of Iron.” She felt her face heat up as she recalled the events, she felt shame for being so manipulative, but she was desperate. She wanted Sasuke to come home as much as Naruto, but watching him put himself though so much pain was more torturous than losing Sasuke forever. So she did the only thing she could think to do at the time, and confessed her love for Naruto in hopes that he would give up on his promise. Though now she realizes it was never about the promise.
“I think you will, you have to because you’re Sakura and he's Sasuke. It just makes sense, like how we all make sense as a team. Plus, you have been in love with him since you were like eleven. That has to count for something.” He looked so hopeful for her as he spoke. It almost convinced her that he was right, that she deserved Sasuke. She had her own theories though, Naruto had been unwilling to give up on Sasuke. Unwilling to even hear a plan that didn’t include saving him. As children he was inseparable from the other boy, and when Sasuke left almost everything he spoke about had to do with saving him. Sakura thought that there were some repressed feelings at play, that Naruto’s love was more similar to her own for Sasuke than he would admit. She would never assume though, so she stuck to quietly observing.
The first few days with Naruto were quiet. While she was comfortable with his presence, he was still too shy to claim the house as his own. She saw him often enough, and noticed signs of life though empty ramen cups on the coffee table occasionally, but he only hung around when invited. It wasn’t until Naruto caught her studying late at night that the ice had begun to break.
“Shouldn’t you be sleeping? I thought you worked mornings on Wednesdays.” He was leaning against the open doorway that led from the living room to the kitchen/dining room. His arm crossed over his chest as if her poor time management disappointed him. As if he could speak on time management.
Sakura looked him up and down, He had only a pair of sweat pants on, shirt discarded somewhere in his room. She noted the curves of his torso, and the dip of his hip bones into the waist of his pants. Her eyes settled on the trail of hair that led to his pubic area, and snapped back up to his face. He said nothing of her gaze other than letting a light-hearted smirk play at his lips.
“Shouldn’t you? I’ll have you know I’m studying for a surgery I have coming up soon, one that involves you.” She was reading up on limb transplants, she wanted to make sure she had all her information right before she attempted her first on him. Her fear was that she would botch him and he would be living proof of her inadequacies.
“I’m sure that’s not for another few months, another year if we’re being realistic. Granny said she could only work so fast with all her other responsibilities.” He waved his hand flippantly, “Besides, you’re no use to anyone on poor sleep.”
Sakura scoffed, “Okay just because it won’t be for another few months doesn’t mean that I shouldn’t learn as much as I can. And don’t call her ‘granny’!” She sighed, “I’ll go to sleep soon, let me finish this chapter.”
Naruto crossed the room to stand next to her, then leaned over her to close her book. She endeavored not to think about how enticing he smelled as he entered her personal space.
“You can finish it tomorrow, you’ll complain about lack of sleep if I don’t stop you now.” He glowered at her while he spoke, years of her morning complaints flooding into her memory.
She pushed the book to the middle of the table with a huff, “Okay, I get it. I’ll see you tomorrow okay?”
He nodded, stepping back to let her up, “G’night Sakura.”
“’Night, sleep well!” she tossed back as she made her way to her room.
°❀.ೃ࿔°❀.ೃ࿔
Sakura was prepping for another long shift when an ANBU officer dropped by her window. She held a letter that had the Hokage’s official seal. Sakura let her in and took the letter, noting how the ANBU left as soon as she passed the letter off, she did not have to respond to the message.
The letter was simple, stating that Sasuke was to be released that day, and that his trial had concluded. She felt a smile form before she had a chance to think about the information on the page. Before she knew it she had already sent a message to Tsunade saying she would be out of work, and was on her way to Naruto’s room.
She barged through the door and shook his shoulders to wake him, she had no time for polite gestures. “Wake up, wake up! He’s out, free to come home to us!” She shook him once more before he cracked his eyes open, it only took him a moment to register the occasion.
He said nothing as he wrapped his arm around her neck and pulled her down into a crushing hug. She didn’t protest, instead choosing to return the affections. He had gone through so much to get Sasuke back, had been so patient while he was incarcerated, and now it was over. Sakura thought he might kiss her as he let her lean back, but he only smiled big and wide.
“Hes really back?” His voice was heavy from sleep, and the weakest part of Sakura reacted to the sound like a starved dog. She held back, barely, and nodded. His smile widened impossibly, pulling her back into a hug that lasted what felt like a life time, neither made an effort to get up.
They dressed in a hurry after reluctantly pulling themselves apart. Sakura’s skin was slick with sweat in all the parts that were touching Naruto, he ran too hot for her liking. She couldn’t bring herself to care though, as they had someone to meet. He would only wait for so long.
They raced as they left the house, Sakura taking to the rooftops for the advantage of faster travel. Naruto joined her soon after shouting it was unfair. The smile on his face as he chased her twisted her stomach into knots. She brushed the feeling aside as excitement, but under her denial it boiled through her veins.
She won the race but only by a hairs width. Naruto had improved in so many facets, including his speed, and she found herself working twice as hard to stay ahead. She loathed his abandonment of he genin laziness in moments like these, wishing she could stay in her throne for this one thing. She would find time to be ashamed of her insecurities later.
They stopped abruptly at the doors of the prison, Sakura stopping herself on her own, and Naruto using her as a stopping block almost taking them to the floor. Sakura used the pager next to the door asking when Sasuke would be released. The person on the other end answered ‘who’s asking.’ and when Sakura began to answer the other end laughed interrupting with ‘just kidding’ before telling them he was finishing up paperwork and would be out soon. Kakashi must have sent word that they would be coming.
It was twenty minutes of waiting before the big doors opened with a creak. Sasuke stood in the door way with a look of uncertainty as he took in the sight before him. Sakura and Naruto were practically vibrating in excitement before pouncing on him like a feral cat would to its prey. But instead of yowls of anger they cried loud in happiness. When Sasuke finally pushed them off Sakura could see where her face had been pushed into his chest by the stains left from her tears in the white fabric.
“I’m on house arrest, for a year.” His voice was solemn, and quiet, like it hadn’t been used in days. “After six months I will be able to return to missions inside the walls, and after the punishment is over I will return to regular missions.”
Sakura nodded taking his words in, six months to live with Sasuke uninterrupted. It might be the worst decision she's ever made, but it might also be the most rewarding.
Naruto asked what she had been too choked up to, “Will you stay with us? Instead of staying in your old grimy apartment alone?”
Sasuke made a face, like he wanted to say no, but he couldn’t, not to them, not to Naruto. “Yes, if you have the room.”
Sakura explained how she wanted to get a three bedroom with the two of them, how she had a listing picked out and that she and Naruto would tour it in the coming days. Sasuke nodded, and followed them as they started to walk back to her—their—apartment.
2087
pixelskylines
dailybridgerton
izzy806
theartofmadeline
germansingergirl
areudirty
