A Helping Hand

by sa.re

haru kaze no 

hana wo chirasu to 

miru yume wa 

samete mo mune no 

sawagu narikeri 

the spring wind

scattering blossoms

I saw it in a dream

but when I awoke the sound

was still rustling in my breast

Saigyo Hoshi

The twelve year old Naruto had dreams that he had shouted at anyone who would care (or not) to listen. His one big dream was to become the Hokage. But there were other dreams nestled deep within his bleeding heart which cropped up hazily around the dream of being the Hokage. 

So what he wanted was:

A family. 

Friends. 

A loved one - a companion. 

In the deep recess of his mind, somewhere not even Kurama could reach, there were images accompanying the words. They went in this order:

Team 7. 

His entire chunin class and then some.

Sakura-chan. 

The images were made up of wisps of smoke and they were swept away with the wind when everything fell apart. Naruto would never admit, aloud or when he is sitting in the quiet night alone, that those images were not blown away without any fallout. They bled and left deep indelible scars behind. Sometimes, with a cup of sake in his hand, Naruto would admit quietly that perhaps, his little hopes and desires were like a seed planted on the ground of his soul. And Naruto, consumed with the image of what it would become, did not see (or neglected to see) how predatory animals and insects had been eyeing the fragile buds. But this thought only ever occurs to him when he is feeling particularly fanciful or alone. He often forgets them when he wakes up the next morning. 

(Unbeknownst to him, it festers) 

Now why is he thinking (or in denial) about all this? Well, he has been living the dream of his twelve year old self. 

He is the Hokage. 

Team 7 has been happily (albeit violently) reunited, with added members.

His friends have more or less survived the war and are rebuilding their families. Those who have sacrificed themselves for today's peace are honoured and remembered. 

His love life is a bit complicated though. Sakura-chan, well, she had fulfilled her childhood dream too. She has been with Sasuke for the past few years. 

And this is the reason for the flashback.

Naruto sighed, pinching the space between his eyebrows to somehow stall the inevitable headache building behind his eyes. Without looking up from the report spread over his desk, he waved away the chunin who stood stiffly in front of him. He bowed and left the room quickly. 

Naruto groaned, rubbed his face with his hands and ran his fingers through his already messed up hair. 

Of course, they have not left their apartment for a week. 

Sakura-chan had cancelled all her appointments and operations. Heck, she had even cancelled on Tsunade-bachan. 

The biggest tell was Sasuke opting out of one of the easiest S-rank missions.

Naruto should have guessed right then but he wanted to assess the situation properly before taking any action. 

Now he knew for sure. 

His bestfriends, who were also a couple, have not been seen for a week. 

Naruto knew what they had been doing for a week though. 

Sex. 

Yup, his best friends have blown off important appointments and missions because they were blowing each other's minds off. 

Just say it. They are fucking while you have been working tirelessly for this village! Naruto tried to shut off the thoughts. These jealous and petulant thoughts have been coming too often for his peace of mind. 

Naruto really needs to get laid. 

And stop his best friends from getting laid a bit too much, at the same time. 

Naruto groaned again and stood up. 

First things first, he sent a warning sign to his idiot best friends. 

Second thing on his list is to cancel his date. Naruto hastily wrote a note and sent it off to Hinata, asking to reschedule. Knowing full well that he won't be able to see her again for the next six months. She was being sent to the Sunagakure as the usual nin exchange program to facilitate bonding within nations. Naruto tried not to feel the relief spreading through his body as he left his office. 

He liked Hinata. She is quiet and beautiful. He feels comfortable around her. That's it, really. They have been going on multiple dates together. It was all very casual. They have slept together but it's strange how even the physical closeness could not dissolve the feeling that something is amiss. 

Hinata felt it too. 

Yet they kept denying it. Both of them hoping that maybe it will happen sooner or later. After all they are doing everything right so it's going to happen. Something will click and it will be like magic immediately drawing them into each other's axis. 

It will happen soon, Naruto soothed himself.

He came to a stop in front of the small house, situated slightly away from the general population. Naruto noted the lovely flowers blooming at one side of the house as he entered through the small gate. Looks like Sasuke has been home longer this time, he thought, confirming the vague idea for the reason for this sudden sex marathon. 

Naruto knocked on the door and waited for a few seconds before he fished out the key from its hiding spot and opened the door. Instantly closing his eyes and covering them with one hand for good measure, he shouted that he was home. From somewhere to his left, he heard a snort in response. Cautiously he peeked through his fingers and found a bare chested Sasuke, wearing pants so loose that Naruto could see the strong v line of his abdomen. Sasuke stared back at him with an unimpressed look on his face. Before Naruto could express his offence at Sasuke, he heard Sakura-chan enter into the room behind him.

"Did he cover his eyes too?" Sakura asked, smirking smugly at her boyfriend's disgruntled face. His lips thinned and Sakura cackled, making Sasuke and Naruto wince in unison. She brushed past Naruto, letting her warm body pause a moment against his chest in a silent acknowledgement at his presence before making her way towards her intended target, Sasuke. 

"How are you gonna pay up hmm, Sasuke-kun?" Sakura murmured, swaying up to Sasuke and delicately pressing her fingers with just a hint of her sharp nails on his chest. "Maybe we should try the cock ring. This time we will know for sure how long you can last, right?" 

Sasuke leaned into her, hovering right above her parted lips. For a moment they exchanged the air between them until it stretched thin and hot. 

"Okay! Enough!" Naruto said firmly and forcefully separated the two idiots. He kept one hand on Sasuke's naked shoulders and the other on Sakura-chan's t-shirt covered one, which was the only thing she was wearing. Naruto ignored the twin pulse of electricity throbbing up his arms. "Come on, you two. Let's resolve this like adults." 

Naruto bullied the pouting adults to the dining table and sat them down on two opposite ends. Sasuke instantly stood up and leaned against the kitchen counter. "First question, have you guys eaten anything?"

They remained silent for a beat before Sakura rolled her eyes and answered, "Yes, yes, we had some food at home and then Ino and Sai dropped us food outside the door." 

Unconsciously, Naruto's lips pressed into a thin line of hurt and displeasure but he nodded rigidly. "Good thing that you guys reached out to others for help."

"We did not want to bother you with it. You always get home late and barely have any time to cook yourself a meal." Sasuke stated sincerely, his dark eyes locked into Naruto. 

Naruto relaxed at the reassurance and gave a small grateful nod. 

"Alright. Have you guys showered?" 

There was a beat of heavy silence. Naruto pinched the bridge of his nose in a clear sign of frustration. 

Sakura shifted in her chair and answered slowly, "Does a shower together count? 'Cause we took several." 

Naruto frowned at her response, unimpressed at her cheek. "Go take a shower, both of you. Now." They reluctantly started making their way towards the bathroom. 

"Shower alone, for kami-sama's sake!" Naruto shouted exasperatedly when he heard the distinct sound of only one bathroom door opening. He waited attentively to hear another door open and let out a relieved breath when he heard it. 

He stood up from his chair and occupied himself in making tea. The process of boiling water, scooping tea leaves, pouring and straining calmed him enough to face the music. As he sat down with all the tea paraphernalia, he chuckled at the sheer irony of his situation. How life has changed for all of them! There used to be a time when he would be on the opposite end of righteous tongue lashing from Saskura-chan or others. But now it was him dishing it out. Not that the previous instance never happens. It does. Just in less frequency because being a Hokage had left little room for mistakes. 

His lips turned downwards at the reminder of the mounting paperwork on his desk. The sound of footsteps reached him and he shook himself out of the gloom. 

Sasuke and Sakura walked in together, more or less fully dressed. Sakura with her trustable loose top and shorts. Sasuke, Naruto knew, did not like wearing shirts since he had lost his arm. He would, on rare occasions, complain that it itched and ached. He likes to wear light weight fabric or nothing at all when he is in the comfort of his home. Sasuke pulled and sat down on the chair, his one hand adjusting the short black yukata draped loosely over his shoulders. He reached over the tray and started pouring the tea after murmuring a low thank-you to Naruto under his breath. 

They silently sipped into their tea and waited. 

"What was it this time?" Naruto asked bluntly. He knew that they would need time to answer the question so he fell into a deep contemplation regarding the situation.

Sasuke and Sakura had what could only be called a toxic way of avoiding real conversation. That is, they never talk about anything. What they did instead was have sex when everything became a little too real or too something. Naruto really did not know but he had his assumptions. 

The thing was every one of his friends, and himself included, were fucked up. The war, the life of a ninja, their own personal childhood trauma; all of it resulted in a screwed up way of dealing (or not dealing) with their emotions. 

Sasuke and Sakura were the worst amongst all of them and it was Naruto who would usually be the one to come to rescue them from their self imposed denial.

Quite ironic, he lets himself admit it. 

Sakura cleared her throat gently and Naruto straightened up. 

"Sasuke asked me to marry him." Sakura stated, blankly. 

Naruto felt a wave of joy even when his stomach dropped with dread. 

"I said no, in the end." Sakura said, her eyes staring straight ahead. 

"Why?" Naruto asked, aghast. From the corner of his eyes, he saw Sasuke's jaw clenched tight. 

"He is going to leave again." Sakura said bitterly, her small hands curled into a tight fist. 

Naruto opened his mouth to reassure Sakura-chan with something nonsensical. But Sasuke scoffed loudly. 

"Don't pretend that is the only reason you refused!" Sasuke shot back with a sneer. 

Naruto watched Sakura-chan's emerald eyes gleam with ember and thought, oh shit. He scrambled forward to cut off Sakura-chan's sure to be a venomous spiral.

"Okay then, let's just talk about it. Sasuke, could you tell us why you feel that Sakura-chan might have other reasons to say no?" Naruto asked calmly, rushing to interrupt Sakura-chan. 

Sasuke said nothing for a while and thankfully, Sakura-chan only gritted her teeth in quiet aggression.

"You are afraid of this becoming too real. Too permanent." Sasuke threw out the words with ruthless precision and his kunai-like-words hit Sakura right at the heart. Sakura sagged against her chair.

"I can't go with you on your path of redemption, Sasuke-kun." Sakura said tiredly, her hands coming up to hold her head on the table. Naruto winced and watched as Sasuke's face turned to stone. With his dark eyes going dull, it reminded Naruto too much of Sasuke's past self. 

"I will never ask you to go on penance with me, Sakura." The words dragged out of Sasuke heavily. Naruto and Sakura could hear the self hatred laced in Sasuke's tone. Their breath hitched simultaneously and eyes shined under the soft afternoon glow of the kitchen. They have, together and individually, tried so hard to reason and cajole Sasuke's sense of self hatred with varying degrees of success. There were good days and bad days. All of them just tried to ride each other's waves hoping against too many grievous injuries. 

"That's not what I meant, Sasuke-kun! You, you never try to look at the situation from my point of view! You are always so consumed with this idea of what I think and believe that you don't really see me." Sakura burst out, pleading and defending at the same time. 

You don't know me. You never want to know me. Is that what she was trying to say? Naruto could hear the questions run through Sasuke's mind and he knew that teme would say something completely idiotic so like a true best friend, Naruto interrupted. 

"Sakura-chan, maybe Sasuke really doesn't know why you can't sometimes accompany him outside Konoha. Could you tell us what's holding you back? Maybe if we discuss it then we can resolve this." Naruto reasoned with Sakura-chan. He allowed the silence to breathe in their space as both of them digested Naruto's words. 

"I am taking over the reins of the hospital from Shishou. I can't go out of Konoha. There are so many things I need to do! New medic nins to train. I have to make sure all the medic nins are aware of the latest research. I have to help others in fine tuning their techniques!" Sakura threw her arms out to indicate the enormity of her self-appointed tasks. 

Sakura-chan was not lying, per se. The thing is Sakura-chan is a perfectionist. She tended to be all over the place every time and tried to do everything hundred percent correctly. Naruto knew that Tsunade-bachan was more relaxed in her role. Just as he knew that Sakura won't be. He kept those thoughts to himself though cause, like he had no intention of dying young. 

"Do you have anything to say to Sakura-chan about her concerns, Sasuke?" Naruto asked pointedly. 

"You can take holidays." Sasuke stated monotonously. 

Damn it, Sasuke! Naruto thought exasperatedly.  

"Like you do?" Sakura shot back, her eyes spewing fire. 

Sasuke's head tilted at one side as he took the hit and accepted the criticism. 

"Maybe I will." Sasuke said coolly, his dark eyes boring into Sakura. Her mouth snapped shut in surprise at his response. 

Sasuke directed his gaze at Naruto and Naruto tried hard not to squirm in place. Damn, he will never get over how intense Sasuke could be. A distant part of him wondered how Sakura-chan feels about being Sasuke's focus of attention when they are alone. Maybe this is why they always have sex. Naruto shook his head to dislodge those thoughts. He really needs to get laid. 

"Hokage-sama," Sasuke's deep voice resonated the quiet kitchen and Naruto thought almost hysterically, this is not helping, for fuck's sake! "May I be excused from the normal S-rank missions?" 

Only Sasuke would term the S-rank mission as normal, Naruto thought dryly. 

"Sure. Get it in writing. But for Kami-sama's sake make it fit in one page." Naruto demanded half heartedly and his half assed joke had the intended effect. Sasuke's lips lifted into his way of a smile and Sakura let out a relieved giggle beside them. 

Sasuke's eyes shifted to follow Sakura hiding her giggles behind her hand and Naruto grinned. 

Sakura smiled down the table and glanced at Sasuke, her cheeks turned a delicate shade of pink as she bit the bottom of her lips. Softly, she said, "I will say yes, Sasuke-kun. Not now though. You know I love you." 

Sasuke's dark eyes melted into deep pools of unfathomable love and he took an aborted breath to get a hold of his tumultuous emotions. 

"Ask me again, sometime." She whispered, fondly. 

Naruto sighed in relief. A job well done for him then. 

"Good. Now please don't resolve all your issues by having sex. Talk about what you are feeling and you will see that there is a middle ground. Sex is not the solution." Naruto lectured them sternly under Sasuke's amused gaze and Sakura-chan's giggling. 

"But then how will you occupy your time, dobe." Sasuke said, smirking his hateful smirk. Naruto hated it because it made him look like that asshole who could get any girl. 

Boys too, a voice whispered which Naruto chose to ignore firmly. 

"Certainly not by entertaining you guys in your perversions!" Naruto defended indignantly, turning his nose up in the air and making Sasuke chuckle. It made Naruto so giddy to see Sasuke show an outward sign of happiness. 

"Yet Naruto, you were the one with the perverted sensei." Sakura interjected slyly, indicating to Jiraiya. Naruto sputtered in response. Sakura threw her head back and laughed. Naruto let out his triad of nonsense thoughtlessly, his bright eyes still caught in the vibrancy of Sakura-chan's short hair under the sunlight that seeped through the kitchen window. He noted absentmindedly that Sakura-chan's hair had grown since the last time he had seen her. How long had it been since he had sat with Sakura-chan and talked about nothing? Too long it seems. He had been busy, so had been Sakura-chan. Maybe he should have visited her sooner. Instead of pouring the lonely cup of sake in his silent apartment, he could have come here and sat with her. 

Sasuke huffed beside him, reminding Naruto of all the reasons why he had not come. 

Why does he do this to himself? Naruto thought in despair even as he talked and laughed with them, his heart clenched painfully. 

"Kakashi is also a pervert." Sasuke reminded them abruptly, a cheeky glint in his eyes. Naruto gasped dramatically at his betrayal. 

"See! You have no high ground to stand here, Naruto. You are surrounded by perverts." Sakura said gleefully and stood up to rummage through her meagre food stock. She triumphantly took out a box of ramen and quickly scourged through her dwindling spices to make a meal for the three of them to share. Sasuke made another round of tea and served the cups. Naruto entertained them with the most ridiculous stories he had come across during his work.

It was nice. No, Naruto corrected himself, as Sakura sat the large bowl in the middle of the table while Sasuke rearranged the chairs so that they all sat on one side of the table, this is beautiful.  

Without even eating a single bite of the food laid out in front of him, Naruto suddenly felt full. He swallowed around the words crawling inside his throat and smiled weakly at Sakura-chan, thanking her. 

"Eat." Sasuke ordered, shoving a pair of chopsticks insistently in Naruto's hands. 

"Have you even eaten anything? Sakura scolded him and jostled his elbows to get a move on. 

Naruto huffed and began eating. They shared the bowl of ramen, Sasuke and Sakura-chan pressed against his sides, spreading twin walls of fire where they touched him. Naruto chose to ignore it and tried to enjoy the banter. 

"Hey, you know Sasuke-kun was kind of right." Sakura said suddenly, cutting into Naruto's heated debate about Ichiraku ramen being better than the new stall that is claiming to sell good ramen in Sunagakure. Sasuke raised his eyebrow inquiringly. 

"I mean about how Naruto, you are always the one who comes to rescue us from our umm, carnal predicament…?" Sakura trailed off questioningly, turning red in the face. Naruto snorted at her words. 

"Yeah, I am your unpaid relationship counsellor." Naruto said with narrowed eyes and pointed his sticky chopsticks at both of them in turn. "You assholes better appreciate me in your life." 

"We do." Sasuke answered promptly. 

Sakura nodded in agreement and swallowed around the last mouthful of ramen, setting the chopsticks down on the table. 

"Yeah, we really do. It's almost like you are a part of our relationship." Sakura said, amused at the idea. Naruto supposed that it was a joke but Sakura-chan's words echoed inside his soul like a last nail to a coffin. In the coffin resided a refurbished garden planted deeply inside his soul. With certainty, Naruto knew this garden won't be swiped away by just a wind. It would need something bigger, stronger and deadlier. The inevitable destruction would not be anything like he had ever experienced. He knew it would leave him hollowed. 

Or maybe he was being dramatic. 

"He is." Naruto heard Sasuke say with uncomprehending certainty. Naruto froze in response. His mind screamed at himself to move, to talk, to laugh- just do anything. But it was as though someone had hit a pause button on him and he just could not function. 

"Sasuke-kun?" Sakura whispered tentatively, a thread of confusion and something Naruto could not recognize bled over her tone and it spilled on Naruto like a blot of ink on his most important paperwork. 

He was still fucking frozen in his seat.

Sasuke serenely chewed and swallowed around the bite and neatly put down his used chopsticks. His fingers reached out to cajole Naruto's tight grip on his own chopsticks and he placed them silently on the bowl lengthwise. Sakura pushed the bowl away from them just as Sasuke gently grabbed Naruto's hands and cupped them inside his own palms. Naruto gazed down at the contrast of Sasuke's lone hand, pale and covered with callus, holding his own tanned equally rough palms in his own. 

Sasuke was cradling Naruto's hand in a careful but firm grip. What was happening!

"He had always been a part of us. An essential part of us." Sasuke soothed the tip of Naruto's index finger with his thumb. 

A small pair of hands came to join the cradle of Naruto's palms, supporting Sasuke's lone hand. Through his increasingly blurry eyes, Naruto looked down at Sakura-chan's hand peeking out behind the gaps of his and Sasuke's palm. He was aware of how powerful those deceptively small hands were, he also knew how they could bring people back to life.

For a suspended moment of time, Naruto allowed the hands of flourishing life and ruthless death hold him, sweetly and gently in their palms. 

Hia exhale was a dry sob which he swallowed furiously to no avail. They have already heard it anyway. 

"We did not know you would want to be a part of us." Sakura-chan said slowly, without even looking at her, he felt she was on the verge of crying too. 

And Naruto? Well, there was no stopping the floodgates anymore. With a tired albeit relieved sigh, the amorphous guard that was protecting him from his innermost desires within the coffin, allowed it to break and let the garden grow out of its sequestered corner. 

The tears rolled down his cheeks and fell on his upturned palms, still entangled in Sasuke and Sakura-chan. The tears drenched all of them in equal parts. 

Their hands tightened around Naruto's and he was so grateful that they still did not let him go. He felt Sasuke drop his head on his shoulder and chuckled hoarsely. Sasuke nuzzled into Naruto's neck, pressing his warm lips directly on his racing pulse. It's strange, Naruto always imagined (when he allowed himself to, that is) Sasuke to run colder but he was oh so warm.  Sakura-chan pressed herself onto his other side. Her warm soft body and Sasuke's hot lips pressed against his throat was Naruto's only anchor to the world. 

"All you had to do was ask, dobe." Sasuke murmured fondly into his ear but loud enough that Sakura-chan could hear. She nodded in agreement. 

"How?" Naruto choked out in response, tears and snot running freely and he could not bring himself to give a shit about appearance right now. 

Naruto meant to ask how can I be part of your relationship? How do you know? How can I be anything more? 

Thankfully they understood him. 

"Because you are Uzumaki Naruto and you have always been a part of us. Since we shared our first meal with you tied to the tree. Because you are Uzumaki Naruto, who promised me that you will bring back Sasuke-kun to Konoha and put your life, ambition and everything on line for it. Because you are Uzumaki Naruto who made me eat when I forgot to. Don't ask me why we love you, Naruto. Just know that there are too many reasons to never stop loving you." Sakura said, crying and smiling, her face close to Naruto's face as she placed a delicate butterfly kiss on his tear streaked cheeks.

Sakura-chan's words echoed in his head and all he could comprehend was that she loved him. Not just as friends but more. 

"Loving you and Sakura is the easiest thing in my life." Sasuke rumbled, his voice scratchy, brimmed with too much feelings. His confession washed over Naruto like a warm heavy blanket in a freezing cold winter. 

"Would you want to be an official part of us, Naruto? That way maybe you will actually know you are with us?" Sakura-chan teased him light-heartedly. 

Naruto raised his head, for the first time in what felt like years or seconds, and looked at both of them. They reluctantly allowed him to detangle his hands from their grasp but quickly grabbed their hands tightly. He looked them in the eyes fiercely, his bottom lips quivered yet he managed to rasp out, "You are all I ever wanted in my life." 

He was immediately crushed into a many armed embrace. He did not know whose hands clutched at the back of his shirt, whose fingers soothed through his hair or which pair of lips touched his and wrapped around his tongue. He did not know who laid gentle kisses down the column of his throat or who nibbled gently on his ear, he really did not know in his mouth he let out a moan or who swallowed the sound in their mouth. He did know that his fingers slipped, tugged and played with Sasuke's long dark hair, he had always wondered what they would feel like when Naruto touched them without the intention of violence. Naruto knew that Sakura-chan's soft lips were indeed like the softest press of cherry blossom he had ever had the fortune to taste. He also knew now that Sasuke's broad shoulders were hard and strong enough to withstand Naruto's fingers and nails. He knew what their mouth tasted like and what sounds they made when they liked what he did. 

He knew things now. 

The exhausted sun dipped beneath the horizon and left a blazing reminder that he will appear soon in the form of a sky painted with a mix of vibrant yellow, red, pink and blue over the hidden leaf village. Sakura, Naruto and Sasuke were lying quietly in the bedroom, watching the sky through the open window. Before Naruto had settled on the bed, he had made Sasuke and Sakura-chan strip out the stained bedsheets, forced them to air out the mattress and lay down clean sheets. They had grumbled and complained that now that he was their boyfriend, Naruto should not be squeamish about bodily fluids. Saskue had boldly stated that they have already traded some of the aforementioned bodily fluids so why is this a big deal. Naruto, who was already a little red in the face by the word boyfriend, had screeched at Sasuke-teme with disgust and indignation. Sakura-chan had been no help at all, she had only giggled like a cute little pervert and made small attempts at stripping the pillow case cover.  

Naruto had stopped before they could have sex. It was the hardest thing he had to do in his life. All pun intended. But he did not want to rush this. He still felt like he was on shaky grounds with them. Not to mention how he could not understand the logistics behind a three person relationship. He had never had a proper two person relationship to begin with so he will play it by the ear. He also wanted to speak to Hinata. Although they were not really together, he should still have the common decency in officially breaking up with her. Naruto kind of wanted to point Hinata towards Kiba, who always seemed to be hovering around her. 

Maybe he will. 

Or maybe he should refrain from matchmaking his kind of girlfriend with her teammate. 

"So Hokage-same, what are your plans for tomorrow?" Sakura-chan asked him, smirking slyly and arching an eyebrow, languidly draping herself on his chest. 

Naruto groaned at the title. For just a moment he had forgotten about who he was. With Sasuke and Sakura-chan, it has always been so easy to be just Naruto. 

"Tons and tons of paperwork." He replied sadly, pouting at the thought. 

"Whenever you get off work, come here. I will make dinner." Sasuke directed from his porch against Naruto's shoulder and raised one hand to slowly caress Sakura's back. Sakura-chan curled fully on top of Naruto, allowing Sasuke full rein to pet her more. Naruto shifted and pulled Sakura-chan more comfortably upon him, his one arm wrapping around Sakura-chan and the other tucked around Sasuke. 

"Okay. I will be here by 8 then." Naruto murmured watching Sakura-chan's eyes blink heavily and smile at him sleepily. 

"Great. It's a date." Sakura-chan said, grinning tiredly at him. Her eyes slipped shut and she was soon asleep. 

Sasuke pressed his lips to Naruto's neck in a silent acknowledgement and closed his eyes. 

Naruto stared outside the window, the evening sky was slowly turning into shades of blue now. 

Inside Naruto; upon his soul, the once small shabby garden had blossomed into a full blown evergreen forest. The wind curled around the trees and flowers, their tether to his soul was so strong that nothing could ever blow them away.