Spring had come to Konoha, and the land was all too happy to show it. Cherry blossom petals flitted almost playfully in the cool breeze, slowly coming to rest on the ground in a carpet of pink. The streets were filled with excited chatter from young and old alike, mingling with the chirping of the myriad of birds that perched atop the posts and buildings. Everyone was excited to shed their winter clothes and bask under the warm sun, especially after a rather harsh season of snow. Spring had come, and everyone wanted to spend its first days outside amongst the blooming sakura.

Everyone.

Everyone but the Hokage.

He was surrounded by white; from the walls, to the floor tiles, to the ceiling itself. Wires were attached to his body, feeding data into machines that lined the side of his bed. The constant beeping slowly dragged Uzumaki Naruto into depression. Tired cerulean eyes drifted from the curtains that blocked the only window, to the four corners of his sterilized room. It was a place equipped with the latest in medical ninjutsu tech, fit for a kage. But for Naruto, it was no better than a stale, empty prison.

I don't belong here, he thought. I should be back at the office, working on those bills and papers. Shikamaru must be throwing a fit, with me leaving behind all those pain-in-the-ass duties. I should be getting back there soon… Dammit.

His head throbbed. According to the good doctor, he wasn't supposed to stress himself, and yet there he was, worried about work. He wasn't even supposed to do that either; at his age, retirement should have been the logical option. But the thought of doing nothing while stuck at home just did not sit well with him. He'd rather work the entire day away within the Hokage Tower.

What if I do what that pervy old man did? Maybe it wouldn't be half as bad.

A single tear rolled down his cheek at the thought. His adventures with the legendary Sannin was nothing short of… legendary. He could do that, travel the world, learn new things, seek inspiring adventures at every turn. Those sound infinitely better than lying inside a lifeless hospital room. Then again, the moment he so much as stand up, his wife would immediately send him back to bed.

Speaking of which…

"Um… Naruto-kun?"

The door opened, revealing a woman with purple hair and a worried smile plastered on her face. Hyuuga- no, Uzumaki Hinata entered, a young woman with the same hair locks in tow - Himawari, their daughter. The smile on her face was sincere, and she approached her father with glee.

"Hi, Dad." she said. "I brought you these."

She held up a bunch of sunflowers, which she then put into an empty vase atop the bedside table. Naruto couldn't help but smile. Himawari's cheer was infectious.

"Thank you. They're beautiful," he said, which made his daughter's smile wider.

"N-Naruto-kun," Hinata muttered, taking her place next to Himawari. Naruto shifted his eyes on her. There was a time when he saw Hinata as a beautiful woman he could love. The long years had done nothing to change that, except perhaps for how he felt about it.

"I brought what you asked for." She rummaged inside her bag and pulled out a length of faded material. The sight of it filled his heart with overflowing joy. With a shaking hand he reached out to grab it, thinking about how something so simple as a scarf could seem so important.

A scarf...

...that his dear mother made for him.

His weathered face broke into a gentle grin. He clutched it to his chest, running a thumb over its soft fleece, remembering the one time his mother wrapped him in a hug. The memory felt like refuge in front of the hearth - secure, and most of all, warm. The green striped muffler was old, and worn-out. It had clearly seen better days, yet Naruto would not have it any other way.

"It was k-kinda hard looking for it," Hinata mumbled. "I-I don't know why you'd still want an old one. I knitted you a couple of scarves, already."

"Speaking of which... here, Naruto-kun." She took out another scarf - this time a red one - and laid it on top of his husband's chest, right atop the green scarf. It reminded Naruto of blood for some reason. "Just in case the other one isn't warm enough. Rather, I-I think it would be better for you to use this."

Naruto turned to stare at the scarf Hinata had in her hands. A second passed in silence, and another one. Hinata drew herself back, unsure of what to do next. "U-Um, I think I'll just leave it -"

Two hard knocks, and then the door opened without ceremony. A nurse came in, with an outfit as white as the floor she walked on. She made a wide grin, something she probably had to use hundreds of times with hundreds of patients.

"Hokaga-sama, how are you- oh." Only when she was next to the bed did she notice the presence of Hinata and Himawari. "I'm sorry. I didn't know your family is visiting Hokage-sama. Greetings, Lady Hinata, and Himawari."

The nurse bowed to the two, which also did likewise.

Naruto smiled. "It's no trouble. Anyway, what is it?"

"Ah yes! I hope this isn't short notice, but Tsunade-sama is here to speak to you."

And then there she was, the legendary Sannin and former Hokage, striding purposefully towards Naruto, not bothering to spare the nurse a second glance. Tsunade stood next to both mother and daughter, fixing them a stern stare.

"I'm sorry, but could you go visit this blockhead some other time? I wanna discuss something important with him," the blonde said in a tone that left no room for disagreement.

"O-Of course, Tsunade-sama."

Hinata hesitated for a moment, before placing the red scarf next to the vase of sunflowers atop the bedside table. "I'll just place it here, Naruto-kun, if ever you need it."

She tugged on Himawari's hand, pulling them across the room. The young woman shot one last look of longing at her father, before she closed the door behind her.

"Bye dad." Naruto heard her say.

He turned his attention to the imposing figure standing next to him. The air was tense, and the nurse took this chance to quietly slip out of the room. The silence seemed to go on for minutes. Then suddenly a grin broke out on the Sannin's youthful face, and she began to chuckle.

"Look at you now, Naruto," she said, raising an eyebrow and pinching his lined cheek. "Remember all those times you teased me? Who's old now, eh?"

"Come on, you know I was only kidding… Baa-chan." Both of them broke out into laughter, except Naruto's ended in a coughing fit that wracked his chest with pain. Tsunade's brows knit in worry, and she put a hand on Naruto's chest. A green glow emanated from the point of contact, a manifestation of the chakra Tsunade was using to diagnose Naruto's condition.

Judging from the way she frowned, it wasn't anything good.

"I'll spare you the specifics and get straight to the point," Tsunade said. "Your health is deteriorating, Naruto. You... don't have much time left. I can't do anything to reverse it unless I can somehow implant you with this." She pointed to the purple gem sitting atop her forehead. It was the focal point of her chakra, the unique way she maintained her youthfulness despite her advanced age.

"Do you want me to?" Tsunade said.

Naruto considered her offer. She made it sound like he had no other choice, but Naruto knew she was hoping he'd take it. But then she knew him better than that. She must know his answer even before it left his lips.

"I don't need it anymore, Baa-chan," Naruto said with a soft smile. "I've done enough. I've made a lot of friends, met a lot of people, including my parents, and did a lot of crazy things over the years, all for the sake of protecting everyone I care about, and fulfilling my dream of being Hokage. So, I'm done. I... I have no regrets."

Yes. Yes, he did. That one regret that kept him awake at night. But he just wasn't going to admit it to Tsunade, or to anyone.

The Sannin chuckled, like that one aunt who cared a lot, sometimes too much. "Why am I not surprised? You're as headstrong as the first time I met you. Still, at least I tried. Anyway," her expression turned serious, "I did say I can't reverse it, but we can slow it down. Now, not one nurse or doctor or medical ninja in Konoha is strong enough to do that, except for me and..."

"And? And who, Baa-chan?" Naruto asked, raising an eyebrow.

"And her."

As if on cue, there was another couple of knocks on the door. Naruto held his breath as it opened, revealing pink hair framing a face he could never forget no matter how many times he tried. Her green eyes sparkled in the morning light, and her lips were drawn into a sweet if somewhat strained smile. The years had done nothing to diminish her beauty. All this time, his heart still jumped at the sight of her.

Their eyes met, and Naruto melted into nostalgia as cherry-tinged memories washed over him. The one regret in his chest pounded more and more until it hurt. He almost didn't hear Tsunade when she spoke up about the new arrival.

"Good to see you here, Sakura," she said, beckoning her pupil to come closer. "Thanks again for volunteering for this."

"It is the least I can do, Tsunade-sama," Sakura said, never keeping her eyes off of Naruto.

"Wait, what do you mean, 'volunteer'?" Naruto asked.

"Good question. I called a meeting of all Konoha medical staff when you were admitted to this hospital to brief them on your situation. I asked for volunteers, but really everyone there knew that Sakura would be the obvious choice."

"By the way, I bought you something, Na- I mean . . .Hokage-sama." Naruto noticed the plastic bag in Sakura's hand. She brought out a take-out bowl from it, and Naruto didn't need to smell the chicken broth to know it was a bowl of his favorite Ichiraku ramen.

But he thought about her pause, that momentary hesitation that told more than he wanted to know, and hurt more than a kunai to the chest. They couldn't be as they were before, where they could freely call each other by name without caring about anything else.

"I never actually told you what she'll be volunteering for. From this point on, Sakura will be your personal nurse," Tsunade broke in.

That came in harder than a sucker punch. "W-what?" Naruto said.

"She's the only one qualified to take care of you."

"Oh. Is that so…" his words trailed off as he studied the profile of the woman who he'd probably spend most of his time with for a long, long while. He still wasn't sure whether he felt like lying on a bed of roses or nails when he considered that.

"Yes. Any complaints?" Tsunade asked. Naruto shook his head, because there wasn't a single reason - well, maybe one reason - why he would complain about the set-up.

"Good. I'll leave you two so you can settle into things. Take care now, Naruto. See you, soon."

Naruto gave a feeble wave, grinning as best as he could. Sakura bowed dutifully as her master stepped out the door. Once it clicked close, the atmosphere became such that you could either hear a pin drop, or cut the tension with a knife.

And of course, Naruto couldn't help but look over his teammate. He saw her eyes, sparkling yet marred with a certain sadness. He followed the length of her hair, which now fell smoothly across her back. It reminded him of his dear mother. It reminded him too well of how much he wanted to run his hand through those pink locks.

"What happened to us?" he said abruptly, laughter bleeding into the words.

"I don't know," Sakura said, looking towards the window, not meeting his gaze. Naruto could almost see the shimmer in her eyes, the slight trembling of her lower lip. "It's just that... Whatever it is, I don't like it."

Keeping her head low, Sakura put down the ramen bowl in her hands to the bedside table. Or, she tried to, but the table was already crowded.

"Oh, it's okay. You can put it here." He scrambled to pull the red scarf off the table, but in his haste he managed to take down the vase with it.

"Naruto!" Sakura exclaimed, but it was too late. The vase had already shattered on the floor before she could even react.

"Come on..." she sighed, turning to look at the blonde with a frown. It quickly lightened into a smile halfway through. "Seriously, you're so clumsy."

She walked over to the other side of the room and took out a broom and a dustpan from the closet in the corner. She swept the broken shards, deposited them in the trash can by the door, and then picked up the sunflowers. "What a waste. These are really beautiful flowers. Maybe I can go to the reception for a new one. I'm sure they won't mind if the Hokage's nurse asks," Sakura said. Naruto was suddenly too busy dwelling on the words 'Hokage' and 'nurse' put together that he almost didn't hear the next question.

"Who gave these flowers to you?"

There was a very long pause before Naruto answered. And even then he couldn't bear to look straight into Sakura's eyes. Those beautiful, beautiful eyes. "Himawari did. She picked them up for me. She came here earlier with Hinata."

He didn't look, because he didn't want to see what went across Sakura's face when he spoke. Thinking about it, he realized that she would have come across his wife and daughter earlier in the hallway. Definitely. What happened? he wondered. Did they talk? Or... Something? Dammit, I'm thinking too much about it.

"And the red scarf," Sakura said, breaking into his thoughts. "It's the one Hinata made for you, right?"

"...Yes," he said, still staring at a spot on the far wall.

Another silence passed between them, neither willing to shatter it. Naruto didn't want it to be this way. They have both already made their decisions a long time ago. There was nothing that could do about that now, as much as Naruto wanted to think otherwise. If not for that, then least Naruto wished for some semblance of what they were before all this happened, when they were close friends who went through life-or-death situations together. Silence would help neither of them; it would only widen the impassable gap between them. And yet for all his thinking, Naruto couldn't bring himself to utter a single word.

"It's no good settling in the past, right?"

Naruto's eyes focused on Sakura then, hiding his surprise. Her voice was soft, almost like a whisper. He didn't answer. He only watched as Sakura promptly turned away and used the direct line to request for a new vase to be brought to his room. When she was done, she gave him a small smile, as if the last thirty seconds never happened.

"I bet you're hungry," Sakura said, glancing at the cup of ramen on his bed tray. "It's better for you not to move too much. I'll help you."

"You're going to feed me?" Naruto asked, still not taking his eyes off her.

"Honestly, the way you are now you should be eating from a tube. But I figured I'd let you eat your favorite before that happens."

Sakura gave a light chuckle, and it melted Naruto's heart. That laughter had been and forever would be imprinted in him. Sakura combed her hair behind ear, and using a pair of wooden chopsticks she grabbed a large helping of noodles.

"Here." She gently blew on the noodles before she lifted chopsticks to his lips. Naruto only stared at her. Not at the fact that Sakura-chan was feeding him ramen, but at the way she looked at that moment. "Na- Naruto. What is it?"

"Ah, it's nothing really," Naruto smiled sheepishly. "You just remind me a lot of my..." Naruto shifted his gaze to the worn-out scarf he was holding.

"I remind you of your muffler?" Sakura simply smiled and reached out to touch delicate material. "It's really soft, and beautiful. Did Hinata make it as well?"

Naruto took a moment to gulp down a mouthful of noodles. It wasn't as easy as it was before, when he could devour entire bowls in a matter of minutes. When had he become so old?

"No. My mom made it," Naruto answered as he caressed the fabric. Their hands passed close to each other, neither of them aware of it. "It's the only thing I have left from her," he said with a hint of sadness. Their hands finally met, the edge of their fingers touching. Their eyes met, Naruto's blue staring into Sakura's green. "It also matches your eyes," he admitted, never breaking either contact.

Sakura was the first one to break away, withdrawing her hand to hold the ramen cup still as she picked up another chopstick full of noodles. "I only met your dad," Sakura said, a light touch of red on her cheeks. "It would be nice meeting your mom too."

She brought the chopsticks to Naruto's mouth, and the old Hokage ate. The nostalgic taste of the ramen brought back memories, and it made him happy inside. 'I think she would love meeting you too, Sakura-chan' Naruto thought, and he found himself thinking how nice it would be if that really happened.

"You need to take your medicine after finish this," Sakura reminded him, her voice taking on that professional quality. But there was a bright smile on her face.

"As you say, nurse Sakura," Naruto smiled back, not just because of Sakura's mirth, but because the silence had finally passed. Maybe, just maybe, they could still return to that time before all the wrong decisions were made.

To be Continued~


A/N: I think this would be my first and last fanfic for the naruto fandom before saying goodbye to it completely. I still love NaruSaku, it will be always in my heart. I just really need to complete this fic so I can say that I contributed something to my beloved fandom.

I hope you guys like this story. I cried a lot of times thinking about ideas for this fic / I even cried on the bus and jeepney. Thank you!