He lived in the past just for them because he had nothing else to live for. They were his past and never the present nor future. Everything he did was for them now. He was never himself or them, because he didn't want to be them or himself; he wanted to be all three of them. Everyone copes with things differently; this was his way.
He laughed and shouted a lot as if waiting someone to hit him, so when the blow never came, he'd hit himself for her. She would always get mad at him, and he loved the fact that she paid even the littlest attention to him. He could hear his crush in his head lecturing him though the words were actually coming out of his mouth. He received worried glances from his friends.
He'd fight with an inanimate object and listened to be called dobe, but he'd be the one saying it instead, thinking it was his brooding teammate. Every time he insulted the objects, he could image them being the teammate that didn't smile and believe they were him. He received worried stares from his friends now.
He bought vegetables for himself instead of making the Jonin buy them, and as he expected to hear about ramen being unhealthy, he was the one speaking it in front of a bunch of his stunned friends. He thought he was listening to the Jonin talking to him. He received worried whispers from his friends now.
He lived in the past just for them because no one wanted to tell him of their fates. It was too cruel for the insane boy. Tsunade and the rest of his friends believed it would send him straight over the edge. He was already a heartless creature on missions, so why bring that home?
He remembered only the times they were together completely as a team. Those times were his happiest times as everyone else made him smile falsely. He couldn't hold himself together sometimes and would only frown for days on end. At the beginning of each day, he would lose a bit of himself to his memories of the old.
His laughter bounced off the village walls as he stood on the bridge and smacked himself hard like she would for being annoying. She was his love, but she didn't love him back. He would always protect her even after she didn't need him anymore. That was his gift to her.
He would stand there for hours expecting his old sensei with a ready excuse. He even picked them up as well and used them like money. He asked Gai to challenges, and soon, Gai had fifty wins with himself at forty-nine. He started reading Icha Icha and live by the simple words he was told as a Genin. That was his gift to the Jonin.
He would lean against the railing and wait for his best friend to call him an idiot, so they could fight. He would go and start fights for no reason with Kiba. He would pretend that the dog man was the brooding teammate. He would fight inanimate object for the sake of remembering his best friend. He gave friendship to the stuff. That was his gift to the brooding teammate.
One day, he waited well past three days without sleep, food, water, shower, or anything else that was needed, but he waited for them like usual. The ANBU had to drag him away from that spot, and that was the last day he waited for them on the bridge.
He spent most his time waiting now. He waited at the memorial stone, the gates, the Uchiha clan estate, Ichiraku Ramen Bar, the academy, and a million other places, but they never showed up. He refused to stop waiting and ignored almost everyone around him during the time. ANBU usually had to take him to the hospital when he passed out from several days without eating.
Suddenly, he threw himself into medical training because he wanted to remember her. He loved the feeling of bones being put back together or muscles sliding back into place. His patients were always grateful and smiled. Everyone knew the real reason more than him. He waited to feel her chakra healing his body.
He was constantly late for meetings, so he used the old excuses that he heard when he was a Genin. He memorized every single word and used them so many times that they came out naturally. He didn't have to think anymore. He waited to hear the excuses from the Jonin.
He even begged to hunt Itachi down for killing the Uchiha clan. The man needed to die as a revenge mission from the late Uchiha clan. He liked it when his hand went through the evil man's chest because he felt like some ghosts were put to rest. He waited to hear his teammate thank him for the win.
Tsunade and the others saw only a broken man trying to live within the past because when his team was alive and together, he was for once truly happy. Everyone knew the day would come that he'd find out the truth, but he was almost thirty and still ignorant to the fact that they were dead. Then again, all three of them died in his arms within an hour of each other, and he failed to save them.
One day, Uzumaki Naruto, now twenty-eight, waited at the memorial and read every name that was once the names of heroes. He wanted to be written upon the rock when he died because they were remembered. The last couple names confused him as he read them. His heart thumped faster, and his head began to hurt horribly. Suddenly, the past came up to meet him and flooded his brain with memories of the mission and their deaths.
Uchiha Sasuke…Haruno Sakura…Hatake Kakashi. They died on a mission because eighteen-year-old Naruto wasn't able to save them like he wanted to. He had failed them, but they didn't hate him. Naruto cried at the memories of them smiling up at him for trying.
"I'm sorry, but this is where I stop living in the past," Naruto said. When he walked away from the memorial, he left his past with Team Seven lying upon the stone. There were a few things he couldn't give up about the past. The veggies, medical training, excuses for tardiness, and the friendship he had created with them.
Eighty years later, a man added a new name upon the rock surface as he held back tears. His great-grandfather's name was one to remember forever because the man had changed Konoha in so many ways though he was insane on the inside and diagnosed with insanity at twenty-eight, the day he gave up his past. The man who added the name stepped away from the stone and sighed heavily before walking away. The rain came down slowly as the man disappeared. Four spirits appeared around the stone laughed.
One was a silver haired Jonin with one eye covered with his hitai-ate and wore a mask. He was one of Konoha's strongest when he lived and aided Konoha through two different wars. He was remembered as the one of the great nowadays. His name glowed brightly on the stone. Hatake Kakashi.
The only female was a pink haired medical Jonin with green eyes that smiled. She rivaled the Sannin Tsunade in medical, strength, and temper and was remembered as Team Hatake's greatest medic. She'd be forever someone's very first love. Her named glowed brightly. Haruno Sakura.
Another male was a black haired Jonin with black eyes that could be red and black. He was once a traitor that killed a Sannin that tried to take over his body, but only one person brought him back. He was Konoha's last sharingan user. Upon the stone, his name glowed too. Uchiha Sasuke.
The last one was a blonde ANBU captain. He laughed without any problems and had clear blue eyes. The scars on his face were from the thing he kept within him for his life. He was famous for many great things while fighting insanity. His name was the brightest one glowing. Uzumaki Naruto.
"Hey dobe," Sasuke said. Naruto laughed and looked at his friends. His hundred eight years were stripped away from him until he was his old eighteen-year-old self just like them. Sakura and Kakashi looked at the two fight over stupid junk before clearing their throats.
"How have you been?" Sakura and Kakashi asked at the same time. They laughed at each other and looked at their blonde teammate. He obviously made it to something besides a Jonin. Naruto grinned.
"I just got lost in a few memories. I've never been better."