Damn Good Life
Disclaimer: I own nothing. The words in bold are from The Guardian.
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"Age doesn't always come with wisdom. Sometimes, age comes alone."-Anonymous
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If my muscles ache, it's 'cause I used them.
Naruto winced slightly as he leaned heavily on the cane. The bone had never set right and he didn't want to rebreak it for that to happen. He had broken enough bones without his consent. He had to leave earlier than he would've ten years ago just so he can get up all the stairs in time.
Sighing in relief, he let himself drop into the comfortable chair in his office, facing the windows. Seeing the still far too big piles of papers wasn't a good way to start the morning. He leaned the cane against the desk and could still feel the twinges of his muscles around the misplaced bone.
If my legs hurt when I walked up those stairs, it's 'cause I walked up there every night to sleep next to the man who loved me.
These stairs had always been a bit much, especially as he started getting out of his twenties, the days when he never used the stairs, almost always the window. The staircases always smelt a little strange, like cabbages from that neighbor who was obsessed with cats and a familiar underlying musky smell with the ever-present smells of ramen coming from the floor above.
Sasuke let himself in, taking in the apartment as he had ever since day one, and was perfectly content to fall on the couch against his lover's familiar, broad shoulder. The Uchiha had never quite figured out how Naruto slept through it, but he never minded when the blonde pulled him close.
If I got wrinkles, it's because I've laid under countless suns
It had taken Naruto a decade and a half, but he finally got what Shikamaru had always said about watching clouds being relaxing. The grass, always slightly dewy with the Konoha weather, prickled gently against your skin, and the moving shade of the tree just above them loved to taunt them when it moved away, letting pinpricks of strong sunlight into the cornflower eyes.
Sasuke preferred to use the time to sleep, and Naruto never blamed him. The nightmares were literally that, and even after all the time since the war and the terrible events leading up to it, they never seemed to go away. Naruto used to joke that maybe Sasuke was a kind of weird vampire, because only when he was out here, in the sun, did the nightmares stay away.
And I've lived, loved, laughed and screwed my way through a pretty damn good life.
They always liked to go to the training grounds and watch as Asuma's kid (They could never seem to refer to him as anything else, because that's what he'd been to them since they were teenagers) held up the damnable familiar silver bells, a smirk playing his lips at the sight of the three brand new genin gawking at him like he was insane.
He had a family of his own now, a little girl whose name they could never seem to remember. Was it Mayu or Misaki? Mayu sounded more right, and they could've sworn that the little girl had grown far too quickly. She had a best friend, a dirty blonde, tanned girl with sharp dark brown eyes that were just a little too intelligent than was strictly necessary for a nine year old.
Shikamaru would complain a bit about Mayu spending so much time with his daughter, but he never seemed to mind too much. Temari would just shake her head and go back to whatever she had been doing. She knew he couldn't hide the slight pride and love for his daughter.
Getting old ain't bad.
Naruto had teased Sasuke a bit about the slight, barely noticeable wrinkles beginning to appear around his eyes. Barely noticeable, unless you'd known him well and for a long time. Sasuke had given him the glare that had long since lost its effect, if it had ever had one.
Getting old, that's earned.
Author's Note: I don't think it's my best, but I'll let you guys decide.