It was Autum ten years later.

Sasuke Uchihia awoke to the sun pouring through his window. The pounding in his head has not stopped since he awoke in the middle of the night. Memories of Team Seven still haunted him, although it had been so long since he left the village to live alone just outside of The Village Hidden in the Sand. In his opinion, this was the safest place to hide. Sasuke was determined not to stumble upon his old teamates again.

He yanked back the blankets and headed into the hallway. The house he lived in was grey on the outside just like all the other ones in his village. But, this place mocked him. There were so many things wrong with what he'd done to The Leaf Village. He remembered Sakura and Naruto; how he betrayed them. Suddenly, Sasuke felt sick to his stomach. He stumbled down the stairs and into the kitchen where buttery sunlight was pouring onto the countertops and floor. The warm smell of freshly-made tea wafted to Sasuke's nose, he smiled. After grabbing a cup of tea, Sasuke settled down into the chair nearest to the window and looked out upon the tip of the Sand Village Kazekage's home.

And, as he sipped his hot tea... Sasuke's mind wandered off to when he was but a child...

Sasuke stood in the forest training field with Naruto, Sakura, and Kakashi. They were thirteen.

"Come on you three! I know you can do better than that! I've seen it. Alright, Sasuke you're and counter my attack," their Sensei, Kakashi Hatake called from the other side of the field. Suddenly, Kakashi ran at Sasuke. A kunai flew smoothly past Sasuke's face. He grabbed it, threw it back and there was a flash, a gasp, and a thud.

"Sensei!" Sakura gasped.

"It's alright Sakura. I'm fine," Kakashi mumbled, standing up and wiping a tiny trickle of blood from his cheek. "Excellent work Sasuke!"

It still stung... after all these years.

It was Autum ten years later.

Naruto Uzumaki stood in the kitchen, the sun danced over the tabletops. The wedding band glittered on his left hand. The blonde was cooking eggs and bacon. Pausing, Naruto turned and headed out of the room and to the bottom of the stairs.

"Sakura, honey! Wake up," He called up. "Blossum?" Naruto waited. Finally he headed upstairs and into their bedroom. "Sakura?" Naruto knelt down beside the bed, his long legs still keeping him tall. "Oh, Sakura..."

Sakura had her face buried into her pillow and she was sobbing.

"Oh Naruto. I... I was thinking about him again. I miss him so much, I wish he'd come home," she sobbed. Naruto pulled the covers down, climbed into bed next to his wife and pulled her into his strong, tan arms.

"He'll come home, honey. He will... we just have to keep telling ourselves he will. Sakura..." Naruto placed his finger under her chin and looked deep into her eyes. "I love you, you know that. I'm not going to let anything hurt you or him." He whispered and kissed her on the lips softly. "Deal?"

"Deal," Sakura sniffed and rubbed her eyes.

It was Autum ten years later.

The bedroom was dark and cold. Sakura Uzumaki lay in bed, curled up in her warm blankets. Thoughts of her son, Ton, floated in her head. She missed him; he was sent to train to be a Shinobi with the other children in the Hidden Sand Village. Every moment that he was gone, Sakura thought of her old teammate, Sasuke... how she missed him aswell but hated him, too. He left her and Naruto when they were so young... left them to be hurt... for their families to be killed.

But, none of that mattered now. Sakura was in love with Naruto, they had a beautiful child together and a wonderful home.

And, apparently, her husband was cooking breakfast downstairs because, delicious smells were wafting into her bedroom; she smelled bacon and eggs. Suddenly, she began to cry softly into her pillow. Ton loved eating bacon and eggs with his parents, that she knew.

He would wake up every morning very early and help his father cook. Then, they would set the table and Ton would wake Sakura up. They would eat and laugh and poke fun and finally, Naruto would walk Ton to school and come back.

A deep ache pulsed in her stomach, an ache for her son. And without warning, Naruto was next to her, holding her and wiping her tears gently; he was whispering words of comfort. And they kissed and Sakura felt so much better.

But, that creeping pain would eventually come back... as it always did.