--Symphony Paradise--

-First Symphony-

-First Arc-

Time seems to be always against us. It rushes and slows with the ebbing of our lives. Sometimes it seems to slow as nothing happens, holding us in perpetuated monotony. And yet sometimes it rushes us by as everything happens at once, and seemingly all at the wrong time. But, that is the source of these problems, events occurring at the wrong time, deaths on holiday, and betrayals on hoped days of joy. Everything is tangled in a mess off time and pain...what are we to do but try to push through to, as it seems, a non-existent end to a succession of pain and the web of time.

-Movement I-

Prelude

It had been 10 years. 10 years since that mission to the Valley, 10 years since they made their promises. 10 years ago they stood in a garden, lifted to the heavens as if to defy the very clouds that rained upon them. 10 years ago, he slain his best friend and sunk into darkness and she was the light that brought him back. 10 years ago they made love for the first time, and 10 years ago they started life anew, together.

They were making breakfast, as they always did. Over the years Naruto had managed to learn how to make buttered toast without burning it, but that was about it. In fact, very little had changed since those days. Granted the couple had grown older, stronger, but their relationship did not. They had talked about their apparent concrete relationship before, but both had agreed that in the ever changing lives on ninja, sometimes the only thing that maintained their sanity was in fact, something concrete and unchanging. In a world of death and pain, sometimes the only thing that gets you through the day is the guarantee of a warm embrace in a rooftop garden when you return home.

Yeah, home. The thought still brought butterflies to Sakura's stomach even though it had been five years since the wedding.

23. That was how old she was today, the day of her wedding. "Oh my god oh my god! I look terrible!" Sakura wailed. Ino rolled her eyes, Sakura had grown a reputation for keeping a level head even on the most dangerous of missions, and here she was freaking out over a simple wedding. Ino's wedding had been short and sweet, granted she did have a minor fit at the dress shop when she realized she had gained 50 pounds. Nonetheless the prospect of fat, guilt free sex with Choji after her wedding overtook her pride and she settled for several dress sizes higher than expected.

"On stop crying!" the blond complained, grabbing for the nearest cloth to dab away Sakura's tears in an attempt to save her makeup. "You look beautiful and you know it, hell you're the one who managed to keep your perfect figure, I guess all that dieting when we were yonger was pointless huh?"

Sakura's tears stopped as she struggled to stifle her laughter. It was true that Sakura had given up her obsessive dieting soon after she started dating Naruto. In actuality, the real reason she didn't gain any weight from the extra calories was the extra exercise she got from her and Naruto's newly found libido.

"We're ready to go Sakura!" Hinata called from the doorway.

"Don't worry, you look beautiful, you know he always thinks you're beautiful." Ino said reassuringly, putting the last pin in Sakura's hair. "I have to go now, Lee will take care of the rest!" she called as she dashed out the door after Hinata.

Normally the bride's father would walk his daughter to the alter, but Sakura's parents had died a year before in a horrible fire. It made this day that much more difficult for Sakura, knowing that even with all the training the village had to offer, she had been unable to save her parent's lives. Tears started to well up in her eyes, luckily a warm hand on her shoulder brought her back to her senses.

"Sakura, we should go, wouldn't want to keep him waiting now would we?" Lee was sporting his green blazer, as expected, with matching scarf wrapped about his neck. He had become more…effeminate, if that was even possible, over the years. Still, Lee remained a valuable friend and had gladly offered to walk Sakura down the aisle at her wedding. "You look positively fabulous!" he exclaimed, holding out his thumbs-up pose.

Sakura's eye twitched but she took his hand anyways, "Thank you Lee, yes, let's go." Her heart and breath seemed to stop as the white doors opened, light streaming into the preparation room. The light was blinding but as the white glow faded from her eyes, the watchful eyes from hundreds of wedding guests turned to look at her. Sakura shrunk back bashfully until she saw his eyes. God those sapphire eyes. Naruto stood next to the altar, handsome as ever, clad in a fit suit. It was one of the few times Naruto had dressed completely formal and he looked incredible.

"Sakura," Lee whispered.

Yes. She gripped Lee's arm and took the first step towards Naruto.

Lost in her daydream, she hardly noticed the warm hands that had crept around her waist. Fingertips dances across her skin, gently lifting the bottom of her shirt, toying around her naval. A happy groan danced across her lips, "Naruto..". Strong palms gripped her bare breasts beneath shirt, a tongue dancing around the edge of her ear. Sakura let out a sigh and smiled, few things had changed since those many years ago, and yes, even the sex was still mind-blowing.

Sakura ground her hips back against Naruto's, her ass grinding through the thing fabric of her nightgown against Naruto's bulging pants. Dropping the whisk into the bowl of eggs, Sakura held onto the counter for support as her lover's actions made her increasingly weak in the knees. His tongue skimmed the pale skin on the side of her neck as his fingers greedily toyed and played with her breasts. Gasping she tossed her head, looking over her shoulder at the sapphire oceans that hungrily looked back. They stood like that, heaving and grinding their bodies together, but it was not until his hand breached the barrier of her panties that her lips lunged back, ravaging his, begging, pleading for more. The boy hated to disappoint and answered by letting his fingers slip past her already wet slit.

Naruto always focused more on pleasing Sakura and less on his own desires, and thus had grown very experienced in the art of pleasuring a woman. Nonetheless Sakura tried her best to return the favor by making the experience as satisfying for him as he made it for her. Unable to completely quit her grip on the counter, she managed to let go with one hand and slip it around to grab his muscular ass. She let the flesh heave in her hand as she pushed his hips towards her while she pushed back with her own. Her hips felt his solid member sandwiched between her ass and hand, aggressively grinding up and down. He simply took this as provocation and is response, his fingers slipped into Sakura's body, his thumb finding her clit almost instantly. Waves of pleasure ripped through ever vein, her teeth biting down on his lower lip, the faint taste of blood slipping across her tongue. Naruto growled and ravaged her sex with his fingers; they slipped further in, rubbing the flesh between his thumb and fingers. With this, Sakura knew she needed more, something more than just the strong, dexterous hands of a ninja, and of course, Naruto knew this as well. He retracted his hand, not letting a single drop of her fluids spill before pushing them past his own lips. Sakura's unique taste mixed with the blood from his lip was intoxicating, spurring his passion even more.

A faint grin on his face, Naruto eased the quivering Sakura over, her hands resting on the counter once again, ass sticking further out. A devious thought overcame the blond and her fell to his knees, pulling the fabric of her panties to the side, he let a warm breath of air pass his lips, falling upon the pink, wet flesh in front of him.

"Naruto, what are you do…oh…" Sakura moaned, Naruto pushing his lips against her exposed sex. His fingers found their place as well, working with this tongue, teeth, and lips, tugging, pulling, and ravaging her womanhood. He knew this would drive her mad and he would pay for it soon enough, but the desire to tease his lover was far stronger. His face worked against her bucking hips, lapping up the sweet and bitter juice that flowed from her body. He dare not miss a single drop, as this fruit was rare, for she rarely allowed him this treat before she simple took him completely. Nonetheless her moans convinced him to do as she asked, so as he stood his pants fell back to the ground.

The two both gasped, moaning in pleasure as Naruto and Sakura's sexes became one, Sakura bent over the kitchen counter, her ass in Naruto's able hands. She tossed her hair over her shoulder, looking lovingly into the eyes of the man behind her, her lover, her husband. His flesh tugged at her inside, sliding out gracefully as her fluids slipped out. Sweet ecstacy blossomed from her lips, every thrust, every hot breath and droplet of sweat that fell upon her back, every sensation was a fire that burned as brightly in her body and soul as it did the first time they had ever made love. With the steady flow of pleasure washing over her body, Sakura straitened her legs, presenting herself to the blond, his pace increasing as the pleasure began to consume him.

Pulling out, Naruto effortlessly lifted Sakura's petite frame, sitting her upon the kitchen counter. Sakura bit her lip in anticipation, spreading her legs and easing off what was left of her clothing. Naruto took a deep breath, Sakura complaining about the lack of flesh inside her sex. The blond gladly granted his lovers wish, guiding his length into her, the erotic sound of their fluids mixing filling the air. His hands found the soft skin of her inner thighs, his lips tugged at her neck, and his body danced against hers. Fingers laced through his hair, Sakura pulled Naruto's head into her chest, her toe curling, back arched and head thrown back, gasping with every thrust.

Sakura had always made it a goal to finish anything her lover started, and this morning session was no exception. Sakura knew her man was close and with that in mind, wrapped her legs around his waist. Pushing herself from the counter, she and Naruto feel to the floor with Naruto on his back and Sakura straddling his sweat covered body. Sakura held Naruto's hands above his head with her superior strength. With frantic and firey passion, she ground her hips against his, riding, rocking, letting his manhood drive in and out of her body, deep and hard.

She knew Naruto would never admit it, but he never allowed himself to orgasm before her, probably advice from Kiba or Shikamaru, it didn't matter, Naruto and Sakura always came together. Nonetheless, she could tell Naruto was struggling against her assault as he bucked against her. She too was nearing her limit, quickening her pace, and she felt the wave coming.

With a crash, Sakura's finger dug into Naruto's wrists, but he hardly noticed the pain. His entire body thrashed, hot fluids gushing into his lover's body. Sakura's womanhood contracted, pulling Naruto deeper and holding him, drinking up all that he offered. The two gripped each other, stiff with the crash of sensation. It was a seeming eternity before they both collapsed onto each other, sweaty and exhausted.

She loved how his hair felt in her hand, diving into the golden locks, letting gossamer strands slide smoothly against the skin between her fingers. The two lounged on the couch, Naruto's head in Sakura's lap, chewing the last bit of breakfast. With a final gulp, he brushed the remaining crumbs off his base chest and turned his head, nuzzling into Sakura's exposed belly. He turned back, gazing up at Sakura's naked form and face, "Did I ever tell you how beautiful you are, especially when you're naked?"

A raised eyebrow, "You tell me that every day, and remind me of it every night" she said with a smirk. With a sigh they both relaxed, letting their eyes close to enjoy the remaining moments of the afterglow. It was a bittersweet sensation though, just like every time before it.

"Damnit! I need to see her!"

Everything had gone horribly wrong. The intel on the mission had been completely off; when they had arrived, there was a force ten times stronger than they had been told. Naruto was lucky enough to grab a mangled Sakura and escape with most of his limbs intact. It wasn't until Naruto had made it back to the Leaf Village that he realized how badly damaged Sakura's abdomen really was. If she had hesitated, and dodged even a fraction of a second later, the sword would have cleaved her in half. Instead it only managed to finish half of the job. By the time he made it to the hospital, Naruto was sobbing, his tears mixing with Sakura's blood. Tsunade took one look and snatched her pupil away.

"Tsnade, We…I…" he stammered.

"Explain later" she ordered over her shoulder at a weeping Naruto as she rushed Sakura to the closest operating room. "Out!" she screamed.

"But we're in the middle of an operation…"


"Is he dieing?"

"…No…"

"OUT!"

It was several more hours in the waiting room before Naruto finally lost it.

"Naruto! She's in surgery! Besides you shouldn't even be moving around with your arm like that!"

"This is nothing! I need to see that she's going to be alright!" Pain.

"See? You're lucky that arm is still attached, now sit down!"

Agony.

A sound of a door opening and Naruto's head snapped in that direction. Shizune walked out, her arms covered in blood that was no doubt Sakura's.

"What happened? Is she ok?!" the blond demanded.

Shizune looked away uncomfortably. "Sakura is stable and alive, barely, but still alive."

Naruto fell to his knees. Relief. "When can I see Sakura? Where's Tsunade?"

Shizune looked back at Naruto, "Naruto, Tsunade was determined to save Sakura's life, and pushed herself past her limit. She almost died in the operating room, at the moment shes at the same status as Sakura… she may have caused serious and permanent damage to herself..."

Naruto's face crumpled, these were hard memories to face, not matter how many times he went through it.

Naruto sat by Sakura's bedside, it had been over a month since the surgery, though Sakura had only just woken up in the past week. Naruto had not left that room save a handful of times in a month, and much to his dismay, the first words out of his lover's mouth were "…You smell terrible…"

"God damnit I hate this thing!" came a voice from the other side of the door. Tsunade had also survived the ordeal, but at a cost. She had became paralyzed from the waist down due to extensive chakra-system damage, and now relied on a wheel chair to get around. Finally she managed to ram the door open and wheeled into the room.

"Sakura…Naruto… there is something we need to talk about. I would have done this earlier, but I was unfortunately held up from the aftermath of what happened as well."

Tears welled up in Sakura's eyes, "I am so sorry for what happened, I.."

"Oh shut up, your life is more important than the legs of on old woman like me." Tsunade snapped, "Besides, this is more important than unnecessary apologies." She cleared her throat, "Honestly, I'm not sure how you're still alive, you should have died on the way to the hospital; there was just too much damage. But for whatever reason you survived the trip here, and the surgery, perhaps you're better at playing dice with Death than I am. Nonetheless, as I said there was extensive damage…we were able to repair the essentials, at least enough to keep you alive long enough for your body to take care of the rest. Unfortunately there were a few things we were unable to save. One of your ovaries was completely destroyed, and your uterus and second ovary were severely damaged. There is a very good chance that you will be unable to bear children for the rest of your life."

Naruto cried harder than Sakura, and even now, Sakura knew he struggled to hold the tears back. Sakura had relapsed into a spurt of depression, which wasn't helped by the fact that Naruto was depressed as well. Still, he made an effort to go on missions, and saved as much money as the two could afford. They both brought in enough money to live wealthy lives, but Naruto insisted in living humbly. Sakura didn't mind, but whenever she asked Naruto about his insistence on all the saved money, he would simply reply "In case Tsunade was wrong."

They of course, kept trying, despite the near impossible odds and complete lack of success. Most men would consider all the "trying" to be a wonderful thing, but Naruto thought otherwise. She could see how pained his face looked when her period came, not because of the bitching, but because he knew a child would not be coming.

Sakura felt a tear his her inner leg, and she knew he was thinking about the same thing. Sakura sighed, Naruto's tears always brought hers. Sakura stroked the massive scar that ran across her abdomen, Naruto still trying to suppress his tears.

Some scars never fade.