Summary

Having won the war, Naruto and the rest of the nation had recovered and formed a solid alliance. With no imminent threat, reconstruction was set and life resumed as usual. Now thinking back, Naruto was glad that things happened the way they did, but seeing a certain girl on her special day changes everything.

Naruto short multi chapter or one shot fic

Idk if Naruto actually realized Hinata confessed but either way im going to ignore that part as if it didn't happen at all, also idk if a year even passed from the time of shippuden to the end of the war but ill say it took like six months or something so yea

Memories

The Elemental Nations while not at war, was never truly at peace due to the mistrust and discrimination of 9 certain individuals. As such, those 9 never felt much love except for the famous Killer B who had his brother, the Raikage. The reason these people were hated were due to the infamous demonic beasts that had been sealed inside them which caused tons of destruction whenever control was lost

In the Village Hidden in the Leaves was one of these individuals. His name is Naruto Uzumaki. Sealed within him was the strongest of the beasts. With his parents dead and those who knew the truth keeping it secret, he'd led a hard life for many years until he graduated from the academy. Afterwards most other ninja treated him as just another comrade and left him alone.

This story begins one day a year after the Fourth Shinobi War.

It was a bright sunny day for Konoha and all was well, even for Naruto Uzumaki where all had seemingly went wrong since his birth to the end of the war. He strolled along the road waving to the people who said hello, happy that they no longer saw him as the demon that ravaged their home 17 years ago but as the hero who protected them from it.

Stopping at his favorite restaurant, the owner, Teuchi, saw him and called out to him. "Hello Naruto! What do ya want?"

"Hey old man, some miso ramen this time thanks!"

"Sure thing! Coming up!"

As he waited for his order to be completed, his mind wandered... To Sakura. All those years since his childhood and he'd never stopped thinking about her... /I know she still likes Sasuke and won't ever stop but... I can't help but keep liking her... I don't know, every time I see her I just get so much happier... Ugh, oh well, at least I can see her every now and then for the occasional party. Although it's been a year since Sasuke left... Maybe I should -/ Naruto was jolted out of his thoughts when the bowl of delicious steaming noodles were set in front of him. Distracted, he forgot what he was thinking and dove in, not as disgustingly eager as he was before.

Soon after, he finished and payed for his meal. "See ya next time old man!"

Thinking about the war that ended only a year ago, he headed to the newer memorial stone. The casualty rating was far too high so every nation's population took quite a dip. As such too many names were filled in and another stone was built. Due to the destruction the war caused, most bodies were unable to be found.

He read over the many names and thought about them shortly. His eyes then ran over the name of one whom he considered his best friend and brother after Sasuke.

Neji Hyuga. He had died far too young, having taken a fatal strike that had been meant for Naruto.

Finally saying the last words for him, he left to wander around the village. He'd been off duty for a week so he took it up accordingly. Going around, he saw that he ended up at the Hokage's Tower. /Haven't been here for a few days, I'll stop in and say hi./

He headed in, greeted the receptionist when he remembered something and headed back out to his apartment. It was a project carried out by the civilian council.

They had thought that with so many brave people lost, they would find pictures and slap them into a book, writing their name. It didn't matter if the ninja was dead or alive, they'd be given their respect. After finishing, they spent the next three months copying the original and giving them out.

He grabbed his copy and headed to the park, this time he looked over the friends who were still alive and smiled fondly at their picture as he reminisced. Completing the tree climbing exercise with Sasuke, getting punched by Sakura, fighting Kiba in the preliminaries, getting punched by Sakura, saving Gaara, getting punched by Sakura... Good times. He then saw Hinata's picture. The girl who he protected from bullies as a child. She was the one who brought him back from shock after the death of Neji, he had so much to thank her for since then. She looked quite happy in the picture, this must've been just after the village had been rebuilt from the battle against Nagato/Pain. /So happy, kind of beautiful./

He saw no wrong in complimenting another's looks despite his attraction to Sakura. He checked the time and realized.

"CRAP I'M LATE! "

He disappeared in a puff of smoke where he appeared by the house he was supposed to have gone luckily just three minutes ago. Nervously hoping Sakura wouldn't hit him...

-FB-

Sakura yelled and landed a punch, destroying much of the battlefield in front of them.

"Sa-sakura-chan is sc-scary, I'll try to not make her mad at me from now on." He stuttered aloud.

-End of FB-

He knocked and waited anxiously. After a minute, the door opened revealing Sakura. Her hair had grow out slightly since the war so it now ended just below her shoulders while the front and bangs were where they were before. "Jeez Naruto, you're late to your own friend's birthday! You're lucky she's not here for another two minutes!"

"Sorry Sakura-chan, I came across this old lady who needed help and I-," he began to say but was interrupted.

"Oh you were doing that... Right, come on in, lets go, she'll be here soon."

Sighing in relief, he headed in, seeing the others who had become Hinata's friend since then. After her involvement in the war, she gathered the courage to speak to her father about moving out. She'd expected a harsh put down but instead she was assisted, assured that she'd always have a place in the compound and to not worry.

/Thank goodness for that / Naruto thought.

"Okay quiet, she's coming!" Sakura hissed, immediately the room went silent as they waited in the dark.

A/N: And that's that, never thought I'd be writing anything involving romance but here we go, first chapter done, sucks that I suck at writing with more detail but w/e, enjoy!