A/N: Hmmm...last chapter a'ready...I'll keep this short...my other notes are below...so on the other hand, read Dreamer609's stories...12 Roses will really bring you to tears ;)
3 princes
Chapter 10: Lasting Friendship
"That's what happened, right Gaara, Sasuke?", Naruto said weakly.
The emotions the other two felt that day flowed through them. The pain, the fear, everything.
Gaara looked up. "But you-".
"I know I received the worst. But when we met, our memories seemed...a...li-". They didn't know that the memories were too much for him. While telling the story, Naruto did his best to hold on the balcony railings to avoid collapsing, but failed.
"NARUTO!", Minato rushed upwards.
Sasuke and Gaara also tried to rush, but as soon as they stood up, their vision felt hazy making their elder guardians grab hold of them.
"Let's go back to your room, Sasuke", Madara commanded.
"Gaara, you too", Gaara's father suggested as well.
Sasuke and Gaara looked at each other and said in unison, "We're staying with Naruto".
"It's no use, anyway, they remember everything. Fine. Go", Gaara's father said.
And soon, they headed off to their best friend.
Naruto woke up to find two people beside him. His bestfriends. Though he didn't want to wake up the two, his movements did.
"Naruto-san, are you okay?", Gaara asked, adding a sarcastic emphasis.
"Gaara...", Naruto murmured.
"And you commanded us to add a -san", Sasuke chuckled making Naruto chuckle as well but turn serious as he gazed the ceiling.
"I'm sorry. It was my fault for everything that happened that time. I mean you guys suffered and I didn't really want-", Naruto trailed off as his eyes began to water.
"Even if that's true, you didn't mean any of it. You almost even paid it with your life...", Gaara shuddered, remembering the flowing blood.
"Like I said...for the..." Sasuke tried to remember something, "...third time...what's your head really made of? Steel? And besides, you're the only person who helped us...", Sasuke added with a gentle smile.
"You guys...", Naruto took them by the neck and squeezed them, chuckling, "I love you...".
The two looked at each other with their eyes saying, what else are we suppose to do?, and hugged the blonde back.
They all fell into slumber with a smile etched on their faces, thankful for the friendship they all found 10 years ago.
Naruto was just about to head for his class when he stopped and turned at Kiba.
"Hey, are you still an agent?".
"Maybe. Maybe not", Kiba replied.
"Oh come on!", Naruto grunted.
"Fine. Yeah. I still am".
"And you're still in contact with them?".
Kiba nodded. "Why are you asking all this?".
Naruto came closer and whispered something in his ear then let go afterwards and ran off.
Kiba sighed then reached for his earpiece. "Neji, Tenmari, Kankurou...".
Neji already received the message and turned to the raven-hair, grabbing his wrist. "Let's go!".
"Neji! We'll be late!".
"Shut up, Uchiha".
Sasuke grunted and gave in.
-0-0-0-0-
Tenmari agreed to the orders as well and told his red-head brother, "Gaara, there's something we forgot...let's go!", then nodded at Kankurou who soon dashed off.
"Go get it yourself!", Gaara said stubbornly.
"Just come with me!", Tenmari rolled her eyes.
Gaara as well gave in.
-0-0-0-0-
The two were taken to the 2nd floor then to a room with an opened door and was shoved in after they were told, "Good luck!".
They looked around and eyed the boy in the corner who stopped working and turned, holding two buckets of paint in his hand.
"Get to work! Here's what we'll do...".
They just finished when the bell for break time rang. They did the last thing needing to be done, stepped away from the room and looked around. It looked beautiful. Just a good enough replica.
The three looked at each other and smiled.
"We'll meet up at lunch here. It'll probably dry up by then!", Naruto hurried with his possessions as to not let the girls see them together or it will be real mayhem.
"How are we suppose to meet up?", Sasuke asked, also hurrying, his question already obvious that he was talking about the girls.
Naruto turned and pointed at Gaara. "His brother will fix that".
With that, they split up.
-Lunch-
The announcement was made. Everyone hurried to the 2nd floor to where the Art Room was located. The door was still closed when they came in. In front of it, were the "3 Princes", heavily guarded by 3 buff bodyguards, Naruto had asked Kiba to ask Kankurou for, and Tsunade. The girls felt duped. This was the reason why the announcement said that no gadgets allowed.
"Okay! Listen up!", Tsunade commanded as all the students quieted down, "today, you all will be able to see the art room made by your own classmates, Naruto Namikaze, Sasuke Uchiha and Gaara Sabaku. We, the teachers, haven't seen the room as well. It will be a great surprise. So, now please, arrange yourselves by 30".
"Hope you guys will enjoy it", Naruto called out then placed his arms behind Sasuke and Gaara's shoulders, "me and my bestfriends here made it!", he smiled widely, while the girls thought they would have melted from the scene in front of them, then opened the door to the room, "WELCOME!".
It was astoundingly gorgeous. The room was painted beautifully from the walls to even the floor, that was colored chocolate brown to imitate the soil. Every little detail was there. To the left wall where the door was stuck until the wall to its right, had the view of the woods in a cloudy day. The fluff of the clouds were visible, the bark of the woods looked as rough as an original, the leaves of the trees were freshly green as well. The little critters you could be hearing were scattered, some crawling, some just hanging up a tree branch. The wall across the doorway, on the other hand, had a different scene. It was the sunset that Naruto had captured back then. The beautiful shade of orange illuminating everywhere as you see the shine of the sun slowly drifting off, captured perfectly again. On the right of it again, had another different scene. It was the dark night sky with the twinkling yellow stars and the now continued rocky cliff Naruto drew 2 days ago. It was the same place Gaara fell from, 10 years ago, but this time it looked much safer. It copied the place where the three met, by placing the thick array of bushes. Below it was also the stream but it portrayed a calm one this time. The rocks that Naruto drew blood on before, was now replaced by just the shining rocks that glowed from the moonlight.
Meanwhile, while the students and teachers kept on admiring the work, the threesome smiled. They were the only ones who knew the secret behind the woods they painted on the 2 connecting walls. It was only a very small drawing at the back. There, a land had the three logs in place, where in front of the middle log, had the drawing Naruto made back then and the very little detail of the bump in where the buried apple was. To them, it was really the most important part of the woods.
It was the piece of land where they all shared their first smiles.
-Owari-
A/N: There...it's done. You know I didn't really expect this story to receive LOTS of review, no offense to me, coz if I was a reader, I think I'd like this as a romance story, no? Well, I'm thinking about that actually...a sequel maybe? But...like said...still thinking about it, 'kay? Anyways, to those who appreciated it, thanks a lot for the support! I really appreciated it ^_^
Now that this' done, I recommend Wind Whirlpool by enslavedRei...real good and cute! Go search it...NOW!