Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.
Twilight
"It's an odd number."
"Eh?"
"It's odd...!"
With her repetition, Sakura slammed down the spade in her hand and glared at her husband. "What are we supposed to do?"
"Live with it..." he mumbled but was rewarded with the metal tool hitting the back of his head. He cast an equally angered look at the woman but ended up turning away, worried for his own safety.
Upon noticing Naruto's avoidant stature, Sakura sighed softly and slid herself over to him. Leaning her head against his lean back, she grappled blindly for his hand and then pulled his limbs toward her.
"...I make a big deal over nothing, don't I?" she asked, her eyes focused on the transcendent clouds drifting lethargically through the blue canopy above them.
"You're getting better," was his reply. She smiled and turned around, locking her arms around his neck and leaning over to press her cheek against his.
"Really?"
"Yeah, really!" Tilting the upper half of his body was enough for his wife to fall into his arms. With a bit of adjusting she was nestled in his lap, as if waiting to be carried like a bride.
His fingers flickered through her soft hair that barely touched her ivory shoulders. She despised her hair when it started to grow long and if need be, she would cut it off once more with a kunai.
Her eyes drifted back to where she had been working. "But...It's still uneven."
Naruto's expression darkened slightly like the overpass of clouds sheltering the sun. "Nothing you can do about it."
She bit her bottom lip. "And excursion..." Her fingers lightly traced the bit of scarred skin visible from his neck and spreading downward. The result of a stupid promise -he had masked it with rivalry. "I'm sorry."
"I told you to stop with that!" It was the only time he snapped, and he did it so frequently following her apologies. His eyes turned away from hers. "I hate it when you're not smiling."
She touched his chin and tilted his face to hers. "Better?"
"No... it's odd."
Something told her to kiss him; he wanted to kiss her, but neither person moved. Instead, their eyes tilted upward, to a sky that changed as much as they had. Streaks of fuchsia, gold and sapphire, all together in harmony composed the sunset. She could see it peeking from the mountains. In the impending night sky lay their empty promises; the following morning sky would conceal their needs under a blanket of powder blue.
She had become a rival in his bed. It was surprising to her -she had never thought that Naruto, the ridiculous mischief-maker, would hold her with such urgency, make her skin bruise and never, ever let her get the upper hand. It seemed more like a struggle than love-making. Only when she cried out he would stop, but she now never did because she understood. He could only smile for so long.
He was her source of comfort and worth. A life of listless waiting was something Sakura had learned not to accept, so when he asked for her, she complied. He didn't care if she only wanted his body, a structure to lean onto, to be attached to. He willingly became hers, if just to graze his lips against her flesh, if just to hear her speak, and always to see her smile.
Above all, they were a friend to one another.
To them, their solution was forgetting. Never speaking, seldom implying, and always masking.
From three to two.
Odd to even.
And everything was incomplete.
Fin.
