"You go on ahead and use the bedroom, Sakura-chan." Naruto said. "This couch is actually big enough for two people." He fluffed the pillows and placed it all on one end.

Sakura, not having any energy to argue, just nodded and went inside the bedroom to get a blanket for Naruto.

In the mere moments that Sakura was gone, Naruto had already created a spread of papers on the living room table, and he was sitting on the floor reading through them.

This was the first time Sakura has ever observed Naruto working and although she's always been proud of him, a new sense of pride washed over her and she smiled at him.

She also realized how older Naruto looked now. To be fair, it has been a while since she really looked at the man. There was definitely more structure in his jawline and there were some smile lines that just made him look much more endearing.

But even through all those changes, he still looks like the warm boy she grew up with and eventually grew to love.

Naruto finally noticed her and he looked up, "Oh… Sakura-chan. Do you need anything?"

Sakura blinked as she was shaken out of her thoughts and she blushed, feeling somewhat like a stalker. She walked towards Naruto and gave the blanket to him, "No, I just wanted to give you a blanket. The cold draft gets worse during midnight."

Naruto grinned at her and took the blanket. "Thanks, Sakura-chan."

"I didn't think you would be bringing work with you." Sakura said as she looked over the papers laid out.

Naruto chuckled, "I couldn't let Shikamaru do all the work even if I wanted to."

"Some things you just have to take care of on your own." Sakura finished his sentence for him and he looked at her with a smile. "Yeah! You get it."

"Mhm…" She moved closer to the table, "Is there anything I could help you with?"

Naruto hummed in thought, not wanting to miss out on the opportunity to pick Sakura's brain. "It's really late but... " he grabbed a folder labeled 'Academy Curriculum' and opened it. "About what you said earlier at the travel stop, uh..." Naruto paused, remembering Sakura's answer to the shop owner and forcing it out of his head. "About one person per team learning medical ninjutsu?"

Sakura nodded, she sat on the couch and leaned forward to look over Naruto's shoulder.

"What do you think about including it in the academy curriculum instead? So that every ninja that will be produced by the academy is equipped with medical ninjutsu?"

"That's a great idea... but that's already an extensive list of subjects, Naruto." She pointed at something in the paper, "You could actually consider dropping some of these since those actually put students who don't belong to any clan, or are a first generation ninja, at a disadvantage."

Naruto's eyes widened in realization. I hadn't thought about that.

Naruto then turned his head to face Sakura. Once their eyes met, they became aware of how close their faces were. Sakura straightened her back as quickly as she could to get some distance, and Naruto snapped his head forward.

He then cleared his throat and said, "Oh… you think?"

"I know, Naruto. I've been in that position before, so were you. But I'm not saying I can't create a syllabus for a beginner's class, I would love to do that." Sakura stood up and stretched. "But I wouldn't want the students to be so burnt out they forget what they actually studied."

Naruto scratched his chin in thought, "Would you… would you want to go over this with me and Shikamaru once we got back home?"

Sakura tried to recall her schedule, "I could do that. But also ask an academy teacher to sit in with us. Their input would be invaluable." And then she let out a big yawn.

Naruto placed the papers down and he looked at Sakura with an apologetic smile, "You go on ahead and sleep, Sakura-chan. We'll discuss this some other time."

"Alright."

Once Sakura finished preparing for bed, she went to the kitchen to make herself tea.

When she was still a kid, she used to make fun of her mother for not being able to sleep without drinking tea before bed. But here she was now, waiting for the water to boil so she could drink her tea before bed.

When she finally poured herself some tea - with a touch of honey - she looked over at Naruto who was still hard at work and proceeded to make him a cup as well.

As Naruto was rubbing his tired eyes, he heard the clink of a cup being placed on his table but when he opened them, Sakura was already closing her bedroom door so he couldn't properly say thank you for the steaming tea.

Naruto, thankfully, retired to bed earlier than he expected thanks to Sakura's tea, because the way the sun hit his face through the window in the morning woke him up earlier than he would've wanted.

And now here he was making breakfast for both him and Sakura.

"Naruto?" Sakura called out to him, voice hoarse from sleep.

"Sakura-chan! You're up early!"

Sakura yawned and rubbed her eyes, "Yeah, I have to check in at the hospital before Hakuto's check up."

Naruto turned his head to look at her while still holding the pan, "Go get ready, I'll be done in a minute."

Sakura nodded mutely and obeyed. And despite the savory smell wafting through the air while Sakura got showered and dressed, she didn't realize how serious Naruto was in his cooking until he placed the plate of omurice in front of her.

When Naruto motioned for her to eat, she took the knife and sliced delicately into the omelet and her eyes widened in delight as it opened up into the most perfect way she has ever seen.

She looked in delighted disbelief at Naruto but didn't say anything.

And then she took a spoonful and her eyes widened as she ate it. She looked at a grinning Naruto like she was seeing him for the first time again.

Then she grinned back at him, "This is good!"

"I'm glad you liked it." Naruto leaned back on his chair with a satisfied look on his face and began to eat as well.

Sakura took a few more bites before asking him, "When did you even learn how to cook?"

Naruto chuckled, "I couldn't really rely on Shikamaru when we're out on missions because he is so lazy, I had to learn to feed us real food and not just instant everything."

Sakura nodded and continued eating her food with a smile and a slight sway of her body. Naruto looked at her and felt a warm feeling wash over him.

Sakura patted her stomach with a smile on her face once she had eaten everything on her plate. "I have never had that much for breakfast."

"What do you usually eat for breakfast nowadays?" Naruto inquired as he tried to clean out his plate.

Sakura hummed in thought, "Whatever snack is at the nurse's lounge I guess."

Naruto's brows furrowed, "You don't eat at home?"

"I do, but only for dinner. Sarada's always at Ino's place for meals anyway because of my crazy schedule at the hospital, but I'm only able to eat dinner with them."

"Sakura-chan… are you having staffing problems at the hospital?" Naruto looked genuinely worried now and Sakura wished she didn't say anything.

"No! No… it's not that." She laughed nervously. "Don't worry about me. But Hinata sure is lucky to have you as her cook." she said, although reluctantly, just to change the subject.

Naruto paused, "Yeah… we don't… I'm not really home that much because of work. And if I am, I don't cook."

Sakura's brows furrowed, "What? Naruto… I know being Hokage is difficult but you should make time to join your family even just for meal times!"

Naruto pouted like he always did before when they were kids, "It's not that it's my choice, there's just so much to do, y'know."

"I understand that, but you could return to work after eating too. Maybe Boruto would stop being a menace to you if you joined them." Sakura was playing with her spoon now, not looking at Naruto, but he could clearly see sadness in her smile. "I know Sarada appreciates it that I'm always there for her but I think these kids still look for both sets of parents."

Naruto squared his shoulders, preparing to ask the question that has been bothering him since yesterday, "Sakura-chan… what did you mean about not seeing Sasuke for years?"

Sakura continued to play with her spoon, "Exactly that. You're the Hokage, Naruto. You know your ninja's missions…"

"But Sakura-chan he…" Naruto couldn't finish his sentence. He realized now that he shouldn't even have started the sentence now that Sakura was looking at him.

"He comes back home?"

Sakura placed the spoon down and she sighed but didn't press him more. Naruto's silence was all she needed.

She stood up to get some water. As she passed by Naruto, he grabbed her hand. "I'll talk to him and make him come home to you and Sarada."

Sakura didn't look at him still, "You can't make people do what they don't want to, Naruto. I'm sure you're very aware of that since you've done that yourself."

Naruto looked at her confused, "What? When did I ever…"

"Forget it, I don't want to talk about it." Sakura said. Fortunately for her, someone knocked at the door and she immediately went to answer it.

It was Kankuro, leaning on the door frame, with coffee in his hand. "I brought breakfast,"

Naruto, who followed Sakura and was already behind her, scoffed and said, "You call that breakfast?"

He rolled his eyes, "She doesn't eat breakfast, genius. She doesn't want to risk vomiting while-ump!" Sakura shoved her hand over Kankuro's mouth.

She laughed nervously and said, with a tinge of threat in her voice, "Wow! You're awfully talkative this morning."

Meanwhile Naruto's eyes widened in surprise over Kankuro's statement.

When Sakura was sure Kankuro would not talk anymore, she sprinted to her room to get her things.

That was when Kankuro entered their house a little bit more and saw the plates that were in the dining area.

Then, he looked at Naruto who still looked a bit surprised. They made eye contact but Sakura was back again, ready to drag Kankuro out of the house.

Before she completely got a hold of him, Kankuro called out to Naruto. "Gaara will stop by!" and then the door was closed.

"How could I have known that you're so in love you'd eat breakfast for him?" Kankuro complained after Sakura hit him in his shoulder when they were already far away. "Seriously, Sakura-chan? After all this time?"

Sakura glared at him as they walked, "It was a great omurice, for your information." not answering his second question.

Kankuro laughed at her, "You're hopeless."

She just rolled her eyes at him and asked, "Did you find it already?"

"Not yet, I don't even know where else to look. Why did you even have to write a love letter while drunk?"

If glares could kill, Kankuro would be dead ten times over, "It isn't a love letter! I didn't even remember writing that until recently." and then she sighed and rubbed her temples, "My twenties was a drunken mess. But please find it. I didn't know Gaara would be asking us to come here together and if I had known, I would've panicked much earlier."

They were finally at the door of the hospital, Kankuro placed an assuring hand on Sakura's shoulder. "Don't worry, I'll find it. I'll look inside your house once Naruto leaves."

Sakura smiled at him, "Thank you, Kankuro."

He returned the smile, "Yeah yeah, I'm the best. Go on then."

Naruto couldn't stop smiling even after Sakura and Kankuro left.

And even as he was washing the dishes. The smile wasn't even going anywhere even when he took a shower and got ready for the day. He opened the door for Gaara too with that smile. If Gaara wasn't familiar with Naruto's mood swings he would've been scared. But since he was, he just smiled back at him.

"You seem happy." Gaara stated as he sat on the couch.

Naruto's smile got bigger and he answered, "Very very happy." as he also sat himself on the couch.

Gaara smiled at him, "Oh... very happy. What happened?"

Naruto grinned at him, "Sakura-chan ate the food that I cooked. I don't know, it just made me happy."

Gaara smiled at him, "I'm glad everything is alright with both of you." Gaara carefully said, "You've never spoken about her anymore so I was afraid you had a falling out."

Naruto's smile faded a bit.

Forget it, I don't want to talk about it.

"Ah…" He laughed awkwardly, "We didn't have a falling out exactly but… we're working on things."

"Oh… well, I wish you both luck on that. I know you both need each other like a plant needs water." Gaara then cleared his throat and placed his hands neatly on his lap, his back straight. "Naruto… I come here seeking your advice…"

Naruto straightened his back, "Of course! What about?"

"How… How do I become a great father?"

Naruto's eyes widened in surprise and then, he smiled gently at Gaara.

Gaara, still hands neatly placed on his lap, continued, "You know what my childhood was like and… I've never really had a role model when it comes to fatherhood. But you, you have two beautiful children and I… I really don't want to mess this up, Naruto."

Naruto relaxed his shoulder and leaned back on the couch. "You can't be a great father, Gaara."

Gaara snapped his head to look at Naruto, but Naruto just continued, "No one really can't be a great father, or a great parent in general. There's no hand book to it. I'm not even a good father sometimes… Sakura-chan reminded me of that today." Naruto scratched his head.

"Sakura… said you weren't a good father?" Gaara titled his head in confusion.

Naruto immediately waved his hand, "No! No! She didn't say that. She… she made me realize that I was using being a Hokage as an excuse to not go home and, as usual, she's right."

Naruto sighed and he straightened his back again to look at Gaara, "You're probably going to make a lot of mistakes as I did. But what matters is that you love your child. Make an effort to always try to be with them… even if it's only at meal times and… learn to say sorry even if they're just children. I know I'll definitely start doing that myself." Naruto finished with a smile.

Gaara smiled back at him and he nodded his head, understanding what Naruto said. "Thank you so much, Naruto… you don't owe me anything and yet here you are, ready to give me moral support as Hakuto gives birth."

Naruto grinned, "That's what friends are for."

Gaara smiled at him, "Her appointment with Sakura is an hour from now, we should go."

Naruto looked confused, "We? I mean… sure, I'd love to wait with you while Sakura-chan checks up on Hakuto."

Sakura has been a doctor for the longest time, but what was in front of her was definitely one for the books.

One pregnant woman, holding the hand of her husband, and her husband, holding the hand of one awkward looking Naruto.

When they entered the room Naruto immediately made eye contact with her and signalled to not mention anything, so she didn't.

Sakura covered her smiling mouth with a hand and just looked on at how awkwardly cute they looked.

"Okay!" Sakura clapped her hands. "Hakuto, I'm going to need you to sit here..." She helped Hakuto walk towards and sit on the examination chair.

Sakura proceeds to wrap a tourniquet in Hakuto's arm, and as she brandishes the injection, she hears Gaara's sudden intake of breath.

Sakura didn't look at him but she slowed her movements down. As she was sanitizing Hakuto's arm she calmly said, "This will be quick, I just need to draw out blood and counter check the report I received, okay?"

Hakuto, and Gaara answered, "Okay."

Sakura couldn't help but smile.

She began to count, three… two… and before she even got to the last letter of one, she had already extracted the blood needed and was already bottling it up to give to the nurse.

Hakuto, who was facing the other direction, slowly looked over at her arm and said, "That… that's it? Did you not extract blood from me?"

Sakura grinned at her, "Yup, it's done."

"Amazing, Sakura!" Hakuto exclaimed.

That's my Sakura-chan. Naruto thought as he looked on in amazement.

He has seen Sakura's medical expertise so many times already but she still amazes him. Sakura just shines a bit brighter than usual when she's working in her field.

"Look at Naruto looking like a proud parent." Hakuto teased. Sakura looked over at Naruto, who was indeed looking at her with such a proud look on his face that she smiled. "And relax dear, you're going to crush Naruto's hand." Hakuto scolded Gaara.

Gaara looked over at his and Naruto's hand and finally let go of his hand with a murmur of apology and a blush. Naruto just laughed out loud and patted him on his back.

Sakura instructed the nurse to proceed with the laboratory tests and he went outside. Then, she turned to Hakuto and pressed a button that lowered the back of the chair to turn it into a bed.

"Alright. Let's check the baby." Sakura hovered her hands over Hakuto's swollen belly and they glowed blue.

Despite the years apart, Naruto quickly found out that he was still quite in tune with Sakura. That is why he saw the tiniest worry form in Sakura's brow before she quickly turned the expression off and set her face in neutral.

But Gaara, noticing the lack of smile on Sakura's face, asked, "Is there something wrong, Sakura?"

Sakura shook her head no and smiled slightly, "No, nothing's wrong… let me just check something…" she reached for a folder in her table and flipped the pages.

She then placed the folder back down again and hovered her glowing hands over Hakuto's stomach again but wasn't saying anything.

Finally satisfied, she pressed another button that brought the back of the chair up so Hakuto could sit again.

Sakura took a stool and sat beside Hakuto and said, "There isn't a problem, but there were no reports that your baby is in a breech position."

Gaara stood and approached Hakuto who already had her hand stretched out towards him. He took her hand in his. "Breech position?" Gaara asked.

"Normally, when mothers are about thirty-six or so weeks, the baby inside of them should be in a head down position. But sometimes, for so many reasons, a baby doesn't turn around which results in either their buttocks or their feet being the ones at the birth canal."

Hakuto placed a hand over her heart, horror written all over her face, "Isn't that dangerous? Wouldn't their head be stuck?!"

Sakura placed a gentle hand on her shoulder which Hakuto took with her free hand, the other still being held by Gaara. "Hakuto, calm down. Medicine has already come a long way. I can safely deliver your child via cesarean section. I have delivered so many breech babies before."

Hakuto, eyes slightly tearing up, asked, "Is it because of something I did?"

"No!" Sakura quickly assured her. "We still don't have a clear answer as to why breech position happens. But I already checked some of the common reasons and it seems you just have too much amniotic fluid and that's why the baby couldn't turn. I'd have to check the laboratory results later but Hakuto, it's not your fault."

Hakuto and Gaara both slowly nodded.

Then Hakuto gasped, "But… does that mean I'll have a scar?"

Sakura smiled kindly at her. She knew postpartum concerns of women, no matter how small, are important to address kindly, "Yes, but it will heal and you will still be the beautiful woman that you are right now."

Hakuto looked at Gaara who smiled at her, "Sakura's right. And nothing can change that for me." he told her.

Hakuto's eyes watered but she smiled. She then looked at Sakura, "Please Sakura, please deliver my baby safely." a tear fell from her eye and Gaara wiped it away.

Sakura nodded at her, "Of course. I will do my best. We'll set your cesarean the day after tomorrow."

"Sakura, please take care of my wife and child." Gaara said to her, vulnerability in his voice.

Sakura nodded to them both with a smile. "Would you like to know the gender of your child? I noticed it wasn't still in the record yet."

"No!" Hakuto quickly shouted, "We want it to be a surprise!"

Sakura chuckled, "Oh, alright then."

Hakuto finally let go of her hand and she was able to fetch Hakuto's medical records. She wrote some additional notes while also giving Hakuto and Gaara some final advice and instructions.

Sakura closed the folder, "Alright. If you don't have any other questions, we are finished."

Once Hakuto stood up, assisted by Gaara, she said to Sakura and Naruto, "Oh! Please come by our house later so we can go to the festival together! I can still go out to party right?" She asked Sakura as an afterthought.

Sakura laughed, "Of course! But I don't think I can go. I didn't pack anything for the occasion."

Hakuto pouted, "That isn't a problem you know! I have lots of outfits I can send over for you!"

Sakura scratched the back of her head, "Oh… alright then. But Naruto, wouldn't you be busy?"

Naruto blinked, finally being addressed after some time, "Oh… my work? It can wait."

Hakuto clapped, "It's set then! We'll go together! I'll have someone send over a dress to your house, Sakura."

Sakura nodded and waved as the trio left her office.

She sighed and rubbed her head, "Great… another festival with Naruto."

Sakura fiddled with her hair in front of the mirror. She was trying to tie it up neatly in a bun for over an hour now. She swore it wasn't about vanity but because her outfit was a turtleneck.

She gave up and sighed. She looked at herself in the mirror and appreciated the maroon dress that hugged her body despite covering her from her neck to her ankle.

It was a shame really, to have this beautiful outfit but her hair was a nightmare. She groaned.

Annoyed that she still couldn't get her hair to behave, she walked towards the door and accepted the inevitable.

Sakura opened the bedroom door and approached Naruto who was fixing the neck of his matching maroon tunic.

Naruto looked at her sideways and then his eyes widened, "Oh wow, Sakura-chan! That color suits you well!"

Sakura coughed her embarrassment at his praise, "But my hair is a mess, can you help me? Please?"

"Of course! What should I do?" Naruto answered as he approached Sakura.

"I'm going to twist my hair," Sakura gave some beautiful hair pins that came with her outfit to Naruto. "I just need you to secure them with these."

"Alright."

Sakura turned her back to Naruto and twisted her hair and he began to place some of the hair pins as best as he could.

The last hairpin to be placed was in a weird angle that Naruto had to place one of his hands to Sakura's nape. The warmth of Naruto's hand sent goosebumps all over Sakura's arm and she gasped.

"Oh! I'm sorry, did I hurt you?" Naruto asked worriedly.

Sakura quickly assured him that he didn't and thanked him for helping her out. Sakura turned around to face Naruto again and she smiled, "Do I look okay?"

It was a rhetorical question on Sakura's part so she didn't expect Naruto to extend a hand to part her front hairs in the middle, "Hmm, the middle part looks better on you, y'know. Your side bangs were hiding your large charming forehead." Naruto finished with a grin.

Sakura blushed profusely but hid the warm feeling that was starting to take over her, with a shout, "Did you just call my forehead large!?"

Naruto lifted both his hands in front of him, ready to defend himself, "Hey! I said charming too!"

"Whatever!" Sakura started to stomp away from Naruto, desperate to escape the warm feeling that was overwhelming her.

Large charming forehead… where did I hear that before. She thought to herself as she touched her forehead while walking towards the door.

"Let's go, Naruto!" Sakura shouted without looking back at the still grinning Naruto.

Suna definitely knew how to celebrate as much as Konoha does, Naruto thought. He has been invited to some of their festivals in the years before but he never got the chance to go.

Naruto was definitely happy to experience the beautiful lantern filled streets, the joyous music and the contests that were happening all around Suna.

It even made the experience that much more precious to him because it seemed like the old Sakura was back to him. She was all fun and laughter, and her eyes shone bright with mischief as she pushed Hakuto to ask Gaara for a huge stuffed toy at one of the stalls.

It actually resulted in a stomach-aching laugh for all the parties involved when Gaara lost his patience and he just used his sand to bullseye all the targets. Hakuto's adoring smile at him made it all worth it though.

"This is really nice eh, Sakura-chan?" Naruto had both his hands at the back of his and he looked at Sakura who was eating a cotton candy as pink as her hair.

Sakura nodded, "You should probably take notes for our festival. The lanterns are especially pretty."

Hakuto turned to look at the couple, "We can send some with you so your team can replicate it."

Naruto smiled gratefully, "I'll gladly accept that."

Hakuto's smile was immediately followed by a big yawn. Gaara looked at her and said, "Are you ready to go home?"

Hakuto pouted but nodded her head, "Why did we schedule the fireworks so late? I wanted to watch it."

Gaara smiled, "That's why I made sure that the fireworks could be seen from our window."

Hakuto turned her wide eyes to Gaara, "You're the best!" she exclaimed as she enveloped him in a hug.

Once Hakuto let go of Gaara, she turned to Sakura and Naruto. "Well, we'll be going now. But please, continue enjoying the festival."

Hakuto and Gaara bid their goodbyes and went on their way.

"Right, let's head back as well." Sakura said.

Naruto, genuinely wanting to spend more time at the festival, begged, "But Sakura-chan, they said there will be fireworks!"

Sakura rolled her eyes at him, "There are fireworks at our village too, Naruto."

Naruto lowered his head, "Yeah but I haven't seen them for awhile because I'm always busy."

Sakura bit her lower lip and sighed, genuinely feeling bad for him, "Fine."

Naruto perked up instantly and grabbed her hand. Sakura was about to blush but he led him to one of the stalls that had a sign saying, King Of the Hammer.

"What the…" Sakura started to say.

"Sakura-chan, they have this very expensive ramen kit as a prize if you beat the highest score! You just have to hit this," Naruto pointed to the base of the machine, "with all your strength using the hammer."

A vein popped out of Sakura's forehead in annoyance, "Using your overworked drama just to get a ramen kit?!" she brandished her curled fists at Naruto.

Naruto suddenly doubted his life decisions then and there but he laughed awkwardly and said, "No, Sakura-chan! I am overworked, I swear!"

Sakura, not wanting to hear more of his excuses, and probably just to let out some steam, stomped towards the machine and used her fist as a hammer to hit the base of the machine.

The machine's number was continuously going higher and higher even past the point of the highest score that Naruto and the innocent stall vendor thought it was already broken.

Once the machine finally decided that Sakura scored five-thousand points. The vendor nervously said, "Uh… congratulations… you uh, won this." He pushed the ramen kit to Naruto and he ran back to his stall, presumably to hide.

Sakura really wanted to be annoyed at Naruto for using her strength like that, but the childlike glee he had for the ramen kit really simmered the feeling down.

He looked at her with a grin, "Thank you, Sakura-chan!"

"Hmp." Was Sakura's response and she turned to look away.

Sakura's eyes were then caught by a very familiar booth. It was the same photo booth that they went to get their picture the very last time they went to a festival together.

Their lips were so close now, that soft flutter before they would touch… but Sakura lifted her hand to cover his lips.

Sakura swallowed hard at the intruding memory and she turned to look the other way and she found Naruto also looking at the booth with familiarity.

They locked eyes.

And there came a sound of someone reminding everyone that the fireworks will start soon.

Sakura walked toward Naruto with her head lowered, eyes not making contact. "Let's go. If Gaara said the view would be beautiful in their house I know just the place to watch it all."

Naruto nodded mutely and followed her.

They arrived at a rooftop greenhouse Naruto didn't even know existed.

Everywhere was clear glass, from the ceiling to the walls and windows. And the moon shined over all the plants and shrubs that were there.

"This is where I started studying most of the medicines and antidotes I was able to develop." Sakura said as she ushered Naruto along the greenhouse. "It's where I would hide away too when I'm feeling overwhelmed with work." she chuckled.

"Sakura-chan, this place is amazing." Naruto craned his neck while walking, trying to get a look at all the plants.

"It really is. Come on here, the fireworks are about to start." Sakura opened a door to an area at the end of the greenhouse that seemed to be the laboratory area.

She sat at one of the chairs in the table at the center and Naruto followed suit.

Sakura just sat staring at the sky, waiting for the fireworks when she looked over to her left and saw Naruto looking at her with a smile on his face.

"What?"

He looked away. "It's just… you have this whole other world that I don't know about, and this is just Suna, what more in the villages you stayed at. And I'm proud of you, Sakura-chan."

Sakura's eyes widened at Naruto's statement for a moment before she brought her attention back to the night sky. "I'm sure you have your own world now too, being Hokage and all. And I'm proud of how much you've accomplished as well."

Naruto smiled weakly, "I haven't really done much, to be honest. There's a lot of things I wish I was doing and, things I wish I should've done instead. Unlike you who gives and cares for people, all I do is push political agendas around."

"Well… it's never too late to start, Naruto." Sakura turned to look at him, "And where's the loud and courageous Naruto I know, you sound so defeated."

Naruto looked at her with a smile, "His back is aching now so I don't know, that might have brought him a few notches down."

Sakura laughed out loud, "You should try working while standing up, it will lessen the back pain. Believe me, Ino has been there."

Naruto laughed with her, "I'm glad you two became close again."

Sakura sighed, "Yeah, I wouldn't know what to do without her."

Naruto's smile faded, feeling hurt that he wasn't the one she sought for help. He lowered his head, "I wish we could've been that close too. But it became so hard to talk to you when you came back from your missions."

Sakura's brows furrowed and she slightly turned to look at Naruto.

And then the fireworks started to fill the night sky.

No matter how many times you witness a fireworks display, you are still bound to be mesmerized by it as Naruto was.

But Sakura was anything but mesmerized.

As each color blasted off the sky, the anger and pain she had felt before she left for Suna for the first time began to resurface as well.

After the last firework blasted off to the night sky, silence and darkness engulfed the two of them again.

"Was I such an insignificant part of your life that you can't even recall what really happened before I left?"

Naruto turned to Sakura, not expecting her to say anything, "What…what are you saying, Sakura-chan?"

Sakura stood up from her seat and began walking towards the door, "I don't want to talk about it."

Naruto knew what he was about to say was going to hurt, could possibly get him hurt, but he didn't know what else to do to stop her. "Isn't that a bit cowardly of you, Sakura-chan? We're adults now, we should face our problems head on!"

Naruto knew his words could hurt but he didn't expect Sakura to turn around with tears flowing from her eyes, and fury on her face. He flinched as something squeezed at his heart.

Sakura walked towards Naruto, "That's rich coming from you! When you were the one who avoided me! Acted like I didn't even exist!"

"What?" Naruto countered, his brows furrowed. "I have never done that! It was you who I tried to talk to when you came home from your missions but you always would give me the cold shoulder!"

"Before my mission started! When everything was finally at peace! You suddenly run to the ends of the world to avoid me! Taking any and all missions available, sleeping at Shikamaru's place!" Sakura's face contorted in a mixture of pain and anger now. "Was I that much of a burden to you that you just threw our friendship away?!" she shouted at Naruto as if they weren't the only ones there.

Naruto, finally realizing the moment in time that Sakura was talking about, pushed back, "I did not throw our friendship away!"

"Oh yeah?! Years! Years we've spent every single day together and suddenly you didn't want anything to do with me? Even escort me here in Suna?!"

A feeling of anger was blooming in Naruto's chest as well despite his best efforts to not let it consume him, "All I did was give you and Sasuke the space you both needed, so you can be together! Everything I have ever done was always for you, Sakura-chan!"

"I never asked you to do that!"

"You didn't have to because I know you! I know you've always wanted to be with Sasuke!"

Sakura aggressively wiped her tears, not wanting to lose, "Clearly you don't know me! Because you would've known that I wanted you by my side!"

"And what?! See your budding romance with Sasuke play out in front of me?"

Sakura's eyes widened.

"See you look at him and wish you looked at me like that? See you…" Naruto's voice broke, "See you love him like I wanted you to love me?" He hit his chest, "Did you prefer that? Are you really that cruel, Sakura-chan?"

Sakura looked him in the eyes, tears continuously flowing from her eyes. "Is that what you take me for? A cruel woman?"

She pointed at herself. "I slept on your doorstep for a chance to talk to you. I looked for you all over the village when I knew you were home because I wanted to talk to you. I even came to your place when I knew you and Hinata were already dating, risking it all just to lay my feelings out for you but you were already happy!"

Naruto's eyes slowly widened, realization sinking in but he didn't want to assume. Didn't want to voice out what he thinks she was trying to say.

But his silence infuriated Sakura even more.

She finally grasped the collar of his tunic tight and shook him, "I was in love with you!" she shouted at his face and she was breathing heavily.

In the silence that commenced, Sakura's grip loosened until both her arms were by her side and she whispered, "It was you who I looked on with love… You were the one that I loved, Naruto..." Sakura began to hug herself, "I didn't even think to love Sasuke until you were married."

Naruto was frozen in place, just letting the words sink in. And suddenly, all the memories that Naruto had, shifted in a different perspective.

Shifted in the perspective of him running away from Sakura, not giving her a chance to say what she felt for him. Shutting her out of his life. Dating Hinata when Sakura wasn't even gone for two years because he was sure Sasuke and Sakura were going to end up together.

Naruto looked at Sakura now... she looked so small, so fragile… vulnerable.

How many times has he hurt her? How many times has she seen him with Hinata before they got married? How many years has she been hurting?

Their fight was ended abruptly by voices outside the door.

"Sakura-chan!" It was Kankuro, who aggressively opened the door.

Kankuro was able to read the room and knew something heavy was happening between them, but what he needed to say was of much more importance.

"Hakuto's water broke! We've been looking everywhere for you!"

Sakura wiped her face with the sleeves of her dress as she began walking towards Kankuro. "How long?" she asked Kankuro.

"Forty minutes."

Sakura cursed out loud, "Let's go."

Kankuro looked one last time at Naruto, with anger in his face, before he ran to catch up with Sakura.

A/N:Not gonna lie, writing this chapter made me cry just because I had to really feel it before I wrote it. LOL!

And I am not even going to say when I'll update because I feel like my work can hear it and be like, "hah! you thought!". But I am constantly trying to proof read chapters for posting in my free time and I would never abandon a fic.

Reviews are greatly appreciated. ( ͡❛ ᴥ ͡❛)