Complete

Time moves in a circle, yet it is not quite circular…Time moves in a line, yet it is not quite linear…

The first time she met him, she immediately disliked him. He was everything she was not—brash, loud, and rude where she was calm, quiet, and polite. He ran around with that gaudy spiked hair proclaiming how he would be the greatest one of them all one day, shouting at the top of his lungs every moment of the day. It was enough to give any girl a splitting headache, not just the one who was assigned to be his partner for nearly everything.

The first time he met her, he immediately fell in love. She was calm, intelligent, strategic, and pretty in her own way. Her quiet demeanor immediately attracted him to her, as she was the only one who could temper his loud personality. However, for some reason, every time he was around her, he grew even more loud and obnoxious. He saw that it drove her away from him, and he was saddened, but he couldn't figure out how to fix it.

As she grew older, she became accustomed to his ways. Indeed, he even rubbed off on her eventually, and she found herself developing another side to her that resembled him in a scary way. And, as they grew older, he somehow mellowed and matured, becoming less pushy and more calculating, more calm. She found herself drawn to this side of him, and he found himself becoming even more drawn to her now, despite the fact that she had changed.

The years passed, and eventually their close friendship changed. She wasn't quite sure how to describe it—they weren't in a relationship, persay, but they weren't just friends, either. The sex was good, she had to admit, but it didn't have that feeling of closeness that she heard about from her other friends who constantly talked and bragged about their boyfriends. He never really cared how they described it—he was a teenage boy, and the fact that he was getting laid on a regular basis was good enough for him. He liked her, yes, but he wasn't sure that he loved her, and she wasn't sure that she loved him.

Part of the problem might have been that there was something missing, but they were never quite sure what it was, exactly. They often lay awake at night (pretending that they were asleep for the other's sake) wondering why it never really connected as everyone said it should.

Still, they continued the relationship. She stayed in their small house, making sure everything was in order, and he went out with the caravans on trading missions. She stayed home worrying about him, hoping he'd come home safely from his adventures, and while he was on his missions he'd always look for something he could bring home for her. Their lives were predictable and, usually, quiet.

One day, though, the quiet was shattered for him when he came home and found his house empty. When questioning those in the village, they said she'd died while he was away and that they'd buried her. Hemorrhage, they said, from the baby she was carrying, though the words just passed through his ears without registering. Dead? Impossible. She wouldn't have left him. He rose silently and walked to where they said her grave was, and stared at the stone sitting in the far corner of the graveyard. A trembling hand—his?—dropped the carved hair ornament he'd brought back for her onto the bare dirt.

That night, he packed up what little he could carry and left. There was too much missing now.

The first time he met him, he disliked him immediately. The other was too quiet, too aloof, too stuck up for his liking. The other often looked down on him, silently saying with his eyes "You're not good enough for me. I am from one of the greatest families of this land, and you are just a peasant's child." It didn't help that children, despite rank, were schooled together, and the other always outdid him in everything. He didn't appreciate this, and grew up with a strong dislike of the other boy.

The first time they met, he didn't even notice the other boy. He just kept moving in his silks and golds, ignoring the grubby boy on the side staring at the procession with huge blue eyes. The lower classes didn't matter, anyway; he was to be schooled with them, but surely he was intelligent enough that he'd pass through the classes faster than they could, and ultimately get away from them quickly. When he started school, though, the grubby boy was there. He was a loud fellow, too outspoken and uncontrollable for his liking. The grubby boy seemed to take pleasure in annoying him as much as possible, dancing wildly around his desk more often than any other. He also seemed to be under the impression that he could outdo the nobility of this land, even though the nobility were chosen because of the skills shown within the family. Foolish child.

As time moved on, they were inexplicably drawn towards each other. Often, they were thrown together in school since they were the most advanced in their classes. To the noble boy's chagrin, the grubby boy (he still called him that in his mind) often kept up with him, almost outdoing him on occasion. However, he kept his noble bloodlines proud and always managed to win somehow. This seemed to disgruntle the grubby boy and forced him to try harder. They were forever challenging each other, driving each other, pushing each other to make themselves stronger.

Somewhere along the line, this rivalry turned into…something else. Much to the disappointment of the ladies in the class, the noble never seemed to be into the girls, but he wasn't into the boys, either. Several wondered if there might be something wrong with him, but the grubby boy knew. He knew about the time when, in the middle of one of their impromptu fights, the noble boy kissed him. Of course, he'd been punched immediately afterwards and found himself in a river, but it didn't change what had happened.

Other such things occurred. Soon they found themselves seeking each other out, groping each other in the night. Such encounters often ended in one or both leaving with a black eye or split lip afterwards, but the preceding activities were always much more pleasant. During the day, they kept their relationship simply to rivalry, but at night it changed. They both had holes in their lives for strange reasons, and being with each other filled the holes…somewhat. There was still something missing that they couldn't put their fingers on, something that wasn't completing the circle as it should.

This didn't stop them, though. Nothing stopped them…until one day, an arrow was shot at the noble by a rival family. The peasant jumped in front of the noble, taking the arrow for him, and died immediately when it hit an important nerve cluster. The noble boy immediately killed the offender, but it was too late.

That night, the noble family lost its heir. There had been too much missing after the loss of the peasant.

The first time she met him, she immediately fell in love. He was a brooder, an artist, an enigma to all who knew him. He rarely talked, rarely looked at anyone, rarely did anything but sit and stare at a wall or a canvas. He was silent, cold, and distant from everything except for his beloved paints. He had dark hair and dark eyes, though, and skin so pale that it looked like the canvases he painted on, and she loved him for that.

He never really noticed her, at first. She wasn't one of the strikingly pretty girls in the class, nor one of the strikingly ugly ones, so at first she passed before his eyes without really registering. However, she happened to be the smartest in the class, and he found himself grudgingly respecting the fact that she could beat even him. He didn't know much about her, other than the fact that she apparently had a decent mind underneath the meticulously kept hair, and he didn't much care to know more about her.

They rarely interacted, other than her occasionally smiling and saying hi to her in the halls, and him grunting in reply. Her obsession with him grew, though, and she fell more and more in love with him time passed. He, in return, noted the fact that she bothered to acknowledge him beyond the fact that he was a good painter, and he was puzzled. He'd never paid her any sort of special attention, so why was she paying attention to him? She was an enigma to him, and he found himself drawn to that despite his mental assurances that he had better things to do.

A year passed, and he'd slowly warmed up to her. Now he would actually bother to say 'hi' in return to her greetings, instead of just grunting, and she took to hanging over his shoulder whenever he painted. Of course, he was annoyed by that, but he tolerated it. They had developed a strange companionship during that year, and he felt strange when she wasn't around. She was often off in her own room, measuring chemicals and mixing new paints for him to try when she was working as an alchemist.

More years passed, and their companionship had changed into friendship and then into marriage. Her family had wanted her to marry, and his had wanted him to marry, and so the marriage was arranged. He didn't think it was a bad thing. He could have thought of many worse people to be stuck with, and she kept things neat and orderly in her perfectionism. She even left him alone to paint, never complaining that he kept the door locked. She, of course, had been delighted. She'd never really lost the crush she'd had on him, and had always harbored dreams of marrying him, so she had been ecstatic when she found out. Of course, married life wasn't always all it was cracked up to be—he spent multiple hours in his room painting with the door locked, and she was often away at her alchemy shop when she wasn't cleaning, but overall she couldn't complain. She was content with their relationship, even if it wasn't as passionate as those her friends were in. It was complete enough, and though they always felt something was missing, they ignored the feeling and went about their lives.

They had one child, then a second, then a third. The children rarely saw their father, for he had taken to locking himself in his room more than ever to escape their screaming, but he was always gentle and kind with them when he saw them. Their mother was a constant presence in their lives, constantly badgering them, taking them to her shop, making them help her clean the house. The missing space still wasn't filled, but it was good enough.

One day, though, he went out of the house for new canvases and never returned. She waited up for hours, then finally went to see what had happened. She found his broken body lying outside of a bar; apparently, he'd gotten drunk and started a fight, which he obviously lost. Sobbing, she dragged his body home and buried it in the garden, which he'd always loved. The children stood by, watching silently and nervously, too young to understand what was going on, or too old to accept it. She stood when she was finished and went silently back inside the house.

She lived an empty life until her children were old enough to survive by themselves, then passed away inconspicuously in the night. There was too much missing for her to bear it any longer.

They met the first time in class, sitting in different seats scattered across the room. The first one was loud and brash as ever, loudly proclaiming that he would become the next Hokage. The second was a quiet, studious girl who nevertheless had a rebellious side that she never let out. The third was an aloof, cold child who sat in the corner and never looked at anyone unless he had to. Two of them were prodigies—one at fighting, the other at chakra usage—and the third was a screw up, never taking anything seriously. Two of them had lost their families—one for an unknown reason, the other because of his brother—and the third had a happy family life. Two of them were obsessed with the third, though for entirely different reasons—one hated him, the other loved him.

They met the second time when they were thrown on a team together. The first boy complained loudly about being stuck with the "bastard," while the second boy called the first "dobe" and sat there, sulking like a cat. The girl tried to flirt with the second boy while telling the first that he was an idiot and not to insult the second. Their teacher looked at them, shaking his head and wondering how he would ever forge them into a strong team.

They trained together. She always trailed behind the other two in almost every area, except for chakra usage. They were constantly pushing each other, goading each other, testing each other to see which was stronger. One of the boys was in love with the girl, though she would never acknowledge it, and wanted to beat the boy she was in love with so she'd switch her attentions. The other had no interest in attracting a girl, only in defeating the brother who had taken everything away from him. The first boy wanted to become stronger so he could prove to the village that he was worthy of notice. The second boy wished to become stronger so he could leave the village and pursue his own destiny. The girl was content with coasting, only coming to practices because it meant she could be close to the object of her affections.

Somehow, though, the bonds began to form between them. She began to feel protective of the ones she'd claimed as her own, willing to sacrifice herself during the test to protect them, even though she knew she wasn't near strong enough to defend them. The brash boy realized that people were acknowledging him, even being friendly with him, and for him that created a bond so strong that he would do anything to save and protect the other members of his team. The avenger formed a strange sort of relationship with the other boy—not quite a rivalry, not quite a friendship—and came to rely on the girl for support (not that he'd admit it). These bonds strengthened as they faced challenges and missions, and they solidified into one of the strongest and closest-knit teams there were in Konoha.

Suddenly, their team split. The avenger went off in the night to pursue more power, to pursue his brother. The fox left as well, promising a broken-hearted girl that he would bring the avenger back, no matter what, ignoring the feeling of his own heart breaking. The girl sat in the village, determined to become stronger and to catch up with them so that when they returned, neither would have to nor want to leave ever again. The bonds holding them together strained and fragmented, but did not break.

One day, the fox came back, broken and bloody and nearly dead. The girl was relieved, crying over him and yelling at him and hugging him in her happiness. He hugged her back, telling her that he was sorry he hadn't brought the avenger back, but promising her that he would try again. She pulled back, about to punch him, then reconsidered. She kissed him, instead, and his heart suddenly mended itself. The first bond strengthened, but something was missing.

Another day, the avenger came back, walking through the town as if he were a ghost. His teammates were shocked, but the girl was pleased to see him. She rushed off right away from the other boy to go visit him. The fox just sat where they had been, feeling the old hatred bubbling up in him when he saw how the avenger could take the girl away so easily still. The bond between the boys fragmented a little more.

The girl greeted the avenger with an enthusiastic hug. He stood there stiffly, not sure of what he should do. When she pulled back, he looked at her, inquiring where the other boy was. She felt her heart break again when he only asked about the boy, not caring about her. Coldly, she told him where to find the fox, then left. The bond between them fragmented further.

The avenger went to see the fox. The fox greeted him with a punch in the stomach, yelling that he never wanted to see the bastard again and to go away. The avenger came right back with a lotus kick, sending the fox flying back into his apartment building. A fight exploded between the two of them, only ending when one stood with the chidori over the other with the rasengan, both about to kill the other. They stood, stared, and doused their techniques. Somehow, their faces were far too close together and their bodies were touching and hands were moving places that didn't summon jutsus, and in this moment their relationship changed, past the hatred and the rivalry and to something else. The fox hurriedly got up and pulled the avenger into his apartment, claiming him as his own.

The girl noticed something strange between them. For some reason, the avenger blushed whenever the fox came around, and the fox leered at both of them dangerously. She also noticed that the relationship they'd had had changed and become stronger somehow, though she was at a loss as to why. Finally, one night when they were out celebrating their first mission together again, she found out why. And that night, as they lay together in bed, with the girl sandwiched between the fox and the avenger on a bed meant for one, they felt complete.

There was nothing missing this time.

Time moves neither in a circle nor in a line…time moves in a spiral, with the rings growing closer together until finally, it reaches that point where it's complete.


Author's notes: Alright, this ended up being twice as long as I'd expected it to be. I've seen this type of thing done before, though never in the Naruto fandom and never as a threesome finding completion after only finding twosomes before. I figured it'd be interesting to play around with, though I didn't work with the Team 7 dynamic as much as I'd have liked to since that section was getting a bit too long for my liking. Also, the Naruto x Sasuke section was damn hard to write since I could only refer to them with pronouns and titles, never by their names. Rawr.

Well, this is my first time even attempting to write for the Naruto fandom. I haven't seen much of the anime or read much of the officially produced English manga, but I know the general storyline and have read enough fanfiction to get the idea of what's happened. Concrit is always appreciated.