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Madara obtaining the six paths had everyone tremble in fear, whereas Sakura blasted one of the monsters with her full physical strength, much to Gaara and the others' amazement. Together, Team 7 summoned the three gigantic animals that were surely interesting to watch, bringing back the same resemblance of the three legendary sanins; Tsunade, Jiraiya, and Orochimaru.
Most importantly, Sakura was able to restore all the chakra to every shinobi there is and Shizune couldn't be more proud. But there were two enemies that they've encountered and that is the Black Zetsu and Kaguya, which they cast the Infinite Tsukuyomi upon everyone to fall asleep under a curse. An illusion curse. Though, it didn't last that long after Team 7 had defeated and sealed them back to where they belong.
The battles in the war were worth the damn risk in which Hagoromo thanked and congratulated the shinobi. Even after Naruto and Sasuke had settled their differences, especially their team, their arms had been crushed due to their Rasengan and Chidori collision. Yet, Sakura was able to heal them before they recovered fully.
Two weeks later, Sakura and Naruto bid farewell to Sasuke, who had to leave the village to atone for his sins that he committed. The pink-haired kunoichi watched him depart from them as soon as she started to break down crying in front of Naruto's chest while she was being comforted by him.
Kakashi gazed calmly at them and sighed, saying. "It's okay to feel those feelings again one last time. You loved him to the point where you just want to save him from himself, to save him from darkness, and you both did it. You won your friend's back. Of course, he needs to retrace his steps back on his journey to turn over a new leaf."
Sakura wiped her tears and smiled gladly with mixed emotions. "Yeah, absolutely."
Naruto smirked in relief. "He's our friend and that's all that matters."
"Hmm," Kakashi nodded and grinned beneath his mask.
Later on, everyone was gathered around the bonfire down at the beach, chatting and singing along together full of laughter and happiness.
"Bruh. I can't believe how much we actually fought with our asses there. I almost got beaten up by those monsters," Kiba said chuckling in amusement.
"Let's all thank Naruto and Sakura for saving us, but I'm not only saying this just to neglect the rest of us here," Tenten said proudly.
"Hehe," the pink-haired kunoichi giggled with a smile.
"Right. Cheers to our victory!" Lee said, raising his glass up in the air.
"Cheers!" They exclaimed happily in unison, then they drank the saki.
"How about another round of ramen?" Naruto suggested, grinning widely as he offered the cup of noodles to them.
"Ugh. Please, we can't even take another round two for that," Ino said laughing while shaking her head.
"I'll take it!" Choji yelled out excitedly as he grabbed it from his hands.
"Alrighty!" Naruto said smirking and they both started sipping the noodles hungrily, much to the others' amusement.
From that moment on, the sand siblings arrived at the bonfire as they greeted them in which the leaf squad had noticed.
"So, is there any room for us to join in?" Kankuro asked coolly.
"Duh! Of course! Come and celebrate!" Tenten insisted as she made hand gestures to let them sit on the empty logs.
The pink-haired kunoichi's eyes landed on the red-haired Kazekage intensely as she got up from her spot to approach him.
"Gaara…" she wrapped her arms around him and kissed him on the cheek endearingly without letting go.
"Sakura…" he murmured softly as he embraced her and smelled the strawberry scent of her hair.
The others were grinning and whistling at them.
"Ooooh! We finally have the lovebirds here at the corner. The next thing that would happen is another set of intimacy," Kiba said, smirking teasingly.
"Pfft. You're probably drunk, right now. Get off your high horse," Shino stated quietly, pushing his glasses forwardly onto the bridge of his nose.
"I'm just saying. I mean, look at them. They're perfect for each other and I can't wait to see what their children look like," Kiba said lazily and hiccuped loudly.
Sakura rolled her eyes in annoyance, but chuckled at his craziness while she placed her head onto Gaara's shoulder, where he snaked his arm around her waist.
"You know what, you probably need to find a woman in your life then," Temari commented, trying to stifle her laughter.
"No. He stays single forever," Ino joked, then the others burst out laughing.
Kiba crossed his arms and said. "Oh, shut up."
Hinata, on the other hand, looked at the young couple across from them and sighed dreamily after thinking about someone in mind.
Naruto, who was sitting beside her, glanced at her observantly and asked concernedly. "Hey… you okay?"
"Ah!" Hinata got startled as she jumped out and stumbled off of the log but was caught by his firm grip, which made her blush. "Yes… I'm fine."
She lowered her head shyly and stared at Naruto's blue eyes that were glowing radiantly.
The two of them were facing each other as they started having a casual conversation, much to Neji and Lee's attention.
"It seems that your cousin and your former rival are getting close," the green leaf ninja said.
"Well, there's no stopping them for whatever feelings they have for one another. Love is what they need and they deserve that," the Hyuga said, smiling genuinely at Naruto and Hinata.
"You're right…" Lee agreed faintly as he frowned at the pink-haired kunoichi and the red-haired Kazekage.
"I would guess that you still have feelings for her, correct?" Neji stated.
"Well, yeah. But I got to move on. I do love her, but I would prefer to keep our friendship that way. Plus, I think I'll find somebody else or probably be better off alone," Lee said snorting.
"You never know. Time will tell. What matters is that you don't lose yourself. I mean that..." Neji pointed out.
"Hmm," Lee hummed in response and came to a realization. "Which reminds me… I got to start training for tomorrow with Guy-sensei. I really miss training with him, you know. It's part of our routine and I want to cherish those moments of being with him. He's like my dad."
"Yeah. You two are literally uncanny," Neji commented monotonously.
"Hey," Lee glared at him annoyingly, then started to laugh along with him as they both nudged each other on the shoulders before drinking saki.
Later on, at midnight, the fireworks were shooting and exploding across the clear skies while the full moon was outshining as well as the ocean was glistening peacefully from them.
"Wow. Isn't that beautiful?" Tenten asked in delight.
"It is," Temari agreed with a nod.
Gaara stared longingly at Sakura, who was amazed at how beautiful colors of the fireworks were and said softly. "I never knew that this moment would happen."
The pink-haired kunoichi glanced at him, saying. "Me too."
Then, they both pressed their lips against each other deeply while they were both cuddling closely.
Kankuro and Temari watched them proudly at how the two had ended up together.
"Just as I expected. I knew that they were meant for each other," the purple-faced ninja stated confidently.
"Certainly. To think that they would grow up from being childhood friends to being lovers, this is definitely an unforgettable moment that we've all been waiting for," Temari said as she started tearing up joyfully.
"Hmm. Since I won the bet, pay me up to $20," Kankuro snorted arrogantly with a chuckle until he received a smack on the head by Temari's fist. "Oww, Tem!"
"How about $5?" She suggested.
"Ugh. Sure," Kankuro said, groaning achingly as he gently patted the sore bump that was forming.
Gaara was joking lightly, making Sakura giggle at him warmly and pinching his cheeks at how cute he is.
The others continued to watch the fireworks until the night was over.
TO BE CONTINUED...