Prompt: Renewal of Vows

Eternal

He was lying amongst an endless void, drifting across a vast nothingness. Time flowed over his skin, darkness permeated his bones, and reality fluttered around him.

He floated for what seemed like forever.

It was peaceful, however, calming as though he were being carried away by the gentle currents of a tranquil stream.

He sighed, coasting along his imaginary road, feeling seconds from falling asleep in this dreamworld.

His stomach fluttered as he fell, so brief he almost thought it hadn't happened.

The solid ground at his back told him a different story.

Birds chirped in his ears, sunlight touched his skin, a soft wind tousled his short locks, rousing him from his strange slumber. He blinked his eyes open, gazing a bit dazed at the vivid blue sky overhead, the massive tree top swaying hypnotically above him. His brows creased, mind shifting through his most recent memories in search of an explanation as to why he was sleeping outside.

Realization snapped in his brain like a rubber band.

He was up and on his feet in a heartbeat, gazing across the picturesque field of flowers and tall grass, a sea of color dancing and waving beneath the low whistling wind.

She was there, standing a few feet away, her back to him, her bright white dress billowing.

Long violet hair weaved like a banner, revealing the Uzumaki symbol etched into the fabric.

"Hinata," he whispered, heart racing.

She turned as though his soft words had been spoken right next to her ear, reaching out to him in that smile he loved more than anything.

He grinned back, crossing the distance between them; a bounce in his step, adoration filling his heart.

The touch of their hands blew him away.

He tugged her to him, swept her in his arms and spun her around much to her delight. Her laughter was like a thousand angels all singing at once, mending every ache, pain and hurt he'd ever experienced in his life. He ground to a stop and kissed her, slow and tender, revitalizing his soul with the softness of her lips, happiness choking the very breath from his lungs.

She pulled back, far too soon to his liking, stroking his whiskered cheeks as she whispered, "there you are, Naruto-kun, I've been waiting for you."

He held her tighter, a contrite frown curving his lips, "I'm sorry I kept you waiting again. Can't seem to stop making you wait, 'ttebayo."

She shook her head, smiling vibrantly in a way he hadn't seen in oh so long.

"I'd rather have waited than have you here with me so soon. Hima and Boruto needed you more than I did."

That had certainly been true, those first few days had been Hell on Earth for all of them.

"Guess so," he conceded reluctantly, "still, I'm sorry. You must have been lonely."

She shook her head, gazing up at him with soft eyes, "all our friends stopped to talk with me for a while before moving on," she giggled, "they all scolded me for being the first one here considering I was the youngest of the Konoha 12."

He didn't find it funny.

Not in the least.

It hurt him…

It hurt him so bad to be reminded of that gut wrenching fact.

Sensing his pain, as she had always been able to, she cupped his cheeks, smoothing her thumbs across his birthmarks she loved dearly.

"I'm sorry," she murmured, kissing the tears collecting in the lids of his eyes, then pressed her forehead to his, "shall we go?"

He swallowed against the knot in his throat, holding her tight for long moments before setting her on her feet once more. She tugged on his hand, pulling him towards a foggy swath of light he hadn't noticed before.

He didn't move.

She stopped as their joined hands pulled taunt. She gave him a questioning look, her lilac depths worried.

"Before we go, do you…remember what we planned for our fiftieth anniversary?"

A sad smile graced her lips, "yes."

"Let's do it now," he urged hoarsely, emotion clogging his throat, agony in his voice, "we didn't get the chance to before you-"

His heart clenched, those damning words strangling his throat, refusing to pass his lips.

She was there in an instant, wrapping her arms around him.

She held him tight to her breast, comforting him through the eternal trauma of her unexpected death, stroking his shaking form like he was nothing more than an distraught toddler. In all his one hundred and two years of life, losing his spouse had been the worse pain he'd ever experienced, far worse than losing his arm, far worse than any nightmare his mind could possibly conjure.

It was still gut wrenchingly hard to come to terms with herdeath.

Thirty years had passed since he woke up and his wife hadn't, one week before their fiftieth wedding anniversary. He himself had finally passed away, an old man surrounded by his children and friends, was now reunited with the love of his life in the afterlife and still, his heart, his mind, his soul wouldn't let him touch that reality.

Wouldn't allow him to accept the permanence of her death.

Like he'd shatter into dust and cease to exist if he acknowledged that devastating day.

He didn't want to.

He fucking couldn't.

Not again.

He'd rather pretend those last thirty years without her had been nothing but a bad dream, a nightmare prolonged and extended by his cursed Uzumaki longevity.

As much as people called him lucky to be alive as long as he had, Naruto couldn't disagree more.

No one should live that long if it meant watching everyone else pass on.

He had been the final of their friends to come here and now that he could compare a long life while his closest friends dropped like flies around him to the act of reaching his final end, he could say, without a doubt, being the last alive was a fate worse than actually dying.

"Alright," she murmured softly, taking his hands in hers and turning to face him in this flower laden purgatory.

It felt a bit strange, now that he thought about it, to see her as she'd been during the early days of their relationship. He felt nostalgic and happy, but he missed her gray hair and delicate crows feet, the laugh lines he and their loving family had carved into the corners of her mouth.

She was beautiful, returned to her youth, but that old woman he who'd gone through life at his side had been beautiful too.

"It's strange to you too?" she asked with a silly smile.

He smiled ruefully but nodded.

She was always able to read his mind.

"Miss my grandpa version, huh?"

"He held a very special place in my heart, ya know?" she replied cheekily.

He reached up, stroking dark hair from her temple.

"Yeah…" he returned, lips kicking up in a grin, "granny Hina was amazing too, dattebayo."

That fuzzy light flickered behind him.

"Ready?" he asked.

She nodded.

There was no need to think, no worry that they'd forgotten their vows.

For him…

For her…

The words were etched into their very souls.

That pivotal day, those vows they exchanged, had never left their hearts.

He kissed her small hands, then took a breath.

"Hinata, you are and have always been so many amazing things to me. A quiet cheerleader when I thought I was alone, a best friend I can tell anything no matter how stupid or crazy, an amazing lover with a passion as deep as my own; my beautiful angel with more sweetness than every candy shop in the world, my shy Princess that finds a reason to blush every single day," he grinned, tracing her blush, "you are my heart and soul made flesh and blood. If love was a person, it'd be you, 'ttebayo. I have never met another person so compassionate, so gentle and loving, so ready to accept and help anyone in need. Your heart is pure, your heart is patient, your heart is so incredible, it blows my mind that you gave it to me. I'm not perfect and I never have been, I'm not the smartest, not the most handsome, nowhere near the most patient, you could do so much better, but you actually chose me, flaws and all and with every fiber of my being, every part of me that's me; now and forevermore, for every lifetime my soul lives, I will love you. There will never be a me that does not love you. Never. This I vow, this I swear," he whispered solemnly, watching her beautiful eyes fill and overflow, "my love for you is unending, my love for you is eternal."

Their wedding day flashed in his mind's eye, the whimsical atmosphere, the beautiful ceremony at sunset, every emotion encompassing that day returned in a rush.

"Naruto-kun, my lover, my best friend, my life, my world, I've watched you grow from an amazing young boy, to an even more amazing man. Just when I believe you've reached the summit of greatness, you show me all over again why not even the sky is your limit. I admire your drive, I admire your strength, I admire your will, and the nindo we share. You are everything I've ever wanted and so much more, a man without equal, a man that can and has changed the world. In you I've found a place I can rest when I'm tired, a home that needs no walls, a peace so profound it feels like heaven on Earth. You are my light in the darkness, my strength in adversity, my dream made real, the other half of my soul," earnest love twinkled, turning her pretty lilac glittering amethyst a beat before another round of moisture overflowed, tracing creamy white cheeks, "I worry that none of this is real, that I'm fast asleep and if this is a dream, I pray I never wake again. There will never be a me that does not love you. Never. This I vow, this I swear," she vowed softly, "my love for you is unending, my love for you is eternal."

He bent, meeting her halfway, fusing their lips in the sweetest of kisses, tears between them, hers and his. He wrapped his arms around her, absorbing the words and her essence and the new reality of eternity with her.

When he felt stable, when he felt like a stray wind wouldn't blow him away in his fragile emotional state, he pulled back.

He took her hand as she wiped tears, grinning as he led them to the light.

"Who should we visit first?" she asked, clasping his arm.

He frowned thoughtfully, his parents and Pervy Sage running through his mind, each possibility filling his chest with painful joy.

One face in particular pushed to the forefront.

The face of a man that had given him more than he'd ever thought to have.

"Neji," he decided abruptly, a grin stretching his lips, "there so much I have to thank him for, 'ttebayo."

Hand in hand, they walked into the cloudy abyss.

XXXXXX

This is like an epilogue for an AU of Monster if I didn't plan to do all the crazy shiz I'm planning on doing XD. It is not canon to Monster, it just filler or…something, lol. Idk. Hurt my heart to write ti though.

Hope you all enjoyed(and cried) XD

Laters

Sessakag~