Naruto and Sakura sat on a bench in Konoha. Sakura tried to smile at Naruto, but he kept trying to dodge her glances. Neither of them had mentioned Sakura's missing Naruto's birthday party. Sakura had not even wished him a "happy birthday." That is what confused Naruto most of all. Everyone had been telling him that Sakura didn't love him, but he knew, even if she didn't have romantic feelings, Sakura would never fail to wish him a happy birthday, would she?

"What's wrong, baby?" asked Sakura.

Naruto shook his head. "Nothing."

"I know there's something wrong, Naruto, now tell me," said Sakura back.

"Sakura…"

Naruto spoke very quietly, scaring Sakura very much. Ever since he was young, Naruto had a loud, annoying, booming voice that revealed his existence to anyone in a one-mile radius. Sakura had never heard Naruto speak so softly before. He seemed like the weakest person in the world, which scared Sakura, because, like previously said, Naruto basically won the war singlehandedly.

"Sakura?" said Naruto softly.

"Yes?" asked Sakura, her voice shaking.

Naruto turned his head and looked straight into Sakura's green eyes. "Do you love me?"

Sakura's mouth dropped open while she looked into Naruto's face. How does anyone answer a question like that? Especially if they had been doing what she had been doing.

Sakura took a deep gulp. "Yes," she gulped.

Naruto looked skeptically at her. "Then why did you miss my birthday?"

For the first time in their farcical relationship, Sakura felt truly, absolutely bad. It was true that she did not love Naruto. It was true that she was seeing other people while they were supposed to be together. It was true that their entire relationship was as real as a relationship in one of Jiraiya's books. She did not have romantic feelings for Naruto, but Naruto was her friend. She did love Naruto, just not the same way he loved her. Naruto was her closest friend, teammate, and confidant. There was no way she would ever forget his birthday. At least, that is what she convinced herself.

She always thought she was a good person who cared about her friends. Now she felt really bad.

"I'm so sorry Naruto!" she exclaimed. "I didn't mean to, I…I…"

"What Sakura?" asked Naruto, "tell me, what were you doing?"

Sakura had to think quickly. This was not the day she wanted Naruto to find out about her other relationships.

"You…you know about the Hyuga clan crisis," stammered Sakura, "right?"

Naruto blinked for a while. He heard something was up with the Hyuga clan, but he really didn't know what was going on.

"No," said Naruto, "tell me."

"Well," said Sakura, "the Hyuga clan needs to choose a new clan leader after Lord Hiashi dies."

"That's Hinata's little sister, Hanabi, right?"

Sakura shook her head. "Well, it should be, but Neji is contesting that."

Naruto breathed out. He knew that Neji was going to make his own fate, but a family feud was not what Naruto had in mind.

"So what were you doing?" asked Naruto.

"Tsunade had me and a couple of other Ninja secure the perimeter of the Hyuga complex, just in case some things got out of hand."

"And how did that lead to forgetting my birthday?"

"One of the Hyuga's got hurt, really bad. I had to use medical jutsu for fourteen hours straight."

"Really?" asked Naruto, "which one?"

Now Sakura had a problem. She didn't know how she was going to fake this one.

"Hinata."

"What!" exclaimed Naruto, "who attacked her?"

"I don't know Naruto," said Sakura, "I don't know."

Naruto was getting angry. He had not seen Hinata in almost a year now, but he figured she was safe in her complex.

"How dare anyone hurt her?" he said. "She never hurt anyone!"

"I can't believe it either," said Sakura.

"What happened to her?" asked Naruto.

"She's fine," said Sakura, "she's rehabilitating out of village in Suna."

"Oh," said Naruto, "that's good, Gaara will take good care of her."

"Yeah," said Sakura.

After calming down, Naruto looked at Sakura.

"Hey Sakura," said Naruto.

"Yes?"

"I want you to meet me somewhere important."

"Okay."

"Please show up this time," he said, "it's really, really important to me."

Sakura nodded her head. "Yes Naruto." This time, she intended to keep her promise. There was no way she could fail Naruto again. She couldn't.

Hinata sat quietly by the oasis. Like Gaara, this was her favorite place in Suna as well. She loved the gentle movements of the water and the shade of the two trees that grew around the oasis. She loved the gentle breezes that blew through her hair. She loved the grass that she would sit on. She loved the oasis, but not in the same way Gaara loved it. She loved the oasis because it reminded her of home. She wanted to see her home very much, but at the same time she didn't want to go home. She also wanted to stay in Suna. She hated the desert, but she had grown fond of the villagers.

The Suna ninja saw her as their queen. Gaara had never been in love before and the villagers began to think that Hinata was going to become Suna's first lady. That was an unfeasible idea to be thinking, for both her and Gaara. Hinata had only been in Suna a year, and in that time she was only eighteen. She wasn't ready to be married to someone she began dating six months ago. Also, there was no way she could be first lady of a village that she didn't love. Hinata wished there was some excuse she could give to go home, but just as easily come back.

Hinata took a deep sigh and picked up a small stone. After observing it for no particular reason she tossed it into the oasis. After the water had subsided, she saw Gaara's reflection in the oasis.

"Hi," Hinata said, smiling.

"Hi," responded Gaara, a little sad.

"What's the matter, Gaara?" asked Hinata.

Gaara couldn't look her in the eye. That frightened Hinata. Gaara usually couldn't take his eyes off of anything else.

"Hinata," said Gaara very sadly.

"What?" asked Hinata, very worried.

Gaara took Hinata's hand and looked at her for a while.

"I'm sorry to say this," he began. "But your father died back in Konoha."

Hinata's eyes widened. She had recently found a new love for her father after the war. During the antebellum period, Hinata had thought that her father could never love her or respect her, after the war, her father had a newfound respect and caring attitude toward her. He began to treat her like an adult instead of a burden. Hearing that her father was dead hurt her badly, but it also scared her. She knew what was going to happen, a Hyuga clan civil war.

"How did it happen?" asked Hinata.

"You're father was in a mission. He was assassinated on the return trip."

"A mission!" exclaimed Hinata, "but he's getting old!"

"I don't know the details," said Gaara. "The message that was sent to me was very short."

Hinata took a couple of deep breaths.

"Gaara…" she began.

"Hinata," said Gaara, taking her hands into his. "You have to go back to Konoha to bury your father."

Hinata smiled as much as anyone who just lost their father could smile. "Thank you."

They began walking back into Suna together, when Hinata turned to Gaara.

"Gaara?" asked Hinata.

"Yes?"

"I want you to come with me."

"What?"

"Please Gaara," said Hinata, "I need you to be there with me."

"Hinata," said Gaara tenderly, "you're strong now. You don't always need someone to be there with you."

Hinata shook her head. "Please Gaara, I need you there with me!"

Gaara stopped in his tracks. He looked at her as tears began to roll down her eyes. He couldn't bear to see that.

"Hinata," Gaara said. "Of course I'll go with you, of course."

"Thank you," was all Hinata could force out.

The two of them walked together as the sun began to set behind the desert mountains. The sounds of Suna began to subside, and soon, all they could hear was the sound of their feet, crunching into the sandy roads.

Naruto stood alone, dressed in black, on a lonely hill in Konoha. He looked down sadly onto the pavement and kicked some of the pebbles on the ground.

"Where is she?" he asked himself. Sakura was thirty minutes late from the designated time.

"Hello?" asked a deep voice from behind Naruto. He jumped around quickly to find a masked man, also dressed in black.

"Kakashi sensei!" exclaimed Naruto, "what are you doing here?"

"I heard you were coming here, so I thought I would take a detour from the long paths of life."

Naruto laughed a little. "Well, looks like you're earlier than Sakura for once."

Kakashi frowned a little. Yes, even the senseis knew about Naruto and Sakura's relationship. It was not secret.

"I wonder what's keeping her," inquired Kakashi.

"I don't know," said Naruto.

They waited fifteen more minutes, when Naruto could see a mass of rosette hair running over to him and Kakashi. A feeling of deep relief calmed down all his nerves.

"Sakura!" called Naruto, "we're over here!"

Sakura ran over to the two of them, and after quick greetings to Kakashi the three of them set off. They ended up at a small grave in the hill. Clearly engraved on the block was, Sasuke Uchiha-Hero of the Leaf Village. The three of them bowed their heads in respect. There was no proof that Sasuke's body was in that grave, but a belief that the last Uchiha was missing-in-action would put the village into panic. So, Rock Lee and Sai claimed to have found Sasuke's body in a betrayal fight against Madara Uchiha.

Naruto took Sakura's hand. "I'm glad you could at least make this."

"How could I miss it, Naruto," said Sakura, "he was our teammate, our friend."

There they gazed at what was (or at least, what was assumed to be) once their best friend, the last Uchiha. The winds of change had come and gone. What were once little leaves growing on a mighty tree were now scattered across the world. Change was a scary thing, especially for Naruto and Sakura, but thankfully, the two of them had accepted change and thrived. Sasuke, on the other hand, had not accepted the change, and he was gone.

"Goodbye, Lord Kazekage!" shouted hundreds of Suna citizens as Gaara and Hinata began to leave the village.

"Goodbye Princess!" shouted others to Hinata.

Such statements would make Hinata blush, but she wasn't in the mood for blushing. She knew she had important things to do back home. The trail was a long one, but not necessarily difficult. The desert went on for many miles, and a sense of happiness filled Hinata's heart when she entered the forests of the Fire Country. The danger was not much either. The regions were still in a post-war mood and no one felt like fighting. The nations still had hope to continue on the Ninja Alliance during peacetime, but such proposals received very little support and much criticism (Gaara was one of the main critics of a peacetime alliance, which earned him many enemies internationally). Despite, Gaara's political enemies, the nations were afraid of war, so the trip would be a safe one. Talking between Gaara and Hinata was seldom, mainly because neither of them was in the mood for talking.

When they approached Konoha, a sense of excitement filled Hinata. It had been a year since she had been home, and she wanted to see how much it had changed. The conflicting emotions of sadness, excitement, and inquisitiveness mixed oddly in Hinata. She didn't know what to do first, but then she realized what the most important thing to do was.

A couple of weeks after seeing Sasuke's grave, Naruto and Sakura walked quietly down the streets. As they walked together, they bumped into a large group of people around the gate of the village.

"What's going on?" asked Naruto.

"The Kazekage," said a member of the crowd, "he's visiting."

"Gaara!" exclaimed Naruto happily, "what's he here for?"

"He's here for the funeral of his girlfriend's father."

"His girlfriend!" Sakura almost shouted.

"Really?" said Naruto, louder than Sakura.

The two of them looked out and saw Gaara, but seeing Gaara was not what surprised Naruto and Sakura. What surprised them was Gaara's girlfriend. The sight of Hinata shocked the two of them, who had not expected her. In fact, no one in Konoha who knew her expected to see one of their own as Gaara's girlfriend.

"Isn't she beautiful," said the man they were standing next to. "They call her the Desert Flower back in Suna. Can't say I don't agree."

Naruto and Sakura's mouths were dropped open as they say her walk by.

As Hinata walked by she shot a glance to the two of them. A blank look covered her face. Her soul was conflicted and hurt. They were the last people she wanted to see.

"Look Hinata," said Gaara, "it's Naruto and Sakura! Let's go greet them."

"No," said Hinata, so sternly that Gaara backed away a little bit.

"Why not?" asked Gaara. "They're our friend…right?"

"Sorry Gaara," said Hinata, "I just need to do some other things first."

As the two of them made their way to Hyuga complex, Hinata looked around at her hometown. It was still wonderful, just as she left it. She was happy that nothing had changed much in the year of her absence; she wanted to run to all the old stores she used to go to and eat at the restaurants she wanted to go to. It was her home, her sanctuary.