TADAIMA!!~ I have returned! (If anyone cares ;P) How is everyone? Japan was awesome. Anyway, chapter is shortish because I didn't have a whole lot of time but bear with me ok? Thanks to whoever has waited and come this far with the story, you're super cool ^_^

Enjoy !~

When Sakura Haruno awoke the sun had already risen high and she was nearly in danger of being late for the training today.

The girl stood in front of her mirror and reached slowly for her Konoha forehead, her eyes never leaving the same green that stared back in the glass. It was eyes that had been fascinating her recently so she took an extra minute to examine her own.

Kakashi would be late anyway.

The eyes of the girl who looked back were sea foam green with tiny flickers of darker green nearer the pupil. They stared strong and focused; quite nice eyes. The eyes of someone who was confident, for the most part. The eyes of someone who was a bit soft though. The green was pale and not particularly shocking. They didn't rage or burn. She was sheltered. But that was... ok. Maybe.

Lee had black eyes. Huge round,, black eyes with thick "spectacular" eyelashes. Of course they were on the verge of being completely terrifying at a fist glance but they were among the most amazing eyes Sakura had seen. It was the variation that those eyes held. They could be intense and burrow into you but they could also be gentle. They could be alive with laughter or pooled with tears. Sakura felt slightly honored to have seen the last one considering the short time they had known each other. Although it didn't take much; a playfully harsh word from another or a touching moment.

The girl smiled, running her fingers over the shape of the leaf in the metal.

Sasuke had black eyes too; tragically black eyes. But with the Uchiha's eyes it was the lack of variation that got her. Sure, she could read Sasuke pretty well but it was more through how he held his body or his mouth rather than the emotion in his eyes. Sasuke tried to hide everything and he was very good at it. Heartbreak was the only thing Sakura had seen raw, because at the time Sasuke was too broken to know what to do with himself. He was a boy who didn't understand his emotions. She had seen that in his eyes. But nothing else. Even the boy's anger was usually masked to some degree and sorrow... His pain was always hidden away. There was almost nothing that fit to a word in Uchiha Sasuke's eyes. Only the nothing was familiar and always there but even that emptiness... Sakura had never quite got a grip on what it was or how to get past it.

Her fingertips slid over the cool, clean edge of the forehead protector's plate as she wondered; did Naruto ever know Sasuke's eyes?

Naruto....

Sakura sighed and finally brought her gaze down to the object on her dresser.

Blue...

Naruto had blue eyes; all skitters and fierce smudging when he moved quickly. They dance furiously with blue fire and clashed brilliantly with the bright shade of red his blood always took on in the heat of a battle. They were as unsteady and reckless as the boy himself. But they were strong too. The colour; that cobalt blue. Powerful like Naruto's mere presence. His eyes over anything about him were what you could absolutely never forget.

But Naruto also hadnew blue eyes; steady and smooth. They moved safely and cautiously, a slightly dampened, darker colour. They fitted perfectly with his face and were rarely pushed close by that smile that once distorted his features with its enormity. There new eyes were what had Sakura fascinated.

Windows to the soul...

The other day in the village when she had met Sasuke and Naruto and the Uchiha had left the blonde in her care she had been shocked by those blue eyes. Somehow she had assumed that in time the boy's eyes would lose that darker shade and "bounce right back" into character. She assumed she would know his eyes if nothing else the next time she saw him and they might know her. But that wasn't the case. Not at all. When she thought about it she probably should have expected this. Without the memory of his terrible childhood and the hate he had experienced there was nine of that determination to prove all those people who shunned him, wrong. There was no need to be recognized, to gain respect. No desire to become something better. And without this there wasn't the dream to become Konoha's Hokage and inside that, there was no desperate wanting to be stronger than anyone else. All this was what lit the flames in Uzumaki Naruto eyes.

As they sat across from each other at the lunch table she had realized how different the boy was now. It was like two separate people. His eyes... his voice... the way he said her name. Even though he sat and complained about Sasuke leaving him it wasn't the same as when he had complained to her in the past.

"Haruno san, are you listening? You're all zoned out."

That's what he said when he called her now. "Haruno san"... That was really bad. "Sakura chan" was what she was used to. He'd always called her that; even before they were team mates or friends he had been overly familiar with her, intimately addressing her with affectionate "chan".

How... odd. It was all odd. But she'd better get used to it. Naruto was still her friend. That much hadn't changed. She still liked him so she'd better get used to it.

This was forever.

Sakura began tying the forehead protector under her short hair, her eyes falling shut as she did.

Naruto doesn't pull these knots tight in the morning anymore...

She opened her eyes

Naruto doesn't feel this well-known weight anymore...

She admired how the metal shone in the sunlight.

Naruto doesn't know this pride anymore...

She headed for the door.

Naruto doesn't care anymore...

As expected, Kakashi wasn't there when Sakura arrived. Sasuke was there though, perfectly on time as always. They stood in silence and waited until the jounin arrived and handed them one long sword. Today's training was learning to work together at battle pace with limited weapons.

Sasuke and Sakura armed with the sword-"Katetsu", two kunai and two shuriken each, against Kakashi and his clones. There was a little time before to quickly practice and get the feel of wielding a sword. The technique didn't have to be perfect, just effective enough to fend of the shadow Kakashis. The battle began and Sakura and Sasuke fought back to back, side by side and far apart, passing the sword between them as a main form of offense. It was difficult and both young ninja sported a number of wounds by the end of it. Just a slightly off flick of the wrist when passing, a tiny miscalculation could send the blade slicing through the skin of your partner's awaiting arm.

"Building awareness of your teammates and their actions" Kakashi called the exercise.

Sakura called it dangerous. Especially when you had only used a sword a few times and never in a serious training.

The next two hours were spent sparring as normal. Sakura managed to land one clean punch on Sasuke, right in the jaw. It was a punch that earned her a back handed whack to the face that sent her flying and rolling across the dusty, dry forest floor, but one punch none the less. In the days before she had had some training sessions with Lee and apparently they had paid off. Sasuke was surprised- he could tell by the heightened curve of his eyebrows and the way his lips pushed into a tight line. Kakashi complimented her and she despite being completely spent, battered and bruised from the effort of training, she smiled and flushed happily.

She and Sasuke took the same road back into the village.

"Sasuke kun?"

"Hn."

"Want to go swimming?"

"No."

She skipped two steps to match the boy's pace.

"Let's get Naruto and go swimming," Sakura pushed. "We should spend more time together as a three ne?"

There was a moments silence before she saw Sasuke nod.

"I guess. Where did you want to go?"

Sakura grinned.

We can't give each other up so easily.

We have to try.

This is forever...

They ended up at the lake at the foot of the road on the hill that flanked Konoha's most eastern boundary. Sakura sat on sand with her feet in the water, dressed in her underwear and Sasuke's T-shirt. Somehow there wasn't a lot of embarrassment in doing this. Sasuke and Naruto were knee deep in the water in their boxers. Even though she was the one who had suggested doing this together, all she really wanted to do was take the backseat and watch the two together like she always had. Sasuke was slowly moving further out while Naruto stayed closer to shore. It was incredibly nostalgic just to see them within arms length of each other. .

"What are you doing Dobe? Are you coming in or not? It's not cold," called Sasuke. Naruto shivered and replied, "Now that I'm here I'm not so sure if I know how to swim."

"What, the other day you were ready to swim across a river weren't you? Where's that cockiness now?" taunted Sasuke. Sakura thought he was being too hard. How would Naruto know whether he could swim or not... But this was Sasuke and Sasuke was like that.

Naruto took a few steps forward and Sakura watched with a small smile as his fingers flinched and his hand rose a little like it was going to grab Sasuke. Maybe it was his hands that knew the most. They moved without him realizing. Would they move toward her too if she were close enough to the boy?

"Teach me Sasuke san!"

"What no!"

"Yes!"

"No way!"

"Yeeeesss...!!"

"Fine!"

Sasuke waded back in and stood face to face with his friend for a moment, considering the other male before roughly taking Naruto's hands and turned, leading him into the deeper water. Sakura sighed.

That's not how you do it Sasuke kun... You've got to keep eye contact or he's going to feel like he's got no support...

At shoulder depth, Naruto panicked and bolted when his foot slipped and his head went under. Sasuke yelled, Naruto cried out after surfacing; panicked and loud and then retreated back into the shallows. Sasuke dragged a wet palm over his face.

"Naruto! How can I do it when you're running away?"

Sakura got to her feet and came to Naruto's side placing a small hand on his arm. He was whimpering and trembling with either the terror of feeling like he was drowning or with anger over Sasuke yelling at him.

"Naruto, want me to teach you?" suggested Sakura quietly. The blonde turned his blue eyes to her and watched her for a moment before making a small noise signaling "yes".

Sakura lead Naruto by the hands, walking backwards until they were waist deep and near where Sasuke was submerged to his nose and sulking. Naruto's hands hitched up to her elbows and held onto her tighter. She murmured to him softly and they exchanged smiles.

"It's alright Naruto. I'm right here. I won't let anything happen to you," she said kindly. Naruto's eyes flicked to Sasuke further out and then down to his feet where only the tips of his toes brushed the ground. Sakura was on flat feet.

"Sasuke kun?" Sakura called him happily and heard a splish as he lifted his ears above water.

"What."

"Come here." Sasuke came and stood next to her, glaring a little at Naruto. Sakura giggled at how conforming he was being today.

"Take him now. You do the rest." Sasuke tensed and turned his face away.

"You're better at it than I am. You do it."

"But I can't touch the bottom soon. You're taller." That was a lie. Going any further with Naruto just holding on wouldn't be the way to teach him effectively but it felt more appropriate to have Sasuke do it.

Sakura was kind of contradicting herself though. When she first realized how her team mates felt about each other back in the inn she had been sad and scared by it, thinking that she might be left out or cast away as they came to realize just how much they cared for one another... But now all she wanted was them to be together as much as possible. She wanted to support them. Maybe it was because she saw a little more of stubborn Naruto when he was nearer Sasuke. Or because there was a little more life to Sasuke when he was with Naruto, even in this form... They made each other the people she loved.

Sasuke sighed and opened his arms. Naruto looked doubtful. Sakura began to wriggle her arms from Naruto's tight grasp. When they were only holding hands again Naruto's breath was panicky and short.

Only fingers now.

Naruto made and awkward leap at Sasuke and grabbed him around the neck.

"Don't fall Sasuke kun!" yelled Sakura as the Uchiha boy toppled a little and then regained balance, a tiny frown gracing his features as he wrapped his arms around Naruto who was still clinging to Sasuke's neck, his legs clamped around his slim waist.

"You can get down a bit now Dobe," muttered Sasuke. Naruto took a long minute before lifting his head and shakily moved out until he was holding Sasuke at the elbows as he had with Sakura, his legs desperately treading water, trying to boost more of his body out of the water.

"There. You good?"

"Yeah..."

Two pairs of eyes turned to Sakura; blue and black.

"Now what?" asked Sasuke. Sakura blinked.

"You should teach him to float on his back," she replied. "Naruto lie on your back and Sasuke you stand next to him with your arms under him. When he's ready take them away. Slowly. Be brave." She didn't know who the last little comment was directed at.

They followed her instructions. Naruto lay back and lowered his head into the water and squeezed his eyes shut. His body was tense.

"Do you trust Sasuke kun, Naruto?" murmured Sakura standing near his head, her hands cupping tiny wisps of his downy, blonde hair so it floated above her palm. He couldn't hear her with his ears beneath the water's surface though she felt Sasuke's eyes on her briefly.

They stayed for a long minute. Just stayed. Sasuke holding Naruto, his palms and forearms flat under the other boy's body. Naruto lying ninja still in the clear water, the only sign of life being the muscle at his jaw working as he clenched and unclenched his jaw. Sakura with her fingers in Naruto's ghostly blonde hair; unnoticed. Sasuke watched Naruto and Sakura watched Sasuke.

Ah... His eyes... Despite his earlier complaining Sasuke's eyes...

...black...

The look in them was like he was dying to be closer, to hold Naruto. A soft, smoldering desire. Was it wrong to assume that he missed his Naruto? That he could be dying to kiss him while the smaller blonde boy lay in his arms? His eyes, full and forgiving, completely new, brimmed with a part of his past that he didn't mind reliving. Right now the policy was honesty with Uchiha Sasuke's features. Nothing was censored.

He wasn't empty and it amazed Sakura. He was breathtaking. They; as a pair, as two, as one, as Sasuke and Naruto...Were breathtaking.

It was peaceful.

Sasuke removed his hands.

Naruto floated.

All three were whole in that one moment.

Something a bit like a miracle and once they were done in the water they all flopped down in a line in the long grass on the bank's slope.

Sakura closed her eyes and fell to sleep with the tiny lap of the water in the breeze at the lake shore and the smell of the afternoon sun warming her hair, Naruto and Sasuke either side of her.