"We were two and had but one heart."

"Love is composed of a single soul inhabiting two bodies."

The Hokage Monument had seen many things. It had bared witness to many events, promises and tragedies over the decades. It was a place that was held dear and special to many in Konoha.

Nidaime watched Tsunade shared nostalgic nights with Jiraiya, whenever the Toad Hermit was in town. The two drank to memories of the past, the present and hoped the best for the future. A future they had already decided to place upon the shoulders of a young blonde haired boy.

Genma had finally gathered the courage to propose to Raidou. He brought the scarred man up to Yondaime's head, bent down on one knee and spoke those words of commitment he had always been afraid of. But with Raidou, Genma knew he had been a fool to ever be afraid.

Tenten made a promise to Neji. He had goals and aspirations, but she promised to be behind him every step of the way, just like she had since their genin years. She wanted to be there, see him the whole way through and hopefully, perhaps she could get something more from her best friend some day. Hopefully, he would one day see how much she loved him.

Yondaime watched Naruto meet Sasuke. The dark haired avenger stood nervously and hopeful, this was his best friend. Naruto was the only person whose opinion he cared about. If Naruto hated him for what he'd done, Sasuke could never forgive himself. But Naruto had shown up all smiles and laughter, smacking him over the head with a declaration to Ichiraku and Sasuke couldn't help but feel relieved and smile back.

Hinata had gathered her strength and pushed away her shyness. She led Naruto up to the Hokage Monument and kissed him without another thought. Afterwards, she had blushed stuttered something about loving him and promptly fainted. When she woke, it was to the most beautiful sunset she'd ever seen, seated there wrapped in Naruto's warm embrace. She couldn't have been happier.

Kurenai gazed out at Konoha had whispered her promise to Asuma. Her hands gently caressed the growing bulge of her stomach and she would swear later that she could feel his hands over hers. She would swear that she caught the lingering scent of smoke and the bristle of his beard against her cheek. She promised Asuma that she would be strong, she would live on and raise this child, their child.

Temari had never been up on the Hokage Monument. She'd insisted that Shikamaru bring her up there, that they have a picnic. Despite his complaints, he'd been happy to go up there with her. They'd both enjoyed the view, the quiet conversations. Before they knew it, they were headed back down, hand in hand and matching blushes over their entire face.

Sakura and Ino made a promise to never let love get in the way of their friendship again. Said renewed friendship lasted up until the point where Sakura had told Ino, in confidence of their renewed friendship, that she was seeing Sasuke. A large mess became of it and in the end, to the perplexed faces of those who had gathered during the fight, they were back to being friends again.

Said relationship between Sakura and Sasuke had started after Sasuke had spoken about it with Naruto. The blonde had immediately set them up on the monument and shoved a bouquet of flowers into Sasuke's hands and went out to find Sakura. It wasn't the romantic get together she had been dreaming of, what with Naruto peeking from the sidelines, but it was sincere and heartfelt and that was enough for her.

In name of friendships, there was perhaps only one that best persevered through time and held strong. Shikamaru and Chouji had been best buddies since they were born, influence through their parents. And though Ino had always been apart of their group, the two had stuck together through thick and thin. Since the days had gotten a bit busier between the two, they would spend that precious time they set aside for each other on top of the monument to gaze up at the clouds. Away from Shikamaru's normal place because then others would find and bother them. The monument was someplace the two could sit in comfortable silence, alone and uninterrupted.

Iruka had ran about all over Konoha all day, entertaining and distracting his lover as well as setting up for said lover's birthday. It was a trying day, one in which he was glad that the Green Beast of Konoha was not out on a mission, because it meant Iruka got the distraction he needed for the final putting together of Kakashi's birthday present. He grinned when Gai came up with a trussed up and very annoyed copy nin, thanking the man while trying to hold in the laughter was difficulty, but the chuunin managed and sent his lover's Eternal Rival on his way.

Kakashi glared at Iruka, crossing his arms and pouting over the whole business until his dolphin started giving him his birthday present. Needless to say, Yondaime would have been blushing and rather horrified at what his student was doing on his forehead if he weren't a stone face. Kakashi was more then ecstatic with Iruka.