"Nothing splendid was ever created in cold blood. Heat is required to forge anything. Every great accomplishment is the story of a flaming heart."
******************
Flaming Heart
Finale
The wind blew relentlessly taking several leaves and dragging them towards a handsome and enormous manor house that grew out in the darkness. Weak lights glinted in the egg-shaped downstairs windows. The main room was spacious, dimly lit and sumptuously decorated with several portraits. Two tall men stood in front of a comfortable sofa where a young boy was laying asleep.
The older man had his hands behind his back and wore a tired and sober expression on his wrinkled face. His eyes stared at the young man who was still suffering the sharingan effects.
"You better not be playing tricks on me, old man." The tall younger man repeated. His red eyes fastened upon the older man black ones with such intensity that the other two other men that were quietly standing on the door, looked away, apparently frightened that they would end up suffering with the police chief scorching gaze.
The old man smiled, not affected with the other man ferocity gaze, "My child, I give you my word. That boy… is your child,"
The tall man blinked at first. He heard it before but no matter how many times the old man told him, it was still very strange to him to accept the mere concept. He was a logical man, he believed only in what his eyes could see. To say… that a mere child was able to travel back in time it was blasphemy.
"Your unborn child," the soft voice seemed to hiss on filling the cold air of the room with an obscure tension. The two men that stood quietly at the room's door barely repressed a shudder, as the hissing seemed to grow louder.
"My child…" said the dark-haired man, his voice constricted with emotion, "Sasuke… my boy…" his red eyes stopped on Sasuke's pale dirty and wounded features. Sasuke looked exactly like he did many years ago. Turning to meet the old man dark eyes once more, "Tell me everything," Fugaku added, wincing slightly as though the words were sharp in his throat.
Sarutobi looked up at Konoha's chief police and felt a mixture of compassion and amusement. Finally, he nodded, "Very well," and he told the Uchiha everything there was to know. He explained how the pink-haired girl and his son driven by powerful bonds combined their strengths to save the village from Madara's plans. How their utter wish was to save their future teammate from loneliness, from ever having the Kyuubi sealed within him.
Fugaku listened to the long tale never once taking his eyes away from the young boy. He could not help the unfamiliar feelings to take over his spirit. He could feel his chest booming with a hot sensation of pride. He fought bravely against the urge to fall on his knees and embrace the boy in his arms.
The third Hokage raised his eyebrows as he watched the tiniest flicker of emotion cross the Uchiha's face. Both men stared at each other. Their eyes met and both knew they were pondering on the same matter. What was the future like for the Uchiha clan?
Behind the closed door, she struggled with the awful nauseous feeling in her stomach. She held her large belly in a protective manner. Her ears seemed to throb, bleeding internally refusing to believe in what she heard. It could not be. Her future child… it was ridiculous! What a nasty thing to say! Shaking her head to the side, she froze in her spot as she stared at the frightened child standing in front of her. Her chocolate eyes stared deeply into small red frightened orbs.
"I…Itachi?" she whispered, her hands felt like jelly. She was trembling so much that it felt as though someone buried and left her to rot in the coldest snow.
"M-m-m-mommy… it hurts," the frightened child took his petit hands and rubbed his eyes.
He could hear voices around him, yet his sharpened hearing captured the soft childish voice above all the others. Struggling to open his eyes, Sasuke could tell he was lying on his back on what felt like comfortable cushions. There was a burning sensation in his ribs and left arm. His head was throbbing.
"Sakura?" he whispered, weakly.
Opening his eyes, he saw that he was lying on a sofa in an unknown, lamplight sitting room. His katana lay on the floor a short distance away, bloodied and muddy. Four men were watching Sasuke anxiously.
"Sakura's fine," said the third Hokage, "she's at the hospital helping with the wounded. How are you feeling?"
Sasuke sat up too quickly, feeling slightly sick and giddy. He blinked at first, and then he glanced around the room. He needed to see Sakura with his own eyes before he would believe that she was all right.
"Easy son," Sasuke watched impotently as a big strong hand paused on his shoulder, pushing him back against the cushions, "You are still very weak. The sharingan effect took a lot of you,"
That voice, a voice that Sasuke could never erase from his childhood memories. A cold, distant and strong voice. The young Uchiha felt like something inside him was falling, falling down to the pits of hell, leaving him, shattering his remaining piece of soul forever.
Slowly, he raised his dark eyes to meet his father red ones.
"He knows," the third voice reached Sasuke ears.
Sasuke clenched his jaw feeling his erratic heartbeat. From all the things that he wanted to avoid, was this. Was it wrong to feel this much alive? For so long, Sasuke wanted nothing more than to hear his name being called out by the ones he loved. He wanted to hear their voices to make sure that they were real.
There he was now staring straight at his father's eyes and listening to his voice.
"Fath-"
Sasuke did not finish it. He watched with wide eyes as a beautiful woman stood at the doorway struggling to walk past the two guards. Hesitantly, Sasuke gazed at the sniffing child in her arms, forgetting how to breathe as he stared at those innocent scarlet eyes.
"Lies! All Lies!"
The dark-haired woman glared around at them all; tear tracks clearly visible on her beautiful face. She silently dared any of them to contradict her. Nobody did. The only sound to break the silence was Itachi's soft sobs.
Her head was pounding, her limps aching. Around her, there was only silence.
Kushina quickly sat up, her eyes searching for a certain blond-haired man but he was not there. She realized that she was in what looked like to be the hospital. She noticed the many old torches hanging on the wall, the fire that provided the weak light was about to extinguish. The red-haired woman forced her eyelids open and gazed at the broken window. The gentle breeze seemed to caress her skin in a comforting manner. The stars in the sky seemed to stare back at her.
Eyes widening, Kushina quickly placed her hand on her belly, somewhat relieved to see the bump in there. The pain was gone. Suddenly, she felt her bed budge slightly. Tilting her head to the side, Kushina stared at the mass of pink-hair. A soft saddened smile appeared on her tired features as she gently placed a few locks of pink-hair away from the beautiful kunoichi face.
Sakura was quietly and soundless sleeping on a wooden chair. Her torso was leaning towards the bed, her both arms serving as a pillow.
With a resigned sigh, Kushina leaned back on the bed and stared up to the ceiling. She wondered for how long she has been asleep. For a moment, she stayed down not daring to think. Her mind was full with questions, a particular one more painful than the rest.
Where was he?
"Minato…"
Closing her eyelids, she was surprised to see images of which she held no recollection. Was she half-conscious when she witnessed this?
She could see Tsunade kneel next to her with a worried expression. Behind the blonde Sannin was the pink-haired girl. She looked horrified as if she had seen death itself.
"She's going to be alright…" said Tsunade with a stern expression, "It's nothing to worry about. The baby moved back around. Two broken ribs and a small internal bleeding,"
"B-but all the blood," a strange unfamiliar voice spoke from next to her. She found herself staring into big lavender eyes.
"Tsunade-sama…" the pink-haired girl spoke quietly as she walked away from Kakashi's protective hold, "can I?"
Hesitantly, Tsunade moved to the side allowing the girl space enough to analyze her. Biting her lip, Sakura hands started to glow green. A frown immediately came to her face.
"Kami… we arrived just in time to stop it…"
"Sakura… I didn't want to worry you,"
Sakura nodded, "She is going to need constant vigilance. I will stay with her,"
Kushina eyes shot wide open. Her light green eyes spotted a dark shadow next to the window. The moonlight bathed his silver-hair giving his identity away. Kakashi was looking out of the window staring at the now unrecognizable village.
Her heart stopped. Her breath caught raggedly in her throat. Kakashi was always good when it came to conceal his own feelings. She remembered seeing him face Rin's funeral like he was heading to a war. His face was clear of any emotion. Only his dark eye could not completely hide his pain away from the world.
Now, there he was, standing in a half torn hospital room, staring at a completely destroyed village. Kushina wanted to ask him. She wanted to know every little detail. However, at the same time, her heart told her to stay quiet. She didn't want to hear the answer. A loud gasp escaped her fully dry lips. She lowered her head and stared in awe at her large stomach. Then, a tender smile etched on her pale features.
"He's not gone," Kushina added in a quiet and stubborn tone as her eyes met Kakashi ones, "so wipe that stupid sad look off your face,"
The silver-haired jounin stared back at Kushina with a mixture of astonishment, incredulity and relief on his face. At least, she was still the same positive woman he knew. Somehow, as Kushina words rang inside his head, he wanted to grab onto them and make them true. Yet, he could not delude himself. He saw it with his own eyes.
The Kyuubi, Madara and his sensei were gone.
Still he didn't say anything to her. He couldn't. He was too afraid that his voice would betray him.
"He's not gone," Kushina added in a stronger tone of voice. Her light green eyes glared at him, "He's not!" she repeated as she caressed her belly.
Slowly and not knowing what to do, Kakashi merely nodded his head.
Kushina noticed how hesitant he was. The life of his dark eye was no longer there. He was a mere shadow of that brat she once knew. Sighing, she placed herself in a comfortable sitting position.
"One day…" Kushina voice came out croaky. She coughed lightly as to clear her throat, "…many many years ago… humans had two heads instead of one and four arms and four legs instead of two," she closed her eyes and smiled, "the Gods were bored and decided to separate the human in half. The humans began to feel incomplete and miserable… for their other part was gone. They couldn't find their other half in order to be complete…" she opened her eyes and stared at the perplexed jounin, "I have found my other half, Kakashi,"
Kakashi eyes widened slightly.
"And that's why I am telling you…" her voice became louder and firmer, "He will come back. I just know it,"
All she wanted was to close her eyes and sleep for an eternity. She was so tired. She wondered if she ever felt this tired before. Not even years ago when the village suffered a fatal epidemic. She couldn't stand to stare at the burnt blood from their fiery wounds. Thank Kami for Katsuyu, her precious summon. While the thousands of slugs tended to the most several cases, Tsunade took care of the ones which did not include blood. However, this could not go on much longer. The slug's itselves were not enough.
After she was done, after everything was over... if some pitiful soul dared to interrupt her peaceful sleep, she would make sure that they suffered the consequences. Sighing at her own thoughts, Tsunade reached for another soldier pill. She was exhausted beyond limits. Swallowing the pill, she took a quick glance at her surroundings.
She wondered if she was going to become deaf as the painful screams around her seemed to harmonize with each others. Her honey eyes fell on the tall figure that walked towards her. Her eyes widened as she stared at the girl by his side.
"Tsunade-sama!" the dark-haired girl exclaimed in sheer bliss as Jiraiya let go of her hand, "Tsunade-sama!" she repeated as she ran through the wrecked road, avoiding the several wounded that lied in poorly improvised beds.
Tsunade blinked at first as the girl held to her too tightly, "Shizune…"
"You are going to need all the help you can get, right?" Jiraiya asked as he joined her side.
Tsunade ruffled Shizune's hair in a motherly manner and looked up at the white-haired man.
"Tchh… who ever said I need help," Tsunade added in a fake disdain tone.
Jiraiya merely smiled as he stared at the several tiny slugs that carried on healing the wounded. Somehow, he knew that everything was going to be alright. He watched as Shizune followed Tsunade around. She was only a mere child, no more than her fourteen years old and yet her features showed a scary adult expression. He guessed that having to deal with Tsunade all those years made her the grown up one.
He had a great feeling that Sakura would get quite well with Shizune. The three of them would form an amazing trio.
Her dark eyes met Sasuke dark ones. Her head was spinning, her soul was screaming in pure pain. She felt as if her heart was cruelly ripped off and thrown to the floor where everyone could step on it. The cruel sensation as she looked at his dark orbs could not go unnoticed. It was as if she was staring at her husband eyes instead. Cold, distant and sorrowful eyes.
Fugaku shifted uncomfortable as his wife stepped inside the room. His eyes fell on Itachi that was quietly trembling in her arms. At that very moment his world stopped for a second time that night.
"Mikoto," her husband started slowly as he stared at Itachi bloodied eyes. He wore a worried expression on his usual blank face. How could it be? How could Itachi achieve the sharingan at such an early age?
Completely ignoring her husband, Mikoto walked forward never taking her eyes from his dark ones. Her trek was slow and hesitant. Itachi trembled in her arms and he too stared at Sasuke as if he was able to read his thoughts.
All of Sasuke's strengths abandoned him as his mother and his brother slowly approached him. She was just like he remembered her. He could smell the wonderful scent of vanilla of her long dark-hair that perfectly down to her back, her dark eyes and her tiny nose. She was beautiful. He fought the need to meet her halfway and hug her. He wanted to bury his face on her shoulder and cry. He wanted to cry and feel like he was finally waking up from his long miserable nightmare.
Mikoto stopped right in front of Sasuke. Mere centimeters were all that separated them apart.
Leaning in his mother arms, Itachi stretched his petit arm and touched a lock of Sasuke's hair.
Feeling that he didn't quite belong to the scene, the third Hokage disappeared into a mass of clouds.
"Nii-sama!"
A loud sob broke out from Mikoto's lips as tears welled up in her eyes. Sasuke opened his mouth to speak but couldn't say anything as his mother threw herself to his arms. Itachi struggled with his mother arm so he could participate in the hugging scene as well.
It seemed like ages before she finally came to. Sakura was awakened by the sound of peoples' voices murmuring together. Thought they felt like lead, she forced her eyes to open. Her vision was horribly blurry; she could hardly take in any of her surroundings. She moaned softly to herself, attempting to lift her head without success.
Kushina tilted her head to the side as she stared at the moaning pink-haired girl. Sakura was a big question mark to her. She heard Sakura's story through Minato and was more shocked to find out that this girl was her future son best-friend than believing that she was indeed from the future. Just that fact alone seemed so unimportant in comparison to her bonds with her still unborn child. She was curious, dying to know what her son was like. Yet, she would never ask. She was scared of the answer but more importantly, she wanted to have the pleasure to see it for herself.
Sakura took a deep breath as she attempted to lift her head again. She could feel every bone of her soar body crack. Biting her lip, she raised her head and her emerald eyes met another different shade of green orbs.
"Kushina-san!" exclaimed Sakura as she gathered all her strengths in her almost rotten body, "Are you alright?" she questioned as she pushed her chair behind and quickly stood up. Sakura leaned forward and stretched her hand towards Kushina's forehead.
The red-haired woman did not move a muscle as Sakura cold hand touched her skin. Sakura smiled softly in satisfaction as she retrieved her hand back, "No fever," she added in a tired tone.
Kakashi remained quietly by the window. His dark eye never left the pink-haired girl. His eye noticed every single detail of her face. He didn't miss every single line that formed on her large forehead as she wrinkled her face in worry. Nor the way her dry lips somehow seemed so damn appealing to him. He wanted to touch her, he wanted to kiss her, shove his tongue inside her mouth and drown their worries away just for a brief moment. He needed her. It was as simple as that. Now, he was completely on his own and Sakura was his sweet escape. He needed her more than ever. He realized now, that somehow he knew that he wouldn't be able to live his life if she had performed that seal. His heart was suddenly filled with a mixture of guilt and relief.
Sighing, Sakura sat back on the chair. She ran a trembling hand through her long and messy pink hair. Maybe letting it grow back was a mistake. It was troublesome to have to take care of it and by Kami she did need a long relaxing bath. However, the truth is that her long precious bath was still far from happening. Sakura green orbs fell on the red-haired woman that was looking back at her with a curious expression. The medic-nin had the tiniest sensation that the older woman wanted to ask her something. She waited but Kushina never asked her anything.
"Kakashi," said Kushina in a quiet tone as if it was wrong or forbidden to speak any louder, "Will you please get us something to eat?"
Eyes widening, Sakura jerked her head towards the broken window. She stared at his tall figure and took in a deep breath. How could she have forgotten about him? She was so worried about Kushina-san and the baby to even think about… wait…
"Sasuke! Oh no!" she exclaimed out of a sudden. She blinked softly as she stared at the empty spot, "Kak-"
"Are you coming or not?"
Sakura turned around and stared at the open door where Kakashi stood waiting for her. He stretched his hand forward and stared at her. He raised his dark eyebrow, nudging her to hold his hand. Sakura fingertips touched his cold firm skin. She watched his dark blue move as he smiled at her. She furrowed her eyebrows in displeasure. She hated that damned mask. Biting her lip, she stretched her free hand towards his face and snatched it away from his face without any ceremony, "Now… much better," she whispered as she stared at his perfect smile.
"You shouldn't have done that," Kakashi whispered back with a glint of mischief sparkling in his eye.
"Why is that?"
"Because now every girl will practically swoon over me," added Kakashi as he winked at the open-mouthed pink-haired girl.
Kushina shook her head and rolled her eyes at the loving scene unfolding in front of her.
Sakura blinked softly before she snorted, "As if," she said as she walked past the door, dragging Kakashi with her, "besides haven't you heard?" She asked as she looked at him from behind her shoulder.
"What?"
"There is a new handsome boy in the block,"
Kakashi snorted and rolled his eyes. There was no way that the Uchiha boy was more handsome than him. Right?
Sakura watched as Kakashi frowned for brief seconds and laughed. Kakashi stopped making Sakura stop as well. She laughed. His beautiful pink-haired girl angel laughed. Smiling, he pulled her towards him catching her off guard.
"Everything is going to be different now," he told her in a quiet serious tone.
Sakura smiled as she met his dark eye. Slowly, she pushed his headband up.
"Yeah..."
"Are you afraid?" Kakashi asked as he took in her dead serious expression. Her green eyes seemed to burn with invisible flames. No she wasn't afraid.
"Not anymore," she answered softly.
And she wasn't.
There was nothing to fear for now. Just, what the different and unknown future reserved for them. Besides, she was not to be intimidated. Not now or never. Not when Kakashi was standing by her side.
The trees stood like statues as the small flocks of snow carried on falling from the skies. The few animals recoiled into their shelters alert to the odd strange noises from the outside. The intense color of blue contrasted with the murdering color of his bloodied Sharingan. Both men seemed to be slightly dizzy as they stared at each other. No one spoke and no one moved. It was as if time itself had stopped to punish them. The cold seemed to penetrate into their skin like a cruel disease eating their flesh. Minato didn't want to believe in his eyes. He wasn't fast enough. Madara was faster. Minato had never witnessed someone as fast as Madara in his entire life. Somehow, the Uchiha managed to complete the seal. Minato could only recall the exact time when his rasengan was supressed by the Kyuubi explosion. The last thing he saw was the thick red chakra contaminate the air.
Minato finally opened his mouth but it was Madara's voice that echoed first.
"I finally did it," Madara spoke in a loud voice as if he wanted the whole world to hear him, "I finally did it!" he repeated more enthusiastically. It seemed like he completely forgot who was standing in front of him.
Minato swallowed dry. His remaining strengths threatened to abandon him to his own luck. He watched the dark-haired man open his arms towards the sky. Madara laugh was filled with madness.
Narrowing his eyes, Minato held onto his kunai and launched himself towards the madman. He would end his madness and then he would have to find a way to get home. But how? How could he do so if the man he was going to kill possessed the means to return him back?
Six Years Later
"Ready?"
"Ready,"
"Hn,"
Three silhouettes quickly ran across the dark field towards the small cottage. The tallest of them, a dark-haired man whose crimson eyes contrasted with the dark night leaned his back against the wall and with his fingers gave the others a small signal.
The pink-haired woman nodded while she ran past him towards the left side of the cottage searching for any other possible exit. Spotting none, she looked upwards to the cottage's roof where a silver-haired man looked straight at her. Nodding at him she kneeled on the floor and performed a single seal. She watched in satisfaction as the invisible wall surrounded the area. No one was escaping them.
The silver-haired jounin nodded back at her before he turned his back at her.
Quickly, he found a weak spot on the roof. Pressing his palm on the roof, and with his other hand performing a simple seal he made the roof crack easily.
"What the hell?" a loud voice exclaimed from the inside the house.
"Fuck, we have been discovered,"
"The money, gimme the money!"
Suddenly, the cottage's door was blown away. The three men stopped in their track as they stared at the dark-haired man. Their eyes widened in panic as they stared at Sasuke's sharingan. They widened further as they spotted a smiling pink-haired girl behind the Uchiha.
Kakashi jumped down and stared at his surroundings. He quickly discovered what they had come for. His expressionless face stared at the dead body on the table. His eyes stopped on the leaf headband.
"You guys have been naughty," Sakura exclaimed as she placed herself next to Sasuke.
Sasuke red eyes stared at the three men who coiled at the fierce look.
"They are simply mercenaries," Sasuke said in annoyance. He was hoping for a good fight.
Sakura placed a hand on Sasuke shoulder, "Thank Kami," she said with a smile, "this way we get to go back in time,"
Sasuke nodded quietly and looked towards Kakashi that quickly placed the dead nin over his shoulder.
"Yosh, good to go,"
The three mercenaries simply blinked as the three ninja walked towards the exit. Sakura stopped at door and flashed them a smile, "Now now," her right hand played with an explosive kunai, "you better behave yourselves or next time we won't be this understanding,"
The three men quickly nodded their heads as the three ninjas disappeared from sight.
It was funny, Sakura concluded as she walked between the two men with a wide smile plastered in her face. Who would have thought that she could be this happy? Stealing a quick glance at the white-haired man, she found her heart still beating as fast as it always did as their eyes met. She had found a safe place and for years, she hadn't shed a single tear. She was finally complete.
Sasuke had his own happiness. He had his family back and he was making sure that his clan would never follow a destructive path. Not that it could happen anyway. The Uchiha clan became closer to the village after the Kyuubi attack. They had lent their full support to the third Hokage.
Kakashi stopped and carefully placed the ninja corpse on his other shoulder. Sasuke stopped too and raised an amused eyebrow, "Too heavy?"
"Nothing that I can't handle," Kakashi responded as he started to walk again.
"Hn," Sasuke smirked as he stared at Kakashi back. He enjoyed provoking the silver-haired nin.
Sakura turned around and glared at both men who were still behind, "come on guys!" she called out impatiently, "The village is right there!"
The water caressed her entire body. Sakura closed her eyes tightly and simply stood there as the hot water fell down like a cascade embracing her body. It was times like this when her thoughts roamed through her head without warning or permission. She often found herself wondering what could have been if things had been done in a complete different way.
Anyway, she was happy now and that was all that mattered. She often saw Tsunade between her long missions and even when the two of them spent long periods without seeing each other, they would always write. Tsunade and Jiraiya had left the village exactly one year after Naruto was born. They helped rebuilding the village, but mainly they had stayed for Kushina and Naruto.
Kenji and Kenjiro graduated the academy and were currently living by themselves. They had become excellent medic-nin under her tutorship. Every morning they always passed by Kakashi's house for breakfast. It was hard to get rid of the twins.
Sasuke had slowly adapted to his new life. At first it was hard for him but when his young sister was born in his place, things started to change for the better. The clan accepted him and believed their story. They were proclaimed as heroes. Sakura couldn't have been any prouder than she was when Sasuke refused the hero title and dedicated it to Minato-sensei.
Naruto was a normal young boy with a loving caring mother. A small smile played in her rosy lips as she wondered which one was the most hyper. He treated Sakura and Sasuke like brothers and she couldn't be any happier.
A loud knock on the bathroom door interrupted her sanctuary, "Yeah?" Sakura called out as she rubbed her eyes.
"Are you coming or not?"
Sakura turned her head and stared at an already full dressed Kakashi. Smiling, she turned the shower off. Kakashi eyes widened as Sakura stepped out of the bathtub letting out infinite droplets of water fall onto the floor.
Sakura turned her head and stared at an already full dressed Kakashi. Smiling, she turned the shower off. Kakashi eyes widened as she stepped out of the bathtub letting out infinite droplets of water fall to the floor. The pink-haired girl bit her lip in a seductive manner as she walked towards Kakashi, stopping just a few inches away from him.
"The towel," she whispered softly making the white-haired man blink.
"Huh," It took him a while to process what she had just said.
Giggling, Sakura leaned on him. She put her arms around his neck and pressed a light kiss on his lips. Slowly, she started to rub her body into his.
"Guess I don't need that towel that much,"
Kakashi felt Sakura shudder under his touch. Her breath caught on a gasp as his gaze suddenly focused with clarity on her. Her skin was so warm against his. Slowly, he pulled her forward until she was forced to place her hand on his chest. He took in a deep breath, taking her scent. She was intoxicating.
Sakura closed her eyes as their lips touched. She kissed him gently, tasting strawberries and a heat that was all his. His hand on her neck and waist held her in place, yet she did not resent the control. She moaned softly as Kakashi turned her head so their mouths could widen and mate. Without any hesitation, she met his tongue with her own, and a battle of supremacy began. He groaned into her mouth, pulling her closer. Her hand on his body gave way, and her naked chest fell against his. It was a pleasure-pain that made her breasts ache. Somewhere inside she thought only he could give her what she needed.
Sakura green eyes focused on the little crowd searching for a certain petit blond boy. Kakashi stood by her side and easily spotted the young boy. He nudged her and pointed at the laughing little child. Sakura turned her head and froze in her spot as she stared at the little girl Naruto was speaking with. Swallowing dry, she recognized the girl easily.
Kakashi tightened his fingers around Sakura's hand. He stared at the young girl with curiosity. Even though, they were not the same person, they still looked very alike. They possessed the same ridiculous pink-hair. The main difference lied on their eyes and slightly on their noses. The young girl did not possess the same green beautiful eyes as Sakura did. Instead, she had her father eyes, deep dark eyes.
They watched as Naruto bid the girl good-bye and turned around slightly confused.
"Over here!" Sakura called out while waving her free hand.
Naruto blue eyes sparkled as they landed on Sakura and Kakashi. The young boy smiled showing off his petit white teeth. Sakura found herself smiling back.
Now that the whiskers were gone... the one thing that Sakura loved the most was to see Naruto smile.
His smile was the prettiest smile, Sakura concluded as the blond haired boy jumped towards her for a hug.
"Nee-san!"
Her heart started to race as she held the tiny child in her arms. Her eyes met his spakling blue ones and she felt like twelve years all over again staring at her old Naruto. Her whole skin was on fire. Her heart beated so strongly against her chest, reminding her that she was alive.
It was as if her heart was erupting in flames. She finally found her true self, her true strenghts, her true happiness... her true heart.
Hers was a flaming heart.
Author Note:
Oh my GOD!
Yes this is the end. I finally wrote a whole story. My very first story! My baby project is now complete. Or is it? Muahahaha. Yep, I deliberately left some openings because... who knows... I might want to explore them later on.
Firstly, I want to thank all of you who sticked around and always reviewed! It was because of so many reviews and reviewers (winks winks) that I got encouraged to write more and more. It as a gratifying experience for a first story and there were times that I just wanted to quit due to painful writing blocks... but hey... I did it.
This last chapter. It probably isn't one of the best and probably the whole story will go under a slow painful revision. Because I love it so much and want to make it better LOL.
Anyway, once again a big thank you for your support.
With lots of love,
Creidhe.