CHAPTER RATING: M

Please, if you would, read the Afterword, it's lengthy, but has some thoughts that took a long time to write down; and as an audience that followed me through all of this, please take some time to read it.

Chapter 42: Wishes in the Wind

ONE YEAR LATER…

Sakura opened her eyes; she was sitting on her bed, gazing blankly at the floor. She raised her arm and found herself wearing a pink kimono, decorated with white petals, and flower patterns. She blinked and refocused her eyes when she heard a voice from the hallway entering her room.

"Sakura!" Ino's voice came from the hall. "Sakura! Are you ready?!" Sakura saw her best friend rush into the room before she could answer; Ino wore a dark indigo kimono, decorated with pale flowers, the same color as her hair. "Geez! There you go again! Why do you just space out? Are you ready?"

"Ino…Where are we going again?" Sakura asked.

"Don't act like you don't know!" Ino jumped and hugged her; she took a seat next to her best friend on the bed. "It's the festival of lights tonight!" she exclaimed. "You look ready to me! Hurry up! We're going to meet Shikamaru and Naruto. Are you ready?"

Sakura froze for a moment; then turned to her friend, and smiled warmly.

"I'm ready. Let's go."

…

Naruto sat in his own room, just as Sakura had. Over the past year, he had renovated the place; the house itself had been expanded, making the existing rooms more spacious. He invested in a larger bathtub, a closet to store his prized ramen collection, enough to last him a thousand winters, and he added to his new, larger bedroom, complete with a King size bed, the bed that he sat on, staring blankly at the floor.

He stared outside his window, into a clear sky, littered with millions of stars. A ring from his door bell brought his attention away from the stars. He turned on the hallway lights, looked through the peephole, and opened the door.

"Hey, Naruto, are you r…Ha ha! Really going all out on this night, huh?" Shikamaru laughed.

"What do you mean?" Naruto replied.

"I have never seen you wear something like that ever since you fought Pain with the Senjutsu you learned from Jiraiya-sama. Have you ever heard the term 'Sharp Dressed Man?' I'm sure Sakura's going to be happy to see that."

"Yeah…I guess so." Naruto replied as he opened his arms to his sides and looked down. He was indeed, wearing an outfit similar to the Toad Sage jacket; with the original red replaced with his signature orange, with black trim.

"Ino and Sakura said that they'd meet us at the festival, you ready?"

"Yeah, let's go."

They descended the stairs and began to walk along the main road of Konoha; which was crowded with many others, couples and families that walked along side them in a crowded and noisy display. Along the main street there were multiple shops that opened for the festival. The usual establishments were adorned with bright lights, lanterns, and open fires. The crowds continuously hummed with chatter, the voices of men, women, and children filled the air.

"What do you think?" Shikamaru tried to speak through the sounds of the crowd.

"I've never seen anything like it. Even when I was still learning the Rasengan from Jiraiya-sensei, the festival there wasn't like this." Naruto replied.

"Yeah…It's a little extravagant, I never knew that Hokage-sama had the money to do this." Shikamaru added.

"Where do you think she got the money?"

"Think? I know where she got the money!" Shikamaru said with a smirk.

"Really? Where?" Naruto laughed.

"As you know…" Shikamaru began to explain. "…Hokage-sama is notorious for getting into debt with loan sharks. And even the leader of a country has to pay her debts."

"She asked for a loan big enough to fund this?!" Naruto held his hands out, as if he was holding a giant globe.

"Ah, you'd think so, looking at her track record, but the story is actually a little different." Shikamaru smiled. "The story goes, she went to the Land of Lightning to pay off a debt…Instead, she actually conned some guys into giving her a considerably huge sum of money."

"Do you know how she did it?"

"Yeah…The story continues…She spread rumors about herself being in a town, where these loan sharks were. Naturally, they came looking for her. When they found her, she had actually transformed into her younger self…You know, that little kid."

Shikamaru stopped to make gestures with his hands, emphasizing the size of Tsunade's child form.

"As a little girl, she convinced these guys that there was gold in the mountains that were just outside of town. These dumbasses then take their entire operation, scatter to the mountains, and try to find gold that never existed, leaving a giant pile of cash, free for the taking."

"Heh. She was always cunning when she was trying to get what she wanted." He whispered to himself. A thought suddenly entered Naruto's mind. "Hey, Shikamaru, what happened to Karin?"

"Oh, the smart-ass lady that doesn't shut up even as she is being locked up?" Shikamaru asked.

"Y-Yeah." Naruto said with a weak smile. "What happened to her?"

"She was executed." Shikamaru said bluntly.

"…REALLY?!" Naruto asked angrily.

"Really." Shikamaru replied with no emotion.

…

…

"…I'm just kidding!" Shikamaru cleared the tension in a joking tone. Naruto smiled and pushed him with one hand. "No…After Sasuke…" Shikamaru took a deep breath. "...met his end, she didn't resist anymore. She told us that she didn't have any where to go, and that if we wanted to, we could just lock her up, or, even better-just execute her."

"So, is she locked up now?"

"No, she's not. We found that she's got an amazing ability to detect chakra; a very high-class sensor shinobi. We've found a use for her, and she's happy to comply with us."

"Good. I'm glad to hear that." Naruto grabbed Shikamaru's shoulder. "Oh, and Shikamaru…"

"Yeah?"

Naruto's hand tightened around his shoulder.

"Don't ever mess with me like that again." Naruto said with a smile. Shikamaru smiled uneasily, and then a spark of light entered his eyes.

"I promise you that I won't. But here's something that you might find interesting."

"What is it?"

"We found out her family name…It's Uzumaki."

Naruto's eyes shot open. Blood rushed to his face, and chills ran down his spine. He heard a light chuckle from Shikamaru.

"What's wrong?" Shikamaru asked while feigning ignorance.

"N-Nothing. I-It's nothing." Naruto coughed. "Let's hurry, Sakura-chan and Ino won't be happy if we make them wait too long. He cringed at the thought.

What a dire mistake I made. He thought as he openly face-palmed.

…

"Two please!" Ino ordered as an elderly woman nodded with a smile while turning around to fulfill her order

"Thank you for your support, young lady." The older woman answered while handing the drinks to Ino; who gladly took the plastic cups and returned a friendly smile. She turned and walked back towards Sakura, who stood against a wall, staring into the distance.

"Sakura, what's wrong?" She asked as she handed a drink to her best friend.

"It's just…look at all of this." Sakura held her arms to emphasize the size of the event. "One year ago…Did you ever imagine that this could have happened?" She smiled. "It's as if nothing bad ever happened."

"…That's what we do Sakura, that's what humans do, we always recover, we always return to what we think is 'normal.' Always." Ino explained.

"Do you really believe that?" Sakura replied with another smile.

"I do." Ino hugged Sakura as she answered. She opened her eyes and saw two figures walking towards them. "Shikamaru! Naruto! You're finally here!" She swiftly ran towards Shikamaru and wrapped her arms around him.

"Yeah. We're here." Shikamaru answered with a smile, bringing his arms together around her.

"Sakura-chan…You look beautiful." Naruto held out his hand, which Sakura accepting with her own. She moved closer to him and hugged him tightly.

"You look wonderful, Naruto." Sakura replied as she hugged him even tighter.

"Sakura! Naruto! Shikamaru! Look!" Ino's eyes opened when she noticed a very distinctive stand, decorated with hundreds of lanterns, candles, and pieces of colored paper. "It's the floating lanterns!" They all turned to look at the stand Ino had pointed out. It was manned by a middle-aged man of average height.

"You four!" he shouted in a tone fitting of a salesman con-artist. "How would you like to have your dreams…no, your wishes, come true forever?! Only two dollars per wish!" He shouted while gesturing to the objects at his stand. The four friends walked towards the overly extravagant stand that seemed to dwarf all other displays. Confused, they looked over at each other.

"So…How does this work?" Naruto asked. The other three looked over towards Naruto, waiting for a cue.

"The releasing of the lanterns in steeped in myth…"

"No...Actually I was just-"

"YOU SEE!" The Merchant enthusiastically interrupted. "…long, long ago, there was a woman who lost the one she loved. What actually happened to him has been lost in time. Some say he just mysteriously disappeared, some others say that he went off to war, doing something that he was 'destined' to do…But anyway. One night, she lit a lantern, and attached a small basket to it, the basket held her wish. She wanted to see the person she loved; she wanted him…to come back to her." He said in a very melodramatic fashion. "They say that when you let the lanterns float to the air THE GODS THEMSELVES! Hear your wishes, and grant them!"

The four friends just stared at him.

"…Or it could just be a bunch of lies. It doesn't matter to me, I still make money…But it doesn't hurt to try, right? So, what do you say? Only two dollars!"

"…Well, actually, I was just asking how we're supposed to set up the lanterns." Naruto replied.

"Oh…Well, here, I'll show you." The merchant brought forth a piece of paper and a pen.

"First, you take this fire-resistant paper." He laid it down against the countertop.

"You even get to pick your own colored paper." He continued.

"Then, you take a basket here." He pulled out a basket from behind the counter.

"..And you place the paper in it." He reached down again, and pulled forth a paper lantern.

"Now, you tied the basket to the lantern with these strings." He did exactly as he was instructing the four.

"Inside the lantern…" He showed them the inside of the lantern.

"…There's an explosive note, and a vertical burning candle. Once we tie the basket to the lantern, the candle will be lit; the flame itself will carry the lantern towards the air…TOWARDS THE GODS!" He gestured towards the air.

"Every lantern I sell will be lit at the same time, and as they fly towards the sky, they will explode in a brilliant light show, they will fill the night sky with colors, and the wishes that you've made will be forever granted…There's no way that the Gods can ignore such an extravagant light show!...This is the reason why we call it 'the festival of lights'…I bet you didn't know that." He smiled. "So, what do you say?"

"Alright, we'll take four." Shikamaru looked towards the others with a hint of annoyance. "I'll take a red piece of paper." He spoke.

"I'll take purple!" Ino chimed in.

"Uh…Orange, I guess." Naruto said as he looked at his outfit.

"And I'll take pink." Sakura said with a smile.

"OH! I almost forgot!" The merchant chimed in as he pulled away the pieces of paper. "If you want to address the wish to the one you love." He winked at Shikamaru and Naruto. "You have to directly address them in the wish!" He continued to explain "So, write something like I want you to buy me another wish! Or something like that…OH! AND AGAIN!"

They all let out a collective sigh.

"…Don't let anyone see the wish that you want granted, or else it won't come true!" He took another breath. "Okay, I'm done."

He handed the pieces of paper to everyone, and offered them all a brush, dipped in dark ink. The all looked at each other, turned around, and wrote down their own wishes.

"Alright, now…I'll just put them into these lanterns." He grabbed two lanterns, placing Ino and Shikamaru's wishes together, and placing Sakura and Naruto's wishes together. "…And when the time comes, I'll set the lanterns up. Be sure to look up into the sky later tonight!"

"Well…Enjoy yourselves." Shikamaru stated. He turned and began walking towards the other festival stands. Ino smiled and winked at Sakura before she caught up to him, and wrapped her arms around his. Naruto and Sakura walked towards the opposite direction; where they noticed Kakashi standing next to Gai, who offered to take down his life-long rival in an eating contest.

"Gai…not now." Kakashi took a deep breath. "I've got something to discuss with my former pupils." He walked towards Naruto and Sakura. Gai turned and walked towards Rock Lee, and in his youthful manner, challenged his own pupil to a contest.

"How are you two holding up?" He asked nonchalantly. "Hokage-sama really went all out on this thing, didn't she?" They nodded in agreement. "Look, if you two ever need anything, remember that I'm always here."

"We know." They both answered. Kakashi pulled out a copy of the picture that they had taken together years ago, with every member of Team 7 and looked at it with softened eyes.

"Once you're a member of Team 7, you're always a member of Team 7." He looked up at them, and smiled his hidden smile. "You've both grown so much since I first met you, and I address you as my equals from today onward. Enjoy yourselves tonight; take it easy, and don't push yourselves too hard." His smile widened as he turned and began walking back towards Gai and Lee.

After a night of unspecified activities, they found themselves back at Naruto's house. Together, they sat on his bed, looking out of the window at the stars that shined in the night.

"Sakura-chan! They've released the lanterns." Naruto pointed to the main plaza of the festival. They saw thousands of bright lanterns lit by the small flames. A multitude of colors decorated the sky, ranging from red to yellow to violet. A single lantern went off, and gradually, the lanterns began to explode, and thousands of pieces of paper began to flutter down back to the earth, while being directed by the wind.

"Naruto…Look." Sakura pointed upwards, and through the window, they saw a stream of white cross the sky. She looked deep into his eyes with a warm smile. "A shooting star, make a wish." He returned her look with a loving gaze of his own.

"My wishes have already come true." He replied with a smile of his own. Sakura brought her hands towards jacket and grasped it tightly. She pulled him forward; her lips met his in a loving embrace.

"Naruto…I love you." She whispered.

"The first time you said that to me Sakura-chan, I thought that I was in a dream." He whispered back. She smiled softly at she heard his words.

"It isn't a dream anymore." Her warm breath caressed his lips as she pulled him closer again; he followed her urging with no resistance. Their eyes closed when their lips met again. Sakura urged Naruto forth even more, and fell back onto the bed. Her hands slipped down and undid her robe. The fabric split open, and fell to her sides. Sakura took a hold on his arm, and guided it towards her body; chills sped down her spine when she felt his touch. His hand slowly moved down her smooth skin, their heats began to beat faster as he moved.

Naruto began to move along Sakura's body, caressing her skin every inch of the way. Blood rushed to Sakura's cheeks as he pulled down her black panties. Her heart raced as she felt his warm breath. Her skin tingled with every exhale he took. She let out a small cry of surprise when she felt his tongue; chills of pleasure darted down her spine with every movement he made. Sakura entangled her left hand in his golden hair while gently biting down on her left index finger. The electric chills ran up and down her spine until she felt an ecstatic release; with her feet planted into the bed, she lifted her hips into the air when her muscles tightened. Naruto followed her the entire way through, leaving him hanging in the air as she fell back down towards the mattress. Her grip on his hair loosened but she still urged him up with a slight tug. He followed her instruction as he always had.

Sakura brought her lips to his, and kissed him gently. He felt her tongue caress his softly. She took hold of him with her soft, but strong hands, and rolled him over onto his back. Breaking their embrace, she looked into his eyes and opened his robe. Her hand slid down to his core. Naruto let in a deep breath when Sakura took hold of him. The warmth of her palm felt cold in contrast to the heat that was radiating from him; with every movement she made, he felt pulses of pleasure assault his body. Slowly, his mind began to go blank, only focusing on the moment at hand.

She took hold of him with her firm and gentle grip, and held him up as she moved down onto him. Sakura's breaths rushed through her lungs as she felt him inside her. She moved her hips, feeling every nerve push against him, sending shock waves of pleasure through her body. She moaned softly as she continued to move, weakly supporting herself with her hands firmly planted on his chest. Naruto's own hands held her hips, moving along with them.

With every thrust, Sakura felt her muscles losing sensation. Her hands began to lose their grip, and she began to slip forward. Naruto's hands fell to his sides in blissful weakness, Sakura's body fell forwards, and pushed against his; she turned away, and desperately gasped for breath with a pause of mind-numbing ecstasy, slowly descending down upon him, taking him in entirely. She embraced his lips again with a soft moan that rumbled through their bodies as she felt his climax.

Sakura brought her hands to his face and held him closely.

"I love you, Naruto." She whispered with a loving gaze into his sapphire eyes.

"I love you, Sakura-chan." Her whispered back, gazing into her emerald eyes.

She slid down onto the bed, and together, they let the night take them into its embrace, lulling them to sleep.

…

Naruto held Sakura at his side as she slept. His eyes opened, and he looked again towards the sky, the stars that shined throughout the entire night. He smiled as he saw the peace that she had on her face.

Out of the corner of his eyes, he saw a green piece of paper come fluttering towards his window; it gently landed on his windowsill. He softly moved away from Sakura, sat up on his bed, and quietly opened the window.

In the light of the moon, he quietly read the parchment.

"I want to become Hokage." He smiled as the words crossed his mind, and with two fingers, held the paper while extending his arm out of the window. It began to flutter vigorously, as the wind began to pick up he moved his fingers, and released the paper from his grasp, letting it fly away with the wind.

The one thing that I wanted for so long, but…

He looked back at Sakura.

…Some things are more important than becoming Hokage.

He smiled, and looked up at the stars again.

…

Miles away, the wind carried two pieces of parchment that danced together in the moonlight, as if they were inseparable. One of them was orange, the other was pink. Even though they differed in color, the words written on them expressed the same wish.

I want to be with you…forever.

THE END

AFTERWORD

The Short Version:

This has been an incredible journey. I have enjoyed it more than you can imagine. Thank you for following me all the way through. I know I wrote some cliff hangers that may have left you heartbroken, enraged, and frustrated, but I am ecstatic that I was able to garner that reaction from you. I once told one of the members here on FanFiction(you know who you are.) that my main goal was to take you on a rollercoaster ride; to have you experience the ups and downs of a story, and eventually, bring you back safely to the loading station.

And while some chapters are still filled with regrets, and "What if…" possibilities, I am proud to say that I whole-heartedly love this piece of writing, and never would have I imagined that I would write a story this long. I'll be taking a hiatus after this chapter is published, and I don't know when I'll be back. I don't even know if I'll be back.

The story that I wrote here about the romance between Naruto and Sakura that began with Blossoming in Blood and Tears has come full circle. I don't want to start a new story, where everything has been reset, and I feel there isn't a need to add anything else to Cherry Blossoms in the Wind. This has been one great learning experience.

Thank you for reading, but more importantly: Thank you for everything. Thank you for the encouragement and the love.

While I say that I'm done, I'll never rule anything out permanently. Maybe I'll be back someday, and when that day comes, I hope that I can take you on a journey that is better than this one.

Until next time,

-WanderingRurouni

...

The Long Version:

Before I get to the main part of this final writing, there's something that I'd like to share. You may be wondering why I'm ending these stories. Well, I have an answer for you.

This is something very personal, so if you couldn't care less about this (since you could literally be a WORLD away from me, and will most likely NEVER meet me) you can skip until the word "First" appears to read about what I've learned.

To begin, I think a story may illustrate this better. In high school, I had to take a creative writing class; in it, we had to describe ourselves, one of the traits that I used to describe myself is "sprinter." Not in the literal sense, but in the figurative sense that I take things in heavily, and then eventually lose interest in them overtime. Like a giant burst of energy that later begins to dissipate. Like a supernova. Perhaps you can find a connection here.

In February of 2013, I jumped into a Naruto sprint. I watched all of the original series, and caught up to the current series (at the time) in a few months. You'll see my first story Blossoming in Blood and Tears was published 6/22/2013 – June 22nd, 2013. At this time, I had just finished watching the series up to Shippuden 206 – Sakura's Feelings, which compelled me to write that story. It's been quite a while, and I'm rather disappointed that I caught up with a 6-7 year old anime in a few months.

So I stopped watching at one point.

Since I have stopped watching, I am now behind the series, and I have no idea what has happened since I stopped viewing. This is why I've decided to end these stories.

For now, I have lost interest in Naruto. It will eventually come flooding back to me like a broken down dam, but for now, it's over.

The reason why I've decided to end these stories is because I don't want my published stories, which I've worked so hard on, the stories that are the currently the largest writing projects of my life, to become stagnant, and rot forever in the "In Progress" section of FanFiction, like many other stories.

And even though it sounds like I'm pulling the horse over onto the road and putting a bullet in its head, trust me when I say, that I have thought about it for a long time, and I really hoped that I could put a bullet in that horse's head in the most dignified, fulfilling, and satisfying way possible.

I hope that by the time you read this, I have achieved my goal, and that you are as satisfied as I am.

Maybe I'll be back again, when I start up on another Naruto sprint in the future.

…

Now onto a "lessons learned" lecture.

First, never let a story become too long. When the story becomes too meaninglessly extended, I have found that the plot drags on, and soon, reading and writing the story will drag on as well. When there's a good place to end a story, end it.

Second, similarly to never letting a story get too long, never force yourself to release on a rushed-or for that matter planned schedule that you can't keep, and never write when you don't feel up to it. When you do so, terrible chapters are written, you become burned out, you'll eventually feel that the story is getting monotonous, and soon, you won't want to continue writing it. Likewise, never take on two stories at once. Stick to one, end it. And begin again.

Third, remember who the writer is. There are readers, reviewers, and critics for your story; but there is only one writer for your story: you; take great pride in your writing (I know I do) but don't take criticism personally, when you take a negative response personally, you'll feel terrible about it, and it will linger in your mind for longer than it should. So remember to keep it professional, separate it from yourself emotionally. Don't let other peoples' thoughts determine where you take your story, take good advice, but don't write someone else's story, write your own, because the only person who has the first and final say in your story, once again, is you.

After all, it's no use being offended by what someone thinks of your story when they literally live in another country.

I know that it sounds like I'm an ass when I say that, but if there's something I've learned these last 21 years, it's that people who are too nice only get stepped on by those who sense how kind they are.

There's nothing wrong with being proud of what you've done and defending it.

Stay proud. Stay strong.

I'll be taking a lengthy hiatus after I finish these stories, and I don't expect to be back any time soon, if at all. But what I can say is that when I become an author, the blurb in the back of my novels will read:

WanderingRurouni started writing when he was 21, he began writing stories for FanFiction dot net, where is two major stories were written for Naruto, entitled: An Acknowledged Love, and Cherry Blossoms in the Wind.

And lastly, I'd like to thank you all for joining me on this incredible journey. It has been one hell of a learning experience. Thank you for the kind words, and even some of your not-so-kind words. They've all helped me grow as a writer, and a person.

When I had written my first story, I had never intended for it to have the reception that it had, I just posted it because "hey, when I have something I want to say, it'd be nice to have someone hear it."

And so, the highest praise I can give to you, my beloved audience, is this:

I had originally come to FanFiction, to write Mature fiction, and ONLY Mature Fiction; meaning every single one-shot, every single chapter, every single story was going to contain lemon, just because it could.

But ever since I found that people began to look forward to my writing, the writing itself had evolved into something that I would not have imagined.

It became even better.

So, thank you, kind strangers, thank you for joining me on this incredible journey; a journey that even my closest friends would not have taken with me.

Until next time,

-WanderingRurouni