Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto

Epilogue

She traced down from his temples to the very beginnings of his jawline with a featherlight touch. She did not want to wake him. Her throat was tight and there were tears in her eyes. She had blinked and decades had gone by. She finally understood his obsession with staring at her as she slept. She just wished she had come to the understanding much sooner.

His long lashes, now more white than blond, opened slowly. It took a moment for him to recognize her.

"Hi," he said in a voice laden with tiredness.

"Hi," she smiled gently. In all the years that was the one thing that did not change, his eyes. The way they looked at her. It made her feel twenty-one all over again. "Sakuno was the last of them," she smoothed out the comforter over his chest. He was the one to get cold easily now. She cleared her throat. It was getting close to the time. She could feel it in her bones. "Do you want me to leave so you can rest?" She knew saying his goodbyes had taken a lot out of him.

"Stay with me?" He asked her in a steady voice.

Sakura lowered herself slowly onto his chest. She closed her eyes as she listened to the sound of his heartbeat. It was faint. Tears spilled from her eyes onto her cheeks. Her insides trembled when his calloused hands came to brush them away for her. She grabbed his shaking hand in hers.

"Thank you for everything, Darling." She kissed his palm. She could feel his gaze burning a hole in her but she stubbornly kept her eyes closed.

"Sakura," he said her name gently. Her resolve crumbled before her jade eyes lined with red met his clear blue eyes. "I love you."

"I know," she said as she held his gaze. "I love you too." She struggled to maintain control of her voice.

He smiled at her. "We had a great life," he reminded her gently.

"We did," she lowered her chin down to her chest so that he could more easily press his lips against her forehead. Sakura tilted her head up slightly so she could still maintain eye contact with him while her ear was still trained on his heart.

"I would do it all over again." His eyes held conviction. "All of it."

"Me too," she smiled through her tears. The throbbing in her heart only grew as his fingers moved through her hair.

He had figured it out. It took nearly every second of them being together but it was better late than never. Her heart. Despite her being the most beautiful person in the world to him, he could not deny that her heart was the most beautiful part of her. Deep down he had known for a while now. It just all came together now, in the end.

"I'm tired, Sakura."

"You did really good, Yondaime-sama." The corners of her lips twitched. "The children are great. The grandchildren are wonderful. The village is thriving. There was no war. You can stop worrying. You can rest now, Darling."

"Thank you for growing old with me, Sakura." He smiled at her with every ounce of joy that was in his heart. His eyelids dropped heavily over his eyes.

She nodded her head, unable to form the words. She let him look at her to his heart's content. His eyes took in her dull pink locks and the lines on her face. The laugh lines and the crow's feet spoke to the kind of life she had lived. Her hand was small, sturdy, and almost rough in his.

She was where she belonged, in his arms. She kept the smile of gratitude she felt for him on her face through it all. She closed her eyes and let out a silent sob when she could no longer hear her favorite sound in the world. Sakura let out a slow breath as she breathed through the shattering of her own heart.

A young girl with her pink hair held back in two pigtails came out of the room sniffling. She was the youngest of nine grandchildren at twelve years old, and the last of four siblings. She rubbed at her blue eyes, even through the redness and tears, the blue was as bright as sapphires. She wrapped her arms around her mother's waist.

"I'm going to miss Ojiichan," she said forlornly.

"I know, Sakuno-chan," her mother rubbed her back gently. "I'm going to miss him too." Her baby blue eyes looked around the room at the pink, magenta, blond, and raven heads of hair. And that was only the children and grandchildren. She took in the faces of Kushina, Karin, Tukiko, and Joben along with their families. The members of Team Minato and Iatchi were also there with their children and grandchildren. There was barely any room to stand.

She looked at the solemn stance of her husband. He was trying so hard to keep himself together for the sake of everyone else. He had not looked away from the door. His shoulders were tight. She could tell even through the layers of his orange jacket, a jacket that she was accustomed to seeing under his orange and black cloak. The hat and the cloak were both sitting back in his office, in the Tower.

Her eyes gradually looked at the back of the heads standing next to him. Kura and Manato were also waiting for confirmation. Ino, let out the breath she was holding when Naruto's head dipped down.

"They're gone," he said tightly.

Kura leaned her head against her brother's shoulder. Manato brought his hand to rest on his other one.

The air in the room deflated right before the sobs broke out.