[Fic] "A Future, Once Seen"
Title: A Future, Once Seen
Author: a_lifestyle
Fandom: Naruto (Kakasaku)
Rating: PG (Angst.)
Words: 3,158
Summary:
A/N: Hey, I'm on time! Imagine that. This is for round two of the Poe Challenge at the kakasaku community. Thank you everyone who voted and got me through to the next round--I am truly, truly humbled, and wholeheartedly thank you from the bottom of my heart. Thank you also to nimblnymph again for hosting the challenge--it's really helped me to get my writing chops in order!
I'm not a poetry person at all, so Poe's poem "A Dream Within A Dream" was somewhat difficult for me to decipher; however, I feel like I've captured some of the themes of the poem the best way I can, and I give you this little interpretation of it. I hope you enjoy, and also cast your vote in the contest. All the entries in the first round were mind-blowing, and I can't wait to read Round 2's submissions!
It is also available for you to read on ff.net!
A Future, Once Seen
The grass under her feet isn't as itchy as she remembers, walking through the training grounds on a spring day. The soft moss cushions the balls of her feet as she steps on tip toe, smelling the fresh air. She carries a blanket under one arm, and searches for a perfect picnic spot. Her eyes wander to the patch of grass under a tree, where someone she knows quite well used to read dirty novels as his team practiced their genjutsu. The area is in the shade, but a few warm rays push through the leaves like threads of light.
She walks over, and begins to unfold the blanket. Her hands suddenly stop, clutching the fibers of the cloth; she only hesitates a moment before throwing the blanket to the ground and whipping around to come face to face with a jounin vest--a jounin vest with a worn copy of Icha Icha Paradise in one of its pockets. Her eyes dart up to meet Kakashi, who stands motionless, hands on his hips, eye creased in a smile.
"Good to know your skills are still up to standard, Sakura," he says, a hint of playfulness at the edges of his voice.
"Oh, I see," Sakura says, "Are you testing me?" She leans into him, her arms wrapping naturally around his neck.
He removes his hands from his sides and his fingers flit against her hips. "You should be grateful you get to use the skills I taught you--"
She blew a raspberry against his shoulder. "You mean, the skills that Tsunade-sama taught me."
He hangs his head in mock-defeat. "I'm hurt, Sakura."
She scrunches her eyebrows together and smiles, tilting his chin up. He is still so handsome to her, after all these years. "Kakashi, you wouldn't know a chakra isolation infusion technique from a left path coronary synchronization."
"I didn't know you started taking foreign language lessons."
"Exactly. I see that peacetime is making you antsy."
"Well, we got what we've always wanted, I suppose. The kids at the academy read about the war like it's ancient history."
"In their world, it is. You should see the new interns at the hospital. They've never seen anything worse than broken bone."
"We must be old."
Sakura leans forward to kiss him on his cloth-covered cheek. "No. Just you. Now, help me lay the blanket out."
He begrudgingly takes hold of one side of the blanket and unfolds it. The blanket billows out with the weight of the clouds, then floats to the ground. Sakura stands on it triumphantly, then squints her eyes against the sun, holding her hand up to her face.
"Naruto said he'd be a little late. Hinata's away at an ambassador's retreat with the rest of the Hyuugas--"
Kakashi falls forward suddenly with an uncharacteristic "oof!" and a child's shriek of laughter follows. She turns to see Kakashi on his stomach with a boisterous little girl sitting on his back, giggling hysterically. Sakura smiles and looks up to see two more blue-eyed, raven-haired children tearing towards them at full-speed like bats out of hell, hands waving in every direction and screaming at the tops of their tiny lungs. As she opens her arms to them, bending her legs to brace herself for the oncoming assault, she sees Naruto's tall frame lumbering after them.
"Oy! Kiddos!" Naruto runs towards them at a jogging pace, the ends of his robes wrapped around one arm. "Hizashi-kun! Minato-kun, slow down, slow down, and do not hurt Auntie Sakura--Kushina-chan, stop bothering Grandpa Kakashi!"
Kakashi lifts his head. "...Grandpa!?"
"Hi, boys!" Sakura greets the seven year old twins with open arms. They melt into her arms in a pile of dirt and giggles. "It's nice to have Daddy around, yeah?"
Naruto finally catches up to his children and plops onto the blanket, sending grass and dirt flying onto the immaculate surface. Kushina spies her next victim, and performs a nearly perfect cannonball onto her father's stomach. Naruto cringes, and laughs half-heartedly.
"Oy, Kushina-chan, you can't attack your target head on like that--you need to be more sneaky, sneaky!" Naruto sits up tentatively, face red.
"But, I got you!" Kushina says, her brow scrunched up around big, pale eyes. She pokes her father in the chest, twice.
"She does have a point," Sakura says, releasing the boys from her grasp and sitting on the ground next to Kakashi. He rolls over onto his back with a groan as she pats the side of his leg tenderly. The boys run to their father, who, eyes wide, holds out his hands and stops them in their tracks. They scoot to a halt, more dirt from the ground flying onto the blanket. Sakura puts her head in her hands.
"Wait, waitwait," Naruto exclaims. "Do you guys know where you are right now?"
Hizashi and Minato grin, but shake their heads with enthusiasm. Sakura figures that they get that look from their father, all right.
"Kushina, do you know?" Naruto turns with sincerity to his daughter, who returns his gaze with seriousness. She nods with great conviction.
"This is where you and Auntie Sakura trained!" she replies, clearly beyond her meager five years.
Sakura blinks. "Obviously, she's the smart one," she murmurs to Kakashi.
Kakashi massages his lower back. "Also, the strong one."
"That's right!" Naruto says excitedly. He stands, towering over them. "And, today, I'm going to give you your very first mission!"
Six big eyes are glued to their father. "Really!?" they squeak.
"Yes!" Naruto yells. He points to Kakashi. "This first time I came here, Kakashi-sensei gave me my first mission, and now it's your turn!!" He crouches down low to the ground and he motions for them to come closer. They crowd around him like fireflies to a lantern at night. "You have this whole training ground to hide. I'm going to count to a hundred, and I'm going to come try to find you! Go all out on me with everything me and your mama have taught you. No mercy!"
"But, Dad, what if we hurt you?" Hizashi asks eagerly.
"Well, then, that's my fault for misjudging your strength. No mercy!"
"NO MERCY!" his kids repeat, their expressions gravely serious.
"All right! Here I go!" He sits back down on the blanket, back turned to them, and slides his Hokage's hat over his eyes. "One! Two! Three!..."
The kids giggle with excitement before running in three opposite directions. Sakura and Kakashi watch as they disappear into the brush of the forest's cover. They can still hear their laughter--a dead giveaway. Naruto stops counting, and lifts his hat to reveal crossed eyes.
"Phew! Daddy needs a break." He plops back onto the blanket and sighs. "I thought that being the Hokage would be the hardest job in the world. I was so, so wrong."
"What about your nanny?" Sakura asks.
"Rika-san's sick today! So, I said that I could do it, no problem!" Naruto exhaled heavily. "I need to give her a raise."
"When does Hinata come back?" Sakura asks.
"Not soon enough! She's a tough lady." Naruto sits up. He has a wistful sort of look that Sakura's never seen before. She feels like it suits him. He has grown quite handsome--the apple of many young village girl's eyes. Kakashi has bemoaned to her in private that it's just like Naruto's father, all over again.
But, he only has eyes for one, and Sakura thinks that he can really, really see her, as he stares off into the distance with a goofy smile on his face that hasn't changed since their academy days.
"Do you need to get back to the tower?" Kakashi asks. "If you have a lot to do, we can all come back another day--"
"Nah, I think they've got it covered for me." Naruto pulls his gaze away from the horizon to turn to them, a sheepish grin in place. "Job's not as exciting in peacetime, hah! Right, Kakashi-sensei?"
"No, I suppose it wouldn't be," Kakashi agrees.
Before Sakura can interject, Naruto barrels on. "B-but it's the best job ever! Everybody is happy. Our neighboring villages are happy. Hinata and I can watch our kids grow up here, in our village."
"It's all you ever wanted," Sakura says, smiling.
Naruto beams, the twelve year old she knew from the beginning threatens to burst out of his grin. "Yep! Also, to make Hizashi-kun and Minato-kun learn the rasengan by the end of the year!"
Kakashi sits up. "They're seven, Naruto. I asked them to tie their shoes once, and they looked at me like they didn't have feet."
"Th-they're smart!" Naruto sputters, leaning forward in defiance. "They just need some time to get their bearings--they're gonna make amazing ninja someday!" He turns to Sakura. "Plus, Hinata taught Kushina-chan Gentle Fist by the time she was four. I don't want them to feel stupid, you know??"
"Who are you calling stupid?" They turn to Sasuke who walks towards them slowly, holding paper bags filled with their to-go lunches from Ichiraku.
"Ah, I love when it's Sasuke's turn to bring us lunch," Kakashi teases.
"I know, most serious delivery boy ever," Sakura continues, a mischievous smile spreading across her face.
"Tch." Sasuke glares momentarily, then turns back to Naruto. He jerks his thumb in the general direction of a small patch of woods. "You know your kid's hanging from a tree branch by his underpants, right?"
"Sounds about right!" Naruto says exuberantly, clapping his hands together twice. "Eat first; parenting in just a moment!"
Sasuke rolls his eyes and drops the bags on the picnic blanket. He lies down next to the food, and covers his eyes with one arm. "Naruto--don't eat it right away, the broth is really--"
"HOT!!" Naruto exclaims, sucking air in through his lips repeatedly and flapping his arms up and down.
Sakura shakes her head and unwraps her and Kakashi's lunches with care. She sets the lid on the side of the bowl to let the the steam escape. Kakashi slides his finger into the hem of of his mask. "When did you get back from Suna, Sasuke?
"Last night," Sasuke replies, unmoving. "Nothing interesting. Gaara sends his regards, and says for Naruto to proofread his letters.
Naruto immediately stops sucking down his noodles like a ravenous beast. "...I should what??"
"You and Kakashi are going to lose your minds," Sakura says, stirring her broth mindlessly with a chop stick. "When Suna called on Konoha to help implement their new irrigation strategy, you two were on top of it like Naruto on ramen."
Kakashi, mask down, blows across the surface of his broth. "You know, Sakura, ninja are supposed to help when called upon--"
"We were essentially farming," Sasuke deadpanned. "A farming mission."
Kakashi shoots Sasuke a glare, mid-slurp.
Sakura smiles, aloof. "Ah, when I picture the infamous Copy nin and the Hokage's right hand man with a spade and a wheelbarrow, I very much miss working in the field."
Sasuke scoffs, but there is a faint hint of a smile on his face. There is no ninja who is ever ashamed of peacetime. "I don't need any more excitement now that Rock Lee's back from that retreat with Gai."
"Oh, hmm, let's see, what challenges is he going to make up for you this time?" Sakura wonders out loud. Kakashi doesn't smile--he has known of these annoyances all his life.
"I think he said when he comes back, we're to race around the perimeter of the village." Sasuke sits up, and pops the lid off his soup container. "On our hands."
Kakashi wipes his mouth with the back of his arm. "Oh, I've got that covered. Just ask him to give you a head start--he'll be so excited that you're willingly accepting a challenge, that he'll say yes. I've got a pair of boots with soles that are cut in the shape of hands--"
"Of all the traditions to be passed down," Sakura begins, holding her head in her hands.
Naruto, red-faced from vigorous soup-slurping, downs the rest of his broth and lets out a monumental burp.
"Ahhh, the taste of freedom!" he says happily, and flops back down onto the blanket.
Sakura rolls her eyes, but can't help the smile that creeps onto her face. "Freedom tastes like Ichiraku?"
Naruto grins. "Pretty much. I was thinking at the end of the week, I'd just buy the whole place, and
Teuchi-san can retire."
"I guess he can, now that his most famous and best customer is the Hokage," Sakura surmises. "That'd be very nice of you, Naruto."
Naruto shrugs, and burps again. "They've always been nice to me. They deserve it." He burps for a third time, then groans. "Ugh, I don't want to go chasing after the kids. I'm tired, and I don't know if you guys know this, but these robes are freaking heavy."
"I have a solution," Sakura says quickly, then nods apologetically at Sasuke. "I'll buy your lunch next time." He appears puzzled, but begins to sputter uncharacteristically as she stands, and he realizes her intent.
"Kids!!" Sakura bellows into the surrounding forests. "Uncle Sasuke is here, and he wants to spar all three of you!!"
Like unyielding banshees, all three Uzumaki children come tearing out of the bushes and underbrush, screaming happily, Hizashi pulling his pants up unsuccessfully. Sasuke grunts and begins to run away. Naruto yelps with laughter, a laugh that Sakura feels from his belly. He discards his robe on the picnic blanket and gives chase as well.
"I gotta go round them up--I'm not worried about the boys, but Kushina-chan is capable of murder, and getting away with it." He beams, brighter than the sun that warms their shoulders. "Thanks, Sakura-chan!!"
Sakura watches them disappear into the opposite side of the training grounds. She sighs in content. "Those three are going to grow up into something else."
Kakashi swallows the last of his broth and throws the empty bowl into the delivery bag. "I think I have a good idea what they'll be like." He stretches his legs out in front of them, patting the top of his thigh twice. Putting her bowl aside, she curls up to him, head in his lap. He runs his fingers through her hair, and she closes her eyes.
"So, Grandpa," she begins, and smiles with her eyes closed. "I have a bit of news for you."
"Good news?" he asks, as he looks down on her.
"Yeah," she says softly. She brings her hand to her belly, caressing the spot underneath her navel. "You're going to be a dad."
He pauses for a moment, searching her eyes. Suddenly, his head flies back and laughter bubbles from him in waves. His smile is wide and he holds her head in both his hands.
"No, Sakura," he whispers, thumb running across her cheek tenderly. "No, I'm not."
She laughs nervously, but her furrowed brow betrays her. "W-what? What do you mean?"
"No, Sakura; you're not." The look he gives her pierces her chest; she feels her heart beat like a bass drum against her ribs. "You are never supposed to have a child."
The beat of her heart is erratic, like the sound of winter sleet, deafening; she feels the walls closing in on her. Where are they coming from?
"I-I don't understand," she rambles. Blood chugs through her heart, through her brain, trying to release the weight of what he says to her, but it doesn't release. There's noise coming from everywhere, both loud and far-away sounding, like distant bombs. Decorated silence.
"I'm sorry, Sakura. You were never supposed to be here."
-----
And then, she was alive.
She woke with a drowning breath, eyes shooting open wide like they also were desperate for the air. Her senses awoke in one fell swoop; she could taste the blood on her lips, smell the blood all around her. Her eyes watered at the smell, death hanging heavy in the air, but it wasn't her own.
"She's back! Thank god, she's back!!" she heard someone scream, and it made her brain swell at the volume. She reached up to cover her ears, but her arms couldn't move.
"Sakura-san!" she heard. She closed her eyes, then opened them slowly, trying to focus on...on something, or someone.
"Sakura, you're alive, thank god," she heard someone else say.
"So many people," she mumbled. She ran her tongue along her bottom lip, which was split at the corner of her mouth.
"Sakura, we're going to put you in the infirmary," she heard the first speaker say, and the rest was muffled by the cries of the injured, the heart of battle, and the resolve of thousands of soldiers.
They were in the middle of a war, after all.
She breathed in deeply, which was difficult to do when being carried on a gurney across a battlefield. She began to remember. An acute pain in her side was breaking through to her brain, and she inhaled while raising her left hand to feel for injury.
"Sakura, don't worry; we've stopped the bleeding..." The rest she drowned out. She needed to get to the infirmary; she could fix it up herself. Each dip and jostle of her body was setting her nerve ends on fire, and she focused on her labored breath until she felt a steady surface underneath her back. She heard people talking, maybe to her, but she couldn't distinguish words. She nodded a lot, and it seemed to satisfy them, as the voices were soon gone, no longer clogging her mind.
She inhaled again, and summoned what little chakra was left in her to steady her hand above her side, where she felt the sharp edge of a rib poking out. It wasn't enough chakra to heal everything, but she might have enough to repair the bone. She set to work, closing her eyes and relying on her experience and knowledge of her own body to guide her hands.
She also was desperate to remember.
She had always believed that when she died, she would see fragments of her past, played back for her like a film strip of warm memories and milestones. Her life, all spread out for her in a single moment. Instead, she had seen a future. She had seen an alternate reality that wasn't to be. The war waged endlessly, taking the lives of everyone she knew and loved. Her teammates, her friends, the people with whom she spent a lovely spring day that never happened but in the moments she was dead--they were all gone; just bittersweet memories. She had tasted a world without war, where love and hope were attainable and would last forever. Forever with him. A perfect world.
Something found only in a dream.
She closed her eyes, and kept living.
-----
-fin-
Thank you for reading! Please leave a review or comment if you have the time!"
Author: a_lifestyle
Fandom: Naruto (Kakasaku)
Rating: PG (Angst.)
Words: 3,158
Summary:
A/N: Hey, I'm on time! Imagine that. This is for round two of the Poe Challenge at the kakasaku community. Thank you everyone who voted and got me through to the next round--I am truly, truly humbled, and wholeheartedly thank you from the bottom of my heart. Thank you also to nimblnymph again for hosting the challenge--it's really helped me to get my writing chops in order!
I'm not a poetry person at all, so Poe's poem "A Dream Within A Dream" was somewhat difficult for me to decipher; however, I feel like I've captured some of the themes of the poem the best way I can, and I give you this little interpretation of it. I hope you enjoy, and also cast your vote in the contest. All the entries in the first round were mind-blowing, and I can't wait to read Round 2's submissions!
It is also available for you to read on ff.net!
A Future, Once Seen
The grass under her feet isn't as itchy as she remembers, walking through the training grounds on a spring day. The soft moss cushions the balls of her feet as she steps on tip toe, smelling the fresh air. She carries a blanket under one arm, and searches for a perfect picnic spot. Her eyes wander to the patch of grass under a tree, where someone she knows quite well used to read dirty novels as his team practiced their genjutsu. The area is in the shade, but a few warm rays push through the leaves like threads of light.
She walks over, and begins to unfold the blanket. Her hands suddenly stop, clutching the fibers of the cloth; she only hesitates a moment before throwing the blanket to the ground and whipping around to come face to face with a jounin vest--a jounin vest with a worn copy of Icha Icha Paradise in one of its pockets. Her eyes dart up to meet Kakashi, who stands motionless, hands on his hips, eye creased in a smile.
"Good to know your skills are still up to standard, Sakura," he says, a hint of playfulness at the edges of his voice.
"Oh, I see," Sakura says, "Are you testing me?" She leans into him, her arms wrapping naturally around his neck.
He removes his hands from his sides and his fingers flit against her hips. "You should be grateful you get to use the skills I taught you--"
She blew a raspberry against his shoulder. "You mean, the skills that Tsunade-sama taught me."
He hangs his head in mock-defeat. "I'm hurt, Sakura."
She scrunches her eyebrows together and smiles, tilting his chin up. He is still so handsome to her, after all these years. "Kakashi, you wouldn't know a chakra isolation infusion technique from a left path coronary synchronization."
"I didn't know you started taking foreign language lessons."
"Exactly. I see that peacetime is making you antsy."
"Well, we got what we've always wanted, I suppose. The kids at the academy read about the war like it's ancient history."
"In their world, it is. You should see the new interns at the hospital. They've never seen anything worse than broken bone."
"We must be old."
Sakura leans forward to kiss him on his cloth-covered cheek. "No. Just you. Now, help me lay the blanket out."
He begrudgingly takes hold of one side of the blanket and unfolds it. The blanket billows out with the weight of the clouds, then floats to the ground. Sakura stands on it triumphantly, then squints her eyes against the sun, holding her hand up to her face.
"Naruto said he'd be a little late. Hinata's away at an ambassador's retreat with the rest of the Hyuugas--"
Kakashi falls forward suddenly with an uncharacteristic "oof!" and a child's shriek of laughter follows. She turns to see Kakashi on his stomach with a boisterous little girl sitting on his back, giggling hysterically. Sakura smiles and looks up to see two more blue-eyed, raven-haired children tearing towards them at full-speed like bats out of hell, hands waving in every direction and screaming at the tops of their tiny lungs. As she opens her arms to them, bending her legs to brace herself for the oncoming assault, she sees Naruto's tall frame lumbering after them.
"Oy! Kiddos!" Naruto runs towards them at a jogging pace, the ends of his robes wrapped around one arm. "Hizashi-kun! Minato-kun, slow down, slow down, and do not hurt Auntie Sakura--Kushina-chan, stop bothering Grandpa Kakashi!"
Kakashi lifts his head. "...Grandpa!?"
"Hi, boys!" Sakura greets the seven year old twins with open arms. They melt into her arms in a pile of dirt and giggles. "It's nice to have Daddy around, yeah?"
Naruto finally catches up to his children and plops onto the blanket, sending grass and dirt flying onto the immaculate surface. Kushina spies her next victim, and performs a nearly perfect cannonball onto her father's stomach. Naruto cringes, and laughs half-heartedly.
"Oy, Kushina-chan, you can't attack your target head on like that--you need to be more sneaky, sneaky!" Naruto sits up tentatively, face red.
"But, I got you!" Kushina says, her brow scrunched up around big, pale eyes. She pokes her father in the chest, twice.
"She does have a point," Sakura says, releasing the boys from her grasp and sitting on the ground next to Kakashi. He rolls over onto his back with a groan as she pats the side of his leg tenderly. The boys run to their father, who, eyes wide, holds out his hands and stops them in their tracks. They scoot to a halt, more dirt from the ground flying onto the blanket. Sakura puts her head in her hands.
"Wait, waitwait," Naruto exclaims. "Do you guys know where you are right now?"
Hizashi and Minato grin, but shake their heads with enthusiasm. Sakura figures that they get that look from their father, all right.
"Kushina, do you know?" Naruto turns with sincerity to his daughter, who returns his gaze with seriousness. She nods with great conviction.
"This is where you and Auntie Sakura trained!" she replies, clearly beyond her meager five years.
Sakura blinks. "Obviously, she's the smart one," she murmurs to Kakashi.
Kakashi massages his lower back. "Also, the strong one."
"That's right!" Naruto says excitedly. He stands, towering over them. "And, today, I'm going to give you your very first mission!"
Six big eyes are glued to their father. "Really!?" they squeak.
"Yes!" Naruto yells. He points to Kakashi. "This first time I came here, Kakashi-sensei gave me my first mission, and now it's your turn!!" He crouches down low to the ground and he motions for them to come closer. They crowd around him like fireflies to a lantern at night. "You have this whole training ground to hide. I'm going to count to a hundred, and I'm going to come try to find you! Go all out on me with everything me and your mama have taught you. No mercy!"
"But, Dad, what if we hurt you?" Hizashi asks eagerly.
"Well, then, that's my fault for misjudging your strength. No mercy!"
"NO MERCY!" his kids repeat, their expressions gravely serious.
"All right! Here I go!" He sits back down on the blanket, back turned to them, and slides his Hokage's hat over his eyes. "One! Two! Three!..."
The kids giggle with excitement before running in three opposite directions. Sakura and Kakashi watch as they disappear into the brush of the forest's cover. They can still hear their laughter--a dead giveaway. Naruto stops counting, and lifts his hat to reveal crossed eyes.
"Phew! Daddy needs a break." He plops back onto the blanket and sighs. "I thought that being the Hokage would be the hardest job in the world. I was so, so wrong."
"What about your nanny?" Sakura asks.
"Rika-san's sick today! So, I said that I could do it, no problem!" Naruto exhaled heavily. "I need to give her a raise."
"When does Hinata come back?" Sakura asks.
"Not soon enough! She's a tough lady." Naruto sits up. He has a wistful sort of look that Sakura's never seen before. She feels like it suits him. He has grown quite handsome--the apple of many young village girl's eyes. Kakashi has bemoaned to her in private that it's just like Naruto's father, all over again.
But, he only has eyes for one, and Sakura thinks that he can really, really see her, as he stares off into the distance with a goofy smile on his face that hasn't changed since their academy days.
"Do you need to get back to the tower?" Kakashi asks. "If you have a lot to do, we can all come back another day--"
"Nah, I think they've got it covered for me." Naruto pulls his gaze away from the horizon to turn to them, a sheepish grin in place. "Job's not as exciting in peacetime, hah! Right, Kakashi-sensei?"
"No, I suppose it wouldn't be," Kakashi agrees.
Before Sakura can interject, Naruto barrels on. "B-but it's the best job ever! Everybody is happy. Our neighboring villages are happy. Hinata and I can watch our kids grow up here, in our village."
"It's all you ever wanted," Sakura says, smiling.
Naruto beams, the twelve year old she knew from the beginning threatens to burst out of his grin. "Yep! Also, to make Hizashi-kun and Minato-kun learn the rasengan by the end of the year!"
Kakashi sits up. "They're seven, Naruto. I asked them to tie their shoes once, and they looked at me like they didn't have feet."
"Th-they're smart!" Naruto sputters, leaning forward in defiance. "They just need some time to get their bearings--they're gonna make amazing ninja someday!" He turns to Sakura. "Plus, Hinata taught Kushina-chan Gentle Fist by the time she was four. I don't want them to feel stupid, you know??"
"Who are you calling stupid?" They turn to Sasuke who walks towards them slowly, holding paper bags filled with their to-go lunches from Ichiraku.
"Ah, I love when it's Sasuke's turn to bring us lunch," Kakashi teases.
"I know, most serious delivery boy ever," Sakura continues, a mischievous smile spreading across her face.
"Tch." Sasuke glares momentarily, then turns back to Naruto. He jerks his thumb in the general direction of a small patch of woods. "You know your kid's hanging from a tree branch by his underpants, right?"
"Sounds about right!" Naruto says exuberantly, clapping his hands together twice. "Eat first; parenting in just a moment!"
Sasuke rolls his eyes and drops the bags on the picnic blanket. He lies down next to the food, and covers his eyes with one arm. "Naruto--don't eat it right away, the broth is really--"
"HOT!!" Naruto exclaims, sucking air in through his lips repeatedly and flapping his arms up and down.
Sakura shakes her head and unwraps her and Kakashi's lunches with care. She sets the lid on the side of the bowl to let the the steam escape. Kakashi slides his finger into the hem of of his mask. "When did you get back from Suna, Sasuke?
"Last night," Sasuke replies, unmoving. "Nothing interesting. Gaara sends his regards, and says for Naruto to proofread his letters.
Naruto immediately stops sucking down his noodles like a ravenous beast. "...I should what??"
"You and Kakashi are going to lose your minds," Sakura says, stirring her broth mindlessly with a chop stick. "When Suna called on Konoha to help implement their new irrigation strategy, you two were on top of it like Naruto on ramen."
Kakashi, mask down, blows across the surface of his broth. "You know, Sakura, ninja are supposed to help when called upon--"
"We were essentially farming," Sasuke deadpanned. "A farming mission."
Kakashi shoots Sasuke a glare, mid-slurp.
Sakura smiles, aloof. "Ah, when I picture the infamous Copy nin and the Hokage's right hand man with a spade and a wheelbarrow, I very much miss working in the field."
Sasuke scoffs, but there is a faint hint of a smile on his face. There is no ninja who is ever ashamed of peacetime. "I don't need any more excitement now that Rock Lee's back from that retreat with Gai."
"Oh, hmm, let's see, what challenges is he going to make up for you this time?" Sakura wonders out loud. Kakashi doesn't smile--he has known of these annoyances all his life.
"I think he said when he comes back, we're to race around the perimeter of the village." Sasuke sits up, and pops the lid off his soup container. "On our hands."
Kakashi wipes his mouth with the back of his arm. "Oh, I've got that covered. Just ask him to give you a head start--he'll be so excited that you're willingly accepting a challenge, that he'll say yes. I've got a pair of boots with soles that are cut in the shape of hands--"
"Of all the traditions to be passed down," Sakura begins, holding her head in her hands.
Naruto, red-faced from vigorous soup-slurping, downs the rest of his broth and lets out a monumental burp.
"Ahhh, the taste of freedom!" he says happily, and flops back down onto the blanket.
Sakura rolls her eyes, but can't help the smile that creeps onto her face. "Freedom tastes like Ichiraku?"
Naruto grins. "Pretty much. I was thinking at the end of the week, I'd just buy the whole place, and
Teuchi-san can retire."
"I guess he can, now that his most famous and best customer is the Hokage," Sakura surmises. "That'd be very nice of you, Naruto."
Naruto shrugs, and burps again. "They've always been nice to me. They deserve it." He burps for a third time, then groans. "Ugh, I don't want to go chasing after the kids. I'm tired, and I don't know if you guys know this, but these robes are freaking heavy."
"I have a solution," Sakura says quickly, then nods apologetically at Sasuke. "I'll buy your lunch next time." He appears puzzled, but begins to sputter uncharacteristically as she stands, and he realizes her intent.
"Kids!!" Sakura bellows into the surrounding forests. "Uncle Sasuke is here, and he wants to spar all three of you!!"
Like unyielding banshees, all three Uzumaki children come tearing out of the bushes and underbrush, screaming happily, Hizashi pulling his pants up unsuccessfully. Sasuke grunts and begins to run away. Naruto yelps with laughter, a laugh that Sakura feels from his belly. He discards his robe on the picnic blanket and gives chase as well.
"I gotta go round them up--I'm not worried about the boys, but Kushina-chan is capable of murder, and getting away with it." He beams, brighter than the sun that warms their shoulders. "Thanks, Sakura-chan!!"
Sakura watches them disappear into the opposite side of the training grounds. She sighs in content. "Those three are going to grow up into something else."
Kakashi swallows the last of his broth and throws the empty bowl into the delivery bag. "I think I have a good idea what they'll be like." He stretches his legs out in front of them, patting the top of his thigh twice. Putting her bowl aside, she curls up to him, head in his lap. He runs his fingers through her hair, and she closes her eyes.
"So, Grandpa," she begins, and smiles with her eyes closed. "I have a bit of news for you."
"Good news?" he asks, as he looks down on her.
"Yeah," she says softly. She brings her hand to her belly, caressing the spot underneath her navel. "You're going to be a dad."
He pauses for a moment, searching her eyes. Suddenly, his head flies back and laughter bubbles from him in waves. His smile is wide and he holds her head in both his hands.
"No, Sakura," he whispers, thumb running across her cheek tenderly. "No, I'm not."
She laughs nervously, but her furrowed brow betrays her. "W-what? What do you mean?"
"No, Sakura; you're not." The look he gives her pierces her chest; she feels her heart beat like a bass drum against her ribs. "You are never supposed to have a child."
The beat of her heart is erratic, like the sound of winter sleet, deafening; she feels the walls closing in on her. Where are they coming from?
"I-I don't understand," she rambles. Blood chugs through her heart, through her brain, trying to release the weight of what he says to her, but it doesn't release. There's noise coming from everywhere, both loud and far-away sounding, like distant bombs. Decorated silence.
"I'm sorry, Sakura. You were never supposed to be here."
-----
And then, she was alive.
She woke with a drowning breath, eyes shooting open wide like they also were desperate for the air. Her senses awoke in one fell swoop; she could taste the blood on her lips, smell the blood all around her. Her eyes watered at the smell, death hanging heavy in the air, but it wasn't her own.
"She's back! Thank god, she's back!!" she heard someone scream, and it made her brain swell at the volume. She reached up to cover her ears, but her arms couldn't move.
"Sakura-san!" she heard. She closed her eyes, then opened them slowly, trying to focus on...on something, or someone.
"Sakura, you're alive, thank god," she heard someone else say.
"So many people," she mumbled. She ran her tongue along her bottom lip, which was split at the corner of her mouth.
"Sakura, we're going to put you in the infirmary," she heard the first speaker say, and the rest was muffled by the cries of the injured, the heart of battle, and the resolve of thousands of soldiers.
They were in the middle of a war, after all.
She breathed in deeply, which was difficult to do when being carried on a gurney across a battlefield. She began to remember. An acute pain in her side was breaking through to her brain, and she inhaled while raising her left hand to feel for injury.
"Sakura, don't worry; we've stopped the bleeding..." The rest she drowned out. She needed to get to the infirmary; she could fix it up herself. Each dip and jostle of her body was setting her nerve ends on fire, and she focused on her labored breath until she felt a steady surface underneath her back. She heard people talking, maybe to her, but she couldn't distinguish words. She nodded a lot, and it seemed to satisfy them, as the voices were soon gone, no longer clogging her mind.
She inhaled again, and summoned what little chakra was left in her to steady her hand above her side, where she felt the sharp edge of a rib poking out. It wasn't enough chakra to heal everything, but she might have enough to repair the bone. She set to work, closing her eyes and relying on her experience and knowledge of her own body to guide her hands.
She also was desperate to remember.
She had always believed that when she died, she would see fragments of her past, played back for her like a film strip of warm memories and milestones. Her life, all spread out for her in a single moment. Instead, she had seen a future. She had seen an alternate reality that wasn't to be. The war waged endlessly, taking the lives of everyone she knew and loved. Her teammates, her friends, the people with whom she spent a lovely spring day that never happened but in the moments she was dead--they were all gone; just bittersweet memories. She had tasted a world without war, where love and hope were attainable and would last forever. Forever with him. A perfect world.
Something found only in a dream.
She closed her eyes, and kept living.
-----
-fin-
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