The Trust 'Verse, Part I - Return

The Trust 'Verse - Part I

Return

Chapter IV

†

It was just after midnight when Sai slipped silently from the apartment. They had already met with Tsunade-sama earlier to arrange for a new assignment. When she’d expressed her concern about them leaving so quickly after only just having returned, Naruto had simply shrugged before informing her, “I know what I want, and this is it.”

The look of utter conviction in his eyes had apparently been enough to remove whatever doubts their presiding Hokage had been plagued by. Looking between them, and taking note of the visibly more open expression Naruto had been wearing, she’d simply smiled and said, her voice filled with warmth, “Welcome back, gaki.”

Sai wished he’d had his inks; to have captured the smile that had blossomed across Naruto’s face and transposed it onto paper would have made a work of art unlike anything he had created before. However, this thought had been immediately followed by another, who was he kidding? There was no way, even with his skill, that he could have managed to reproduce the absolute beauty of Naruto in that moment. Sai couldn’t remember Naruto ever having smiled a smile like that one. It had been breathtaking.

Sai smiled slightly himself as he ran across rooftops, towards the Uchiha estate. At long last it seemed as though Naruto had finally started to let go of the past, to embrace the future. Their future.

Given his past, Sai had never really considered that he would have one. While in Root, he had been trained to live in the moment, to exist nowhere but there – their motto had been, ‘There is nothing but the mission.’ And Sai had been one of the best.

Now, he was still one of the best, but instead of simply being the biggest fish in a small pond, he’d grown to be one of the greatest in an ocean, and that wasn’t ego talking but simple truth. What’s more, Sai knew that it was all thanks to the influence that Naruto had had in his life. If it hadn’t been for Naruto, Sai would have remained a nobody – trapped within a veritable subsistence and whose only purpose in life would have been to be a tool for the ambitions of other shinobi.

What Sai wanted now, more than anything, was to get back some of what Naruto had lost. He wanted Naruto to see just how important he was to him. And Sai thought he would be happy to spend the rest of his life doing just that.

So, even though Sai had given up all that Root stood for, there were still some things that he couldn’t change, like how he had been conditioned to serve a purpose. The difference was that now, instead of the mission, it was Naruto who was Sai’s everything. Naruto was his past, present and future.

‘There is nothing but Naruto.’

With those thoughts in mind, Sai slid smoothly to a stop, crouching in the shadows of the Uchiha rear garden.

Movement caught his eye, as he stood. “Sakura,” he acknowledged into the darkness, just as a flash of pink and red appeared by his side.

“Sai,” Sakura murmured in response, a gloved hand gently clasping his shoulder.

“Come,” she bid.

And he followed.

Without a sound they left, heading to the mountain top. Once they arrived, they stood silently for a moment, watching as a few pinpoints of light danced in the valley below.

“How is he?” she finally asked.

Sai couldn’t help it, especially as Sakura hissed, “Holy… Kami-sama!”

His grin widened further.

“You—you’re smiling!” She accused, breaking into a wide grin herself, laughing as she hit him in the shoulder.

The blow came unexpected, and while it was relatively gentle, for Sakura, he still grunted as he stumbled back a step. Scowling he muttered, “It’s not like I didn’t know how.”

“Suuure,” Sakura drawled before exclaiming excitedly, “I’ve just never had proof of the fact before now!” She was practically bouncing on the balls of her feet. “So, what gives?” She demanded, her tone promising death if he didn’t tell her something.

Sai ducked his head, feeling oddly shy. It was as if something had burst inside him earlier, when Naruto had taken him. Because for the first time in practically forever, Sai had found it in himself to cry. Tears of exaltation, tears of deliverance, tears of peace, tears of conviction and promises for the future. Naruto had shed his own reverent tears, trembling fingers trailing never-ending paths and circles upon Sai’s skin, as he finally let go of the memory of Sasuke, to welcome Sai into his heart.

“He told you he loved you!” Sakura shrieked, seeing the look on his face, “Didn’t he? I can’t believe it!” Her voice echoed strangely against the surrounding rocks as she cried, “He did!” bouncing as it went so it sounded more like, ‘He did, he did, he did, he did…!’

Sai suddenly found himself pulled into a bone-breaking hug, which he returned fiercely. Other than Naruto, Sakura had been just as foundational in changing him, transforming him into more than he ever thought he could be.

“That baka,” Sakura was laughing, euphoric, “it took him long enough!”

Sai chuffed slightly at that, wholeheartedly agreeing, as he whispered, “But it was worth it.”

Sakura pulled back to look at him, her eyes shining, as she smiled, “Oh, Sai. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome,” Sai replied, completely understanding all the meaning, all the feeling, behind those words.

Thank you, for making him happy, for bringing him back, for looking after him. Thank you, for everything.

“It was my pleasure.”

Sakura snorted at that, before leering, “I’m sure it was…” She hugged him back to her quick and tight, before letting go.

“Now,” she ordered. “To business.”

Sai quirked an eyebrow at her.

“Stop it,” she commanded. “It’s creepy seeing your face move that much…”

His mouth twitching slightly, Sai carefully smoothed his features into his habitual blank mask. “Better?” He enquired, his tone mock-caustic.

“Much,” Sakura pronounced, waving for him to come sit by her at the ledge. Sitting herself, her expression grew serious, as she spoke, “As far as I can tell, Sasuke seems to have come to some important realizations himself – he wants to mend things – the only problem being that, as I’m sure you know, he’s not the most gifted, or experienced, person when it comes to expressing his emotions.”

“You do realize who you’re talking to,” Sai deadpanned. “Ne?”

“Oh, shush. What you,” Sakura said, jabbing him in the chest with a finger, “do is completely different. What you do is internalize and withhold emotion, as well as the expression thereof. I know full well that if you had to, you’d be perfectly capable of saying whatever needs to be said. If anything, Sasuke and Naruto are far more similar than you and Sasuke.”

“True,” Sai agreed, reflecting on Naruto’s selective obliviousness. He sighed.

Sakura laughed at the put upon sound. “I think I like you much better like this.”

Sai was surprised to find himself admitting, “I think I like myself better like this, too.”

Sakura smiled lopsidedly at him. “Well, Naruto’s the one who’ll be benefiting from it, so really, even if I didn’t, who am I to complain?” Sakura shrugged nonchalantly.

“You’re family,” Sai stated calmly. “To Naruto, and…” Sai paused, before deciding he might as well just say it, “…to me.”

Sakura gaped at him. “I—wow.”

It was Sai’s turn to laugh, silently, his shoulders shaking minutely. “Speechless? I’ll definitely have to tell Naruto about this.”

“He wouldn’t believe you,” Sakura sharply replied, already recovering. “And, the two of you, you’re family to me, too.”

“Which is precisely why we’re sitting here in the dead of night, atop a mountain.”

Sakura giggled at the comment, adding, “Scheming to get our significant others to kiss and make up.”

Sai growled, stopped and said disgusted with himself, “I’ve obviously been spending too much time with the kitsune.”

“I don’t know,” Sakura wiggled her eyebrows at him, “that was pretty hot.”

Sai stifled a groan at the comment – she probably wasn’t incorrect in her assessment, Sai always found a snarling, growling Naruto to be particularly appealing.

“Get Sasuke to growl for you, then,” Sai instructed, disbelief warring with amusement that they were sitting here discussing their boyfriends. Well, in Sakura’s case, husband, but still. It seemed entirely ridiculous, which was probably why he was having so much trouble justifying how he could be finding it to be so much fun.

“Oh, believe you me, Sasuke does more than that. He howls,” Sakura was smirking maliciously now.

Sai stared at her with wide-eyes. “I don’t think I ever really quite grasped the concept of having too much information. Until now.” He made another disgusted sound.

“Oh, come on,” Sakura nudged him in the side with a freakishly sharp elbow. “I want to hear all about you and Naruto.”

Sai coughed.

“Well?” Sakura questioned, looking expectant.

“Weren’t we meant to be talking about fixing things between Naruto and Sasuke?” Sai frowned, trying to change the topic. Naruto was right, Sakura was perverted.

“Evasion will get you no where,” Sakura chided, still smirking.

“…What did you want to know?”

Sakura squealed, “Are you serious?!”

Sai winced, adding, “It depends on what you ask.”

“Who’s seme?”

“We switch,” Sai informed her bluntly. He had nothing to be ashamed about. His conscience twinged for a second as he wondered whether Naruto would want her to know this.

“Which do you prefer though?” Sakura asked, her voice filled with curiosity.

Sai blinked. “It’s Naruto,” he said, as if this explained everything.

Sakura looked at him unblinkingly, before nodding. Apparently it did. “How about toys?”

This time Sai stared. “Toys?” He repeated dumbly.

“Sure,” Sakura said, pursing her lips. “Sex toys?”

They’d never used toys before. It hadn’t even occurred to Sai that there could be more involved than just him and Naruto. Maybe talking to Sakura about this wasn’t such a bad idea after all.

The thought of Naruto trussed up, spread open, filled with whatever had been at hand, and completely at Sai’s mercy as he took his time to play, watching as Naruto came undone, so turned on that the touch of Sai’s fingertip to his hard cock would have him coming – simply because it was Sai, and nothing and no one else compared – shot through him, the force of it almost making him sway.

Once more, Sai carefully smoothed his expression to show nothing of what he was thinking. Shifting awkwardly, he thought, perhaps it was time to change the subject.

“You know what?” Sai asked, his voice gruff. “This is almost too surreal to even contemplate. Not only are we sitting atop a mountain in the dead of night, scheming to get our significant others to make up – we’re also discussing my love life. My. Love. Life. Or perhaps more accurately, my sex life.”

“Well, we could discuss mine, but… you don’t seem particularly inclined to do that,” Sakura explained.

“Because it’s Uchiha,” Sai gritted. The very same individual who had overshadowed Sai’s existence in the eyes of the most important person in Sai’s entire world.

Sakura seemed to pick up on this, as she fell silent for a moment. “I’m sorry. I didn’t even think about how… I’m sorry. I really do just enjoy hearing you talk about the two of you. It’s fun, and it kind of feels like we’re teenagers again.”

Sai thought about it. Perhaps that was what it was, the unidentifiable feeling swirling within him, the feeling that he was being allowed to enjoy something he’d missed out on the first time round – having a childhood, an adolescence. You grew up far faster than even regular shinobi in Root.

“It’s okay. You’re right. It is fun to talk about,” Sai closed his eyes and leaned back, bracing himself with his arms and willing himself to not think about what he might be doing with and to Naruto later, “and it’s not like there’s anyone else I can talk to about Naruto, other than Naruto.”

“I’m sure he wouldn’t mind,” Sakura teased.

“I’m sure he wouldn’t,” Sai affirmed, totally aware of Naruto’s own ego, and how much he liked to have it stroked – almost as much as he liked Sai to stroke other parts of him.

“You’re thinking something ecchi,” Sakura declared, quite suddenly.

Sai choked, caught. “Excuse me?”

“Just now, and just before when I mentioned toys. You were so thinking something ecchi.”

“I—” Sai grunted, before glaring, “I’m a guy, I should always be thinking something ecchi.”

Sakura barred her teeth, “Want to share?”

“No.”

“Where’s the fun in that?” Sakura demanded, pouting slightly.

“All in my mind,” Sai rebutted, pleasantly.

Sakura smiled, “I really have missed you. Even when you managed to go hours without saying a word to me.”

“I think I might be regretting doing otherwise, right about now,” Sai complained.

Sakura just continued smiling, not taking offence in the least, reading it for the joke he had intended it to be. Sai didn’t think anyone else, apart from Naruto, naturally, would have understood that he had been kidding. “I’m glad we could talk like this.”

“Me too,” Sai grudgingly admitted, before openly teasing, “Despite the hazards to my mental health.” Glancing at down at his shoulder where she’d hit him earlier, he added, “And to my physical well-being.”

“No need to be a baby about it,” Sakura said, in her ‘you’ll live’ tone of voice, that he last remembered having heard when he’d had his stomach sliced open, by a poison-laced sword tip no less. It was true though, he’d survived, thanks to Sakura’s medic skills.

“How long have we been out?”

“No longer than an hour, I’d imagine,” Sai estimated, not bothering to calculate exactly. Naruto was happily asleep in their bed at home, and since Naruto could sleep like the dead, Sai had no time constraints. “Did you need to get home?”

“Not for awhile,” Sakura stretched, and yawned. “If Furiko wakes up, it won’t be until about 3 or 4 in the morning, if not around dawn.”

“Sounds like fun,” Sai drawled sarcastically.

“It’s worth it,” Sakura replied without hesitation, deliberately echoing Sai’s own sentiment from before.

Sai nodded his understanding. “Well, whatever you’ve got in mind for Sasuke and Naruto, we’ll have to be quick about it.”

“What?” Sakura said, confused. “Wh—oh.” Sudden realization lit her eyes. “You’re leaving again, aren’t you?”

“We are.” There wasn’t much else to say about it.

“But why?” Sakura demanded. “I mean, if Naruto’s finally worked things out, I would’ve thought that you would stay, at least for some time. You’ve been gone so long.”

“Because he wants to,” Sai explained easily. That’s all there was to it, really.

“Because…” Sakura trailed off. “And not because he has to.”

Sai nodded his confirmation.

“If it’s what he wants,” Sakura began, “then that’s what I want for him.”

Sai silently agreed, that’s what I want for him, too. He didn’t need to say it out aloud, he was fairly certain Sakura could read it in his expression. And why not? He had nothing to hide anymore. Not about this.

“Right, then. I think,” Sakura tilted her head to the side, a finger thoughtfully tapping on her chin, “the best course of action is the simplest. They need to talk.”

“Agreed,” Sai stated. “After all, I know that Naruto wants them to still be friends. It’s just that, after what happened this morning before the party, Naruto has it in his head that Sasuke doesn’t what that. That maybe Sasuke never wanted that.”

“What?” Sakura demanded, incredulous. “What the hell happened? From what I gathered Sasuke seems to think more or less the same thing. Or rather, that after everything he’s done, there’s no way that Naruto could forgive him, or even want to be friends with him anymore.”

Sai rubbed at his eyes tiredly, trying to recall what it was that had given Naruto that impression. “I think it was the fact that the entire time Naruto was there, Sasuke didn’t exchange more than a few words with him. Wait, in fact, I think the only thing Sasuke said to Naruto, was precisely that. ‘Naruto,’ before silently walking away from him. Or so Naruto said.”

Sakura sat silently, her brow furrowed in concentration as she tried to put the pieces together. This was certainly one side of her that Sai had always appreciated – her ability to puzzle things out, before putting everything back together.

“I reckon that had more to do with Sasuke being pissed off at me, than anything to do with Naruto,” Sakura sighed.

Sai raised both eyebrows, “Pissed at you?”

“Yes,” Sakura sighed again. “Pissed that I never told him about Naruto. Pissed because he thought I was trying to stop them from being friends. Now he’s just sulking ‘cos he knows that he’ll probably only screw things up more if he goes out of his way to fix things himself.”

Sai snorted delicately at that. “Isn’t the problem more that, put the two of them together, with their almost insane level of obliviousness and they would just end up misunderstanding each other, arguing, before slinking off to feel guilty and blame themselves.”

Sakura ran a hand through her hair, before groaning, “That sounds exactly like how I pictured things going. Well, since we now know the score, I think we should probably explain to each of our boys what the other is worried about. That will probably help things along. Because if anything, I know they both suck at trying to read minds.”

Sai mm’ed in agreement, just thinking about Naruto’s little ‘us’ freak-out. Shaking his head, Sai added, “We’ll be leaving tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow?” Sakura scowled. “Tomorrow?”

“As in, it’s after midnight right now, so the coming day is already today, and we’ll be leaving the day after,” Sai clarified.

“Oh. Okay,” Sakura said. “That should be enough time. How about we just get them to meet here, this afternoon? At around sunset.”

It was Sai’s turn to scowl, “Are you deliberately trying to create a romantic atmosphere?”

Sakura snorted, “Actually, I was more considering the expediency of us concealing ourselves in semi-darkness, instead of broad daylight.”

“You want to spy on them?”

“…Don’t you?” Sakura asked, looking surprised.

“Hm,” Sai said, thinking.

“Well?”

“I’m inclined to say, I’d rather not. If they do make up, it’ll be much more fun to hear it first hand from Naruto. And if they don’t, you won’t have to watch me kill your husband.”

“What makes you think you can take him?” Sakura asked, grinning challengingly.

“Believe me, if he hurt Naruto,” Sai paused meaningfully. “Nothing would be able to stop me.”

Sakura’s grin turned appreciative. “Don’t worry,” she proclaimed, “if he screws it up, I’ll kill him myself.”

Sakura looked vaguely ashamed for a second.

“What’s wrong?” Sai asked.

“It’s just… I feel a bit bad,” Sakura frowned, “since I’m assuming that if anything went wrong that it would be Sasuke’s fault.”

“That’s not it at all,” Sai calmly assured her. “You just know that if anything goes wrong, Sasuke’s reaction will most likely be anger, whereas Naruto, while he might use anger as a front, we both know it’ll be exactly that; nothing more than a cover. You understand just as well as I do that if things go wrong, it’ll be Naruto who is hurt the most. And neither of us wants that.”

“Nobody wants that,” Sakura stressed. Standing she said, “Might as well leave it at that time, even if we won’t be watching.”

“I’ll make sure he’s there,” Sai said, standing as well.

“Ditto,” said Sakura as she lifted her hand to wave goodbye.

“Good luck,” Sai called over his shoulder as he turned to go.

Sakura’s quiet reply, “you too,” washed over him in a gentle wave as he left.

Under the cover of night, they returned to their respective halves, hoping that all would go well when dawn broke and nightfall came again.

†

It was with much trepidation that Naruto headed up the worn path that lead to the Hokage monument. Even though Sai had assured him that he’d spoken with Sakura, and that she had promised that Sasuke wanted to mend the gaping chasm that now lay between them, Naruto couldn’t help but acknowledge the distinct possibility that things could go south horribly fast.

In the past, his shouting matches, and even the physical roughhousing, or perhaps it would be a little more truthful to say, especially the roughhousing, with Sasuke, had been the highlight of each day for Naruto. It had always made Naruto feel connected. Now, Naruto imagined that if that was how things went down, it was more likely to break him apart, just a little more.

But Naruto had survived that once, and he fervently prayed that it would go differently this time. That Sasuke wouldn’t shut him out, or, uh, try to kill him. ‘Cos that would suck, massively, now that Naruto had a life of his own to live.

In fact, Sai had promised Naruto a night full of fun and games come later this evening, so long as he went to meet Sasuke. As far as incentives went, it had certainly perked him up. In truth though, the thought that Sasuke wanted them to be friends again had been incentive enough, whatever the risks. After all, the important things always came with them – why would this be any different?

Still, playtime with Sai was, without a doubt, an insanely hot bonus, that Naruto was totally looking forward to. Naruto paused on his next step, coming to a stop momentarily. Although Sai had said it was to ensure he actually met with Sasuke, Naruto realized that the true purpose of Sai’s promise had actually been to put him in a good mood – happy and relaxed, well, as relaxed as one could be when one was thrumming with anticipatory arousal.

It was sneaky, but then again, that was Sai. And Naruto loved him for it.

Naruto grinned stupidly as he continued walking. Because Sai loved him, too.

Reaching the summit, Naruto slowed, before coming completely to a stop as he spotted Sasuke heading towards him. Sasuke kept walking, brisker now, until he was right in front of him.

Naruto took the moment to stare, watching as emotions twitched and flared within dark, shuttered eyes. Naruto was pleased to find that while he thought Sasuke still looked as beautiful as ever, he didn’t stir in him everything he once would have. All that was left was a peaceful appreciation of his beauty, the elegance of his form, the pale smoothness of his skin. Perhaps it was because he’d found one more beautiful, more elegant, and, Naruto felt his lips twitch, one who was actually paler than Sasuke. And unlike Sasuke, Naruto had felt Sai’s smoothness first hand.

“Naruto,” Sasuke began, as his eyes trailed their own paths across Naruto’s face. He paused, opened his mouth to speak, snapped it shut, before taking a deep breath to continue.

What he said was so completely unexpected, so seemingly out of character for him that Naruto actually did a double-take. “You want to what?”

“I said,” Sasuke gritted, apparently having lost some of his patience now that he was being forced to repeat those shocking words. “I wanted to apologize.”

Naruto knew he was staring, but he couldn’t help it. He hadn’t been expecting that, plus he wasn’t exactly sure why Sasuke felt he should apologize, I mean, sure it was nice to hear it, but if anything Naruto knew that it was thanks to what he’d felt for Sasuke, what he hadn’t been able to hide, or repress, that had forced them apart. It hadn’t been anything that Sasuke had done.

“…What for?” Naruto finally asked.

“What for?” Sasuke echoed, appearing as dumbfounded by Naruto’s reactions as Naruto was with Sasuke’s. “What for?”

“Sasuke,” Naruto exclaimed at the sudden intensity of his words, taking a small step back at the heat in Sasuke’s tone. Hands moving frantically, he said in a rush, “Sasuke. Sasuke, chill. It’s really not your fault. In fact, it was all me. And you shouldn’t have to blame yourself. I understand what you were going through, and even if I hadn’t felt as I did, I still would’ve done everything the same, I still would have gone after you, consequences be damned, for our friendship. So, really, it’s me who should be sorry, because I’m the one who pulled back afterwards, without even saying anything. So it’s really my fault, that you had no idea what was going on, and I really should have done things differently, and, and…”

“Naruto…” Sasuke croaked, his voice pleading, as if asking him to stop saying these things, because they weren’t true. Only they were.

“It’s just, I needed time,” Naruto babbled. “You’re a pretty big hurdle to get over, you know?”

Instead of answering, what was more or less a rhetorical question, Sasuke blurted, “You’re still the most important person in my life.”

Naruto blinked in surprise, as he watched Sasuke’s pale cheeks tint, feeling at odds within himself as a strange kind of detached amusement warred with a feeling of utter disbelief.

Naruto opened his mouth to protest, but was almost instantly cut off by Sasuke’s impassioned, “No!”

Naruto closed his mouth sharply, whatever protests he had planned to make evaporating in his suddenly dry mouth.

“You can’t deny what I feel, Naruto. Don’t deny it,” Sasuke implored, glancing at him, before looking away. “I never would have asked you to do that to yourself, either.”

Naruto swallowed at what Sasuke was saying; what Sasuke was accepting. It felt as if a great weight had been lifted from his shoulders. Sasuke was forgiving him, absolving him of the greatest burden he’d ever carried – the thought that Sasuke would hate him for all that he had felt for the man.

“And, it’s true,” Sasuke proclaimed firmly, with more conviction than Naruto had ever seen him show. “I love my wife, and I love my children. There’s no question about that,” he explained, “but you, you made me who I am. It’s because of you that I’m here. It’s thanks to you that I even have these things to cherish. And, and I just wanted you to know that. I, all I want is for you to be happy. As happy as I am.”

Naruto hesitated for a moment, before tentatively reaching out. And this time, Sasuke met him halfway. As if they’d spent a lifetime apart, and feared they’d spent another that way, they wrapped their arms around each other. Naruto buried his face in Sasuke’s neck, trembling at the feeling of welcome that radiated from Sasuke.

“I’ve been thinking, maybe if I’d known—” Sasuke began, his voice shaking.

“Don’t,” Naruto whispered against the fine hairs of Sasuke’s nape, squeezing his eyes tight shut, and just holding on. “It wasn’t meant to be.”

Naruto felt Sasuke’s nod gentle but firm.

“Maybe in some other life, some other time…” Naruto smiled wistfully at the thought that another him somewhere, someday, had gotten to keep Sasuke. Still, he’d found Sai, his own precious person, which was more than he’d ever hoped for.

“But here, and now – this is the way of it. The way it should be, because I am happy, happy for you and Sakura-chan both. And I’m happy with Sai. I’m just so glad to have met you. And I wouldn’t change that for the world,” Naruto breathed, the honesty of his words palpable, anyone witness to them would’ve been able to hear it in the open quality of his tone, the sheer emotion reverberating within each syllable.

“And Sasuke?”

“Yeah?” Sasuke breathed back, feeling, at long last, as though he’d finally come home, even though he’d been back in Konoha for years now. It hadn’t been the same without this. Without Naruto, and his precious warmth.

Naruto pulled back slightly, to look Sasuke in the eye, before smiling sincerely and saying, “You made me who I am, too.”

Sasuke’s eyes crinkled, as he deadpanned, “For better or for worse.”

Naruto laughed in surprise before adding, “In sickness and in health?”

Sasuke smiled cheekily, though his eyes were dead serious, “Til death do we part.”

Naruto let his eyes fall close for a moment, before opening them to stare into the accepting eyes of the man who had been his first, real friend. Pressing a chaste kiss against Sasuke’s lips, he sealed the vow, “Friends forever.”

“Friends forever,” Sasuke promised, as he returned the kiss, nothing more than the softest brush of lips.

†

Finis.

†

Word from the Author: And thus concludes the final Chapter of Part I. And yes, as it was hopefully suggested by the lovely Hinata-chan, Part I does in fact imply that there shall be a Part II. Part II will focus more closely on Sai and Naruto's relationship together, as well as look a bit more in depth at Iwa as he grows up...!

More to come in the not too distant future! Please do look forward to it.

And before I go, thank you to all the wonderful people who reviewed - it made me so happy!
Hontou ni arigatou gozaimashita!

Until I post again,


Kamikumai.