Complexities
Chapter One: The Return
The door slammed shut in its frame behind Naruto, echoing its booming closure throughout the soundless house. The following silence vibrated with tiny waves as a storm of emotions rolled off of the blonde ninja. His legs shook violently as he took off in the direction of the kitchen, but he never made it past the small coffee table. His knees gave, and he fell hard to the floor without uttering a sound.
It seemed impossible to comprehend that Sakura would not follow him through the apartment door, complaining about the old paint and the noisy downstairs neighbors. She would not unbuckle her gear and throw it unceremoniously into a pile of weapons and armor that seemed only to migrate around their humble abode, never in the correct spot. She would not realize that she was being grumpy only because she was tired. And even then, she would not toss herself down on the sofa next to Naruto, her husband, beg for a foot rub and fantasize about the day that they would be able to bring Emi home from the hospital.
Emi!
The thought of the darling swath of pink blankets that was sleeping peacefully and safely within the walls of Konoha's hospital gave Naruto the strength to stand. His shaking hands clawed at the black leather that he was encased in, and when it fell to the ground with a crash, he all but ran to the spare bedroom.
Bathed with golden light from the setting sun, the lavender room seemed to echo with emptiness. The woman who had lovingly picked out the curtains, painted the walls, and chosen the crib was gone... forever. Soon, in a matter of days, perhaps, Naruto would have to bring his daughter home to this room and somehow explain to the small baby that she would never know her mother. That after all that time in the hospital, growing strong after such a terrible sickness, she would be coming home to a broken shadow of a family.
Naruto clutched the edge of the crib for support, hung his head, and let the first tears come. Tears for his daughter. Tears for his wife. How had this misfortune found its way into the lives of two people with such love?
~*~
"Naruto, so help me, if you do not come out of that dressing room in under three seconds, I'm going to kick through
that door and-" "Alright, alright, woman. Keep your hair on," he groaned, stumbling out of the small closet. You would think that if the Grand Hall charged as much as they charged Shikamaru for his wedding, they could at least afford to build a bigger dressing area. Naruto swore that he turned around once in that cramped room, and had been shaking hands with himself. The creaking of the door alerted Sakura and she turned to angrily confront the very
late best man. Her angry words, however, died in her throat. There stood Naruto, jacket buttoned, shoes shined, and tie finally tied and hardly a day over twenty. Tears prickled at the back of Sakura's eyes, but when they began to pool, Naruto's triumphant face collapsed into worry. "Oh, god, what? Did I tie it wrong?" His fingers flew to the knot at his throat and began to pull at it. "No, no," Sakura said, pushing his hands away from it. "It's perfect. But you need to go, Shikamaru may need you to calm him down." "But Sakura! Why are you crying?" He took a step towards her, but she placed her hand against his chest and pushed him away. "Naruto, you're my best friend, but if you don't leave and do your duties as best man, I will
kill you," she said, allowing her hand to flare up with chakra. Naruto gave a lopsided grin and shuffled to the door. "You're pretty scary, you know?" "Go!" --- "Don't they look lovely?" Sakura's voice was naught but an awed whisper when Shikamaru and Temari took the dance floor. Naruto, who she had been whispering to, settled down in the chair next to her with two glasses of champagne. One of them changed hands. "It seems like everyone is settling down. It's pretty weird." He paused for a moment, eyes following his friends around the floor. There was a long pause during which several couples joined the newly weds in their dance. Cameras around the ring of spectators flashed feverishly. "What about you?" "What do you mean?" "I thought girls thought about marriage and families all of their life. In all truthfulness, I thought you were going to be the first to go." Naruto ended with a small wince at his lack of eloquence. "Naruto! It's not
a death sentence." She sighed heavily and paused. "I guess I haven't found the right guy yet," Sakura said thoughtfully. "Or you're not acknowledging him," Naruto said distractedly; Neji had taken a very pregnant TenTen onto the floor to dance alongside Ino and Chouji. Naruto's words struck Sakura. She knew he had not been alluding to himself, he had hardly been paying attention to the conversation; but when he said that, his name was the first in her mind. A small smile tickled across her glossed lips. "Naruto?" "Hm?" "Dance with me." --- Dancing had quickly turned into a soft kiss, which inevitably led to a tighter embrace. Naruto's lips found Sakura's again and again, reveling in the taste of champagne, flowers, and ecstacy. Too soon they were sneaking off of the dance floor, and pushing abruptly into a storage closet. Naruto found himself shirtless, panting, and wondering when was "when". "Sakura," he managed to get out between kisses. She paused for a moment. "Hmm?" "Sakura, why- Hold on." He grabbed her wrist and her lips withdrew from his collarbone. He took a long moment to analyze their situation. Sakura's half-lidded eyes tore at him from over a blush and swollen lips. Her breasts were peaked through her bra and Naruto knew the slight sheen of sweat glimmering on her skin in the pale light was not just her own. His own naked chest heaved heavily. "What are we doing?" It took only a moment for a storm to cross over her eyes and her lips to puff into a pout. "No, no. Don't get me wrong. I've wanted this for just about all of the time I've known you. But I don't want you to regret it when you come down from this high. Yeah, everyone seems to be settling down but don't let despera-" "This isn't desperation, Naruto," she growled, then took a step back. Her face composed itself rather quickly and she pressed her pliant body against his once more. "This is more like," she paused. "Realization. And I think I'm strong enough to know when and if enough's enough." "I don't want you to regret me," Naruto added, looking to the side to avoid meeting her eyes. "I won't," said Sakura, sealing the deal. No one need know that Sakura and Naruto didn't make it to well-wish Shikamaru and Temari as they left. No one need know that they both left to the same apartment after the reception. And no one need know that Sakura didn't leave that apartment for three days.
