788Guys! It's the end! Thank you SO MUCH for coming along on this journey with me. You guys have been so loyal for the 12 years this has remained unfinished. I really love all of you guys, and so appreciate your dedication and love for this story. I hope the ending is one that satisfies.
Started: 12/29/19
Finished: 12/31/21
Chapter Thirty: Epilogue
Two years later
"Naruto, honestly, it's fine." Sakura raised an eyebrow.
"I know. I know," Naruto sighed. He sent her a sheepish look, even as his hands carefully and gently probed the large cut on her right arm.
Slowly, she softened as Naruto continued to examine her wound. It still oozed a little, and with a quiet exhale she lifted her left hand, surrounded by her familiar green chakra. It only took two fingers and a few seconds for the cut to heal completely.
"See? Nothing to be worried about now."
Naruto nodded. For a little while, they were quiet. "You were amazing, you know," he said.
"Thank you," she said, sending him a smile. Despite his worry that she could feel almost as if it were her own, she knew Naruto believed in her, in her abilities in battle. They'd both been a little nervous when taking on active missions, but they were Team 7 again.
After they met up with Sasuke, it took another three weeks before Kyuubi's chakra was fully eradicated from her system, and another two months for her to get used to her new chakra – how it flowed, its power, the new depths of its well. For the first six months after Sasuke came back to Konoha, they had to get used to each other again. It was hard, considering how much they'd grown, but they were all determined to try, and that made all the difference.
Even still, none of them had wanted to immediately throw themselves into any missions, especially ones far away from the village. They'd only truly been back to missions outside of the village for the past six months. This one was only just south of Konoha, bordering the Land of Fire into the southern islands in the Land of Tea. Most of the land was mountainous, and Team 7's assignment had taken them to the leeward side of the mountains, a few miles north of Tea's Degarashi Port.
True to Team 7's luck, the problem had turned out to be bigger than previously believed. While Naruto and Sasuke had been fighting the beast – that had coincidentally been a shinobi merged with a summon – Sakura had watched the fight, waiting for an opening. Naruto and Sasuke worked like a flawless team, like they hadn't been separated at all, and finally, Sakura had seen the opening she needed. She lunged forward, the chakra in hand as deadly as her own jutsu she'd created.
Preferably, she would rather have not harmed the summoning animal, but a job was a job, and the summon was just as bad – if not, then actually worse – than the shinobi that had summoned it. She caught it just below the combined sternum, and her hand sunk through the flesh as if it'd been little more than paper. The beast had slashed at her, missing her body by inches but still catching her arm with a thick claw.
Releasing her jutsu early had made a few deep cuts to her palm, and she'd slapped a healing hand over the wound to relatively close the skin and at least stop the bleeding. Once the initial damage had been done, Naruto and Sasuke had finished it off.
That had been just this afternoon, and with closing loose ends, dinner with their patrons, and setting up camp, she'd forgotten to heal her arm further. Now she and Naruto sat on their pallet, Sasuke's tent perched a good fifty feet away. Despite the glare on his face about "not wanting to hear the lovebirds" and Naruto's consequently beet-red face and spluttering, she could see the quiet smile on Sasuke's face.
It was still new, this part of her and Naruto's relationship. Even though they had technically been together for two years, they both wanted to take it slow, to come together as a team first. It turned out to be the right choice. Then, obviously, they'd been given this mission.
"Sakura?"
Naruto's soft voice brought her mind back from its wandering. "Hmm?" she blinked.
"Just wondering where you went." He smiled, and Sakura was suddenly aware that Naruto's hand hadn't ever left her arm, and his thumb was tracing barely-there circles into her newly-healed skin.
She grinned at him, her left hand coming up to cup his neck, her thumb rubbing his cheek. He shivered, but that was probably more because her fingertips were cold than just the intimacy of the gesture. She loved that she could finally do this again, finally touch him after having to remain friends for the sanity of their employer. Naruto's other hand grasped her wrist.
"I was just thinking." Her voice lowered as she continued. "About finally being able to touch you again. About taking a good week before another mission. About Sasuke's tent being so far away…"
Naruto laughed, but his eyes sparkled with mischief and she could feel the tension suddenly pull taut. "Yeah?"
She hooked her fingers into the fine blond hair at the base of his neck and tugged his face closer. "Yes," she whispered.
Naruto leaned the last few inches until their lips touched. She sighed into it, her right hand sliding up his arm to join the other one in his hair. She shivered when the hand that held her wrist moved to her waist, the weight of it a warm, welcome pressure against her skin. With a hard kiss she straddled his lap, breaking apart so she could unzip Naruto's shirt.
Impatiently, she shoved it off of his shoulders, running her fingertips along the near-flawless skin that she'd helped heal these past few years. Her heart thumped harder, like it did every time she saw the little fox pendant she'd given him back in Ame attached to a simple silver chain, resting on his right pec. It meant a lot to her that she'd been able to give him such a meaningful gift. It nearly glowed against his skin despite the very little moonshine that got through the tent.
When his lips found her pulse-point and sucked, she moaned lowly, brought back to the present, but she could feel the fine tremor in his hands as they fumbled for the zipper on her shirt.
Their green jonin jackets had long since been discarded on their earlier trip to the hot springs, thank god, but Naruto still removed her shirt like they had never done this before. It made warmth furl in her chest, the feeling spreading all the way to her toes as he let her head dip back. After the hardness of battle she loved how careful he wanted to be with her, how many times that first time he'd asked for permission to touch her. Sometimes she wanted to tell him that she wanted it rough and exciting and as adrenaline-inducing as when they sparred, but this was still new for them. It was a flower that had just bloomed, and she was determined to savor it, to bask in the love and affection she could feel with every play of muscle beneath her fingertips.
It made her love him even more.
The feeling in her chest tightened, exploded, and she ached with it. The words wouldn't quite leave her chest, but she could feel them lingering there, gathering weight and momentum, and knew it would only be a matter of time.
His hands trembled harder, gripping her sides as he pulled his mouth away from her neck. She missed it there, knew there would be a bruise that she wouldn't be the least bit embarrassed about, but the look in Naruto's eyes was worth him pulling away. If possible they were an even brighter blue, and Naruto swallowed, his hand rising until his thumbs barely brushed beneath her breasts.
His mouth moved to her collarbone as his fingers clenched over her ribs. Just before his hands touched her, touched the zipper keeping her breast bound, he leaned back again. "Is this okay?"
God, she loved him so much. She nodded quickly. "More than okay."
Then he was on her, a large palm over one breast as the other tugged the zipper. These binders were perfect for high-impact work, but apparently not for quick access. She laughed fondly as Naruto whined, needing both hands so one could hold the fabric while the other pulled the zipper down. He pushed the binder and her shirt off of her shoulders, and she quickly freed her arms so she could get back to touching him.
Her fingertips bumped against a scar on his scapula, a bad one that was still there because she'd had to heal the bone, too. There was one over his right pectoral, a few on his arms. She liked being reminded of these imperfections, these parts of Naruto that she'd helped to heal, that he wasn't perfect but they were good for each other.
She sucked an identical mark into his neck, then traveled down, swirling her tongue around a nipple. Naruto groaned, one hand clenched in her hair, the other pressing fingertips into her spine. She liked that he was more sensitive than most here, that it was something both of them enjoyed. Her thumb flicked the other one, a nail catching on the nub, and Naruto shuddered.
He moved so quickly that before she knew it she was on her back on the pallet, sucking in a thrilled breath as Naruto's mouth landed wet and hot over her own nipple. She gasped, both hands sinking into his thick hair (she had to admit, it was one of the things she liked best about him in moments like this) as she arched into him. His other hand kneaded her other breast, rolling the nipple between his fingers. Her grip in his hair grounded her, but when her nails scratched his scalp Naruto moaned, switching his attention to her other breast.
"Naruto!" she called, one hand moving to his back.
He stayed where he was, but whispered his hands down her sides, the light touch breaking goosebumps over her skin. She hummed, reveling in the warmth of his body over hers, and reached down to try to help him divest her of her pants as quickly as possible. Once she kicked hers to the side, they started on his.
For a moment, she had to smile to herself, glad that Naruto had taken on the navy pants of most jonin, and only his shirt hadn't changed from the orange and black of their chuunin days. Orange wasn't too good for snatching quickies where they could, as they'd unfortunately found out one mission. As she hooked her fingers under the waistband of his pants and boxers, she placed a chaste kiss to the skin over his heart, the fox pendant brushing her hair, looking up at him and wanting to give him the same courtesy he did her.
"This okay?"
He smiled, the soft one that she had come to know as the one he reserved only for her in moments like this, and he repeated her words back to her. "More than okay."
She kissed him hard for a moment before pushing his pants down, and he stood quickly to kick them off somewhere in the tent as she had.
"Shit, wait," he murmured, going over to his pants and digging into the pocket. She bit her lip, enjoying the view of his naked ass as he turned around, laughing as he brandished a small foil packet in his hands with a sound of triumph. He moved over to her, the packet hitting the pallet somewhere as he crawled over her. She let her knees fall open to welcome him, hands out to beckon him closer.
Breath shuddered from her lungs as his lips met hers once again and he carefully dropped his weight onto her, leaning on his elbows and bracketing her in between them. A hand carded through her hair, and she couldn't stop her own hands from roaming all over his back. Her fingers stole to his stomach, where the Kyuubi tattoo remained no longer, and Naruto's stomach pitted as a short laugh burst from his chest. She chuckled with him, squirming when he hit one of her ticklish spots. But her laughter soon turned to a moan as he fitted his mouth over a nipple again, and she threw a leg over his hip, her heel hooking on the inside of his thigh.
Naruto bucked his hips, and the press of his erection caused them both to groan. Sakura dug her nails into his back.
"Naruto!"
Briefly sucking another mark into her neck, Naruto trailed his mouth down her body, pressing light kisses as he went. One just above her heart. One on her sternum, in the space between her ribcage, one in the dent of muscle to the left of her belly button when she'd had a particularly nasty fall a few months back that she hadn't been able to heal completely.
Excitement fluttered deep in her belly as Naruto sucked a bruise into her left hip bone. One of this rough, calloused hands caressed her side, a mix of erotic and ticklish. The other stroked the outside of her thigh where it rested against his shoulders. She groaned, sighing in pleasure and letting her legs fall further open as Naruto slid down, pressing kisses into her other hip bone, above her thatch of pink curls, the insides of her thighs.
She shuddered, whimpering as his mouth landed on her, hot and wet and sending pleasure spiking up her spine. Her hands flew down, gripping his hair hard and loving that she had something to grab onto as Naruto's mouth laved over her clit. The attention was exquisite, every pass of his tongue acting like gasoline to a fire.
She tightened her legs around his shoulders, and moved a foot to rest on his lower back as she arched into his tongue. Pleasure jolted through her body when his mouth fitted over her and sucked, the tingling spreading all the way to the tips of her fingers and toes. She cried out, fingernails scratching into Naruto's scalp and probably gripping his hair too tightly, but it just made him groan and suck harder.
"Ooohhhh, yes, Naruto," she groaned, voice hitching up at the end of his name.
He hummed, a thumb coming to join his mouth.
God, she loved it when he did this. As with all the jutsu he'd learned, he went about this with utter focus and determination, and even Sakura got lost as he assaulted her body with torturous licks and flicks of his tongue, the hand still on her waist grounding her.
She tugged at his hair. "Don't stop. Don't stop, Naruto."
His tongue pressed harder, and she writhed, the familiar tingling precluding her orgasm starting in her toes and rushing through her body like wildfire. She panted, whining as her orgasm rushed closer, pushed her higher, and she pressed her heel into Naruto's back. One hand tightened in his hair sporadically as the other clutched at his shoulder, a litany of words passing through her lips before he carefully slipped two fingers inside of her. The sudden pressure was too much, and she crashed over the edge.
The soft nips Naruto left on Sakura's sensitive inner thighs brought her slowly back from her high, even as her body melted further into the pallet. Shakily, she raised herself onto her elbows, sending Naruto a lazy, contented smile. His eyes sparkled up at her from where his mouth hovered just below her belly button and instead of a nip he sucked her skin into his mouth, teeth worrying it to create a bruise. It sent tingles rushing through her body as the sensation collided with the post-orgasmic bliss, and she let her head fall back, biting her lip as she hummed in encouragement. It would bruise tomorrow, but she liked seeing Naruto's marks on her skin. She healed a few – like the terrible hickey Naruto left one night that both Sasuke and Tsunade still wouldn't let them live down – but others like this she liked to leave.
Naruto's hands caressed up her sides as his mouth trailed hotly up her body. Once again his lips closed over a nipple, and the aftershocks jolted through her body, and she groaned as her arms gave out. With her hands free, she gripped Naruto's hair hard, pulling him up to her mouth so she could kiss him. He sighed her name as their lips met, his voice just as reverent as his calloused hands.
Yet even as her high vanished from her veins, her libido wasn't finished. She shoved Naruto back until he was sitting on his heels, and she crawled closer. She sent him a look through her lashes, and he nodded, swallowing nervously. Slowly, she closed her lips around the head, and Naruto's sharp groan lit fire in her stomach. She swirled her tongue around the tip, pressing it into the slit and reveling in Naruto's pleasured jerk beneath her. With that she opened her jaw, taking him deeper and wrapping her hand around what she couldn't swallow. When Sakura pulled back, laved her tongue around the head once more, Naruto hand found her hair, gripping it between his fingers. He tugged lightly, a small sting that furthered her desire as she realized how she was affecting him.
"Sakura." It was nearly a wine, and devastatingly slowly, she pulled back, letting Naruto's cock slip from her mouth with a long drag of her tongue. He groaned. She wondered if this is how he felt when he went down on her, how much he enjoyed pulling the sounds from her mouth, just as she loved doing this, loved hearing him fall apart above her as she dragged her tongue up the length of his dick. Naruto's nail scratched her scalp as she fitted him in her mouth again, sucking on the spongy tip before once again taking him as far as she could. She gripped the rest with her free hand, and when she glanced up at him, she found him staring at her, blue eyes bright even in the darkness.
A moment later his grip in her hair tightened, and he gasped her name. Slowly, she pulled up, letting her tongue swirl before his cock sucked out of her mouth with a soft pop. The smile he sent her was small but pleasure drunk as he pulled her close. This kiss was slow, easy, but fire still simmered hotly beneath the surface. With every small twitch of Naruto's hips, she rolled hers, either as a pleasure in her belly tightened. In a moment, Naruto quickly flipped them, and her breath caught in excitement.
Despite the way he pulled her towards him, she could feel the care in his grip, the love in his fingertips as he caressed up her calf before bending her knee. She bent the other herself, spreading her legs so Naruto could fit between them, his weight grounding as he settled on top of her. There was a reverence in the way he tucked his nose into her neck, let out a nearly imperceptible, shaky breath before taking hold of himself and pressing against her core. Sakura hooked a leg behind his back, urging him, even as she scratched a hand through his hair, whispered a breathless kiss to his temple.
He sighed as he sank into her, shuddering as she welcomed him eagerly, speaking into his ear that she was alright, to keep going. She remembered the panic on his face when the monster turned its attention towards her, and she knew he needed the reassurance. Team 7 may still have been healing, but now that they were together again, the loss of a teammate feels even more unfathomable. She'd give Naruto as much reassurance he needed to know she was alright. Even as he moved slowly, she clutched at him, sliding her fingers into his until she gripped his hand at a shallow thrust, the angle just right.
She tipped her head back, moaning Naruto's name as if it were a prayer. Her nails scraped against the wing of a shoulder blade, and she softened the movement with a kiss to the faint Kyuubi whiskers on his cheek. His hips stuttered on a hard thrust, and she dug her heels into his back.
"Naruto, Naruto, Naruto," she chanted, and even as he thrust harder, she knew the way he cherished her. Could feel it in every kiss he breathlessly placed on her neck; in the firm yet gentle hold his head had on her ribcage; in the groundingly-tight grip he had on her hand; in the calculated thrust of his hips that made her curl around him, pull him into her until nearly all of their skin had contact.
She knew when he was close - his hips stuttered, losing their rhythm, and she gripped him harder, whispered faster in his ear. She gasped at a hard thrust that had her body arching, clenching with pleasure as the oversensitivity made her ready to release again. He pushed his upper body up, grabbing her legs and pushing them forward. The angle had her arching as much as she could, a sharp cry punching through her chest. It only took a few more thrusts before Naruto's breath left him in a rush as he came, body shuddering as he rolled his hips with each pulse. It only took one more roll, one small touch of a fingertip for Sakura to come again, body folding towards him.
Naruto panted, catching his weight with an arm, the other curling through her hair as he pressed a light kiss to her lips. "Sakura," he whispered, and she felt him shudder as he withdrew from her. She groaned, lightning sparking through her body at the oversensitivity, but it felt good nonetheless. For a few long moments, they breathed in each other's air, coming down from their highs.
"Be right back," he smiled into a kiss, and moved from the pallet. She watched him, the bare planes of his back that tapered to two dimples just above his ass. Sakura bit her lip on a smirk, grinning when he turned around and saw her staring at him. He ran a hand self consciously through his hair, and held up the towel that he'd removed from his pack. The warmth that burst in her chest softened her smile, and she basked in the care with which he cleaned them up.
When he came back to the bed roll, she held out her arms, a sense of rightness settling over her as Naruto willingly crawled up to her. They both rolled to their sides, legs entangled together, one of her arms tucked between them, the other draped over Naruto's waist. His arm pillowed her head, and the other drew soothing circles across her back.
There's nothing better than this, she thought, and tucked her nose into Naruto's neck. She loved this closeness, the overwhelming warmth she felt in Naruto's arms, and when the words came, she didn't have a choice to leave them unsaid. It was surprisingly easy.
"Love you," she whispered, her fingers pressing into the bare muscle on Naruto's back, needing to clutch him closer. Naruto tensed, but only for a moment, the arm on her back practically clutching her to him.
His breath shook as he said, "Love you too, Sakura." He hesitated - she felt the tenseness in his arms - before he relented and hugged her close, the pressure stifling in the best way possible. She bit her lip, heart bursting.
"Love you, love you, love you," she repeated, eyes watering when he trembled around her.
"Love you so much," he whispered again, and the wetness in his voice had her clinging back to him.
They stayed that way, so closely entangled, until Naruto loosened his grip but didn't move away. She cupped his cheek, moved her hand to thread through his hair, his eyes bright in the bit of moonlight that sifted through the tent. He rubbed a hand on her back.
"We shouldn't accept another mission just yet when we get back to Konoha," he murmured.
Sakura scooted further into him, running the pads of her fingers softly against his forearm. "Why?"
"Chisoku invited us to the mating ceremony for him and Kunayuki." Naruto's hand stuttered on her back for a moment, and Sakura wondered if that had something to do with what they'd just revealed to each other.
"Oh, good." She snuggled closer, hopefully to portray that she didn't mind the topic. "I know they've been debating on when might be a good time. We'll have to –" a yawn suddenly stole her words and she realized how tired she was, before she continued, "let Tsunade know we're heading over there."
His nose brushed the nape of her neck as he nodded. "I think Baa-chan has something for us - a mission that she wants Team 7 to handle - but that'll have to wait. Or go to another team."
Sakura grinned sleepily. "Yes it will." After a moment, she said, "Please tell me Chisoku gave Sasuke an embarrassing part."
"Oh, yeah. I can't wait."
"Perfect," Sakura hummed. Over the past few years Sasuke and Chisoku actually became good friends, and she and Naruto would often see them quietly sitting together, or discussing chakra and jutsu. They were perhaps an odd pair to be good friends, but she and Naruto were just happy that the two of them got along. Their small circle of close friends was expanding, even to the foxes that were now part of Naruto's summoning contract. It was good to have friends that you knew had your back.
"Does he have any embarrassing parts for us?"
"Not that I know of," Naruto chuckled. "But then again, I don't know if he'd tell me if we did."
"Fair point," she laughed. "Let's hope Kunayuki is on our side."
"Either way it'll be good. Chisoku and Kunayuki have been planning for this for a while - it's about time."
Sakura nodded. "I'm glad they're finally getting around to it. And that we'll all get to be there. Together."
Naruto's palm spread onto her lower back, pulling her closer, even though she couldn't possibly be any closer. "Together," Naruto agreed. "You, me, and Sasuke. All of us with our friends."
"Yes," she whispered, reveling in the closeness they shared together. Naruto let out a shaky breath, and she knew how he felt - even after two years, it hadn't lost its shine to say all three of their names together again.
Sakura released a breath she didn't realize she was holding, and her heart was near to bursting. She had Naruto here with her, and her team may not be perfect, but they were healing. Moving forward wouldn't be the same, but she didn't want it to be. She wanted this:
Sharing a bed and love with Naruto.
Her team healing, working through things together, going on missions just like this one - together again.
Sasuke and Naruto's continued rivalry, as she watched them grow, their banter softer than before, but their friendship no less.
They were establishing their own, new normal, and that was what she wanted.
Best of all - they were all here for it, and Team 7 was even better than before.
-00-
A/N: You guys - it is officially done. Thank you again for reading through this, for bearing with me when I hadn't completed this story in years. I apologize if these last two chapters seem a bit rushed - I wanted to finish this, to give my readers closure and to finally be able to say I finished my first ever long-fic. I feel like I rushed it a bit, so if I feel that way, I'm sure it'll feel a bit that way too. But again, I wanted to give you guys closure most of all.
It's been a journey guys. This story has seen me through processing my trauma (when I didn't even realize it was trauma), to growing up and realizing healthy relationships and a healthy sense of self (though I often don't always manage - gotta love executive dysfunction haha). It's been 12 years since this story was first written - can you believe it? I honestly can't.
I'll probably leave this story up for 6 months to a year. After that, I will probably take down my whole account, since I have completely moved to AO3. If any of you would like to read my stories there, I have the same pen-name. I won't publish this story there just FYI - I feel like it'd need a lot of editing, and I don't know if I'll ever be able to go back and reread it. I also don't think I'd ever really want to change it. I feel like this mammoth is a testament to my growth as a person from those treacherous years when this story started to now, and in a way, I'd like to preserve that.
I do have a few headcanons for the story - how it progresses and what happens, but I don't think I'll add those. I like the way this ends, and I think it's a good close to this story. As always, I'd love to read your thoughts on these last chapters and the ending. If you do have specific questions you'd like answered, add them in the comments and I'll gladly answer! Hopefully the smut was alright - I'd forgotten how hard it was to write it!
I wish everyone reading this the best. Here's cautiously hoping 2022 is better than its predecessors.