[Change is easy to feel. It takes practice and a special kind of attention, but Naruto has spent years living in the hearts of others and he's intimately aware of what it's like- to be swept up in that kind of movement. Fundamental shifts are quiet on the outside. They're found in the tiniest places in someone's expression, or in the set of their shoulders, the twitch of a finger. But inside is something else entirely. He remembers seeing the inside of Sasuke's heart. He remembers the way Iruka had felt. He remembers Gaara and Obito and the moment of quiet they'd shared before everything moved at once.
This isn't a big adjustment, and he's not sure where they're now headed- but like the point of a compass they have tilted just slightly. A different trajectory.
Sakura accepts him. Her body becomes an extension of his own and the inverse also becomes true. In their last moment Naruto isn't sure where he ends and she begins- only that they're making this thing together and at their backs a wall has opened. He eases her up with equal gentleness, guiding her to her feet and slipping his fingers from her body and Naruto feels himself thrumming, somehow. She must be embarrassed. Part of him is sorry.
He looks at her face just long enough to say, wordlessly, that he's grateful- and then his eyes move to Sasuke. What he means to offer is a sort of defiance- an opportunity to take any anger out on him instead of Sakura and a responsibility for his actions. He isn't sure what he finds there instead.]
mother of god
This isn't a big adjustment, and he's not sure where they're now headed- but like the point of a compass they have tilted just slightly. A different trajectory.
Sakura accepts him. Her body becomes an extension of his own and the inverse also becomes true. In their last moment Naruto isn't sure where he ends and she begins- only that they're making this thing together and at their backs a wall has opened. He eases her up with equal gentleness, guiding her to her feet and slipping his fingers from her body and Naruto feels himself thrumming, somehow. She must be embarrassed. Part of him is sorry.
He looks at her face just long enough to say, wordlessly, that he's grateful- and then his eyes move to Sasuke. What he means to offer is a sort of defiance- an opportunity to take any anger out on him instead of Sakura and a responsibility for his actions. He isn't sure what he finds there instead.]