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There were few places in the world as quiet as a cemetery, Sakura observed. Even though the Will of Fire sculpture greeted her, the only sounds were the chirping of birds and small wind gusts. It was warm. Summer seemed like an odd time to visit the cemetery, but her current schedule made it so that this was as good a time as any. She was due to visit anyway, what with the wedding coming up, and today was free. She had meant and planned on everything, but couldn’t.
The graves were her silent audience as she navigated the grounds. Husbands, wives, sons, and daughters, some who died of natural causes and some who fell in the line of duty. Those latter graves stood in mute witness to man’s blind indifference to his fellow man. She even passed the grave of one of her fallen comrades, Neji Hyuuga, who died as a victim of his clan’s inhuman practices, yet also protecting his cousin Hinata’s life.
She did stop at his grave for a moment, pulling one flower from the bouquet she carried to lay at his, quietly telling him that he deserved better. A warm, gentle breeze blew as soon as she said it. Sakura knew it was a coincidence, but it felt fitting.
She departed Neji’s grave and navigated to her true destination, finding it somewhere out of the way. She stood in front of it, the flowers still in her hand. She was going to give her future in-laws flowers that she bought from the Yamanakas, who bought them from someone else. It was probably best not to think about that too much, though. She had brought them as a gift.
Sakura bowed, wearing a small, sad smile, righted herself, then knelt to place the bouquet at the grave of her future father-in-law.
“Hello,” she said gently. “It’s nice to meet you… again. I’m sure we’ve talked before, but I wanted to re-introduce myself. My name’s Sakura, and… I’m going to marry your son.”
The gravestone did not respond. “He’s… he’s special to me,” she said. She sighed. “I don’t know how to describe it, but when I’m around him, I just feel… so much better about myself. Like I can be myself. Plus, he makes me laugh, and I trust him with my life…” She giggled and brushed some hair out of her way. “Yeah. I love him a lot.
“I really wish I could have talked with you more, but… I don’t know how to put it. Anyways, you should see him now. He’s a fine young man, and he’s going to be Hokage soon. But, he’ll just be my husband.
“It’s hard to believe he and I are going to get married soon,” she continued. “I wanted to deny it for so long, but my heart just kept pulling me towards him. Not because of anything he did for me that friends would do anyway, but because… because he makes me feel happy.”
The gravestone remained silent.
“Anyways, I came cuz… I wanted to make a promise,” she finally said. She took a deep breath and said, with surprising ease, “I promise I’ll protect, take care of, and love Naruto as long as I can. It’s a promise of a lifetime.”
The gravestone of Minato Namikaze seemed to silently and blindly stare at her before she continued. “Honestly, I really wish you could see him now; you’d be so proud. I wish our last meeting wasn’t so… awkward. But again, thanks for giving us Naruto.”
She took a few flowers from the bouquet she gave to Minato and walked on. She eventually found the Uzumaki clan’s grave, spotting Kushina’s stone.
“Um, hi, Kushina,” she said as she left some flowers for her. “It’s really nice to meet you. Naruto’s told me a lot about you, and you sound like someone interesting to talk to. Maybe we could’ve gone for tea in another world.
“But my mom said you two were friends, so I… I guess it’s kinda fitting I’d be marrying your son?” She continued. “Nah, that was worded wrong. But I wish I could’ve met you while you were alive. Oh, my mom says ‘hi’, by the way.
“I already said this to Minato, but I promise I’ll protect, take care of, and love Naruto for as long as I can. Promise of a lifetime.”
Just like Minato, the gravestone did not answer.
“I’ll make sure he eats right and behaves himself, too,” Sakura continued. “I’ll make sure he’s a good husband and, should it come to that, a good dad.
“I never thought I’d be sharing my life with him, but, funny how that goes, huh? I thought it would be Sasuke, but that was just a childish crush. I hope people will compare Naruto and me to you and Minato. I-in a good way, of course.”
She stood and bowed. “Again, thank you for giving us Naruto.” She turned around and departed, leaving the flowers with Kushina’s gravestone.
She saw her parents outside the cemetery gate, and they were accompanying Naruto. She watched her father throw a friendly arm around Naruto’s shoulder, a big grin on his lips that seemed to make Naruto just a tiny bit nervous. Then he pushed Naruto towards Sakura. She opened her arms and “caught” him, wrapping those arms around his neck and shoulder. He nervously returned the hug, wrapping his arms around the small of her back and squeezing until she pulled away.
She leaned forward, pressing her lips against his. But the kiss was quick, and she pulled away from him, but took his hand and led him back to her parents. A quick conversation passed, and the quartet all agreed on dinner at a nice restaurant in the village. With Mebuki and Kizashi leading the way, Naruto and Sakura followed them, hand-in-hand.
A gentle breeze blew on the gravestones of Minato Namikaze and Kushina Uzumaki.