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Naruto sits on a tree branch and swings his legs. He sighs. Rationally, he knows that this is stupid, they are not some innocent kids anymore. He knows that they made their own choices. He knows that they are fine. Actually, they are more than fine, they are happy.
And he's happy for them. He really is. But he can't shake this feeling, this uneasiness. They are strong, he sees that, but he knows them all too well. He knows how broken Sakura is, how self-destructive Sasuke can be and how fragile Sai is.
He's happy for them, really is, but… Love is a complicated thing and he's not as naive as people think. He's aware that love can be the most wonderful thing for them, right now... Or completely destruct them…
"Don't hurt yourself with all that thinking…" The branch shakes slightly when the other boy sits down next to him.
"Oh, hi Shikamaru, I didn't feel you there…"
"You should be more alert, knucklehead! I could be an enemy…" He looks in the same direction as the blonde. "And you shouldn't spy on your own friends, mother-hen…"
"You couldn't kill me me… Wait! What? What did you call me?"
"Knucklehead…" The brunette teases him.
"The other thing…" Naruto growls at his friend.
"Mother-hen?" Shikamaru waves his hand, dismissively. "That's what you look like, sitting here. A mother-hen protecting her hatchlings… Or should I say, a fox protecting her cubs?"
"Haha, very funny Shikamaru…" The blonde frowns at him. "And what are you doing here?"
"Me? Just checking up on my little bird, who fall in the claws of your dangerous falcon…”
"Stop teasing me…"
"Sorry, it was irresistible!" He chuckles. "Kakashi was looking for you… Something about his old students don't caring about his poor, old sensei… What's about your team and the dramatic flair?"
"We got it from him…" Naruto laughs.
However, his gaze wonders at the four figures sitting by the lake and he becomes serious again, a hard look deep in his eyes. Shikamaru looks at him and raises an eyebrow, shaking his head.
"Naruto, they are fine… I don't know why you are so worried about it…" He hesitates. "Unless… Do you still have a crush on Sakura?"
"A what? I… I… don't have a crush on her! I never did!" His voice raises an octave and he flails his arms.
"Save it! Everyone could see it. And try not to fall from here. You are dumb as you are, I don't need you with a concussion!"
"Stop calling me dumb!" Naruto sulks, extending his bottom lip. "You are worse than Sasuke!"
"You're just too easy to tease…" He snickers. "You don't have to answer me, though… Just don't lie to me, it's troublesome…"
"I don't have a crush on her… Not anymore…" He sighs. "It's just… Complicated…"
"Complicated? Sakura? She's a woman, it's supposed to be complicated…"
"Not her… Love… Love is complicated…"
Shikamaru raises his eyebrow again, a worried look crossing his face. It's unusual to see Naruto this serious. Typically, he has this spark in his eyes, a soft smile in his lips. He dropped the huge grin act a long time ago, stopped pretending that he was happy all the time, but nowadays he has a light appearance, a soft air of contempt that is quite contagious. He has this strange way to light up a room when he enters. It's truly a gift that the Jounin admires. This concerned look doesn't suit him at all and is quite disturbing, to say the least.
"Yeah, love is complicated, but it's part of life…" Shikamaru sighs. "It's not that bad, you know? Being in love…" He leans against the tree trunk and closes his eyes.
"And how do you know that? I thought that you and Temari aren't dating…" Naruto teases him.
The Jounins eyes pop open. "I didn't say nothing about Temari and stop joking with that… She'll kill me if she hears you… and she'll kill you… And Kakashi'll resurrect us just to murder us again. Troublesome…"
"Kakashi hates the Edo Tensei Jutsu, we'll be fine… And you can handle her, she has a soft spot for you…"
"I told you to stop it… We are just friends…" Naruto snickers at the older man's words. "Don't be a drag, okay?"
"Fine… You're just friends!" He looks at his friend again. "Just don't waste an opportunity… Life is short… Really short… You know that…"
"So, now you're the one giving free advice? You can have my job if you want… Being advisor is a pain in the ass…"
"Nope, you can have it! I like action, thank you very much!"
"Try to make your dear sensei get in a meeting in time and you'll see how much action my job has… What a drag…"
They laugh together, before Naruto become thoughtful again. "You are worried too, aren't you? With Ino, I mean?"
"Why? Because she's with Sai?" Naruto nods. "No, I'm not… Actually, I'm worried about him… She can handle a lot… Him… I don't know…"
"It's complicated…" The blonde nods again. "That's what I was talking about…"
"I know… I didn't disagree. I just said that it's complicated, but it's not a bad thing…" Shikamaru puts his arms behind his head and looks at his friend. "Good things take time and effort, you should know that better than me…"
"Yeah, I know… But… It shouldn't be… Not this complicated…" He emphasizes the last couple of words. "I can't stop thinking that…"
"That they can broke up and Sasuke will run away again and Sakura will be broken in a million pieces and Sai will be a hot mess…" Shikamaru deadpans. "It won't happen…"
"How do you know that?"
"I know everything, remember? Advisor, commander, head of the clan, yadda, yadda, yadda." He winks at him. "I just know… Look at them… It's easy to see that they are in love, they are happy…" He waves at the couples. "Sasuke and Sai are smiling… It's some sort of miracle, actually… They'll be fine! Relax!"
"Yeah, yeah… But I can't relax… It's just… I…"
"You are a mother-hen…" He offers and smiles. "And it's fine. You spend years trying to bring him back, trying to keep her together. And Sai is… Sai is Sai… But they are fine, they are good for each other. Sakura waited all this time for Sasuke and that bastard really loves her is some weird way… And Ino? She gets Sai, she truly gets him…"
"Only a mind-reader to understand that weirdo…" Naruto chuckles. "You're probably right…"
"I'm always right, it's a curse." He closes his eyes again.
"But you are here, too. So, you are worried…"
"Fine, I was worried, but not with them…" Shikamaru looks at him again. "I was worried with you, dumbass."
"With me? I'm not the one in love…"
"You could be…" He laughs at the blonde's confused look. "Forget it, that's a talk for another time… I was worried because you're the one overthinking their relationships. And that is bad for your health, you can't think too much…"
"Oh thanks, you such a nice friend!" Naruto snarls and hits his leg. "Can you stop calling me dumb?"
"You're not dumb, not at all. But you're worrying over nothing and that's bad for anyone. Stop, they'll be fine… And if they don't… We'll handle it, right? We handled worse…"
Naruto nods at his friend and crosses his legs, in a meditating stance. "Yeah, we did…"
“You are listening to me and ignoring me at the same time…” Shikamaru sighs and leans against the tree. “I already have one blond to do that…”
“So you admit that you have a blond…”
“Naruto… Stop it… I’m getting tired of it…” The Jounin warns. “I have a lot of blondes and they are all too much trouble for what they worth…”
“Thanks a lot!” Naruto glances again at the couples. “You really aren’t worry? About them? About the future?”
“No point on dwell on what I can’t control, Naruto.” Shikamaru looks down. “They are happy for now. If anything changes… Well, I’ll see it coming before it happens, right? I’ll plan at that time…”
“That’s what I’m afraid of…”
“My plans?” He raises an eyebrow.
“No… Not seeing it coming…” Naruto locks his eyes on his friend. “Last time, he just leaved… There wasn’t time for those plans…”
“He won’t do it now. He has no motives to run away. And he has all the reasons to stay…”
“He’s a lone bird, you know? He always has been…” The blond sighs. “I always wished for a family, friends, to belong to someone and somewhere… He had all of that and he lost it… So he became a lone a bird…”
Shikamaru stares at him for a minute. He’ll never get these kind of people. Naruto, Sasuke, Kakashi, Gaara, Temari… What they suffer is beyond his comprehension. So he just supports them the best he can. He’s there for them. He listens. He doesn’t judge. And he marvels on their strength.
“He’s not a lone bird anymore… He has you. And Sakura. Anyone can see the way he changed. He’s part of a pack. Your pack. He’s not running away anymore. Not anytime soon. Don’t worry so much…
“I really hope you’re right…”
“That’s what we do. I’m the man who is always right and you’re the one who always has hope. And that’s why they are lucky to have us.”
They sit there in silence, long time after the couples left, basking in the comforting silence. Everything will be fine, deep down they know that… And if it won't… They'll handle it… After all, holding people together is kind of their unspoken job…