I love coming back to this story every now and then since I adore this pairing; it's probably my favorite outside of SakuraTeam7 poly fics. Today I made the mistake of listening to a song while reading - "Younger" by Ruel - and I couldn't help but cry at how heartbreaking it is for Shikamaru to be forcibly pulled out, the other two left behind, and yet still reaching out to one another, albeit not as tight as the past, but holding on nonetheless. Even more painful when I read Sakura longing for a wedding dress and Shikamaru having a daughter while the other two have their own son, and yet feeling incomplete. I'd imagine having your soulmate(s) ripped from you is the equivalent of tearing your spirit into little pieces, the kind of pain you can never reach to fix, but forever feel.

I've loved like this before - loved two who loved each other and loved me the same way, and it crumbled when two of our sets of parents approved, and the third drove us away when they found out. Now we're all friends, shadows of our former selves with a yearning that hurts. I hope to one day find myself with them again when we graduate college in a handful of weeks and can be without our parents' hovering. Being wholly loved by one person is amazing but, double that? It's like an endless torrential downpour of mismatched shapes and lopsided lines in perfection and one could easily see the sheer adoration and devotion poured into one another, the same way your Neji, Sakura, and Shikamaru have.

Brava to this timelessly beautiful piece and brava to the way it strikes home.

Im in love with that OS.

Oh my gosh I love 6,7,9 and 10. Especially, 6 and 9!;)

Hahaha this was just, wow!

The song clarity really suits this chapter. It's by Zedd.
*sigh* they're beautiful even in their sadness.

Oh Shika. While I am so glad that Neji and Sakura at least got together, it's sad that Shika had to leave. But I'm so glad to see their children unite! So great:') maybe Ayame and Hizashi will get together? Hmm.

This threesome gives me the shivers. I always found Neji and Shikamaru to be slightly under appreciated in their brilliance. The scene with Kakashi was so great, Ino I love but damn no three-way marriage or no marriage at all and Sasuke, suck it. Naruto is sort of forgiven, I'm sure Hinata made him feel okay about it. These three are adorable and amusing and so intelligent together and ugh just so perf!

Sasosaku Gaasaku Akasaku and Multisaku plz.

...I did not need a new OTP...

*Goes to hunt down more Sakura/Shikamaru/Neji stories.*

After so many years, this is still one of my favourites.

"the next one will be happier" where is the next one? i really love this pairing even though i havve no idea howw it came to be. im just seeing it evverywwhere noww. i actually shed tears wwhenevver theres an arranged marriage. ;(

I find this pairing so odd BUT I adore Neji and Shikamaru as separate entities and I have grown to like Sakura now that she's older, but it's still really weird. HOWEVER, this was adorably awesome. You have all three of them so much in character that it's insane. I love the way you perceive Neji here, he is by far my favorite Naruto character and I get a little anal at how people write him and I think you have done it very well. Same goes for Shika and Sakura in terms of characterization and their voices. I love it. The story itself was good, the many different moments were so cute that when they had to separate for Shikamaru's arranged marriage I really did feel really sad. That's good writing to make me feel sad even in the midst of a weird pairing.

Great story and great characterization.

So cute yet so sad!

I've read most of your other works in this fandom, but I've never read this one until now, and I really wish I had. This was a really great ride and I loved the dynamic between Sakura, Shikamaru, and Neji. I was tearing up at certain parts (you know which parts) and smiling at others; it all felt very real. Thank you for sharing these with us.

Those were so sweet! I love this threesome!