Disclaimer: If wishes were pennies, I'd be rich, and maybe then I'd own Naruto. Seeing as wishes aren't pennies, Kishi-sensei does the owning and I do the wishing and fanfic-writing. That said, onto the more serious (and less obvious) disclaimer - this is threesomefic, which means that it contains smattering of yaoi! If that bothers you, don't read - I won't mind.
Authors Notes: Where did this idea come from? I just love threesomefics, and this was my first attempt. Probably my last, too, but just something to get out my head. Probably also came from spending too much time in English class thinking about Naruto when I should be working. But archetypes and motifs make me think Naruto. And thus comes crazy oneshots wherein I try to sound deep but probably end up bashing you people over the head with symbolism! Enjoy!
air
It was inevitable that Naruto would catch her when she fell.
After Sasuke left, she was broken into pieces. She tried to smile, for him, and he tried to smile for her. And one-by-one, together, they started to put the pieces back together.
They searched for Sasuke together, they fought together, and after all those years of just being with him it was inevitable that Sakura would fall for her blond teammate. One day, she would wake up and realize that she hadn't ever seen him clearly before, and that he was the one who was always there for her.
When he first kisses her, it is soft and warm. It is spring and the flowers are in bloom, and the sun hangs high above the two of them with something like promise. His lips are inexperienced and a little bit awkward, but he holds her so tenderly and his blue eyes shine with such radiance she can't help but bask a little bit in that utter adoration he has for her.
She knows, then, when he kisses her, that he is an irrevocable part of her life. She can never give him up, because he is the one who holds her together. He is the one who reminds her that there is warmth in this life. He is her sun.
earth
Sasuke could never have loved anyone but her.
He knows this, and yet he also knows that he could have done nothing else but leave, because he has a dream and a purpose to chase. But when he left her on that park bench, all those years ago, he spent a minute staring at her sleeping features in the dark.
He knew then that she would be the only one he would end up happy with, in the end. The only one he could bear to complete the Uchiha Clan with.
He also knows that he will break her. Like he already has done. And so he leaves.
When he returns, she is beautiful and strong and full of life. When he returns, he knows that she is healed from the scarring that he caused her, and his heart aches to know that she has moved on. He is selfish, he knows, but he wants to break her again, to remind her that he exists and that she once loved him too.
When he first kisses her, it is deep and sensual. It is summer and the days are hot and the nights are warm, and his hands explore her exposed skin in the sultry summer air. His lips slide over hers with burning passion, slow and sensual and dark and oh-so-tempting. He kisses her slowly, again and again, until she can't even move. And when she looks up into his black eyes, he knows that she is hooked, and that she belongs to him again.
The problem is, she isn't his alone. And she never will be.
But he knows, then, when he kisses her, that she is an irrevocable part of his life, just as he is of hers. He can never give her up, because he is addicted and he needs her to reaffirm that he exists. She is the one who reminds them that there is not only darkness, but there are also stars in the sky.
fire
It is inevitable that they fight.
Sasuke is his brother and his friend, and even the strains of time and of distance do not change that. But even so, he is a rival, and more than that, he is a rival in not only skill, but love.
It starts with words and taunts, like it always does, before finally coming to blows. The fighting is frenzied, insane, sweat-filled and almost intimate, as they weave about each other. It is when they are feuding that Naruto remembers that Sasuke has not severed their bond completely.
It is also when they are fighting that Sasuke seems to remember this. He may shoot insults at the blond, and try his most to injure him until he is broken, but Naruto can see the look in his dark eyes and knows that he remembers.
When they kiss for the second time, it is frenzied and violent. It is fall, and the trees look like they are on fire and the leaves rustle underneath their feet. Sasuke has him pinned up against a tree in the training grounds, when he reaches forward with his mouth and catches the blond on the lips. Within seconds Naruto is responding, and it is a battle for dominance, like everything they do, a contest to see who is better.
It is then that he knows that, like Sakura, Sasuke too is an irrevocable part of his life. Sasuke is an opposite, an equal, a rival. Someone who acknowledges him, who validates him and completes him. Where he is light, Sasuke is dark. Sasuke is an opposite, but also an equal - a moon to Naruto's sun.
water
Eventually, it is the three of them, like it always was and how it always should be.
It is winter and it is cold. They sit in Sakura's apartment, sharing a blanket between the three of them. When they are together, they manage to keep the cold at bay. They sit in silence and contentment, none of them saying a word and none of them needing to.
Naruto is their warm spring sun, bright radiance and full of optimism. He always smiles for them, no matter the circumstances, and promises that everything is going to be fine. He smiles, and leans his head up against Sakura's shoulder, nuzzling into her neck.
Sakura is the stars on a summer night. She is bright and beautiful, a constant guide and companion. She is their support and always there for them, to remind them that not everything is darkness and pain. She sighs, kissing Sasuke's neck softly.
Sasuke is their bright autumn moon. He is dark and mysterious and quiet, but somehow always watching over them. He is distant, but he is also solid, a protector and a lover. He gazes over the two of them softly, and leans down to kiss Naruto on the brow.
That is how they fall asleep, night after night. The three of them, curled together. Sometimes they kiss, between the three of them. And through the soft, warm kisses between Sakura and Naruto, the deep, sensual kisses between Sasuke and Sakura, the frenzied and violent kisses between Naruto and Sasuke, or the sloppy , sometimes rough but overall sweet kisses between the three of them, they eventually find a rhythm, a pattern, that fits.
Like the stars in the sky, or the seasons in their cycle.