AN: Rawrgh, this was pretty much just one slab of sap-and-cheese-filled angst, and it still feels a little incomplete and random somehow. ' But got it out of mah system, and finally back into the writing groove! :3 Switches perspectives throughout, starting with Sasuke, then Naruto, then Sakura. Please enjoy, even if its not perfect, and review if it meant anything to you at all.

Our Kaleidoscope

And its spring again, and everything's whole, mixed, breathing in the different scents of people. They thought they knew them, before they suddenly sprung from their closed buds and sealed-off cocoons overnight; painting the world with fabulous and hideous new colors.

He's not sure he likes the taste. He's still flexing out his new lungs, trying to learn what, exactly, living is again—but after all, experience is the best teacher, right? Naruto is a hyperactive fastball of energy; everything he bumps into sticks onto him like he's a bouncing porcupine, and Sasuke just happens to be stuck on him as well. That's how he gets bits and tastes of living by mere coincidence of being so gloriously, wonderfully trapped in Naruto's contraption of space and colors and existence.

Its kind of like living in a kaleidoscope or something; being one of those colored pieces for once, allowing himself to roll with the others and create a part of the picture from every angle they happenstance in.

And how Naruto wishes Sasuke could've kept bouncing along inside his kaleidoscope forever—mingling with shards of light, forced to roll out o his corner and BE something--just be a PART of something, anything, then just a family of dead people.

Team 7 had given him that. Sakura and Kakashi had given him that. And Naruto...Naruto thought he had...

Sasuke could've stayed, he reminds himself. If he'd wanted to, he could've stayed.

You could've stayed, Sasuke. You could've stayed...

--

Naruto has his back turned so Sakura can't see his face as he stares out the window in front of his bed—curled up, looking longing and lost, like a child. She raps on the door twice, almost hating her knuckles for how obscenely obnoxious they seem for intruding on Naruto's little world.

But a second later, her guilt proves to be all in vain; there's no response.

Frowning slightly, Sakura lifts her hand to rap again, feeling ignored, but in the process she peers closer and sees how humped-over his figure is, face flat on the bed, and what is unmistakably the sound of his loud, unrestrained snoring, even through the muffling of the door and his pillow.

The annoyance abruptly vanishes, finding a fond smile tugging on her lips even as she rolls her eyes and sighs (more out of habit that anything else). Really, he was going to suffocate that way if he just stayed like that all night. It was only her righteous duty as a teammate to go in and move him, really.

…And only her teammately-duty to move his head to her lap, caressing the blond fringe gently with her fingertips behind his ears, watching the innocent expression on his face on her lap, mouth slightly open to snore softly (at times it would expand quite a bit wider and the snores not quite so soft). Sakura's face had faded to a calm look, feeling a peace she couldn't quite describe fighting her urge to remain unmoved at his defenseless face. He was warm and just a little heavy on her lap (all that ramen had to go somewhere, after all), but she couldn't shake the feeling that this wasn't quite real. Closed her eyes. She felt the weight of tears threaten to burst for some reason. Felt stupid, but it wouldn't quit playing in her head.

No matter how she always tried to be there for him—let him know he wasn't alone in what he was fighting for like he'd been for almost his entire life—he was. He really was, in his own eyes, anyway. After all, Sakura was no Sasuke. And without Sasuke, even with the whole village rooting for him to be Hokage, it wouldn't mean anything.

As long as Sasuke wasn't here, Naruto would always feel alone.

But so what? For some stupid reason, despite knowing all of that, Sakura still couldn't put his head down anymore than before—could only hold him tighter, close to her chest, like she was trying desperately to keep water from leaking through or some stupid shit like that. Good grief, she felt stupid, she really did. But no matter what, even if Naruto hardly realized she was there, always looking in the opposite direction for Sasuke—so what?

Sasuke thought he was alone too, but he'd never be, not with Naruto there for him always, even if he didn't see it, even if he didn't want to care. Sakura would be Naruto's Naruto. He'd never be alone. Not with her there, anyway, she'd make sure of it...she'd make sure of it...

Kakashi smiled from the doorway as he saw his two old students, one cradling the other's dozing head protectively with her lips brushing his forehead even as she drifted off to sleep. They both clung desperately together, barricading each other from the loneliness. No matter how old they made him feel, Kakashi couldn't begrudge them this when both of their faces so desperately hoped they'd never be overcome by fear.

After all, they both deserved someone to hold their hands when they were afraid too.