AN: This story is AU since The Last Naruto Movie is supposed to be canon.

From Point A to Point B

Epiphany

It wasn't his fault.

Honestly, there was just too much going on at the time. Fighting Pein, talking with your dead dad, fighting your best friend, fighting yourself, fighting a giant demon fox, talking with your dead mom, fighting a bunch of clones, fighting a bunch of dead people, fighting a guy your sensei thought was dead, talking with your dead dad again, fighting a dead guy who isn't dead anymore, fighting a god, fighting your best friend again…you know…the usual. Who has time to stop and think about life when life is barreling at your face at a million miles an hour?

But then the war is over, Sasuke is back and people are returning to a routine. He looks around at a rebuilding city and stands amazed how just a few short months ago the place had been rubble. Pein had just leveled it, Hinata had just confessed her love for him and…and…shit.

Had he not lost a limb in his last fight, Naruto probably would have been using both hands to beat himself over the head. How could he have been so stupid? How could he forget to talk to Hinata at all about what happened?

"Oh man," Naruto mumbled to himself, "I really screwed up this time. I know she hasn't said anything to me about it, but she's just being nice. She's always so nice to me and what do I do? I act like a big jerk and don't even acknowledge her. I'm a bigger asshole than Sasuke. She probably thinks I'm not interested by now."

That last thought had halted him in his tracks. Was he interest? Hinata was nice and all, but did he really see her in that light? I mean sure she was beautiful, and a really strong ninja, but so were most of the girls he knew…although most of them ended up hitting him for some reason or another at one point. And he didn't feel the need to show off in front of Hinata like the others. And he knew they were both similar in their pursuit of recognition from those precious to them. And she had always been there to hold him up when he doubted himself. The more he considered it, the more obvious the answer became. He needed to talk to her, to apologize and maybe sort all this out.

His mind made up, he again became aware of his surroundings and found he had wandered past a florist. Hinata was a girl and girls liked flowers and if you were going to apologize then you needed to be prepared.

Naruto walked inside hesitantly, unsure of what kind of flowers to get. He didn't really know what Hinata's favorite flowers were and to be honest didn't really know much about flowers period. The woman behind the counter watched with some amusement as the young man wandered from side to side examining each type of flora with a confused look on his face. Eventually she took pity on the poor boy and walked around as he prodded a lily with his finger.

"May I help you," she said smiling with Naruto spinning around quickly.

"Oh…um…I'd like some flowers?"

"Well you certainly came to the right shop. May I ask who these are for?"

"W-why do you need to know that?"

"Different flowers say different things," the woman said with a knowing grin, "you wouldn't give the same flowers to a colleague that you might give…oh…maybe a girlfriend."

"W-well she isn't exactly my girlfriend. I mean…I hope…er….maybe she might be. And what do you mean flowers saying things? They're just flowers…right?"

"Flowers can have hidden meanings. Together they can say all sorts of things. It all depends on what you want to say."

"I…I guess the first thing I want to say is I'm sorry."

"Did you do something wrong," the woman asked as she pick a flower from the shelves.

"Not on purpose," Naruto sighed, "she confessed her feelings to me a while ago. But I never told her how I felt. I don't even think I was sure what I felt at the time."

"But you know how you feel now," she asked as she plucked another flower.

"I know that I don't want to lose her. I know that she means much more to me than I ever realized."

"I see," the woman said as she made one more selection before tying the small bouquet with a piece of ribbon. "I hope everything works out, for the both of you," she said handing him the flowers.

"Thanks," Naruto said sheepishly as he accepted them, "how much do I owe you?"

"For the hero of the village, they're on the house," the woman said grinning, "just treat this lucky girl right."

"Of course and thank you," Naruto said smiling before rushing out the door, not even noticing the young woman who watched him speed away with a curious look.

"Hi mom I'm back," Ino said as she stepped into their store, "was that Naruto?"

"It certainly was," Ino's mom said smiling.

"What did he want," Ino asked as she walked into the back as her mother listed off the flowers she had just given him. "Oh that's nice…you gave him what?!"

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Naruto's first stop had been the Hyuga compound only to find out that Hinata had left with her team. His first instinct had been to summon and army to spread out and find her, but sadly no second hand meant no hand seals. The only logical step was to find out where her team was and for that he needed to ask the one man who would know. It was that particular reason why he found himself outside the Hokage's office window and receiving an earful.

"What part of take it easy didn't you understand Naruto," Tsunade grumbled.

"I lost a hand not a leg," Naruto countered rolling his eyes, "I can jump up here I'm fine."

"Why don't you take the damn steps like a normal person?"

"Because I need to speak to Kakashi-sensei and I'm in a hurry."

"If you want me to give you a mission Naruto then the answer is no," Kakashi said smiling. Naruto turned to the man in question offering a smirk.

"Can I just say how weird it is to see you in those robes?"

"It feels even weirder believe me."

"I don't need a mission. I just need to know where Hinata's team is right now. Are they on a mission or are they still in the village?"

"Team eight huh," Kakashi said rifling through the papers on his desk unsuccessfully. "Sorry still trying to find where everything goes."

"Here Kakashi let me…SHIZUNE," Tsunade called summoning her former assistant, "do you know if team eight is on a mission right now?"

Shizune sighed before shuffling through the morning paperwork until she found the forms she was looking for.

"Team eight is not on a mission today. It seems they reserved training ground three for team exercises."

"Perfect I know where that is thanks Shizune," Naruto said with a salute flashing the flowers for the first time as he leaped away.

"Were those flowers in his hand," Tsunade asked dumbstruck, "is he…"

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Hinata let out a content sigh taking another sip of water and relaxing with her team. It was nice to be able to train and run drills without have the cloud of war hanging over your head. Shino stood beside her quietly enjoying the breeze that made its way across the field as Kiba and Akamaru lounged in the grass. The peace was interrupted as Kiba's nose twitched, bringing the scent of an intruder and…flowers, a very interesting combination considering the intruders identity.

"I think Naruto is here to talk to you Hinata," Kiba said shooting Shino a glance.

"N-Naruto?"

No sooner had his name been spoken did the man in question land in the training field. Hand behind his back and looking less sure of himself than usual.

"Hey guys…um…do you mind if I talk to Hinata…alone?"

"Yeah sure," Kiba said stretching as he rose. "We just finished here anyway. We'll see you later Hinata."

Kiba walked past, looking Naruto straight in the eyes, a hard and purposeful look that betrayed his nonchalance. Naruto returned the gaze and was somewhat surprised to find the same aura coming from Shino as he past. The message was loud and clear. You hurt her and we hurt you.

Naruto shook it off, turning his attention to the girl in front of him who fidgeted with her jacket unable to meet his eyes.

"You…you wanted to talk with me Naruto," Hinata asked addressing the ground more than anything.

"Yeah," he said slowly approaching her, "I…I wanted to talk about…what happen. You know…when you…saved me from Pein."

"Oh," Hinata said lowering her head. She had tried to prepare herself for this moment for some time. In some ways Naruto never mentioning it had been a good thing. It meant that she could still cling to hope since he had not rejected her. But now he had finally come to let her down gently. To tell her that she was a great friend but he didn't harbor those feelings for her.

"I'm sorry…"

"Yep," she thought to herself.

"Your one of my best friends…"

"Here we go."

"And I was a jerk for not speaking with you sooner," he said offering the flowers.

Now what Naruto did not know which Ino's mother did, was that all girls had to take mandatory classes at the academy for tea ceremony's and flower arrangement. A bit old fashion but tradition was tradition, so there was a good chance that whatever girl received these flowers from Naruto would have been a ninja and would have been taught the basics. What neither knew was that Hinata was well versed in the meaning of flowers because she pressed them as a hobby and her eyes widened as she read the subtle message hidden in the three flower bouquet.

A purple Hyacinth, meaning "please forgive me".

A pink rose, "please believe me".

A pure white Ambrosia…"love returned."

"Naruto…these flowers," she said taking them gently.

"Yeah…the lady at the shop said that flowers say things. I really didn't get it but I told her how I felt and she gave me these. All I know is that you're special to me. More than I knew at first. You've seen me at my worst and still you loved me for it, hell because of it. You make me stronger and make me want to be a better person because…because I'm not sure if I deserve to be loved by someone as beautiful as you inside and out."

Hinata had seen this play out countless times in her dreams before. But that was all they were, dreams; fantasy conjured from a lonely heart. But as she clutched those flowers to her chest and blinked the tears from her eyes, she knew in that moment dreams did come true.

Naruto himself was at a loss. He had given her the flowers, told her how he felt and had hoped she still felt the same. Now she was silent and crying and he had no idea of what to do next. Should he apologize and leave? Did he make a mistake? Did she not understand that he felt the same way? Did she not understand that he would do anything to stop those tears? Hinata raised her head so her eyes met his, as if she heard his silent pleas and much to his relief smiled up at him. Perhaps the most beautiful sight he had ever seen in his life.

"It took you long enough," she whispered as she threw her arms around his neck and hugged him close.

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I'll be covering all the couples seen in the epilogue and a few others as well, exploring important milestones in their lives and relationships between chapter 699 and 700. Naruto/Hinata Sasuke/Sakura Ino/Sai Shika/Temari Choji/Karui Until next time read and review people.