A/N: Oh my oh my oh my, I hope You don't kill me! I made You wait for so long! I'm sorry, I just didn't have time and inspiration to write the epilogue, and I wanted to do it right. Hope You like it. This is the end of the story, enjoy!

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Epilogue

"Miss Haruno Sakura?"

The girl turned her face from Ten Ten to look at the guests. Naruto was holding the door open and there were five men standing on the treshhold.

"Y…yes?" she answered, slightly afraid.

"We are to take you to the castle."

Naruto stepped in between them and his friend.

"What is it now, hm? She's done nothing wrong! I won't let you take her!"

The man eyed him and quirked an eyebrow.

"Uzumaki Naruto, isn't it?"

Naruto's jaw fell open as he wondered if they had met before.

"You're invited as well."

"Invited?" Sakura stood by the blonde boy's side. "What do you mean?"

"His royal Highness has invited you both to the castle. He wishes to meet the people who helped his son and princess Hinata in need."

Naruto and Sakura exchanged looks. Suddenly Ten Ten stood inbetween them and circled her arms around their shoulders. She gazed at the soldiers.

"I'll make sure they come," she promised, "but you can't take them just like that. It's a king's home, isn't it? They should be dressed properly."

"We are ordered to take miss Haruno along. As for her dress, it has been already prepared."

"Prepared?" both girls stared at them wide-eyed.

"Of course, it was highly doubtful that she should have anything proper in her closet. However, as for mister Uzumaki, I have no other orders but to pass to him the invitation. Hence, you might do with him as you wish."

"O…oh," Ten Ten blinked, turning a deaf ear to the clear insult at Sakura's clothing resources. "Ok, I'll send him right away as soon as I'm finished with him. Take Sakura then."

"What? But…"

"Shut up Naruto, you should learn your manners before you go to the castle, right?"

"But Sakura-chan…"

"Miss," the soldier bowed to her slightly and showed her the way out. Sakura looked at Ten Ten one last time. The fortune teller mouthed: ' it's gonna be fine.'

"See you later, Naruto," Sakura smiled and followed the men. There was a carriage waiting outside. She got in and wondered if they saw how her dress was old and kinda dirty. That was definitely no outfit for a royal dinner.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Not an hour later Sakura was looking at herself in the mirror. The dress that maid gave her was really beautiful. Bottle green, with thin straps and the bottom hem gathered up about her thigh, revealing a one shade lighter second layer. There was also something like a wide girdle knotted at her back into a big bow. Very pretty indeed.

The maid, when she finished helping her dress up, left the chamber. Now Sakura was alone and could freely admire the glamour of the dress. She'd never seen something like that before. She was just a village girl, after all.

Sakura smiled happily and turned around for the dress to flow. But she stopped in the middle. Someone was watching her, leaning against the door.

"How long have you been here?" she asked uneasily.

"I just came."

It was a bad lie.

"…Um…the maid told me to wear this…"

"I know, I ordered her to do so."

"So…do you like it?"

Sasuke eyed her.

"It matches your eyes."

"Oh…"

She was disappointed. Was a stupid 'looks great' too much to ask? Or even 'good'…

"Hey."

She gazed up. Sasuke was standing right in front of her, looking in her eyes.

"You look beautiful."

She smiled as he raised his hand to caress her cheek. When they kissed, it felt even better than the first time.

"Come, they're waiting for us."

"Has Naruto already come?"

"Yeah. I think Ten Ten lent him one of Lee's outfits. She managed to make it look good even on that moron…"

"Hey! He's my friend!"

"Sorry, I forgot."

"How can you say you forgot? It's impossible to forget!"

"Don't be angry! I don't want to go in there with and angry date by my side!"

Sakura blinked. "A date?"

Sasuke stopped half way. "Any problem with that?"

"Well… No! I just…didn't expect…"

"You didn't expect to be my date even when I said I love you?" Sasuke smirked. Sakura narrowed her eyes.

"Don't poke fun at me."

"I don't."

"You do! Don't get arrogant just because I…because I…" she paused and pouted. Sasuke's smile grew wider.

"Heh. I love you too."

He took her hand and they walked through the door together, arm by arm.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Naruto-kun?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm glad you came."

"Of course I came! You wanted me to come, so I did, obviously!"

Hinata smiled, and Naruto thought that was the sweetest smile of hers he'd ever seen.

They were walking to Hinata's chamber. The dinner turned out fine; exept for some Naruto's misbehavior ("Hey, there's a whole pig on the table!") there wasn't any catastrophy.

"I think King Uchiha likes Sakura-san a lot."

It was true; the king was very happy with his son's choice indeed. Sakura appeared calm, nice, intelligent and serene, she was also pretty. Her social class didn't matter anymore. She helped discover the plot against the royalty.

"I guess he won't object if Sasuke-san tells him he wants to marry her."

"Did he say something like that?" Naruto's eyes grew wide.

"Not yet, but… I think it's going to end that way anyway."

"So you don't have to worry about yourself anymore, Hinata-hime! You don't have to marry him because he wants Sakura-chan."

"Yeah," she managed a small smile. "Sakura-san is very pretty…"

Naruto noticed her sudden mood change. And for the forst time in his life, he didn't respond in a noisy way. He just walked by her side, but finally grasped her by the arm gently and stopped. Hinata looked at him, but he was staring down.

"I…" he blushed lightly, "I think you're pretty too. Really."

Now it was her turn to blush. Hard.

"Naruto-kun…"

He managed to look her in the eye. He saw it during the dinner: the moment when they thought nobody was watching them, Sakura and Sasuke shared a short kiss. Something stung his heart at that moment, but what he wanted now was not to kiss Sakura, but the girl in front of him. He lowered his head a bit. Hinata didn't dare move. But as Naruto's face was becoming closer and closer, she stood on her tiptoes. She shivered slightly when his nose touched hers. Naruto's second hand was on her waist now. Closer…

Their lips barely brushed. Then there was sudden noise on the nearby stairs.

"What do you mean 'pink goes funny with green'?! You'll pay for that!"

Naruto and Hinata blushed bright red and juped from each other. They saw prince Sasuke rushing down the stairs.

"If you hurt me, you'll have to heal me!" he laughed, jumping three steps down. A furious Sakura swiftly followed.

"I don't care! Come back here, you…"

When their voices went distant, the two hardly looked at each other. Their gazes quickly went into two different directions; still, both were slightly smiling.

Maybe some other time.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A/N: Ok, that's it. It's been over a year already, you know?

A big big thank you for all those who supported me during this time. I wouldn't probably even finish the story, had it not been for Your reviews. So great thanks to You!

I'm currently stuck into a "Fullmetal Alchemist" story and into a "Bleach" one, but I'll make sth up so that I could write another Naruto one. This, however, might take awhile, since the second year of Japanese studies isn't as nice as the first was.

Once more thatk you and… 'till the next time! :)