Disclaimer: I only own my OC(s) and the twists and turns along the way. No Gaara :(
Epilogue
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The Kazekage kneeled beside a worn tombstone. Red clouds danced across the black fabric that remained hooked to the piece of decorative stone. On his left ring finger, he wore her ring as a promise to himself and the special person he'd lost.
"Excuse me." Gaara looked up at the woman that interrupted his peaceful moment. "I...was looking for my sister." The woman held out a picture of two little girls.
Gaara looked back at the tombstone and got to his feet. Looking at the woman, he recognized the unique shade of her brown hair.
"Nakamura?" The woman gasped at the mention of her surname, but she nodded. "I haven't seen her," Gaara said as he turned to leave.
"How could you look me in the eye and lie to me?" Oren asked, her voice laced with sadness.
"Why are you looking for her now?" Gaara asked and looked over his shoulder at Oren.
"Because,...sometimes,...people don't realize what they have until it's almost gone," Oren said as she rested a hand over her heart and glanced at the tombstone. "Who was she?" Oren motioned to the grave.
"...Akatsuki," He said and hesitated to leave. "Are you a shinobi?"
"I'm just starting out," Oren spoke with embarrassment. "I thought that...Kiyo would be here. She was supposed to be here. She...we...said we'd meet again. I was trying to be strong," Oren rambled quietly.
"Oren!" Gaara turned to look at the person who'd shouted for the woman. "Gaara! It's been a few years," Naruto grinned with a little more reserve than he previously had.
"Naruto," Gaara said with a faint smile and an acknowledging nod. "Do you know Nakamura-san?"
"She's my wife," Naruto said proudly.
"Hn." Gaara fingered the ring that adorned his ring finger. "Could that have worked? Could we have married?" He thought as he looked up at the wispy clouds.
"Kazekage-sama, did you know Kiyo?" Oren asked as she noted the similarity between the sad face of her sister and the kage before her.
"Did I know you?" Gaara thought and pictured Kiyo giggling behind her hand. "I did not know you," Gaara said to himself.
"Gaara?" Naruto waved a hand in front of the man's face.
"You should come to dinner, Shikamaru is cooking," Gaara said with a look of amusement in his eyes.
"That lazy bum?!" Naruto said in surprise.
"Maybe he'll make ramen," Oren said with a smile.
Gaara caught the emotion that flickered through Oren's eyes. It was fleeing, but he knew it well. The woman had remembered someone special to her.
"Come on, Kazekage-sama, he'll eat all the food!" Oren laughed as Naruto ran ahead.
"Gaara," Gaara corrected her as he once corrected her sister.
"Gaara," Oren repeated with a smile as she grasped his hand. "I'm sorry that Kiyo couldn't have met you...you seem a lot like her. She would have loved you," Oren smiled sadly.
How true
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Author Rant
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Time to point out some obvious hints and facts.
"The woman had remembered someone special to her" is a shout out to Sasuke. It means that Oren still remembers Sasuke, and she still feels for him.
"Her" in italics is referring to Kiyo.
Now, people are wondering if he really married Usagi. I mean, the girl is annoying as hades, right? At the beginning of this epilogue, it is noted that he is wearing Kiyo's Akatsuki ring on his left ring finger.
Gaara did not marry Momoko Usagi.
I'd like to thank everyone that read my story and stuck with it until the end! Thanks to every single person that reviewed!
You can review on the epilogue. I like reviews. :)
Sayonara.