And here it is, the final chapter! Sorry it took a little longer than what I would've liked. And I'm going to throw this out there, I'm not very pleased with this one. I went brain dead right at the end of this story.

Chapter Twelve

It Ends Here

"You should have never come here, Naruto."

Red eyes gazed into demonic ones. "I was sent here, Sasuke. I was sent here to stop you. I won't ask again."

Sasuke chuckled. "You haven't changed one bit. And I haven't either."

Naruto balled his fists. "Why won't you come home? Everyone misses you!"

Sasuke scoffed. "Miss me? Emotions are what got me into this mess."

Naruto wiped the trail of blood that had dripped from the corner of his mouth. The two had been fighting for what seemed like hours. They were at a draw. Each of their abilities matched the other.

Sasuke closed his eyes before a sigh escaped his lips. Katsumi was losing. "Tell me, what you do if I left right at this very moment?"

Naruto's eyes hardened. "Then I won't hesitate to kill you."

Sasuke smirked as he focused chakra to his hand. "Then I'll have to kill you."

"You did what you had to," Sakura told, as she watched the girl's lifeless body hit the ground.

Using Shukaku, Gaara eased himself onto the sandy ground, not being able to stand any longer. Sakura kneeled next to him and began healing his leg. She watched him out of the corner of her eyes and saw him close his black rimmed ones. "I can only do so much out here."

"I know."

"Do you even know how to . . .?"

Gaara shook his head. "No need to wonder. I shall do it myself when you are ready."

Sakura looked at the demon and then back to the red-head. "Then we should do it now…" Sakura watched as the raccoon took a step forward and wrapped its clawed hand around the Kazekage. "Will it … hurt?

Shukaku closed its eyes. "Unfortunately. I can warn you now; he will not be able to get back to Suna by himself."

The pink-haired medic nodded. The demon's ears flattened against its skull as he placed the tip of its thumb nail at the red-head's abdomen. Shukaku closed his eyes for a brief moment before opening them, irises glowing blue. The demon stabbed his nail into Gaara's abdomen.

Sakura shielded her ears from the red-head's screams of pain. After a few minutes, she felt the chakra surge end and slowly turned around. Seeing Gaara on the ground, she quickly ran to his side. Sakura grimaced when she saw how dark his veins were. She could see most of them from under his skin. Gaara raised a shaking hand and Sakura grabbed it. "It's going to be okay…"

Gaara looked at her before his eyelids closed and he let out a long sigh. Feeling another presence behind her, Sakura turned around to be face to face with Naruto. "N-Naruto! Where's Sasuke?"

Naruto looked at her. "He's gone?"

"Gone?"

"He could've killed me, Sakura, but he didn't. He just … walked away."

"Then there's hope…?"

Naruto nodded slowly. "I don't know what he thinks, but I know we will not give up until he comes home."

Sakura gave a sad smile. "We need to get Gaara back to Suna and stabilize him … Shukaku just willingly sealed himself back inside. Why would he do that?"

Naruto walked over and propped one of the red-head's arms around his neck. "Maybe he realized that he was lucky to be alive all of this time."

Sakura laughed. "So, a demon's life has finally been changed?"

Naruto grinned. "Looks like it."

"He's going to be fine."

Temari and Kankuro let out the breaths they had been holding. "Although he's fine, I'm not completely sure when he'll regain consciousness. He used a lot of chakra as well as his demon. He could be out for weeks and maybe even months."

"How long will you being staying?" Temari asked.

"Until he regains full consciousness. I need to make sure that he's one hundred percent healthy."

"Thank-you, Sakura, however, I must be getting back to the academy."

Sakura nodded and watched Kankuro leave. "Is the council questioning things?"

"They wanted to stop by and see how he was doing. Believe me when I say it wasn't easy getting them out of it. But now that he's back, hopefully everything will be okay."

"I'm surprised that they even believed you."

"The council knows better than to question Gaara's siblings."

Sakura laughed. "Would you like to get lunch?"

Temari grinned. "I thought you'd never ask."

Four Weeks Later

A blinding light caused him to close his eyes once again. After a few moments he slowly opened them again and started to look around. "Gaara!"

He heard a door open and then weight pressed onto him. He looked and saw it was his sister, Temari. "Where's ..Sakura?"

"She checked on you this morning and saw that you'd wake up any moment. She saw that you were fine and said she had to go back to Konoha."

Gaara glanced down. "Although, I don't think she has actually left yet."

Gaara's eyes widened. Slowly moving his stiff limbs, he sat up in his bed.

"I'm sorry that he couldn't be here in person to set you off."

Sakura sighed. "It's fine. At least he's okay. I've done my part and now I must go home."

Kankuro nodded. "We hope you'll visit again."

Sakura nodded before walking through the gate with Naruto. Emotions ran wild through her mind. She wanted to leave because she thought leaving the place she had learned to love like her home would help her get rid of these feelings. Turning around one last time a figure in the distance caught her eyes. On top of Suna's wall, stood a tall figure. Sakura smiled to herself knowing who it was. I will come back to this village.

Gaara saw the smile carved onto her features before she turned around and started to follow Naruto back to their home village. He too smiled before turning around and looking at his village.

We will meet again.

And we are done! I know, I know, horrible ending, but if you have read any other of my stories, you'd know that already.

I would like to thank those who have reviewed to this story! It was greatly appreciated! Thank you to those who did not review but read this! Everyone here has gave me the determination to finish this beast.

As for new stories? I'm not sure if my next one will be for Naruto or not. I guess we'll see which type comes to me first. But I do have a slight idea what my next Naruto one might be.

So until then, I bid you all farewell! Until next time! :)