Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

Merry belated Christmas! I hope you have all had a great time with your loved ones! :)

Chapter 24

"Sakura," says Sasuke. They are currently walking down a hallway. Itachi couldn't make it to the public announcement, but Sasuke is here to support her instead. Of course, to Sakura, Itachi's support must mean more, but he knows that Sakura will appreciate his support anyways. She also knows that Itachi will be watching from his hospital room.

"Hmmm?" she responds.

"Your favorite color is red, right?" he asks, in an attempt to calm her nerves.

"Yep."

"Why red?"

"You're going to think the reason is kind of strange."

"Hm," he responds. He knows that she understands that this is his way of neither denying nor agreeing with her statement. It is also his way of getting her to tell anyways.

"Did I ever tell you that I was almost killed when I was 8?" To her question, Sasuke shakes his head. It's in the past, so he doesn't care as much for her safety. She's obviously fine. She continues, "Well, I was, and Itachi protected me. He moved so fast – in a way that cannot be taught, I'm sure. When I saw his eyes, I swear they were red. It may have been a mistake, but it was…just…very beautiful."

The Sharingan. Sasuke knows that he can activate his in this world. He shouldn't be surprised Itachi can too. He also can't help the fact that he suddenly realizes that the love between Sakura and Itachi is so very beautiful. While he thinks that he'll never be able to depend on someone the way that they depend on each other, he still thinks that their kind of love is the most beautiful of all. He hopes that he'll be able to, but he doubts he will, at least not now. He has wounds that have yet to heal. He needs time before he can trust someone like they trust each other.

"It's not weird," says Sasuke.

"I'm probably delusional though," she says. She smiles slightly, "But his eyes really were beautiful – he is very beautiful." She suddenly looks at him. "I'm sorry if this is making you feel awkward – I know some people feel weird hearing about their siblings' love lives."

Sasuke can't help it. He laughs. "No, I'm fine. I was the one who asked the question."

She smiles again. "That's great." She pauses. "So do you have anyone special?" She nudges him lightly with her elbow. He pushes her away a little with a small arm movement, jokingly.

"No."

"No one?"

"No." He pauses. "I haven't really had time for that."

Her smile disappears and she stops in her steps. He stops. She looks around her as if she's about to tell a government secret, then she turns to look at him. "You know," she starts, "Ino has been saying really weird things about you."

Oh crap. He had forgotten that he had kind of revealed himself to Ino.

"What kind of stuff?" he asks, feigning ignorance.

"Well, for one, she says that you're a fake."

"That's crazy talk."

"Yeah, right?"

He looks away and continues walking.

"Even if you were a fake, Sasuke-kun, I know that you're a true friend, and that's all that matters." Sasuke kind of can't believe her words. He stops in his steps and turns around again. He looks at her. She's smiling – the same way that she smiled every time that Sasuke and Naruto's fights proved to be jokes – the earlier ones.

It's the one that she shows when she's proud.

She's proud that he's her friend.

"Anyways, we're here," she says. She motions to a door that he had passed by. "It's almost time too. I better get going."

"Good luck up there, Sakura."

"Thanks."

He watches as Sakura walks through the large double doors. He starts waiting outside until they begin allowing outsiders into the auditorium.

X

He looks up at Sakura on the stage behind the wooden podium. He can tell that there are lots of complicated technology around him. The recording devices are much more developed than the ones of his time and the lights seem much more efficient. Sasuke also notices that Kakashi is at the side of the stage along with many others. He figures that the other people with Kakashi are government officials or something. They seem important.

Sakura's eyes are closed right now. She's taking deep breaths.

Seconds later, she opens them. She glances around and her eyes land on him. She smiles a little and then opens her mouth to speak.

"Hello, my people," she says. Her smile is bigger than it was a second ago, and some people cheer just at the sound of her voice. Then the smile disappears as her speech takes a serious turn. "As you all know, over the past weeks or so, there have been many issues with our government and I apologize for any complications that the situation has put you in, but, that situation has also brought the widespread discontent with the government to my attention. I have also recently found out that this issue has not only been around for a few weeks – in fact, it has been around for years. I don't know how many of you are unhappy with the government, but I would like to know. So, I have called for this news conference today to announce a poll that I will be conducting." She pauses. "Depending on the public's vote, I will either abdicate the throne for a democracy, where you all will get a say in the government's future, or continue ruling to the best of my ability, but of course with a few changes to help those who disapprove of me."

The crowd breaks out into questions.

He watches as the guards and facilitators fail to calm the crowd down.

It is extremely noisy. He can barely hear himself think.

And he's getting quite the headache.

He watches as Sakura raises a hand to silence them.

And…strangely, they do. He finds it hard to believe that she is only nineteen. He kind of wonders what it would be like if Sakura were Hokage. Watching her up at the stage right now, he believes that she'd be a good, fair Hokage – if that were her dream.

He realizes that Naruto would be a good Hokage too. Well, technically, he has known all along that Naruto would be a great Hokage, but he'd never admit it. Even if they were to all forgive him, he'd still never admit it.

He then realizes that both of his teammates have the charisma and the heart to be great Hokage. He feels slight jealousy. Why can't he? Just because of his twisted past and his wounded nature? He can be healed, can't he? And once he's healed, he can be just as loved as he is sure Naruto and Sakura are now – at least he hopes so. This experience in this world has healed him a lot. He thinks so – he knows so.

"To those who wish to make your opinions known, you have two days to cast your vote in the multiple offices I have set up around Konoha. Signs to these offices will be put up as soon as this news conference is over. The offices will be open from 8 o'clock AM to 10 o'clock PM sharp every day for the next two days. " She pauses. "No one shall be ashamed of or ridiculed for their opinions. I will accept any and all criticisms, and should the majority decide for a democracy, proceedings for votes on the new government officials will begin."

It is silent in the room. Everyone is listening.

"There will be a comment section and I look forward to hearing your thoughts. I will see you all in two days. I will answer questions after that duration." She smiles again and bows. She then turns to exit the stage. Guards come towards her, but she shakes her head. She believes that her people will not hurt her. She trusts everyone under her jurisdiction.

She walks through the crowd and they make way for her. All Sasuke can see is acceptance. They all love her. She'll probably be forced to stay on her throne. He knows that, though Sakura can be with Itachi, she'll still have to marry someone else for the sake of Konoha. He's not sure how much she can change in that aspect.

X

Sakura spends the next two days with her loved ones. She knows that, if the public chooses to keep her, she'll never have the free time to do a lot of things ever again. She has already experienced what it is like to be empress and she wants to spend as much time with the people she wants to spend time with before she might be forced to keep her distance.

Naruto and his gang were all invited back to the palace. It was a little awkward between Sasuke and Ino at first, but Sakura and Naruto manage to get Ino to forget about it. He somehow thinks that Sakura and Naruto know exactly what is going on. He somehow thinks that the two of them know that he is not from this world – that he is not from this time.

Maybe Naruto has had his suspicions all this time.

Sakura has also spent a lot of time with Itachi, who has been released from the hospital. Sasuke can remember the look on Itachi's face when he saw Sakura after the announcement. It was a mixture of pride, love and wonder. She'll never cease to amaze him, it seems.

Their love truly is amazing.

"Sasuke-kun," says Sakura, "Here, have some tea." She hands him a teacup on a small plate. He accepts the tea. He nods in appreciation.

She smiles and stands next to him as they look at their friends just enjoying time together. Ino is chatting with Hinata, Karin and Tenten near the windows, Chouji, Kiba and Shino are sitting on the couches watching as Itachi and Shikamaru challenge each other in shougi, Neji, Juugo and Lee are seated at the table drinking their tea and talking with Kakashi and Obito, and Naruto is arguing with Kisame and Suigetsu on something that Sasuke doesn't even want to try to wrap his mind around.

Everyone is getting along and there are no problems.

Is this what could have been like had he not left Konoha?

Sasuke suddenly feels strange. He feels a little lightheaded. His vision is getting blurred. He looks to Sakura. She doesn't seem to notice. When he looks down, he could swear that his hands are a little transparent. Is he disappearing?

Is his time here up?

He finds that he doesn't want to leave.

He kind of wanted to leave. He kind of wanted to see his own people again – his own angels again, but at the same time, he wants to stay here – here, where his brother is alive, where his parents are alive, where he knows his wounds will heal fast.

"Are you feeling okay, Sasuke-kun?" asks Sakura. He barely feels her hand wrap around his arm. He looks to her. At her touch, the feeling went away, but he makes no mistake in thinking that it is anything but a warning that his time here is almost up.

"Yeah, I'm fine."

"If you say so," she says. She smiles and then continues watching their friends.

He smiles a little too. He feels warm now that the discomfort is over. He can't help but not want to leave. In this world, he gets to be with everyone. He doesn't have to beg for anyone's forgiveness. No one is in constant danger. No one hates him – and he doesn't hate anyone.

He hears vibrations and turns to Sakura. She's digging her cellphone out of her pocket. She looks at the message and then turns to Sasuke. "Come, let me show you something."

He raises and eyebrow and then follows behind her as they step out of the main lounge.

She leads him to the main entrance to the palace. She signals the guards to let them open the gigantic doors. There is a tall, lanky man standing outside. He is holding a large, rolled up paper. Sakura smiles as she asks, "Is it finished?"

"Almost."

"Come," she says, "I'd like for my friend here to see it."

The man nods and follows between Sakura as she leads them down the hallway. Sasuke recognizes that it's the route to the tea room, which he has realized is Sakura's favorite place.

At Sakura's nod and smile, the man walks to the large tea table. Sasuke then watches as the man unravels the parcel on the tea table.

It's a painting, Sasuke notices.

"Remember, it is not yet complete," says the painter.

"It's okay," says Sakura. She pauses as the painter finishes unrolling the paper. Sasuke can hear her amazement in her voice as she says, "It's perfect."

Sasuke can't disagree. The painting truly is beautiful. It's perfect. He sees his own face in the painting. There are a pair of white wings behind him, on his back no doubt. He sees Naruto too. Similar wings are on his back. He spots Sakura. He spots Itachi. He recognizes almost every face – his parents', Kakashi's, Tsunade's, everyone's. All of them have wings on their back. All of them have their eyes closed and they are all holding hands.

It's beautiful.

He's speechless.

They're all angels.

Even him.

X

It's been two days.

The results are in.

Sakura is on stage again.

"Good afternoon, everybody," she greets. She's smiling again. She is also holding an envelope in her hands. She had refused to tell anyone the results and had spent the whole night with Kakashi going over the votes. Itachi wasn't even allowed to know the result. "I have gone over all of the votes and all of your ballots. There has been a conclusion and it is in this envelope I hold in my hand." She pauses and begins opening the envelope. She takes the paper out. She glances in Sasuke's direction. He's standing with Itachi and everyone else. She smiles slightly and Sasuke just knows that it's good news – but what exactly is her version of "good news"? He never asked if she wanted to give up the throne. She never told him either.

She unfolds the neatly folded paper.

She opens her mouth to speak and it is creepily silent in a room filled with people.

"The result is…a democracy," her amplified voice cuts through the silence.

The audience erupts into a mixture of cheers and boos. Sakura is smiling – not too big. She doesn't want to seem too excited to give up the throne.

A few seconds later, she holds up her hand and everyone silences.

"I will be accepting nominations for government positions. The positions available will be posted at the offices that you have been to, and two days from now, the names of those who have been nominated will be revealed. There will be three runners per position and you will be able to vote ASAP. This will go on for a week. I will now be taking questions. "

She silences as the audience explodes into comments and conversations.

She begins picking people to ask questions.

Sasuke can't believe it. After just another week or two, Sakura will be free. He looks to Itachi. Itachi is smiling as he watches the girl he loves. He looks so proud and happy. Sasuke isn't sure if he has ever seen his brother this happy. He is about to say something – but then, Sasuke feels it again. He can feel himself slipping away from this world.

He looks down at his hands again. Flickering.

He looks to Itachi. Itachi hasn't noticed. He looks around him. He looks at Naruto. He looks at Suigetsu. None of them seem to notice. Is he the only one that sees this?

His headache is getting worse by the second.

Sasuke turns to Suigetsu, who is chatting with Karin and Juugo.

They don't notice.

He wants to ask them to watch over Itachi and Sakura. He wants to cash in that favor that they somewhat seriously offered him for that one time they jokingly ran away from Itachi. He wants them to swear that they'll watch over them.

But when he tries to talk, no sound comes out. He sees Itachi turn to talk to him.

"Yeah," Sasuke hears his voice say, "I'm happy for her."

He hadn't registered what Itachi said through his headache. He hadn't meant to say anything either. And at this, he realizes that it is his time to go.

He hadn't gotten to say goodbye to these people. He hadn't gotten to see his parents one final time. He hadn't gotten to do a lot of things, but he's going back to his own world.

He's going back to a world that he has sinned multiple times. He's going back to a world – a world with people that he has to apologize to, people that he has to earn forgiveness from, and people that he wants to stay in his life.

He's going back to the world that his angels exist in.

These people may look like his angels, but they're not. They have different pasts, they have different futures. They're different. Forgiveness and acceptance from these angels would never be the same as forgiveness and acceptance from his angels.

He keeps his eyes on Itachi for a moment. It may be the last time he'll ever see his brother's face. In the corner of his eyes, he sees a pink blur entering his vision – Sakura no doubt. She walks towards Itachi and she wraps her arms around him. He does the same back.

Content with seeing them happy, Sasuke closes his eyes as he feels himself slipping away.

.

.

.

And when he opens his eyes again, he's where he thought and expected he'd be nearly three years ago – surrounded by foliage and dirt and nature. He gets up with no problem. He obviously has not been out of it as long as he feels that it has been.

He walks towards where he remembers Juugo and Suigetsu were sleeping. They're safe – his comrades. He knows that he has a lot to make up for.

He wants to head for Konoha as soon as possible, but he'll let Juugo and Suigetsu rest. He has a feeling that they'll need it.

Because once they wake up, they have a lot of things to do. He has a lot of time to make up for. He has a lot of broken promises and broken relationships to try to fix.

Especially to his two most important people, Naruto and Sakura, he has a lot to make up for.

So in order to make it all right again, he has a lot of things to do.

Epilogue coming next! :)