Well, folks, this is it! The final chapter!

I do not own Naruto!

Chapter Twenty-six

It was the day of the Academy graduation. Itachi stood in the crowd of spectators, watching as the students were called up one at a time by their instructors. His parents were also somewhere in the crowd, but Itachi had been doing his best to avoid them ever since they had brought up his engagement to Mariko the very first time they visited him in the hospital.

Sasuke's name was called. The boy stood up and walked forward calmly. He accepted his headband and bowed respectfully to Iruka. When he turned around, his expression was serious, but Itachi could tell he was fighting hard to keep it that way.

Shortly after, it was Naruto who was called. Predictably, the blond did not even try to feign stoicism. He let out a loud whoop, ran forward, and hugged Iruka after receiving his headband, grinning from ear to ear the whole time. Itachi shook his head, but couldn't help but chuckle. Still, he was a bit surprised by the pang of sadness that came with knowing that his mission was now complete. Naruto was now officially a ninja, and on his own; Itachi was no longer his protector.

Itachi heard someone approaching through the crowd. He glanced over and saw Kakashi, his hands stuffed in his pockets and looking characteristically bored.

"Thought you might want to know, they've both been assigned to me." he said.

"Do you plan on actually keeping this team?" Itachi asked.

Kakashi shrugged, his visible eye squinting in an unseen smile, "That depends on them, but I've got a good feeling about this one."

"You'll take care of them, right?"

"You have to ask?"

After the graduation, Itachi waited outside for the boys to be officially released and finish talking with their classmates. He did not have to wait long.

"Itachi-niisan! Did you see?!" Naruto asked, excitedly as he burst through the Academy doors.

"Yes, I saw. It was kind of hard not to." Itachi replied with a smirk.

Naruto adjusted his new headband, still grinning.

"I'm glad you could be here." Sasuke said.

"…Me too. There's something I need to talk to you both about."

Naruto apparently heard the seriousness in Itachi's tone and stopped smiling, "What?"

"I didn't want to tell you this until after you graduated. I didn't want it to distract you."

"Just tell us." Sasuke said apprehensively.

"I'm… I'm very sick. I have been for a while. I won't be around for much longer; maybe a few more years."

Sasuke looked as if he was going to puke, "You're…You're going to die?"

"Eventually, yes."

"No way!" Naruto exclaimed, "Me and Sasuke won't let that happen!"

Itachi smiled sadly, "There's nothing you can do, Naruto. There's no cure."

"Then we'll find one!"

Sasuke seemed to have collected himself, "Yeah. We'll find a cure, we'll find something."

"I don't want you to worry about me. You're both Genin now. You have your own missions and your own problems to think about."

Naruto shook his head empathically, "I don't care. We're not going to let you die!"

It took a while, but Itachi finally managed to calm Sasuke and Naruto down and send them home. He wandered the streets a bit trying to think, but the excitement in the village about the graduation made it difficult. He set out to find somewhere quiet.

Itachi set his crutches aside and carefully sat down against the far southern wall, not far from the Naka River. He winced as it strained his back, but the pain soon subsided. He took a deep breath and leaned back, closing his eyes. Sometimes he wondered what life would have been like if he had not been born an Uchiha, had not become a ninja. He wondered if he would be happier now.

"For a cripple, you are a hard man to find." said a familiar voice.

Itachi opened his eyes just as Hana sat down beside him. He had come here to be alone, but now that she was here, he found that he did not mind the intrusion.

"The Brothers aren't with you?"

Hana shook her head, "Nah. I just came from the graduation. Besides, they're still exhausted. They could use the break."

"What about you? How are you doing?"

"I'm fine. I wasn't the one with a stab wound, second degree burns, a broken hand, broken ribs, a concussion, a cracked femur and—oh yeah—a fractured spine."

"Thanks for that, I'd almost forgotten." Itachi said sarcastically.

"You really had us worried, you know."

"…I know."

"We…We haven't really gotten a chance to talk about what happened back there. I mean, about you being sick, and… the other stuff."

"Are you still angry with me for not telling you sooner?"

"A little, yeah." Hana admitted, "But, that's not really the point. I… I don't want to lose my best friend."

"I don't think either of us have a say in it. Sasuke and Naruto seem convinced they can find a cure though." Itachi said with a rueful smile.

"Well, then there's nothing to worry about." Hana said lightly, "I don't think there's anything those two can't do once they've made up their minds. And I hope you don't think I'm just going to give up on you either."

"Hana Inuzuka giving up… That would certainly be unprecedented."

"Exactly."

Itachi sighed, "I wish that everything could just be simple for once. The Akatsuki are still out there, Danzo has been lurking around, Shisui still isn't himself, and to make things even more fun, my mother wants to discuss wedding plans."

Hana grimaced, "Yeah… it seems like you keep drawing the short straw. But maybe it's because you can handle it."

"…Maybe."

"You know I'll always be here for you, right? Shisui's going through a lot right now, but when it comes down to it, so will he."

Itachi smiled, a real smile this time, "I know. Thank you."

"There was… also that other thing that happened down there. I guess I should probably apologize for that. I… wasn't really thinking." Hana said, her ears burning a dark red.

"Then I think I'd like to stop thinking for a while too." Itachi said.

Hana looked over at him confused, and Itachi took the opportunity to lift a hand and touch her cheek, tracing her bright red clan markings with his thumb. He leaned in slowly, gently brushing his lips across hers, and just for a moment, the looming dilemmas in his life were far away.

It occurred to Itachi that maybe none of that mattered anyway. Even if he were to suddenly take a turn for the worse and die tomorrow, he was satisfied with the life he had lived and the people he had known. He had been the best big brother he could to Sasuke. He had made a difference in Naruto's life. He had helped keep the village safe for another day. He had done something with his life, small though it might have been in the grand scheme of things, and he could be happy with that.

Wow, I actually finished something! It's a miracle!

Thanks to everybody who has been following this story from the beginning. You're awesome!

I do have plans for a sequel, but I have no idea when I will get around to writing it. I might wait to see how the manga turns out and go from there.