Hey everyone! Here's the final chapter of Uchiha's Snow! I hope you enjoy it. Thanks always goes out to soprano-in-waiting for being my wonderful editor!

I hope you all enjoy Bright Future!


Everything hurt. Yukino felt as if her skin was burned all over one side. Every cell in her body was screaming out in protest to the tiniest movement. All she wanted to do was go back to the numb, cool darkness where the pain couldn't follow her. The intensity was beyond anything she had ever felt before. Her fuzzy mind sputtered into working on how she even got in this condition.

Without notice, everything came flowing back at once:

She had been looking for Itachi with Sasuke.

Sasuke and Itachi fought.

Itachi died and Sasuke was extremely weak.

Sasuke!

Yukino bolted upright, the sudden movement throwing the blankets away from her. Her heart beat wildly in her chest in her panic. She desperately scanned her surroundings, looking for any clue as to where she was. White walls. Utilitarian furniture. Tile floors. Soft beeping and murmurs of people. Back in the hospital again. This was becoming an unwelcome trend. However, there was just her single bed, a table, and a pair of doors. A single person room. Not a good sign.

Yukino played over the last events she recalled in her mind, as she sat trying to calm down. An Akatsuki member showed up. She fought with him; but was extremely outclassed. After this point, things were fuzzy. She faintly recalled a few other Konoha ninja showed up. There was a big explosion...

'Is that how I wound up here?' Yukino wondered internally. Her left arm sported a few bandages, and she was able to move it. Good sign. She gingerly moved her legs under the hospital blanket. She could feel the scratchy fibers against her skin, so her legs weren't in so bad of a condition that they had to be splinted or completely bandaged. Another good sign. She twisted her body around, but was halted in the first movement by a wave of pain. That wasn't good. Yukino took a look down her torso. One side was completely plastered with bandages, from armpit to the top of her thigh.
'That's right. Probably from the explosion.'

Yukino catalogued her injuries. While they weren't minor bumps and bruises, they were small enough that she could move about if she was careful. With her personal inventory completed, her thoughts returned to the reason for her panic: Sasuke. She had to know what happened to him. Carefully, she shifted her body close to the edge of the bed. Mindful of her bandaged side, she turned so her legs were dangling off the edge. Yukino gingerly slid to her feet. First one foot, then the other. She stood there for a moment, keeping a firm grasp on the bed in case her legs collapsed from under her. They were sore, but nothing unmanageable. With cautious steps, she made her way to the door of her room.

Now she could focus on her mission: find Sasuke.

Yukino opened her door, checking left and then right. Where to even start?

"Yukino?" A familiar female voice greeted her, as Sakura entered the hallway from the adjacent room.

Yukino's face lit up in hope. Sakura should know where Sasuke was! And if she didn't, she could find out. There had to be some perks to being the Hokage's pupil. "Hi, Sakura."

The pink-haired nin cut her off. "Don't you 'Hi' me. What are you doing out of bed?" Sakura reprimanded her.

The injured teen looked confused, "I feel fine so I thought..." she was interrupted by a hand forcefully steering her back to the bed from which she had came. With a gentle, yet insistent push, Yukino was forced down to the bed.

"You aren't allowed anywhere until I give you the okay. You had some intense damage from your fight. You're probably going to have some scarring on your torso from the burn." Sakura stated as she started to give Yukino a quick exam.

After what seemed like forever, Yukino was given the okay to leave the hospital. "Make sure you change the bandages on your arm and torso every other day for the next week or so. And get plenty of rest; you're still recovering." Sakura instructed her.

"Okay, now where's Sasuke? What happened? How long was I out?" Yukino's questions flowed out of her. She had been barred from asking any during her examination by an impatient Sakura.

Sakura replaced Yukino's charts. With a sigh, she began to explain. "Deidara, the Akatsuki member we were fighting, doesn't exist any longer. He blew himself up. Yamato-taicho used his Wood Jutsu to create a barrier over everyone to try to protect us from the blast. It didn't work for long, but Kakashi-Sensei had his Kamui prepped. He used it to pull the majority of the explosion to a different dimension. It would have been much worse if Naruto hadn't used a clone and his RasenShuriken to pre-detonate the crazy Akatsuki member."

"And?" That only answered one of Yukino's questions. She was still waiting on the other two questions to be addressed. Her heart rate increased, 'She hasn't said a word about Sasuke. What if she's stalling to avoid talking about him?'

"You were out for three days, Yukino. Naruto is fine, but Kakashi is still recovering next door."

"So that's who you were with," Yukino commented.

Sakura picked up like she hadn't said anything, "Sasuke is still in the intensive care unit. His chakra was dangerously low. He seems to be getting better slowly but..."

"But what?" Amber eyes were pleading for any scrap of info she could get.

Sakura looked down and away, unable to meet Yukino's gaze. "He isn't recovering at a normal pace. And he hasn't awoken yet."

All color drained from Yukino's face. "W...what does that mean?" She whispered, fearing the worse.

"We don't know yet."

Yukino bit her lip, "Can I go see him?"

Sakura hesitated.

"Usually it isn't allowed, but he's the next one on my list. So you can follow along." She turned her back to hide her hurt face. 'You'd probably follow me anyways, or go off on your own looking for him.'

The two kunoichi left the room, and made their way to another floor, where the ICU was located. Yukino gasped when she entered his room. There in the middle of the room was a figure she could barely see under all the wires, tubes, and bandages. Sasuke was attached to a number of different machines that were softly beeping in the background. The love-struck teen ran to the side of the bed, as the med-nin checked the readings on the equipment.

Yukino knelt next to Sasuke. He looked like he was just sleeping, except for all the wires.

"Sasu." She whispered.

Monitors lit up as machines beeping increased.

"Whatever you did, do it again!" Sakura ordered excitedly.

"Sasu," Yukino called gently. She grabbed his hand carefully, mindful of the wires and tubes. The machines all responded in a growing chorus. "It's me, Yukino. I'm okay, and if you just wake up, you will be too. We're back home now. The fighting is all done."

His body was responding. His hand twitched minutely in hers as his face scrunched up. Blinking his eyes to the bright light, he awoke.

"Sasuke!" Sakura gasped. After three days of no response, she was beginning to be worried of far worse effects from his injuries.

"Sasu!" Yukino called cheerfully, squeezing his hand gently. He was awake; he was going to be okay!

"Yuki, Sakura," Sasuke quietly greeted the kunoichi in turn, his voice not as strong as he would have liked from under the mask. He wearily looked around at his surroundings. He must have been in pretty rough shape to be surrounded by all the tech. But at the moment, he couldn't remember why. Then it hit him. "Itachi?"

Sakura walked over to fill him in, gently taking the mask from his face. "After the dust settled from the explosion, we brought you all back here. Unfortunately," she halted, hanging her head, "He was...already gone. Because he was technically a missing nin, Lady Tsunade took care of the arrangements."

A feeling of sadness filled the room. Sasuke was really the last surviving Uchiha. "I'm sorry, Sasuke." Sakura spoke quietly.

Sasuke felt lost. He had killed his brother, taken revenge for his clan. What was left for him now? A squeeze of his hand brought him back from his whirling thoughts. He looked next to him, Yukino was kneeling right there. She was still there, for him. The ice around his heart, that had started to melt, broke free. A tiny, almost unrecognizable smile played across his lips.

Yukino smiled back. Her heart felt warm and full.

Sakura had noiselessly left the room. Her heart breaking, seeing the couple before her was just too much. She had finally lost him to Yukino.

"What now?" Sasuke asked his voice stronger than before, and happier.

"Well, first of all, you need to get better." Yukino answered.

His black eyes then found her bandages, "You too."

She released his hand to put her good hand on her injuries. "Yeah, it's worse than it looks. I just have to rest for awhile. I got burned from fighting Deidara."

"When did that happen?" His eyes opened in surprise. It wasn't overwhelming but his face showed so much more emotion, compared to his previous self. He was concerned for her well being, and worried that it was a side effect of his own fight.

"After you had collapsed from your injuries and exhaustion, the Akatsuki member, Deidara, came to retrieve Itachi's body, and tried to grab you as well. I tried to protect you, but ended up getting injured instead. I was lucky that the others showed up when they did. Sakura told me I was out for three days. I just awoke a little while ago." She explained.

"So you're okay?" Sasuke was still concerned.

Yukino nodded her head, "Fine except for the burns. Now we can live our lives. Work as ninja for Konoha. Hang out with our friends. Be together..." she smiled shyly, a blush creeping onto her face.

Sasuke almost wondered if she could read thoughts. It was as if she sensed his loss of purpose earlier. He remembered the conversation they had before this all happened. It seemed so long ago now. A warm smile played on his lips, as an idea entered his mind. "Come over here for a second."

"What? I'm already here..." Yukino was confused.

A frustrated look crossed his face, "No, I mean I want to tell you something secret." His movement was restricted thanks to all the machines he was still connected to.

Yukino glanced around the room. Sakura wasn't there. She must have left without them knowing. "But we're alone, Sasu. There's no one here to overhear."

He sighed, why was she being so difficult? She was almost channeling Naruto. He kept his cool. "It's a shinobi hospital. People could still be listening in."

Yukino was still confused, but she'd humor the Uchiha. "Okay," she moved, and put her face near his, almost touching the pillow.

He moved his head slightly, inching closer to Yukino's face. He brushed his lips against her cheek, his own cheeks turning slightly red at the action.

Yukino gasped in surprise. She turned to look at him, shocked to see him actually blushing. 'Is this really Sasuke? No, he's changed. More like his old self; before any of this nonsense happened.'

"Oh, Sasu," she called his name fondly.

"Yuki," he replied sweetly back.

It seemed that the dark clouds of the future had finally started to shift. The future looked bright for the two of them.

THE END.