Chapter 6 – I Can't See Me Loving Nobody but You, for All My Life…

Over twenty years had passed since the sealing of the Demon Fox. Konoha was finally at peace and had survived everything from invading shinobis, the loss of two very influential hokages and a cornucopia of other troubles.

Nearly ten years passed since Tsunade, the fifth, died and Naruto became the sixth.

The Leaf Village gang still met up often during the year. Each festival, birthday, announcement, the gang of seven put aside all work and made time for each other.

This time, the group's gathering was impromptu, but just as meaningful. Spread out on picnic blankets in Group Seven's old training grounds, the group ate, made jokes, and caught up on news about each other.

Hinata snuggled closer to Kiba and they both smiled at each other, their bodies outlined by Konoha's sun setting low behind the large hill.

Sakura popped a grape into Naruto and then Sasuke's mouth; TenTen and Rock Lee whispered something funny to one another; and surprisingly, Neji and Shino were in the midst of a heated debate about whether or not exchanging the students under their training would be beneficial.

Shikamaru lay with his head in Ino's lap, looking up at her and grinning.

"You're so lazy," Ino said, swatting Shikamaru's arm. He grinned at her.

"Well, you did agree to take me for better or for worse…" he said. She giggled, smoothing his hair. He grabbed her hand and pressed a kiss to the back of it.

Naruto and Sasuke sat hip-to-hip, shoulder-to-shoulder, watching how much their friend changed. Naruto laughed at how romantic Shikamaru had become and reached for Sasuke's hand.

"Oh my goodness, you two are so cute that it's sickening," Naruto said sarcastically. Shikamaru narrowed his eyes at the blonde and then laughed.

"I don't care if you're the hokage. You don't disrespect my wife and me like that," Shikamaru said, standing up. He threw a lazy punch and used the momentum to pull Naruto into a noogie.

"You fall for it every time," Sakura said, laughing as the blonde sputtered, trying to twist out of Shikamaru's grasp.

"Forgive the idiot. He doesn't know any better," Sasuke said from his place under the tree, making no attempt to save the blonde from the wrath of Shikamaru's noogie.

They all looked at each other and smiled.

"So how is everyone?" Hinata asked.

"Good," Chouji said.

"Excellent," Kiba answered, hooking an arm around Hinata's waist.

"Fine," Sasuke and Neji said at the same time. They both laughed.

"Content," Shino said, adjusting his collar.

"Wonderful!" Lee exclaimed. They all rolled their eyes. Good old Rock Lee; he was such a happy little camper.

"Good," TenTen answered, blushing when Rock flashed her his good guy smile, complete with the little ping of his shiny, white teeth.

"Tired," Sakura said giggling as she pried Naruto away from Shikamaru.

A pause. Everyone looked expectantly towards Ino who looked like she was struggling to say something. Shikamaru glanced at her.

"Uh…pregnant," Ino said softly.

"WHAT?!?" they all asked loudly. She blushed. She had a feeling she was two months ago, but she was sure now.

"When are you due?" they all asked in unison.

"In about six months," she answered, twisting her fingers in her lap. The girls got up from where they were sitting and ran to give Ino hugs. The men patted Shikamaru on the back.

Shikamaru's eyes were as wide as platters. Him, a father. So soon?

"Hey, Shikamaru, you never told us how you were," Naruto said, snickering.

He glanced at all of them and wrapped an arm around Ino's shoulders, pressing a kiss to her temple.

"Grateful," he simply said. "So grateful."

A.N. AWW… I know. I didn't particularly like the epilogue, but I'm so tired of trying to fix this series. I have been writing other stuff, so let's just hope those ones are better. I skipped a lot of history in between but I saved those for side stories. As for the ending, the only ones who ended up marrying each other were Shikamaru and Ino, and Kiba and Hinata. The rest of them, well I guess I can go more in-depth with trusty side-fics. Thanks for the reviews. This was so much fun to write!