AN: Well, that's it, last chapter.

Thank you very much for reading all of that!

Ah, here's some barely serviceable fanart I made...

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(Add : / / between https and i. Replace the other spaces by . and add / in between com and the rest; it's a bit of a pain in the ass, I know...)

And thank you for your support, all of you :)
(It really warmed my little heart)
(I would mention you by name but I'd feel like a dick if I missed one of you, so I'll see you down in the comments I guess...)

If you're into that... I'll post a few short omakes in a few days (as a new story), that do take place after the story, and likely don't fit the tone of this story, being more lighthearted, kinda cracky and all...

I'll probably write another full-on story at some point too, it's... pretty fun!

Ah, yeah, apparently email notifications are opt-in only now, so.. I'll see those of you who remember about it by then or those who fav'd and opted in hahaha

See you around in the next one and here goes :)

EPILOGUE: The Wind's Call

They were not seen or heard from for a month.

April 25th, Year 0 of the Unification. Region of Kadami, formerly known as Northern Land of Wind.

Sakura swept through the corridors of the place they were staying at with the grace of a queen.

Naruto knew her well enough, though. Her anger was obvious. He didn't even have to see her to know.

Footsteps, almost as light as ever, in the hallways were enough.

"You!" She snarled, entering the hot springs.

Naruto blinked. "Did you take a page out of Yugito's book, perhaps?" He asked innocently, from inside the water. Nestled against him, under his heavy, tattooed arm was a half-asleep Hanabi; she mumbled something about a pipe.

"Yes!" Sakura roared. "What she said! The pipe!"

"…Is there anything wrong with it?" Naruto asked, tilting his head.

"Well…" Sakura gritted out. "Imagine my surprise when I bought some local — great quality — tobacco, bought a small, specific pipe for it… inhaled the smoke… and found myself having a coughing fit!"

Naruto didn't smile, but a little glint of amusement shone brightly in his eyes.

"I really don't see what this has to do with me." He said blandly.

"Your pipe — doesn't — work!" Sakura threw her towel aside. "Because you—"

"Made it so that it destroys tobacco, yes." Naruto nodded sagely. "Told you smoking was a bad habit."

With a roar, Sakura threw herself at him. Hanabi just disappeared in a flash of white light.

"Naruto!" Sakura screamed, diving into the water. Some of it rose around her, shaping itself into dozens of snarling creatures.

"I'm sure I told you not to strong-arm me into doing shit for you." He cackled, dodging her leap.

"I'll strong-arm you into asking for forgiveness!" Sakura retorted, trying to wrap her legs around his neck to put him into a choke-hold.

"Oh! You're in that kind of mood, then." He laughed.

"Not at all!"

Karin's long, beautiful red hair fluttered in the wind as she went barreling through the streets.

At least she didn't take to the air, where Ino was admittedly much slower.

"Ugh…" Ino muttered. "You're such a child!"

Karin turned around, grinning. "Perhaps." She laughed. "But you're too slow!" She taunted.

"Give it back!"

"I'll do so when you stop ignoring me." Karin laughed.

"It's… important research." Ino tried.

"Nah, it's not. And you promised to take some time off anyway." Karin stuck her tongue out.

"Fine — I'll take a break — Hand it over!"

"Nuh-uh." Karin chuckled. "I won't fall for that one again. Catch me if you can!"

"KARIN!"

She was already gone. Ino gave chase.

She couldn't help but smile a fond smile, though.

Later, after a shower, Ino stumbled upon Naruto and Sakura.

And she was not particularly impressed.

"…Really…?" She shook her head in consternation. "We bathe in this one."

"I'll clean it." Naruto shrugged, not bothering to stop.

"I don't care." Sakura just shook her head dismissively. "Go back to Karin or something, Ino. We're - Ah! - busy here."

"Oh…?" Ino lifted a threatening eyebrow. "Why don't you get on your knees entirely, fivehead…? I'm sure I can find a better use for your mouth."

Naruto chuckled.

The seals he had carved into his skin, so long ago, had not troubled him ever since their full awakening.

He didn't mind their presence anymore. They were part of him, and he found that he enjoyed their… passive benefits.

"Having a good day so far?" Naruto asked a smiling Yugito through their connected scrying glass.

She pinched her lips.

"Your clone — well… you—" Yugito began.

"I know what he said, yes." Naruto nodded sagely. The clones only transmitted the important information, after all.

"And… what do you think of it…?" She asked, sounding like the storm… well, before more storm.

Naruto hid a smile.

"Yuruto is a great name." He said evenly. "A bit of both parents."

"This is the dumbest fucking thing I've heard."

"Yet." Naruto nodded, with the slightest quirk of his lips. "The day is still young. I can outdo myself… Nagito?"

"I think it's going to be better for everyone involved if I name the child."

"Hmpf." Naruto rolled his eyes. "I know of Kumo's traditions. You're going to name him Y or something."

"Of course not! Where did you even get the idea?!"

"An adjective won't cut it either." Naruto said pointedly. "No Warui, Dasai, Hiroi or whatever."

This time, she said nothing.

"Hits too close to home…?" He chuckled.

Yugito grunted something rude in answer.

"…Beats naming him Uzumaki… Nii. Madara the Second." She finished.

"I don't know… It has something, that one." Naruto mused. "Soul."

She hissed.

"What do you think of… Koruto?" Naruto asked.

"Hell no!" She spat.

Naruto cackled.

"I was joking. Same thing for the other names. We don't even know their gender yet."

She sighed in frustrated relief.

"But please, tell me about your day." Naruto said.

"Didn't your clone already tell you everything…?" She muttered. "He grabbed-"

"The rest, I mean. I'd like to hear it from you." He smiled.

"Oh. Okay, if you wish…" She began, a small, almost timid smile pulling on her own lips. "It's just boring stuff, really, but here goes…"

Naruto checked in with Mai, Anko and Toru, in order.

Everything was under control. And if something happened, there was no shortage of people who would warn him. Including Sasuke.

No emergency would bring them back home, then.

Toru talked his ear off about the most inane things, too.

Umi was home.

But home was people, too. Naruto thought with a fond smile.

April 27th, Year 0 of the Unification. Region of Kadami.

Toru joined them, as he had said, figuring that a few weeks would be enough for them to have gotten it out of their system.

Surprisingly enough, his girlfriend Akemi; Yugito and Matatabi came along.

'Well… okay?' Naruto blinked. Toru gave him the mental equivalent of a shrug.

"What?" Akemi laughed. "It's a coffee shop. Yoshi and Ayano can manage it easily!"

Matatabi glared at Naruto, daring him to say something, anything at all. Yugito seemed a bit hesitant about being here at all, so Naruto settled for smiling at them fondly.

"Toru. Welcome back, Yugito, Akemi! Oh… and you're here too, Matatabi."

Yugito smiled back. The nekomata hissed. Which definitely felt less and less threatening every time.

"Someone has to keep an eye on Yugito and…" Matatabi hesitated, looking at the two of them.

"Yes, my spawn." Naruto said dryly.

"...Yugito's child."

"As you wish." Naruto shrugged.

He embraced the three of them successively, ignoring the hissing Bijū entirely.

Naruto thought of something. Since she was here already…

"Say, Akemi, wanna learn how to use chakra?" He asked.

She blinked. "I can…? You didn't tell me I could!" She glared at Toru.

"How was I supposed to know that?!" He shot back. "Does it look like this eye comes with a handbook?"

"Well the Sage gave chakra to men… or something. I'm sure I can manage to give it to a friend or two." Naruto shrugged.

He would teach her the basics, and if he liked teaching… maybe he'd find himself a few apprentices, across the world?

"Okay…?" Akemi nodded. "Yeah, sure."

Not right now, though.

Hanabi somehow roped Sakura and the newcomers into following her to the city of Enzaki. Ino shrouded them in one of her latest creations. An illusion to make them look like other people.

One that only the Rinnegan could see through, unless they decided otherwise.

Naruto quickly lost sight of them. Strangely enough, Hanabi and Yugito got along like two peas in a pod.

Enzaki, Region of Kadami.

The city of Enzaki used to be the fourth biggest in the Land of Wind. Today, it was Kadami's capital.

It was situated on a plateau, a little over a thousand meters above sea level on the river of the same name, near what had been the border with Earth, until Naruto messed up the whole world's borders.

The city was divided into an older upper section and a newer part to the south, that stretched out on either side of the Enzaki River; the two sections of the city were linked by an ancient bridge built a long, long time ago.

Centuries ago, Enzaki was captured by people from up north. Then taken by the Shmatsuri, it was incorporated into the Tskone Empire. After withstanding a siege by Aiikaoi and successfully resisting the next invaders, it fell to the Wind troops, two centuries ago.

Enzaki was important as a centre for trade in livestock and was noted for its cheese. It also produced coarse wools, carpets, and felts.

It had been an important military station for Suna — and Wind — back then, as it was linked by road to major cities.

Somebody was talking to Naruto.

Naruto stared at the man.

He couldn't make sense of what he was saying at all.

"Ino…?" He pleaded with his eyes.

"No idea, really."

"Tell me it's not his accent at least."

"No." She laughed. "There are two official languages in Enzaki. I'm not sure what he's saying either."

"Ah." He sighed in relief.

"What's he thinking?" Karin asked.

"He's inviting you to come look at his wares, I think." She shrugged.

"Sure, why not." Naruto nodded.

Karin froze.

Naruto gave her a quizzical look. "What's up?"

"Uh." She hesitated. It had been a while since she had last seemed so confused.

"Bad news?" Naruto frowned.

"No. I — Ah, fuck. There's… something. You remember that… tracking task you gave me…?"

Naruto's eyes widened.

"Yeah." Karin nodded. "One of my clones found something."

"You think that…?"

"Yeah, almost certainly. Same chakra."

Ino tilted her head.

"That's vague, now. In the shop, you mean…?"

"No… Not at all. It's in the Mikawa region, formerly in the former Land of Lightning, and… — Oh, you know what, let's go check it out first, before I say anything stupid." Karin said. "Because that's quite…"

The three of them left Enzaki — and Kadami altogether — without warning the others.

Karin led the way.

They met a woman, who was friendly… way too friendly, which made things much easier.

She was a very kind woman, if a bit… peculiar. She invited them into her home very casually.

Tomiyama, Mikawa Region.

"The Tale of the Gutsy Ninja…?" Naruto asked the woman in question. Something about the book's name felt familiar.

Her eyes brightened.

"He loves this book." She gushed. "Even before he learned how to read, he was just staring at the pages! He already had it with him when I found him."

Naruto just nodded, unwilling to say much about the topic.

"He is a godsend, really." The woman said, still looking amazed. "I tried so many ways… And I had given up on having a child of my own, long ago — and adopting is difficult, as a lone woman. Then suddenly, before I knew it… I met him when I passed in front of the orphanage."

"That is incredible." Karin nodded, lips pursed.

"It is." The woman smiled. "Some of the people there found him strange — nonsense! Just because he is mature for his age and… appeared there one day! — They saw how taken I was with him… A few days later he came home with me."

"How… is he?" Ino asked.

"He's a very precocious boy." The woman smiled. "I know, I know, everybody says that, but he really is."

Naruto and Ino shared a look.

"May we… meet him?" Naruto asked her, ignoring the trepidation he felt.

"My son…?" The woman squinted her eyes at him. "Well, I guess you don't look like bad folks… Plus I already invited you in for tea and all…"

Karin lifted an eyebrow.

"Yashagorō-chan!" The woman called. "Come down, there are people here to meet you!"

"Yes." A high-pitched voice sighed. "I know already. I am coming… Mother."

A very small boy with pale skin appeared upstairs. He could not be any older than one.

But there could be no doubt, at this point.

No child this small was supposed to walk like this… or talk this clearly. He came down the stairs somewhat clumsily, because he simply was too small.

"That's my boy!" His mother laughed proudly.

"You didn't tell us he was still… a baby." Naruto shook his head.

"I told you he was precocious, didn't I?" The woman shot back.

Precocious…?

Did the woman have any sort of idea there was nothing normal about this child at all…?

Short, straight, black hair. Pale skin.

Amused, ancient, golden eyes stared at Naruto.

Yashagorō… Orochimaru stood in front of them, on stubby legs.

Ino and Karin both gasped.

"He's so—" Karin began.

Orochimaru preened at the attention.

"I was wondering when you would figure it out… or find me." He said, in a high-pitched voice. It was obvious he was proud of his achievement.

"That's nice, dear." The woman nodded.

"—Cute!" Ino lifted him in the air with a squeal.

"...Please put me down, Ino." Orochimaru said.

"No way!" She laughed. "You're adorable."

"I told you." The mother said proudly. "He always seems to know things like this. Guessing people's names… And life has become so much easier since he's around. I used to have so much trouble making a living — Which made it even harder to adopt, you can imagine — Now, it seems like my luck has turned completely. Recently, someone sent me a large amount of money, entirely anonymously... along with a grateful letter — I don't know who to thank, even and I thought it was a scam, at first and—"

Karin looked at Orochimaru, who looked away.

"Yeah." Karin said, hiding her laugh. "It's like things are going smoother since he's here, right? Like magic."

"Exactly!" The woman smiled, glad that someone finally understood.

"May I hold him…?" Naruto asked her with a polite smile. Orochimaru glared at him.

"Of course you may! Be nice, Yashagorō-chan." She glared at him. "He can be a bit difficult, sometimes. I'm surprised he even let you hold him." She said to Ino.

"I guess I'm just good with kids." Ino shrugged casually.

Ino engaged her in a conversation, in order to keep her distracted.

Naruto picked him up.

"You and I…" He began, whispering into his ear, with a vein pulsing on his forehead. "Have a lot to talk about, Yashagorō-chan."

"Why is that…? It worked, didn't it?" Orochimaru muttered back, making sure his mother didn't hear.

"Yeah. I guess it did." Naruto grunted. "Though of course I'm wondering why you wouldn't do the same thing to yourself, if you're so convinced it was a sane idea. You definitely are young enough."

"It wouldn't work for me. Besides… Carving runes in my skin?" Orochimaru snorted in derision. "Communing with higher beings…? Now why would I do something this risky…? I'd rather wait twenty years, now that you took care of my little Nagato problem."

"…Of course, of course." Naruto gritted out.

Bastard.

"Well… Now that you're here…" Orochimaru began.

Naruto applied the Thunder Gate seal on Orochimaru's shoulder wordlessly.

"Thank you." Orochimaru said pleasantly. "I shall come around while Mother—… While the woman is sleeping. I was getting a bit… bored around here."

"You stayed, though."

Orochimaru shrugged. "She wanted a child, I can be a dutiful son for a decade and some. I have a lot of projects to complete. Besides, she leaves me in peace, mostly."

"Good boy. You don't have a curfew, then…?"

Orochimaru hissed. Naruto chuckled.

"You can do that. Or we can just offer her a place in Umi as well." Naruto shrugged.

"It's worth asking." Orochimaru shrugged, the motion looking strange on such a small thing. "I heard you were up to… a lot of different things, weren't you?"

"…We've been busy, yeah."

"Shōgun." Orochimaru laughed. "I didn't quite think you were this ambitious when I first met you."

"…Me neither, really."

This was shaping up to be a strange, strange day.

Ino continued to speak, the woman hanging on to her every word.

"…Well, thank you for teaching me, Orochimaru." Naruto said, more honestly. "And for the rest. None of this would have been possible, without you."

"Don't I know this?" Orochimaru smiled, waving it off. "It was a pretty fruitful bargain for me, as well."

"You got your immortality. Even then, there's something I have to show you, later."

"Of course. I set plenty of contingencies, too. I really didn't know if it would work, back then, so I didn't bother telling you. I'll explain all of that to you, since I get the feeling you could use it, as well." Orochimaru said with a pointed look. He likely had realized that Naruto's own soul was bound to this realm.

"I don't think we used the exact same process." Naruto mused. "When I died, my body was destroyed entirely. And then recreated from my chakra."

It had taken a while for his chakra to gather again, just like the Bijū.

And for that matter… how did Orochimaru come back with a new body… one that was so eerily similar — besides the age — to his previous one…?

"It doesn't matter that much, but please, do tell me more about your way, later on. We can make better anchors for both of us. Now… no matter how you did it, immortality has to be managed carefully. You wouldn't want to live through things such as the heat death of the universe, trapped into a soul jar… or stay floating in space aimlessly until the end of time, I assume."

"Not particularly." Naruto said evenly. "And I'd rather avoid spending days in the void of space again, too."

"Then there are a few things to take care of, still." Orochimaru said.

"And I'll help you fix yours." Naruto grinned. "Unless you enjoy becoming a kid again every time things go wrong."

"...Not particularly." Orochimaru said evenly.

The dynamic between the two of them had undoubtedly changed, as they were equals, now. It would change some more.

"It's settled then. Now I guess you can… explain to Anko why you never bothered explaining any of this shit to us… Yashagorō-chan. Keep in mind she's pregnant, stronger than ever and a bit… difficult."

Orochimaru winced. "…Of course, of course. Anko first."

At first, Anko laughed, thinking it was a joke in bad taste.

Then…

"How good it is to see you again… Sensei." Anko said, holding Orochimaru's diminutive form up in the air as though he were a bomb. An angry vein was throbbing on her forehead.

"It is good to see you again… Anko." Orochimaru hesitated. "My apologies for not warning you, I had no real faith in this method and I was… taken by surprise. Since it worked in the end, the fault lies with me."

Anko gritted her teeth.

"What about after…?"

Orochimaru gestured to his body.

"I was… stuck, as you can see. Umi is hard to reach, when people don't take you seriously. And… I'm pretty vulnerable, too."

Anko sighed.

Out of all of her sensei's bullshit, this was not as bad as it could have been. And he was here, after all.

"And I see that you're expecting." Orochimaru noted.

"Ah, yes." She seemed to calm down a bit. Bad for the baby. "Yeah. I figured it was time to get my hands on the Sharingan somehow, you know…?" She laughed. "Since you couldn't do it."

"Of course." Orochimaru chuckled. Besides Anko, there was no one else alive who knew he actually had cared a lot about its power, in the past. And she was the only one who would joke about it, anyway. "You were always my favorite for a reason, after all."

"Aww…" Anko sniffled. "…Damn, this pregnancy is really playing tricks on my mind."

"Of course, of course." Orochimaru nodded wisely. Tears were preferable to red anger, when it came to Anko.

"I…" Anko hesitated.

"Yes…?"

"That's… kinda stupid." She sniffled a bit. "But… I saved some funny headlines — Uh. Just… you know? Tradition."

Orochimaru smiled a true, fond smile.

"I would love to see the ones you believe are better, of course. But I simply have more experience. Well, let us compare, then."

Days passed.

Alone with an expensive bottle of sake, Orochimaru poured four cups.

He sat in front of a stone, solemnly. He had carved three names into it, in spite of what he privately thought of monuments to the dead.

Because he knew the three of them would give him hell for it, otherwise.

Orochimaru had not been a drinker before, and he was not about to start now that his body was that of a child again.

He poured his own into the earth and sat in contemplative silence for several hours.

Days passed.

May 15th, Year 0 of the Unification.

Their next destination was likely West of the Elemental Lands.

There, they would take a boat to the small continent that supposedly lay beyond. Or maybe they would craft something a bit more convenient. Taking to the air would be easy, now, Naruto realized. A flying boat…?

They could also go much faster that way. Then again, the point of a journey was not necessarily to get there. Besides, the continent in question might well be nothing more than rumor, too.

Well, they wouldn't be there before a month or two, at this rate, anyway. So that was a problem for later. If he could even call it a problem.

Maybe South…? It was hard to decide, really.

But traveling the world on their own feet, seeing it with their own eyes… That was worth it.

There would be more trouble, of course.

There always would be, like these immortal… conquerors from beyond the Earth that Yoisen had mentioned in passing in her latest letter — she had sent him a few, each of them holding a few sealed books or things she knew he would find of interest.

It was… an interesting sort of correspondence. Yoisen was traveling to the East, far far away… and apparently was pretty fascinated. Ino was less impressed. Though she did read anything Yoisen sent that was tangentially related to architecture.

Yoisen was equally fascinated by the modern world's cameras. Ino was less fascinated by the woman's sudden tendency to send pictures of whatever she found interesting. Even less so by the pictures of herself.

She had sent them wedding wishes, too. Naruto was almost sure he had felt her presence for an instant, on that day. Yoisen could be very sneaky, when she wanted to.

Now…

Naruto was pretty confident in their ability to handle the Ōtsutsuki. But they would prepare for the worst anyway.

Besides, they had a few projects in the works.

Ōtsutsuki could travel through space…?

Well, Orochimaru was back into the fold, and very interested. How he had managed to rope both Anko and Shisui into it… Naruto didn't know.

In time, humans would be able to travel through space, Naruto was certain of it. He was less sure of how he felt about being distantly related to… extraterrestrial beings, as he had thought this was just myth. The Sage had never told Indra much about that, apparently.

Well… There was no reason to wait for the Ōtsutsuki, was there…? Maybe they could negotiate, maybe not. It would be nice, sure, but…

Conquering the stars and the galaxy didn't seem to be too bad of a plan. Pretty exciting stuff, even.

Humans could grow much more, him included. Intellectually, spiritually and physically. They could soar to new heights, once they cast aside their self-imposed shackles.

This came before the space-faring thing. Naruto would rather not be responsible for bringing the worst humanity had to offer to other planets.

On Earth… There were so many things to do still, and he felt blessed for the existence of Shadow Clones. With them and the Rinnegan, an impossible task became…

Something he could do while living his life.

And gods… a son? A daughter?

When was the last time it had happened to him…?

He would—

"Stop with the intellectual masturbation!" Toru called, walking in front of Naruto, who was completely spacing out. "There is a lot to see here! Once we go down the narrow road—"

(Sakura and Ino were arguing heatedly, undoubtedly about something trivial. Karin insisted that Sakura was in the wrong. She likely was.)

"Coming, coming." Naruto chuckled.

(Hanabi picked Matatabi up, over Yugito's half-baked protests. The nekomata hissed dangerously, but didn't exactly do anything. A softie, like Yugito, in the end.)

There were plenty of things he hadn't seen yet, and the world had changed a lot over the centuries.

(Akemi asked Toru what kind of things people were drinking around here, to which he generously offered for all of them to go and find out — Naruto's treat, he insisted. Typical.)

New realms, people and creatures.

…Beings, entities from outside this plane of existence, as well.

New uses for chakra, new discoveries and technologies.

Naruto saw the women waiting expectantly, and Toru gesturing rudely for him to hurry up.

Naruto looked at their smiles and knew his own matched theirs.

He remembered the hardships, the mistakes, the pain, the insanity, the fear and the horror and the sorrow. There would be more to come.

He remembered the friendships, the lessons, the joy, the understanding, the victories and the adventures and the love. There would be more to come.

Because that was balance meant, too.

Wind rose up around Naruto, not by his will.

It soared, high and free toward the open skies. It passed through trees, rivers, deserts and mountains. Then to the West, crossing the oceans to lands unexplored.

Naruto felt the Wind call. It was a gentle call, carrying no expectations and no demands.

It was a friend's call.

All was well. They had all the time in the world.

Naruto answered its call.

END