I do not own Naruto, nor do I make any money off of this.

"talking"

'thinking'

written words

Epilogue:

Naruto sat in the living room, opening gifts. It was his twenty-fourth birthday. Sasuke was now thirty-five. He was sitting next to Naruto. Kohaku, who was now ten, and Matatabi, who was eleven, sat on floor with Kohaku being closer to Naruto and Matatabi being closer to Shukaku. Shukaku and Kurama where sitting on the other couch. They had moved out just over a year after Naruto and Sasuke got married, a few months before getting married themselves. Shukaku was twenty-five and working at the Namikaze Empire as the president while Kurama was the new CEO, after her father retired. Kurama was now forty-years-old. She had a hand on her nearly seven-month pregnant stomach, her due date being a few days before Christmas. The doctors had told Kurama that she'd never be able to get pregnant, so this baby was a true miracle.

Sasuke still ran Uchiha Corp while Naruto worked at a daycare. Naruto had always been good with children so it wasn't surprising when he decided to go for a teaching degree. Although they didn't keep in touch, Sakura had sent Naruto a birthday present. She now lived in Suna with her fiance and was a nurse. Her goal was to become a doctor by the end of the year. Gaara had also moved to Suna, taking Neji with him. Neji ran the Hyuuga Company, a small sports company that had ties with both Uchiha Corp and the Namikaze Empire. Temari on the other hand, stayed behind in Konoha. She had finally gotten married to Shikamaru just a few months ago, which was late considering that they already had two kids with a third due in March. Fu worked as a manager at a small clothing store while Senshi worked on his music. Hinata and Shino got jobs as veterinarians while Nari and Kai moved to Cloud and became teachers. Sek-kun ended up becoming a chief under Choji. And Yumi… Less than a month after Naruto and Sasuke announced their wedding, Yumi and her mother moved. No one has seen nor heard from her since.

Sai was sitting in a chair between the two couches. He had managed to get a few days off to visit Naruto and Sasuke. A few months after they agreed to the plea deal, the real person behind Itachi and his child's deaths was found. It turned out that the man had a grudge not with Sai, but with Itachi. He knew he couldn't go after Itachi himself and both Kurama and Sasuke had bodyguards, so that left Sai. He hired someone to tamper with Sai's breaks in hopes that he'd die. But as luck would have it, Itachi and his child died instead. The man had bragged about in his journal which the police found when they searched his place. Normally, a search warrant wouldn't have been granted with such a lack of evidence, but the man was facing charges of assault and battery. The judge granted the warrant based on the fact that the man maybe planning worse for the woman he had harmed. Inside the journal included the plan for Sai's "accident" as well as a bank statement for the money he paid to have the tampering done. The man was arrested and tried for premeditated attempted murder along with two accounts of murder. It wasn't counted as manslaughter since it was obvious that he had meant Itachi harm. Along with all the other charges he faced, the man received the death penalty and was hanged only a month after being imprisoned. It seemed he caught on to the betrayal of his employee because while he was out on bail before his own trial, the employee was shot in the head. The search for his killer was still ongoing.

Kakashi and Iruka had mailed Naruto his gift since the two were on their anniversary vacation in Iceland. It turned out to be a blanket depicting an Aurora Borealis along with a book clearly from Kakashi. Naruto promised to burn it later while Sasuke was a bit interested in reading it. Naruto was currently using the blanket as he was handed the last gift, Kohaku's gift. It was in a box the size of a clothing box. Naruto carefully unwrapped it before asking Sasuke if he had a box cutter. Handing it to Naruto, Sasuke watched with anticipation. Pulling off the top of the box, Naruto was rewarded with a picture of him, Sasuke, and Kohaku. He couldn't help but smile at the beautiful picture. As he lifted it out of the box, something fell out of the back of the picture frame. Afraid he had broken it, Naruto leaned down only to pick up a piece of paper. Naruto opened it to discover that it was a letter written by Kohaku. He read it aloud.

"Dear Naru,

Happy Birthday is not that only thing I wanted to say today. I also wanted to let you know that I love you very much. You have been here for me for almost my entire life. The day we met was the happiest day in my life, the second being the day you married Dad. Since you made the first day my happiest and Dad made the second one, I figured it is my turn to make the third. However, in order to do this, I need to ask you a question. It will probably come as a surprise to you although it really shouldn't. I'm sure that it will cause you to either cry or smile or be at a lost for words. Who knows, maybe all three. Now I've postponed it as much as I could. Here it goes: Naruto Uchiha, will you adopt me?"

Naruto fell silent as his eyes widened. Tears instantly came to his eyes before he dropped the picture and the letter, luckily Sasuke was able to grab them, and lunged at Kohaku, lifting him into a hug. He couldn't form any words, just as Kohaku predicted so instead he just cried. It took him a few minutes before he finally stopped. He pulled back and smiled at Kohaku, informing the boy of his answer before he could even say it. But it still had to be said. "Yes," Naruto managed to say. "Yes, I'll adopt you. You have been and always will be my son."

Kohaku smiled back at the blond. "Good." He walked into the kitchen and came back with a folder. "Then all you need to do is sign here." He opened it to the page that needed Naruto's signature. Without a word, Sasuke handed Naruto a pen. Naruto signed and Kohaku closed the folder, skipping into the kitchen to put it away for later. He came back into the living room to see Naruto kissing Sasuke. Kohaku smiled at his family.

Thank you for reading Place to Call Home. I'm sure there are many questions you have left unanswered, but there is no more to this story. However, if you have made it this far, then you have unlocked a special scene that takes place before Naruto and Sasuke got married. Here it is:

.

.

After Kurama and Shukaku left, Yumi stood up to reveal that she was no longer bleeding. She cursed and let out a scream as she stomped to her room. Throwing things around her room, she ended up breaking a mirror. She stood in front of the mirror. Because it was shattered, all she could see was the black around her body and her eyes. Still angry, she left her room and stomped back into the kitchen. She was about to make a mess when the blood on her hands caught her eye. Yumi ran to the sink and washed them before she remembered what Kurama had done to her face. She quickly washed away the blood that had dried there before inspecting her nose with her pocket mirror. It was a special mirror that allowed her to see what she currently looked like. She frowned at the black and blue already forming on her cheek and around her nose. Yumi headed for the bathroom and used some makeup to hide the bruises. She couldn't feel the pain, so touching it didn't bother her. After she was done with that, she moved back into the living room and began to clean up all traces of Kurama's presence. She wasn't going to allow her mom to find out what had happened. The next place she cleaned up was her bedroom. Luckily, she had the right book to help her out and everything returned to how it was before, even the mirror. She ignored it as she made her way back into the living room. Taking a seat on the couch, she opened a book, awaiting her mom's arrival.

Yumi's mother, Marine (pronounced: Ma-rin-nay) only cared for Yumi. After her boyfriend left her once he found out she was pregnant, she went to her parents and begged them to take care of her. Her parents were French and owned a small company in Paris. Her father instantly disowned her while her mother handed her a credit card. Marine was forced to live in small apartment doing odd jobs here and there as she continued her education. She didn't like having to rely on her mother's credit card. When her father found out about the credit card, he beat her mother to death. The police ended up arresting the father and sending him to Sound. Marine's uncle ended up getting ownership of the company. He took Marine in. Once Yumi was born, Marine moved back to Konoha to get away from her uncle. She had seen the look he gave her when they were alone. Marine's uncle followed her to Konoha and tried to rape her, but Yumi's cries distracted him enough for Marine to hit him with a lamp. Deciding she wasn't worth it, Marine's uncle returned to France, leaving a broken Marine to believe that Yumi was the only one she had. Marine worked at a dinner while taking care of Yumi. When Yumi was old enough to take care of herself, Marine got another job so that she could give Yumi anything she wanted.

Yumi ended up being spoiled. This changed a bit when she met Fu and Sek-kun. At first, Marine didn't like them but since Yumi did, Marine was forced to act like she did. Over time, they grew on her. However, Yumi was still the only person Marine ever cared for, even more than herself. When Yumi began to change, Marine didn't care. In her eyes Yumi was perfect no matter what she did.

Yumi looked up from her book and glanced around the room. Her eyes landed on a picture of her with Fu and Sakura. A brief look of sadness flashed through her eyes. She sighed. 'It will be ok,' she kept telling herself. Marine came home only a few minutes later.

-=0=-

Yumi pulled out some envelopes from her mailbox before heading back inside. She took a seat on her couch, the tv still playing softly in the background. She sighed as she began to separate the bills from the junk mail. Suddenly, she stopped on an envelope that was very different from the others. It was a light orange with a swirl along the top and bottom. She carefully opened it, taking out a card that was the same light orange. In dark blue elegant letters read: You've Been Invited. Yumi frowned as she began to picture what the inside of it said. After a few minutes of hesitation, she opened it. She glared at the words she read before throwing it on the floor. "Dammit!" She stood up and began to pace around the room. Sure she had failed once, but she had still believed that she had a chance. This card had just shown her that she had been wrong. She slammed a fist against a wall, not caring that she was bleeding.

"Yumi?" a voice called from the door. "Are you alright?" Yumi sighed. It was her mother. The woman walked into the room. "I heard a bang." Her eyes fell on Yumi's hand. "Oh my… Yumi, your hand."

"It's fine," Yumi said, her voice slightly darker than before.

"Yumi?" Marine asked.

"Oh will you shut up!" Yumi yelled. "All you ever do is say 'Yumi this' and 'Yumi that.' It's like all you care about is Yumi!"

"What's wrong honey?" Marine asked, taking a step forward.

"I'm not Yumi!" Yumi yelled. She walked over to her mother and pulled her to the large mirror in the room. "See?" Her mother, unsure of what Yumi was going on about, looked into the mirror. What she saw caused her to pull away from Yumi in terror.

"What?" she stumbled backwards and landed on her butt. "What is that? What's going on?"

Yumi turned towards Marine and laughed. When she stopped, she smiled. "Foolish human. Didn't you ever wonder why your daughter changed so suddenly?" She lifted a hand and pointed it at herself. "The answer is simple. I'm not your daughter."

"T-then what d-did you do with her?" Marine asked.

"Oh she's still here," Not-Yumi said. "Still inside this body, waiting for me to give it back to her."

"W-will you give it back?"

Not-Yumi smiled. "Yes. In fact, I have no reason to use it anymore as I have failed my mission. Thankfully, there are other worlds that I can mess with." She let out another laugh as Yumi's body fell forward and a strange shadow appeared behind her. Wide eyes took in the being that now stood in Yumi's place. She had short and curly black hair and pale skin. On her head were blood-red ram horns and on her back were red and black dragon wings. Her eyes were slitted, one being red, the other being black. What surprised Marine the most wasn't just the demon-like look Not-Yumi had, but the fact the girl was naked. "Ah! It feels so good to be free!" Not-Yumi moved a hand to her lips. "That body was so tight." She moved her hand down her breasts to her stomach and then back into the air. A strange darkness seemed to appear in her hands as it began to wrap around her body, covering her skin. It formed a dress that didn't do well to cover up her feminine body. When the shadows stopped moving, she stepped back. "Well, it's been fun human. Maybe I'll see you in another life." The shadows engulfed her once more before they disappeared, taking her with them.

Marine didn't move, still shocked from what happened right in front of her. Yumi groaned causing Marine to call out her name and rush to her side. She helped sit Yumi up. "Mom?" Yumi asked. "What happened?" Marine opened her mouth, ready to tell her everything, but then she decided against it. She was going to forget whatever had just happened and pretend that everything was ok. After all, she would do anything for Yumi.

"You suddenly collapsed," Marine said. She helped get Yumi to the couch. "You haven't been sleeping well lately."

"The last thing I remember is getting ready for Fu's birthday," Yumi said.

"Honey, that was months ago," Marine said, a bit concerned.

"What?" Yumi asked. "But I… I don't remember." She looked into her mother's eyes. "I don't remember anything after that!"

Marine took Yumi into her arms. "It's ok. We can get you help. Whatever you need, I'm here."

"Thank you mom," Yumi said, hugging back. A few seconds later, Yumi's stomach rumbled. Her mother pulled back, laughing.

"Let's get you something to eat," Marine said. Her eyes fell on something on the floor. She picked it up and read the card. She came to the conclusion that this was what caused Not-Yumi to fly off the handle. Deciding that it wasn't worth causing her daughter any more pain, she threw the card into the trash. Yumi, not knowing anything about the card, took a seat in the dining room, waiting for whatever her mother was making. She smiled as she watched her mother move around the kitchen. With her mother's help, Yumi was sure that she'd get her memories back. And if for some reason she didn't, she knew she'd be ok.

Note: the card was an invitation to Naruto and Sasuke's wedding.