Well, I decided to make another chapter…sort of, it's like an epilogue…Here ya go!

Epilogue: After Math

Naruto felt tears sliding down his cheek. Even though Akatsuki was eliminated, he still had a fear that he would become their Leader. The only surefire way to avoid that would be if Shikamaru died, but there was no way Naruto could kill him.

Currently, Naruto was at Lee and Sakura's funeral. Gai-sensei was of course crying his eyes out about how Lee's flame of youth had been burning too brightly to be snuffed out so suddenly.

Tenten was crying because she had lost Neji already and now had no one else that was from her original squad. Naruto knew she felt lonely so he walked over to her in order to comfort her.

Naruto held her in his arms and began to pet her hair. He whispered reassuring words into her ear to calm her down. Naruto couldn't stay too long though, because he had been asked to speak since he was the only one that saw their demise. He wasn't exactly sure how he was supposed to tell everyone that he was the Akatsuki leader, but he figured he'd make it up as he went along.

As Naruto looked out on everyone, he saw a few faces that seemed to stick out more than others. He saw Kiba holding Hinata, the way Naruto had just been holding Tenten. He saw Kakashi-sensei trying to console Gai-sensei and his normally bored and expressionless face had a few tears on it.

Shikamaru was whispering in Ino's ear. She hadn't eaten much since she found out Sakura was dead, so she was rather thin. Granny-Tsunande was taking the death of her student just as hard as everyone else and was using Shizune as a giant piece of tissue. Shizune didn't mind so much, she was also sad that her friend had died.

Naruto noticed that most faces were staring at him now. They wanted reassuring words. They wanted to know that the one responsible for their deaths was dead as well. Naruto didn't really know what to do, seeing as how HE was responsible for their deaths…in a way.

Naruto had made a decision. Either they would all get it and understand what had happened, or he would be killed in order to prevent this from happening.

"Sakura…and Lee…" Naruto froze, he really didn't know what to say. "They…they were murdered by the leader of the Akatsuki. We were all on a mission to find and destroy the remaining Akatsuki members. We did accomplish that goal, but Bushy…Lee and Sakura were killed. The leader tried to kill me, but I knew his fighting style too well. Better than he himself knew perhaps." Naruto saw Kakashi's face show a sign of shock. He must have figured it out already. Naruto continued. "Before they died, they were put under a paralysis jutsu however. The leader of Akatsuki explained why he had done what he had done.

Naruto re-lived the horror of what had happened. When he got to the part where his other self had reveled Hinata, he paused. He took a look at Hinata and knew that whatever happened to her, would happen to him too. If they decided to kill her to stop the future from coming true, they would do the same to him.

"When he reveled who it was, I didn't quite believe it. I was looking into the face of none other than Hinata Hyuuga." Naruto paused waiting to see how they would react. The first thing he heard was Kiba.

"That's impossible! Hinata was here with me when you were on that mission." Others began agreeing with Kiba and saying Naruto had gone crazy. Hinata looked at him with a puzzled look.

"May I continue?" Naruto said over the crowd. He kept his face as serious as possible. "I said it was Hinata, but it wasn't that Hinata. It was Hinata from a different time. A few years in the future." Naruto made sure he kept the crowd's attention so they wouldn't rashly pass judgment on her.

"The leader then revealed his face. He told me of all of the people he had killed while his face came into view. First, I saw blonde hair. Then blue eyes. And then I saw three whiskers on each cheek." Many people were opening their mouths in surprise as he described himself. "At last, his face was revealed. I saw the leader of the Akatsuki for what he was. He was me. I didn't believe it at first, but when we fought, he made it abundantly clear."

Naruto described his fight and what happened after it. He told them how he was ready to die when his other self killed Sakura and Lee. Naruto felt tears sliding down his face. He looked into everyone's face individually while he was explaining. He saw shock, fear, hatred, sympathy, and some faces that showed no emotion at all. When Naruto finished, no one made a sound. Clearly they understood. They felt sympathy toward him. Both him and Hinata. Naruto smiled as he planned out his future.

'Suckers.'