Epilogue

A couple of squirrels nibbled at each other playfully in a garden of Sakura blossoms and tomatoes only to be scared half to death by two pairs of small bare feet running past them.

"You're cheating, that's not how you play!" A little blue eyed kid declared.

"I changed the rules! Now, we have seven seconds to pick up the kunai before we have to throw it." Another kid with bright green eyes replied.

The first child frowned.

"I don't wanna play anymore, then."

"You're such a baby." The other one accused.

Both of the children stood in the garden wearing the in the exact same beige colored overalls that cut off above their ankles with matching long sleeved shirts underneath. They spoke in the same pitch, had the same mannerisms, and even had the same hair color. The single difference between them was eye color and the color of their long sleeved shirts, the blue eyed child wore a blue shirt, and the green eyed child wore a green one.

"I'm telling Mommy you called me a baby." The blue eyed one whined.

The squirrels, continually startled by the children, darted off, heading for the hole in the gate quarantining the garden on a high hill at the outskirts of the Village Hidden in the Leaves, and broke through, running downhill into the masses of trees beyond.

"Hey!" A stern voice called.

The children's heads popped up. Matching long, wavy red-orange colored hair cascaded down both of their backs and waved in the wind. And they both, in unison, hid a kunai knife behind their back as they stood.

"What did I tell you guys about playing with my ninja tools?"

The blue eyed kid frowned, bowing his head bashfully as the green eyed kid put her hands on her hips.

"I wasn't playing with anything." The green eyed girl lied.

"Then what's behind your back?"

Silence.

The yellow haired man walked up and, within the time span of a second, he stepped forward, grabbed the knives from both of them, and stood back in place. Neither of them even had time to blink. When it registered that the tools had been taken, they both pulled their hands from behind their backs and stared at their empty palms, not being able to stop the influx of giggles as they jumped about excitedly.

"You're so fast, Daddy!" The green eyed kid yelled.

"And you're a little liar!" He declared, grabbing the kids and tossing them up. "What'd I tell you about lying, huh, Tsunade? Huh? Huh?"

"And what did I tell you about rewarding the kids for doing something wrong, Naruto?"

Naruto turned around, grinning sheepishly as a woman with almost waist length pink hair and shimmering emerald eyes moved the swinging gate to the side and stepped into the garden.

"Look at them. They think it's playtime." She said, crossing her arms.

"Hey, I was a lot sterner than usual, Sakura." He protested.

"Which isn't saying much." She replied, poking him in the side with her little finger.

Tsunade grinned, brushing a few blow-away strands reddish-orange hair out of her eyes.

"I just want to be a great ninja like you and Daddy when I grow up!" She said. "What's wrong with that?"

"What's wrong with it is that you have your whole adulthood to practice being a ninja." Sakura pointed out. "And you're only five years old now as it is."

Tsunade looked up at her mother indignantly, and they both crossed their arms, matching green eyes glaring, seeing which one was going to give in first. It was clear, especially to Naruto who scratched the whiskers on his cheek awkwardly, that the woman and young girl were going to butt heads a lot as time passed. And not because they were complete opposites, but because they were exactly the same.

The blue eyed child walked up to his mother and pulled on the bright red kimono style dress she was wearing that mimicked the one she had worn when she was a Genin but with long sleeves, that stopped at her elbows, and an addition knot that hiked the dress up at her hips, giving it a slanted, lopsided style that ended appropriately above her knees.

"Mommy, Tsunade wasn't playing fair earlier." He tattled.

For a moment, both parents' eyes shifted to that boy, softening slightly, perhaps both of them being somewhat apologetic that Minato had been born so meek and introverted alongside his bossy and rambunctious sister. The ease with which he faded to the background around his sister made it laughable that he was the elder twin, having been born six minutes earlier than Tsunade.

Tsunade swiftly stuck her tongue out at him, making mocking faces behind their backs.

Not even having to see what she did to know that she was doing it, Naruto and Sakura's eyes turned to Tsunade again, in a 'you-know-better' manner that looked as if they'd done it a million times.

"Tsunade be nice to your brother. When you die, Minato's going to be the only one at your funeral, you know." Naruto said, walking off, long white Hokage robes flowing.

The boy's face drained of color.

"...Really?!" He exclaimed.

Sakura laughed, softly brushing her hand through the long, locks of wavy auburn hair running down Minato's back and to his waistline.

"Don't worry, if she's still mean to you even then. We'll come back from the grave and haunt her."

Tsunade grabbed her almost-identical twin brother's hand kindly for once and grabbed onto her father's trademark orange pants, which he'd never successfully gotten rid of, underneath the long white robes which bore the kanji characters for "Sixth Hokage".

"You were probably a ninja when you were a little boy." She suddenly said.

Naruto's eyebrows rose. He slid his hands into his pockets.

"What makes you think that?"

"Minato read it. Didn't you?" She asked him.

He nodded.

"You didn't have to be thirteen to join the academy. A long time ago, you could even do it when you were five, like us."

Sakura and Naruto exchanged glances, most likely finding humor in the expression "a long time ago".

"I should be able to get special privilege for being the Hokage's daughter." Tsunade protested. "And get to join the academy now so that I'll be a ninja when I'm ten!"

"There's a reason the age was moved up, Tsunade." Naruto said.

Tsunade turned around, green eyes wide and attentive.

"Why?"

"Well, for the most part, ninja aren't needed as heavily anymore. There hasn't been a big dispute between any of the countries in a long time. And also, the last time there was a war, a lot of little kids like you-"

Sakura curtly nudged Naruto, stopping him from revealing to his children the truth about why Memory Pills had been distributed so widely before they were born.

"Uh..." Naruto said, glancing back and forth between his wife and daughter. "I'll just tell you that part when you're older."

Naruto and all the other Kages had come together after that epidemic was over and done with to discuss the protection of not only their peace, but the peace of the future. The conclusion that was decided on was setting a Ninja Academy Age, thirteen, and an Active Ninja Age, eighteen. That way, all ninja would have five years of academy training and could not participate in even Genin level missions until they were almost of drinking age.

Though this put most villagers and parents at ease, the young children of the newer generation felt somewhat cheated and could often be found petitioning the new laws, especially the Sixth Hokage's daughter.

Tsunade crossed her arms, huffing.

"Everything's when we're older."

Minato shrugged.

"I'm glad." He said. "I also read that there used to be wars a long time ago. And people even died. I definitely don't wanna be a ninja. Never ever."

"That's just 'cause you're a whiny baby, Minato." Tsunade accused.

"Am not!" He shouted.

The kids went on arguing as Naruto addressed Sakura.

"He should be here any minute now." He told her. "You want to head down toward the village gates?"

"...You go ahead." She suggested. "I gotta find the kids' shoes."

Naruto considered pointing out the fact that he was a million times faster than she was and could have them set and ready to go in five seconds flat but realized that she could've figured that out herself and hesitated.

"Are you alright?"

"Yeah." She said, nodding along.

"Not feeling...awkward in any way?"

"What? No way! I mean, it's only my ex-boyfriend who the last time I saw, it was when he caught me lying in bed with my current husband." She said. "Nothing to be awkward about at all."

She finally turned to him, grinning. And he couldn't help but laugh.

"Not having second thoughts, are you?" Naruto asked.

Sakura walked toward him, softly grabbing his hand and gazing deeply into his large, sky blue eyes that matched the crystal blue gem piece that still hung on his chest, a silent reminder to her of the day she made her decision to stay with him. Because it was the day everything changed...for the better.

"Of course not." She told him.

"Good. 'Cause if you are, I get to keep the kids." He bargained, smirking at her.

Sakura grinned.

"Hey!" She shouted, slapping him playfully on the arm. "They're twins. That's a perfect excuse to do an even split."

Naruto shrugged exagerattedly.

"Okaayyyy... Then, Tsunade's yours!" He said, lifting his arms up as if to say 'No Take-Backs'.

"Mommy, Tsunade's picking on me again!" Minato whined.

"He's lying!" Tsunade immediately yelled.

Sakura rolled her eyes.

"See? That's exactly why I'd never leave you." She muttered to the tune of Naruto's laughter.

Then she turned to their children, raising her voice sternly.

"Tsunade, really? Do we have to go through this every day?" She said to her, then she turned to Naruto. "He's going to meet us in the grassy fields just past the West Entrance, right?"

"Right." Then he looked toward the entrance in the distant, yellow hair moving on his forehead in the breeze. "You know what? I'll just wait for you guys."

Sakura smirked at him.

"Check this out, the Hokage of the entire village of Konoha showing nervousness."

Naruto crossed his arms, turning away from her.

"Who would be nervous about that baka-suke, anyway?" He asked. "He'll be the same jerk he's always been..."

"Whatever you say, Hokage-sama."

He grinned at her, sliding his hands onto her waist.

"I'm sorry, I don't think I heard you." He said, smiling mischievously.

"I said... Whatever you say...Hokage-sama." She repeated, leaning into him and touching his cheek warmly.

"Yeah... That's right." He said, moving his face toward hers.

"Ew!" Tsunade and Minato exclaimed in unison, covering each other's eyes.

Naruto swiftly backed away from her, clearly amused by Sakura's slight frown and the pretend vomiting noises their children had become so adept at feigning.

"Hey, guys! Last one back to the house has to help Mom with the dishes!" Naruto told them, darting down the hill.

Sakura blinked, wide-eyed, never having seen her family run so fast in the entire seven years since she'd married Naruto.

Behind her, the gate to the garden blew in the wind, creaking on slightly rusty hinges. She grabbed it, gently pushing it closed. Inside the garden, a few petals of some of the growing Sakura blossoms dislodged and mixed within the air, slowly being carried over to a single tombstone in the graveyard that read in bold letters: "Senju Tsunade. A woman of great strength and courage. May She Rest In Peace."

Sakura smiled softly, somewhat glad that Naruto had planted a garden around the tombstone and allowed their children to play inside of it, even if it was just as an excuse for them to visit often. And left the garden with the same words she always did.

"Thank You."

"Hey, I think I see them! I think I see them!" A little boy shouted from atop a black haired man's shoulders.

"You shouldn't be able to see anything with those eyes." The man replied.

The little boy adjusted the large, circular glasses on his nose and squinted.

"It's a yellow haired man and a pink haired lady. And two little kids that look the same."

"Amazing observation, four eyes." Said a guy with purplish white hair, poking the kid.

"My name's Nonō!" He shouted.

"I always said that was a dumb name." He said, turning to a pinkish-red haired woman. "Didn't I always say that Karin?"

"I don't keep a log and write down every word that comes out of your mouth, Suigetsu." She grumbled.

"If you did that, you'd be more irritable than you normally are." An bright orange haired man joked, as he walked on the opposite side of the man carrying the boy.

"Whatever, Jugo." Karin snarled.

"She's pregnant." Said a gray haired man who stood between the guy carrying the boy and Suigetsu. "Give her a pass card."

"See? Kabuto gets it!" Karin said, rubbing her round stomach tenderly above the long emerald maternal dress she wore. "I'm carrying a whole other human being."

"Don't flatter her." Said the guy carrying Nonō. "She's always been like that."

"And no parasitic brat inside of her is going to change that, eh, Sasuke?" Suigetsu asked.

"Exactly." Sasuke replied, shifting Nonō on his shoulders.

"Oi! Sasuke!" Called a male voice in the distance.

Everyone squinted to see a man with orange pants and a black long sleeved shirt with bright Orange Uzumaki symbols on each shoulder waving them over joyfully.

"It's been seven whole years since you guys have seen each other and he's still the same guy." Kabuto said, smiling thoughtfully. "Can you believe that?"

"I can believe it." Suigetsu said, crossing his arms.

"Yeah..." Everyone else agreed in unison, even Nonō.

"He's not necessarily someone that does change." Sasuke said. "But that's a good thing, I suppose. Orochimaru was always going on about 'either you die the same or live long enough to watch yourself change'."

"He also said that if you completely discarded all of your ambitions, you'd one day commit suicide out of boredom." Jugo pointed out.

"I didn't say he was too bright." Sasuke muttered. "Besides... I didn't discard all of my ambitions. And that's we are where we are today."

"Wait... Where are we?" Nonō questioned.

"The village I lived in as a child." Sasuke told him. "Konoha."

"What? No way! You weren't born in the Orphanage just like me?" He asked, then he paused, pointing. "So, are your Mommy and Daddy in there?"

"No." Sasuke told the boy. "They died when I was only a couple years older than you are."

Everyone shifted awkwardly at the change in conversation, except Nonō who playfully covered Sasuke's eyes.

"I'm sorry." He said, but then he smiled. "But I'm also happy."

"Happy?" Sasuke asked, removing his hands.

"I thought that meant you were finally going to go home and I'd never see you again." He confessed.

Sasuke looked up at him, smirking.

"Hey... What do I always tell you?" He asked.

Nonō smiled.

"That family isn't about who you look like on the outside, it's about who you look like in here." He recited, pointing to his heart.

"And who do I resemble the most?"

Nonō giggled.

"The Rejected Heroes!" He declared.

Kabuto frowned, turning to Suigetsu.

"I thought I told you not to tell the kids about that stupid clown name." Kabuto complained.

"Relax Papa Bear." Suigetsu replied. "It's unity. And all the kids love it, especially Nonō, right, kid?"

Nonō grabbed his white headband, which had the kanji for 'hero' on it in red in the center, and nodded hard.

"Heroes!" He shouted.

Sasuke bounced him off of his shoulders and the boy spiraled toward the ground, only a second away from hitting his face in the grass when Sasuke caught him by the ankles.

"Heroes can fly. And I don't see you sprouting any wings." Sasuke told him.

"Ahhhhh!" he shouted as Sasuke swung him back and forth.

Across the grassy field, only a few meters away Sakura and Naruto watched. Tsunade bounced eagerly in her shoes, grinning at seeing a black haired man she didn't recognize toss a boy with short, messy dark gray hair while Minato hid behind Naruto's pant leg.

"Is that really...?" Sakura trailed off.

Nonō squealed in the distance as Sasuke flipped him up into the air, making him do a few backflips.

"Sasuke." Naruto said, slowly grinning. "He's...really changed, hasn't he?"

Then the groups met. Sasuke dropped Nonō letting him down into the grass and he immediately raised his head and adjusted his glasses, observing the girl with long, waist-length reddish-orange hair. Then, he cocked his head, looking at the blue eyed boy behind Naruto, peeking out timidly.

He walked around Tsunade, extending his hand to the boy.

"Hi!" He said, cheerfully. "I'm Nonō."

Tsunade put her hands on her hips and tapped him on the shoulder.

"Hey! I was standing right here."

"I saw you." He said, without even turning to look at her.

"Ohhhhh! That's embarrassing!" Suigetsu exclaimed.

"What's up with you picking one girl over the other, Nonō?" Kabuto asked him.

That was when the boy with the white headband on turned around. The ties of his headband draped down his back almost meeting his waistline as he slid his hands into the pockets of his white shorts beneath his vibrant red wide-collared dark red t-shirt.

"He's a boy!" Nonō declared, bright brown eyes shimmering in the sunlight.

And then, very uncharacteristically, Minato poked his head out from behind Naruto's leg curiously.

"Yeah... I-I am." He agreed, lifting his hand. "My name's...Minato."

They pounded fists, and like an instant friendship, both of them smiled. Slowly, Minato pointed, stretching out the light blue shirt that matched his eyes underneath his overalls.

"There's an apple tree over there. Wanna climb up it?"

Nonō grinned, almost bouncing with excitement of the proposition but he momentarily kept himself poised, and turned to Sasuke.

"Can I?" He asked.

Sasuke nodded, extending his hand as Nonō removed his glasses and handed them to him carefully before he bolted off with Minato.

Tsunade frowned, staring after them and then running along.

"Hey! Wait up!" She yelled.

Naruto grinned.

"Cute kid." He said to Sasuke.

Sasuke raised his eyebrows, almost as if he was surprised he was talking to him.

"Uh, no... That's..."

Kabuto raised his hand.

"Guilty." He told them. "Nonō's my son... Though, it's easy to get that mixed up what with the way he acts towards Sasuke apart from me."

At that moment, Tsunade chucked an apple at the back of Nonō's head which caused a mini-wrestling match. Naruto opened his mouth but Sakura cut him off.

"Your turn." She told him. "I already dealt with her this morning."

Naruto sighed, walking a few paces away from them with Sasuke and the others following closely behind him to see if everything was still fine.

"Don't worry!" Nonō exclaimed. "I'll just heal myself with my Medical Ninjutsu."

"WHAT?!" Tsunade shouted. "You can do ninja stuff?!"

Sakura turned back to Kabuto who, next to her mentor Tsunade and herself, was the best Medical Ninjutsu specialist she knew, and smiled softly.

"I can see the resemblance." She told him. "But Sasuke seems more engaged with him than you do."

Kabuto shrugged.

"...I couldn't really help that." He responded. "His mother is also a scientist and together we worked on the first prototype of the Memory Pills that were distributed throughout the lands and ran the orphanage which has almost seventy children living there currently. ...There honestly wasn't even enough time to conceive him, let alone stay engaged with him afterwards."

He removed his own glasses, which matched Nonō's perfectly and scratched his hair, which was only about three shades lighter than his son's.

"It got to the point that he just blended in with the other kids to me... Like he was an orphan, too. And I'm sure he felt that." He motioned out to the boy excitedly telling everyone a story and shook his head. "The cheerful boy you see standing in front of you is a new occurrence. Back then, he was really... Quiet and distant. To the point that he wouldn't talk to the other kids or even make eye contact ..."

"So... How did Sasuke become so close to him?"

"Well, I guess while Nonō was wandering around feeling rejected, he might've run into someone else who resembled him perfectly."

"Sasuke was also feeling rejected?" Sakura questioned.

Kabuto nodded and both of their eyes drifted out toward Sasuke who was kicking his leg out over Nonō and Minato's heads, in a ducking game, seeing if they could avoid getting kicked each time. The boys laughed loudly, excited with the game and Naruto stood back slightly, seemingly not being able to wipe the expression of confusion off of his face as he observed Sasuke...who was actually smiling.

"Sasuke wasn't like that the entire time he was gone." Kabuto clarified. "It took a really long time for him to talk to anyone. It wasn't until Nonō had just turned two that... I guess they just connected. I'm not really sure what happened between them. But suddenly, Nonō wasn't even the same kid anymore. He talked all the time, laughed all the time, and played with everyone."

Then he paused, laughing somewhat mockingly at himself.

"Well... Except his Mother and I."

Sakura turned back toward him giving him a sympathetic look as they neared the rest of the adults.

"Are you feeling-"

"No." Kabuto said, shaking his head certainly. "I'm glad he's happy. More than anything, I'm just grateful that Sasuke saved him when he did."

By the time they reached the adults, Jugo had said something that made Sasuke turn to Naruto and question him.

"Speaking of the tested pills." Sasuke said. "I understand that they've finally been distributed to everyone that needed them."

Naruto smiled.

"All thanks to you guys." He said. "Actually... Because of that, I wanted to suggest something to you."

Everyone's eyebrows rose. The only sounds that could be heard were the children climbing the apple tree nearby.

Naruto looked around at everyone surrounding Sasuke awkwardly.

"Uh... We only really need one of you guys." He said. "Whichever one of you guys wants to speak for you all as a whole."

Karin took up the bait by groaning.

"Look, I hate political talk. Ask anyone. I'll be enjoying my day somewhere else..." She said, beginning a slow pregnant waddle towards the apple tree.

"I'll go make sure she doesn't trip and wheel barrel her fat ass down this hill..." Suigetsu muttered, going after her.

"These squirrels are telling me of a nice garden nearby... And I told the children back home that I'd collect souvenirs for them, so..." Jugo said, edging off.

Kabuto and Sasuke exchanged glances.

"I'll go make sure Nonō isn't-" Sasuke began to say.

"You are not leaving me to do this." Kabuto said, turning in the direction of his son and the other kids. "You were the one communicating consistently with Naruto all this time, weren't you? You're basically our spokesperson already."

Sasuke raised his eyebrows.

"Are you certain?"

Kabuto smiled at him, a smile that stretched beyond years, and put his hands on Sasuke's shoulders.

"Of course I am. I trust you completely." Then he motioned to the scattering group around them. "They do, too."

The old team 7 trio watched as Kabuto walked away, leaving them in privacy. And Sakura scratched her hair awkwardly.

"Before we get into the big stuff, I just gotta know something." She said quickly.

Sasuke raised his eyebrows.

"What?"

Sakura blinked at him.

"Uh..." She pointed at Karin. "Is she...?"

Sasuke glanced at her and much to Naruto and Sakura's surprise, began to laugh.

"...That's not mine." He revealed.

Everyone's eyes turned to Karin just as she punched Suigetsu in the head and he burst into a cloud of mist that watered the giggling children.

"Oh wait... Suigetsu and... You gotta be-"

"I'm not. Suigetsu's the only one who has enough energy to entertain that." Sasuke told him.

And then both men continued laughing, voices carrying down the hill. Sakura stood off, watching them fondly, almost having an urge to rub her eyes and look again.

"Sasuke... You seem so... Happy." She thought aloud. "I never thought this would happen. All of us... Together like this again but I guess it's not completely the same. We're all so mature now."

"And your kids..." Sasuke went on. "Identical twins?"

"Almost." Naruto said. "Minato's going through this weird long-hair phase where if you even WHISPER something about a haircut, he'll cry himself to sleep."

"But if he cut it, they wouldn't look so much alike." He added.

"It's a mark of how weak your masculine genes are that your son can look like a girl so easily."

Naruto's expression turned to that of immediate irritation.

"Hey, at least I have kids!"

"I'd rather not have kids than a pink haired son."

"His hair isn't even pink! It's... It's like an orange... reddish kind of... Whatever! Take that back, Sasuke!"

"Are you going to make me, Usuratonkachi?"

"Never mind..." Sakura muttered. "I spoke too soon."

But unlike their childish days, she didn't need to break up their quarrels because, they were less like true arguments and more like the natural flow of their conversation. Very abruptly, they turned to serious matters.

"Anyway, I can sense your difference." Naruto suddenly said.

Sakura raised her eyebrows, about to protest that with the way they were just talking, Sasuke obviously wasn't too different at all when Naruto continued.

"Your Rinnegan. It's gone."

Sasuke nodded, not even surprised that Naruto had sensed it so quickly.

"...One of the last things I had Orochimaru do before he passed was reverse it." He explained.

Sakura's eyes widened.

"You can't be serious." She said.

Sasuke shrugged. The white collared shirt he had on rustled in a blowing wind and he moved his hand along the form-fitting dark-gray t-shirt inside of it.

"I decided I didn't need it." He replied.

"You're definitely bullshitting me." Naruto joked.

Sasuke shook his head, lifting his eyes to the clear blue sky, which was littered with large, cotton white clouds.

"What is life anyway...?" He said. "Before, I thought it was a struggle for power. A way to get it. A way to keep it. But..."

He turned toward them, dark eyes locking on their light ones.

"When Kabuto's wife had Nonō..." He paused, glancing at the playful boy. "It...made me want to feel again."

Nonō's shrill laughter rang out across the plains as his stubby six year old fingers stretched out, gripping Minato around the waist and wrestling him to the ground. Then, he lifted his head, full of that wavy gray hair bouncing up softly, and his chocolate brown eyes rose to Sasuke and shimmered in the sunlight, searching him for approval of his roughhousing to which Sasuke nodded at him, giving the okay to continue playing.

"He... was just like me. Just like I was when I left Konoha. Just...a ticking-time bomb. Silently making a death list for all the people that ever made him feel pain."

Naruto watched him intently, a small smile tugging at his lips from the reminder of how he used to be when everyone in Konoha hated him.

"I think he realized that I was similar to him... So he started following me around. Everywhere I went, he was there too. And even though initially, I wanted to kill him for it, after a while it was...normal. We barely left each others sides." He scratched his hair. "But... I knew that following me around was only going to make him feel even more pain and rejection at the end of it all."

He made eye contact with Sakura, who gazed at him steadily, pain with all those years back replaced by understanding.

"So, I decided to save him from it. Save him from what I had to endure. But I couldn't do that unless I could feel again. So... I sacrificed my eyes." He played with the boy's glasses which he still held. "Ever since I made that decision, it's been like...we have this connection. Whenever he smiles, I smile. Whenever he laughs, I laugh... I think he knows I'd do anything for him."

Naruto and Sakura played with each other's hands, an interesting marital tic they'd picked up, and listened to his story, both of them smiling at the same time as he explained his life change.

"I mean, I thought I was doing that, basically throwing my entire power source away, to make his life better, but somehow it ended up making my life better..."

And then, slowly, a smile pushed onto his lips.

"And...I feel closer to Itachi than I ever did. Because... Right now. I finally understand how he felt, watching me as a kid." He told them. "There's more to it than that. It's more complex... And I haven't necessarily decided fully on what it is. But power isn't the answer."

Slowly, Naruto's lips also stretched into a smile and it was obvious what he was thinking... That the Sasuke from before would never have said something even remotely close to that.

"It never is." Naruto agreed.

And then sensing a weight even she shouldn't be present for, Sakura gave some excuse about having to check on Minato, who was crying for some reason, and walked off.

"Sasuke." Naruto said, getting to a sitting position in the grass. "You got my message about how the other countries want to come together now right?"

"I saw it." He got down into the grass next to him. "All those years before, I drafted a plan of action that we could take if all countries wanted to come together... But..."

"I saw it." Naruto interrupted.

Sasuke raised his eyebrows.

"Basically, every country keeps their Kage but one overseer Kage has final rule over international affairs. All villagers of each country will vote on that international leader and the leader can be fired by unanimous vote of all Kage's at any time." Naruto told him. "Right?"

"How did you-"

"Sakura and I took the liberty of cleaning out your apartment when you left." He said, grinning sheepishly. "I liked the idea so I pinned for it. All the other countries like it, too. Honestly... Everyone was worried about a long-term plan for peace that we could operate under. Already petty crimes between villagers and countries were ensuing and the feudal lords were getting restless. But now... Everyone has something to hope for."

"Hope, huh?" Sasuke asked, tossing the glasses from one had to the other. "Well... It sounds to me like you have all this planned out. You even have a nominee for that Overseer Kage, don't you?"

"Well, I actually coined the name of the position. I've decided to call it 'World Sage'."

"World Sage?" Sasuke repeated, then he rolled his eyes. "Could you get any more obvious?"

Naruto grinned, running his hand through his hair.

"You know it sounds badass."

Sasuke looked down, balancing his arm on his knee and then nodded.

"Well, congratulations."

"Huh?"

"On becoming the World Sage." Sasuke told him. "As long as you keep sending me the drafts for your policies, you'll do alright."

Naruto smiled softly.

"Sasuke... You know..." He began. "Every time I make a speech, I tell the villagers about who's been testing the treatments they're getting, where they're coming from, who basically came up with the idea for it. And not just the Memory Pills, which saved the world, but also every single policy I've signed off on since then."

He raised his eyes to Sasuke.

"They know it's you." He told him. "Everyone does."

Sasuke nodded.

"Well, that's good. We can stop sending the orphans to the nearby villages to collect groceries now."

"You really don't get it?"

"Get what?" Sasuke asked, finally looking at him.

"It's...you."

Sasuke stared at him, looking completely oblivious.

"The World Sage... Everyone's voted for you." Naruto told him. "And you call me stupid?!"

"They did...what?" Sasuke asked slowly. "But...how..."

"I told you once before. People might be mean but...if you show them who you are, who you really are, they'll have no choice but to love you." He smiled. "If you came back to Konoha today, you'd go crazy... Everyone wants to see you again. Everyone's constantly asking where we're hiding you. ...And not just in Konoha. Everywhere."

Sasuke shook his head.

"Your humor really hasn't changed."

Naruto quickly grew serious.

"Look at Sakura."

"Why should I-"

"Just look."

He turned, looking toward Sakura who had kept her eye on them from a distance. As he turned, gazing at her, she raised her hand, showing him a thumbs up.

"Congratulations!" She shouted. "It's time for YOUR Road Trip now!"

And then... Like an army of shuriken, it hit him. Slowly, his eyes turned to Naruto as he clapped his hand on his shoulder.

"I'm guessing you need some time for this to sink in." He said, getting to his feet.

He slid his hands into his pocket, beginning to walk toward everyone else but then stopped abruptly.

"Oh! I almost forgot. Here..."

He reached deep into his pocket, pulling something out.

"I found this a really long time ago..." He said to him, then he winked. "...Full circle?"

Sasuke watched as Naruto walked away taking time to unfold the sheet of notebook paper he'd given him. And on the note was his own handwriting from seven years before...

"If I stayed here... Where would I belong?"

In separate handwriting, scrawled underneath it was dozens of different handwritings, different colors, some misspelled, some big, some small, all saying the same thing...

"With us."

As Naruto met Sakura underneath the apple tree and slid his hands onto her waist, pulling her into his chest and kissing her softly to the chorus of grossed out children and adults alike, Sasuke gripped the paper in his hand, bowing his head and balling his fists as he became overwhelmed by an emotion that was incredibly new to him but not any less fierce.

"They...really want..." He whispered. "...Me?"

And one...two...three tear drops hit the page, running in the ink words and dripping off, making black splotches in the grass.

And then, like the truest emotional connection two people can ever have, a hand was soon on Sasuke's shoulder, and the sun radiated off of the dark gray locks of hair that swam into his line of sight. He didn't need to look up to know that Nonō was called to attention by the hunch of his shoulders or the shimmering tear drops on the grass.

"Nii-san?" He asked, wrapping his arms around his neck in a close hug. "Are you okay?"

And the paper in Sasuke's hand crunched slightly, as he balled his hand in certainty and also determination. He lifted his eyes, which were by then dry, and gazed out above Nonō's arms, toward Naruto who met his gaze steadily as if asking "So, will you accept?"

"...Yes." He answered.

The End

Author's Note: Thanks so much for reading! While you wait for my next few fics, go ahead and check out some of my others! I'd greatly appreciate it! And don't be shy, go ahead and drop a review below about how you liked (or disliked) this NaruSaku Naruto Ending!