Final chapter! Yay! Sorry that this took so much longer than I planned. I just recently moved out of my dorm for the summer, so writing got kind of put on the back burner. Anyways, here it is. The end. Hopefully, this will wrap it all up nicely. I won't hold all of you up with talk, so read on.

Epilogues Are Troublesome

"I wasn't that bad, was I?"

"Yeah," Sakura answered. "You kinda were." Hinata, sitting to Sakura's left on the bench, shyly nodded, and Ino, who was on the brunette's other side, visibly paled at their answers. Sakura couldn't help but chuckle as her friend looked back to the spectacle. Personally, she couldn't understand why Naruto had such a hard time answering the question when she had asked it what seemed like ages ago.

Actually, it was somewhat eerie how similar today was to back then. Right now, Temari was once again playing tug-of-war with some guy's arm. This time, however, that arm belonged to one Hyuga Neji. The only one that looked more disgruntled than him, though, was the girl on his other arm. The usually quiet and reserved Tenten was glaring daggers at the foreign girl. Actually, Sakura thought that she might really have daggers that were pointed at Temari.

"Get lost, Temari."

"Oh, please. Didn't I already beat you once already?"

"Will both of you please let go of me?"

Sakura allowed herself to laugh out loud. It was amusing how things had come full circle in the village. Within a week of seeing Shikamaru kiss his best friend, the fan girls had already moved on and started chasing down Neji. After all, he was intelligent, highly regarded, and came from one of if not the most illustrious clans in Konohagakure. Of course, Neji wasn't nearly as passive as Shikamaru was, and had been known to sometimes snap and attack the chakra points in his groupies' legs so that they couldn't follow him.

Tenten had changed as well. For years, the girl had been more than a bit of a wallflower, content to let her teammates and sensei take most of the spotlight. Now, though, she had to put herself out there in order to make her claim on the pale-eyed boy. Sakura couldn't help but feel that this whole new chase might be good for the weapons expert. Not that Temari was making it easy for her.

"So, Hinata," Ino turned to the shorter girl, trying to take her eyes off the potential catfight. "You're Neji's cousin. Any idea which one he likes?"

Hinata mulled it over for a minute. "Well, he did use to say that Tenten would make a good wife one day. Still, he doesn't really date. He's always expected that he was going to be married off by our family when he was older, so he never really bothered before."

"Wait, married off?"

"He's not really going to be forced to marry someone, is he?"

The medic and control ninjas were surprised, and somewhat upset. Both of them, being romantics, were vehemently against arranged marriages.

Hinata just shrugged. "It's possible, I suppose. There was even talk of him marrying me for a while. To keep the bloodline pure and all that." Sakura and Ino's eyes widened. Hinata could see the oncoming loud 'WHAT?!' that was coming from both of them, so she quickly continued. "B-but that didn't last long. We were too closely related or something. Anyways, it is definitely a possibility that he could be betrothed to someone, but I don't think that he will be. Father is very fond of him, and still feels somewhat guilty over my uncle, so I don't think that he'll let anything be forced onto Neji."

Ino nodded, and then both she and Hinata turned back to the three-person circus in the street. Sakura, however, kept her eyes on her friends. She couldn't help but like how this had turned out. Ever since Ino had started chasing Shikamaru, Sakura hadn't had any female friends to hang out with for some time. Her only other close friends were Naruto, Lee, and he-who-shall-not-be-named, all of which had Y-chromosomes. Now, though, she had two girlfriends to hang out with, and she had to admit, she loved it.

After crying for a couple of days while Sakura comforted her, Ino had officially sworn off men. Of course, since it was Ino, Sakura had expected the hiatus to last for all of day. So she was surprised when, a month later, the blond girl still hadn't even tried to get a date. Of course, she still looked at any guy she deemed 'hot' without shame, but now it was more as an observer than an active participant.

Hinata had done the opposite. Instead of taking herself back, she put herself out. After the heartbreak of Naruto's exposure and the joy of helping Shikamaru, Hinata had grown a little. The Hyuga heir decided to start talking to people more than she had before. As hard as it was for her to look for people to hang out with, she had found friends in Sakura and Ino. Actually, she had originally been trying to talk to just Sakura, since both of them had an interest in medicine, but Ino had shown up, and Hinata had just sort of gotten caught up with them. Still, it worked out, so she couldn't complain.

A sudden short gasp from Hinata and "Wha?" from Ino brought Sakura out of her revelries, and she looked towards where they were looking. Temari had let go of Neji's arm and backed away, but apparently not by choice. Where she had been standing, two long kunai were sticking out of the crowd. Temari looked at Tenten in slight shock, while Tenten just smirked. After all, Tenten wasn't Ino; she fought with blades, not insults. Temari's eyes narrowed, and she reached behind her back for her fan.

Sakura gulped and turned to her friends. "Maybe we should leave."

"Good idea."

"Agreed."

Naruto rustled in the bed sheets. He was trying his hardest not to wake up, but his body just wasn't having it. He reluctantly tried to open his eyes, only to be blinded instantly. Naruto shielded his eyes with his hand, moving from his resting position as little as he possibly could. He found that the light was actually sunlight coming in through his bedroom window.

Naruto groaned and was about to begin cursing at the window or the sun (he hadn't decided which) when he heard a soft snore next to him. He propped himself on his elbows and looked at the other side of the bed. Kiba was still sleeping, curled up in the blankets like a little kid. The blond couldn't help but think that the young heir to the Inuzuka clan just looked so damn cute when he let his guard down and stopped trying to act so macho all the time. Sometimes, Kiba really needed to realize that he didn't need to be top dog all the time.

Naruto chuckled as he leaned down and snaked his arms around his boyfriend. Awake or not, he really didn't feel the need to leave the bed right now. He smiled as Kiba instinctively returned the embrace. Naruto couldn't help but hope that, whatever the dog ninja was dreaming, he was in it. He blushed, warm from both the sun's rays and Kiba's tanned body.

Naruto was fairly certain that it was mid-afternoon now. Technically, they were on a date right now. About a month ago, Kuromaru had, for some odd reason that he felt no need to explain, let up on the pressure on Naruto and given his approval. The rest of his pack had soon followed suit. Tsume had still been rather harsh to him, but after some time and convincing from the rest of the clan, she finally gave in. Today was their first completely unobserved, unchaparoned, and non-followed date.

Naturally, they had spent it in Naruto's apartment.

Naruto's smile grew even wider. He liked this. He liked having a boyfriend that he didn't have to sneak around with. It was incredible how much little things could feel so incredible. Things like sleeping with Kiba without having to close the window. Like giving and receiving small kisses without looking to see if anyone was watching. Like being able to joke about the hickeys on Kiba's neck in public (although that wasn't so nice when Kiba returned the favor). He hadn't said anything, but Naruto had been worried that things between him and Kiba would change once they were outed. It had, and it was just fantastic.

Then Naruto heard mumbling, and felt Kiba begin to wake up. Kiba's eyes slowly opened, and when he saw Naruto's blue eyes right in front of him, he blinked in mild surprise before recognition came to his face. Then he smiled lazily. "Mornin'."

"Morning. Sleep well?"

"Yeah. Little sore, though. You were pretty energetic."

"Heh, heh. Sorry, but we haven't been able to do anything for over a month. Had to make up for lost time."

"When did I say I was complaining?"

Both boys blushed and smirked simultaneously. Both of them stayed in an embrace for a few minutes, neither wanting to move. Naruto was the one who broke the silence. "So, what now?"

"Now…" Kiba flipped Naruto on his back and pinned him on the mattress from above. The brunette had a predatory grin on his face, which was only enhanced by his canine teeth and eyes. Naruto just smiled back at him, excited about what was about to happen. "…Now it's my turn."

The sky was a bright blue. Large, puffy clouds dotted the heavens. There was slight breeze, not cold, but definitely cooling. And Shikamaru was absolutely livid.

"I cannot believe that woman! She's just so…so…argh!"

"Shikamaru, calm down."

"Why should I? First, she freaks out when I tell her that I'm gay, but as soon as she finds out I'm dating you, suddenly it's no problem? I mean, no offence, but what is it about you that makes it suddenly okay? She is such a…"

Chouji sighed. This was getting tiresome. Fortunately, now he had a way to end the tirade. He gripped the neck of Shikamaru's shirt (the chunnin vest had already been removed) and crashed their lips together. Shikamaru looked surprised at first, but quickly relaxed into the kiss. After a few moments of lip lock, Chouji pulled away. "Your mom approved of us dating. Just be thankful for that."

Shikamaru nodded, a slight blush on his face. Chouji was getting really good at kissing. He laid back on the ground and looked up at the clouds. Chouji popped another chip in his mouth.

It was really incredible how simple all of it was. A month ago, Shikamaru had been completely honest when he said he didn't know how dating would work out between them. Chouji hadn't known either. All that time pining for his friend, the mass ninja had known full well that, in the event they had gotten together, it could very well turn out badly. But it hadn't been hard at all. In fact, it wasn't even all that different. They still did the same things they had done before Shikamaru had become the village heartthrob (that was something he definitely didn't miss). They still went out for lunch with their friends from time to time. They still went and watched the clouds from the hillside like they were right now. It was the exact same as it was before the whole mess had started.

Except that, instead of Shikamaru resting his head on the grass, it was in Chouji's lap. And that Chouji had to let his bag of chips sit off to the side because he needed one hand to run through Shikamaru's silky hair. And that, every now and then, Chouji would feed him a chip, and both of them would smile as Shikamaru ate it.

And those things just made all so much more for both of them.

Shikamaru smiled as he looked up. Here he was. He was looking up at the sky, watching his beloved clouds. His boyfriend (he liked that word) that he could honestly and easily say he loved was there with him, and he didn't have any rabid fan girls chasing after him.

Today was decidedly a very, very good day.

And so, it ends. You have no idea how much fun writing this was. Thanks to everyone who reviewed, alerted, and favorited this story. Your support really helped motivate this. Once again, thanks.

Oh, and before I go, FriendoftheVampire, about your request. To be honest, I don't know a lot about those two characters, and they're a little out of my usual comfort zone, if you know what I mean. That being said, who doesn't love a good challenge? It might take a while, but I will write it for you. If you want, I could send you a copy via the DocX feature on this site before I post it, to see if you approve or not. So, until next time!