Here it is people! The last chapter of Going Back! Thanks to all those who reviewed, it really means a lot to me (and lets my muse form the next plot for my next Naruto story xD). Below are the final stats of the story (before the reviews of this chapter):

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Thanks again to all of those who have been with me since the very beginning of the story, and have stayed with me (despite the rough patch around chapter 6). Onward, and Enjoy! (it is a little short though, sorry)

Epilogue

~Recap~

Naruto sent a blade of wind to where he knew Gaara's Sand eye was; he didn't want anyone to be burdened with the sight that was to be seen. Feeling little satisfaction when he felt the minute tremor from the explosion of the Sand Eye, Naruto concentrated on his attack, moving the remainder of his chakra to his Rasenshuriken. This would be the end.

His attack complete, the blond Rokudaime charged forward towards the person who would forever be his best friend and rival. There was no going back.

"Fuuton: Rasenshuriken!"

~End Recap~

It was a beautiful day in Konoha; the sky was a clear blue, and clouds were gently floating along. The sun was shining brightly, its radiant beams giving warmth to those who stood underneath its rays. 'Perfect day for cloud watching,' Shikamaru though to himself as he made his way through the village at a leisurely pace. He had just gone to pick up the gate reports for the Hokage, and he wasn't in any big hurry. Though he doubted much work would be completed today; today was an important day, to all of those in the Elemental Nations. Thinking back, he could clearly remember what happened that day, when Naruto destroyed the Sand Eye.

~Flashback~

There was a deathly silence as the only connection to the fight was destroyed. The silence was broken by an almost inaudible sigh, though, as it was quiet, almost every shinobi in that hideaway could hear it.

All heads turned towards one Subaku no Gaara, who had known what happened. He looked around, seeing the expectant looks he was getting. Sighing again, he began to explain.

"Naruto was, in fact, the one who destroyed my Sand Eye." Murmurs went through the room, though Gaara paid no heed to them. "He most likely sent a blade of wind as he was preparing his last attack." The shinobi nodded in agreement, the logic was sound, while the civilians just waited to hear more from the red-head. "And I agree with his actions."

This managed to snap heads back towards Gaara. Most of the shinobi, save for those of the Rookie Eleven that were there, gaped at him with looks of shock and disbelief.

"Why do you agree with him, Gaara-san?" Gai, the only one in the room who didn't seem too fazed by this asked.

Gaara didn't answer right away, thinking of how exactly he should word this explanation.

"You all know how old Naruto is, correct?" Gaara asked, and he heard whispers of fourteen and fifteen, but not his actual age. "In another six months," Gaara continued, "Naruto will be having his twenty-first birthday." Eyes bugged at the blond Rokudaime's true age.

"But how is that possible?" Jiraiya, who had been silent for pretty much the whole time, asked. He had hunches on what it may be, but its better to have it straight from an accurate source.

"When Naruto arrived here, or so he told me, he was trapped in the body of a thirteen-year-old. It wasn't until the Oto attack on Konoha recently that Naruto gained back his original form, though only for a short amount of time. Because of the chakra overload, his body was having trouble keeping up with the amount of chakra he had, and so, henged him into various ages." Gaara explained. The Rookie Eleven and Sand Siblings gawked at Gaara slightly, who raised a slender eyebrow. They had never seen or heard Gaara talk that much before.

"I get what happened with his body," Jiraiya spoke up, returning them to the subject at hand. "But that doesn't explain why you agree with cutting off the only source of information we had of him." Out of the corner of his eye, Jiraiya watched Minato squeeze Kushina's hand in reassurance.

"Naruto's age is important to this matter, Jiraiya-san," Gaara replied, his voice becoming slightly colder. "The man he was battling with, he has been hunting him down since he was thirteen." The room went deathly quiet, and Gaara glanced around to see the reactions of those in the room. Most of the shinobi and civilians were shocked at how long their blond friend had been chasing after the brunette. There were others though, Gaara noticed, that had different expressions on their faces.

Jiraiya, along with Sarutobi and Tsunade, looked as if they were thinking about the reasons the boy would do what he did. Then there were those, such as Minato and Kushina, who had looks of worry on their faces. It was reasonable, Gaara mused, since they were, after all, his biological parents.

Gaara coughed, garnering the attention once more. "Its more than just chasing after a missing-nin," Gaara said. "The connection between the two runs deeper than that." And after those last words, Gaara leaned against the wall again, signifying that he would say no more.

~End Flashback~

Shikamaru sighed, thinking of how the reactions of the shinobi and villagers present at that time helped change their future actions. All of those who visited the past had remembered, had felt, had seen the changes that occurred while they were in the past, of the things they had chosen. To say the least, Konoha had changed, and in his opinion, his home had changed for the better.

Arriving at the Hokage Tower, Shikamaru walked in, where those who encountered him nodded and respectfully greeted him. Shikamaru sighed mentally; he could understand that, because he was the Clan Head of the Naras he would be treated with respect, but this was just too much. It was troublesome.

Shikamaru yawned as he knocked on the Hokage's office door. There was a shout of "come in!", and Shikamaru entered the office, closing the door behind him. Looking towards his Hokage, the lazy Nara saw that the swivel chair was faced towards the window, specifically aiming for the Hokage Mountain.

"Thinking about what happened back then?" Shikamaru asked, his voice quiet, already knowing what the answer to his question would be.

He received nothing but a nod for his Hokage, and Shikamaru didn't blame his leader one bit. This date, all those years ago, was something to remember, to always keep in their hearts. The happiness of getting rid of a dangerous enemy, the sadness of losing a friend who was pushed into the life of darkness and hatred.

Shikamaru heard a sigh, followed by the squeaking of the swivel chair that belonged to his Hokage. The Nara smiled at his Hokage, who smiled back at him before taking out a bottle of sake from his ear.

"I think I'll go watch the clouds…" Shikamaru mumbled, more to himself than his Hokage.

"I'd be careful if I were you, Shika. You don't want to get caught by Ino." The Hokage teased with a shit-eating grin. "If you were, you'd be screwed."

Shikamaru glared at his Hokage. "Its none of your business, Hokage-sama." Shikamaru retorted to the Hokage, who was now pouting.

"Mou, I told you guys to stop calling me that. Its so formal and cold." The Hokage whined, which made Shikamaru smirk.

"Its not out fault that you wanted to become Hokage," The lazy Nara replied.

"Well, it wasn't my fault that the lot of you decided to make me Hokage," Said person took a swig of his sake. "And it isn't my fault you decide to listen to me, either."

"Hai, hai," Shikamaru replied lazily, heading towards the door. "Oh, I almost forgot." Shikamaru face his Hokage again. "I ran into your mother on the way here. She wants you home for lunch, saying something about a special 'Uzumaki Ramen' dish that she was making, and that if you didn't hurry, she and your father were going to eat it all without you."

Looking towards his leader again, Shikamaru laughed at the expression of excitement and panic on his Hokage's face. Leave it to him to have two completely different emotions on his face at the same time.

Shikamaru sighed again (he seemed to be doing that a lot today) as he saw his Hokage disappear in a yellow flash.

Walking towards the door, Shikamaru thought to himself, 'You never change do you, Naruto?'

Walking outside the Hokage Tower, Shikamaru headed towards his favorite cloud-watching hill, the door to the Hokage Tower closing slowly…

0o0-0o0-0o0

And that's it! Its done! No more! So sad. TT-TT It was fun writing this chapter, so please review and give me your thoughts.

Ja!