A/N: I've been lazy guys, seriously. I'm sorry about that. I've been reading stories and my bunnies have been nipping at my heels for other story ideas. I think I'll end this one here and I pray that the ending fits the story. It will be set two years after the last chapter. Big time skip, I know, but think of it as an epilogue. I will promise one thing though… the stories that come after this one will be thought out much better and they will not have a random plotline like this one. Because of the lack of pre-planning, this story's plotline kind of got lost in the background. I won't let that happen again. Anyways, enjoy the chapter. At the end… my shout outs to everybody. I love you all!
Disclaimer: Me no own Naruto, but I do own many notebooks stuffed with beginnings of random fanfictions so nuh!!
Warnings: uh…… other than boy lovin…. Nuthin major.
"When everything is all said and done, make sure that you don't regret your mistakes as much as you learn from them and allow them to help you grow into a better person…" -Jennifer-aka-AngelOfContemplation-
Two years to the day their Rokudaime returned home, the villagers and ninja of Konoha realized that he was a very important person to them and decided to give him a day of his own to rest and take a break while his most trusted people looked after the village for him, only coming to him for the most important cases and decisions. For the most part, Naruto left very detailed lists of all he wanted to be done that day and what qualified as important enough to come to him with. Otherwise, he was not to be bothered while at home with his Sasu-kun.
Sasuke, for the most part, was happy that things were finally working out for them. In Naruto, he had found the redemption that he'd been searching for for years. In The rest of the Konoha eleven and their old senseis, he found friends who had come to accept once more after seeing that he was, indeed, sincere. In Konoha, he found the home his heart had never really left behind, and in the newly called Minato, the father figure he'd long went without in his troubled life. And, in Naruto, Sasuke had also found pure, untainted unconditional love that he knew would never fade.
For Minato, just remembering his true name was a huge sigh of relief and a sign that he truly had regained his full memory. He took joy in living in the village among its people once more. He loved being so close to his former student, his former sensei, and his son. He saw himself in Naruto and was often amazed at how the young man could've gone through life without him there to raise him with the love he'd deserved and still manage to become the person he was. It showed a measure of strength and willpower that Minato himself wasn't sure he'd have had. He was proud of his son and happy that he'd been forgiven and accepted so easily by at least three people in the village. That, for now, was enough. As long as his most precious people loved him, he felt like the luckiest man alive.
As Shikamaru chased down his crawling one year old son, he muttered to the laughing Ino about how troublesome it was to be chasing a baby around the Hokage's office while she got to stand there and do nothing. But, Ino only grinned as her husband caught their son and picked him up. Shikaji, for the most part, may have had his father's looks, but he certainly had his mother's personality in more ways than one. He was an intelligent child, but was also very energetic and demanding. Shikamaru has been praying that their next child is as lazy as he himself can be so he won't be chasing that kid around too. Ino was often annoyed with his lazy tendencies, but she wouldn't change him for the world. It was just Shikamaru being… well, Shikamaru and she loved him as is.
Gaara and Hinata had amazingly hit it off and were engaged. Their wedding would take place on Naruto's birthday this year as that was the only other time their friend wasn't chained to his office. Gaara had opened up during their two years together and there were times that his beautiful smiles would startle everyone around them but for his violet-eyed angel. In public, they would walk as close as possible without touching more than a shoulder, but privately, the couple was free to show what was in their hearts without having prying eyes or startled looks thrown their way. Besides, they enjoyed being private people and would often smile at the legends floating around Konoha about ho they'd gotten together. Their personal favorite was one where it was speculated that Gaara kidnapped Hinata and put her under his spell and just to keep the rumor going, Gaara would often 'kidnap' Hinata from random places just to take her home for some alone time. It always gave them something to laugh about, and more imaginative rumors to overhear the next day.
Sakura and Lee were redoing the old nursery in anticipation of their second child. Little Mitasou was always trying to lend a hand and was overjoyed that she'd have a new baby brother or sister to play with soon. As she'd go on for hours about how they would have such youthful arguments and such youthful displays of sibling love, Sakura would merely give Lee a 'see-I-told-you-she-takes-after-you-more' look and smile at his flirty wink.
Kakashi was often a permanent fixture in Iruka's classroom when Naruto allowed it. He would be conned many times into teaching the kids along with Iruka, giving the assistant chuunin a break and a front row seat on how Iruka had Kakashi wrapped around his little finger. The jounin was notoriously known for ignoring anyone who needed a silly little favor from him, but just a word from Iruka and the scarecrow was doing whatever his dolphin asked of him be it big or small. To date, Iruka is the only one allowed to touch Kakashi's Icha Icha and get away with it, and Iruka was notorious for hiding his pervert's books for a day and making the man focus solely on him. Not that it was a hard task in the first place, it just took away Kakashi's playful protests that he'd just gotten to the good part in his book. Kakashi, in turn, had Iruka just as wrapped up. He was the only one who could coax the chuunin away from work at an early time, claiming that the work would still be there in the morning and even if he didn't finish it, someone else would, so it wasn't the end of the world and he shouldn't burn the night oil unless Naruto needed those pronto. And everybody's resident scarecrow had managed to be conned into becoming Naruto's secretary, so when he said things like that, he often knew when to pull the Umino away from work and when it was best to leave him to it. Overall, both were happy and still very much in love.
Naruto… well, Naruto was loving every moment life had to offer. He had both Sasuke and his father back in his life, and things were looking up despite the few battles that popped up from time to time as they honored their alliances and protected the village hidden in the leaves. He still encouraged the villagers to adopt orphans that ended up in the orphanage. Anyone who did got an a set amount of money each month to help with expenses until the children were able to work. He and Sasuke had already adopted two children. It was Naruto's way of having the family he'd always wanted and Sasuke's way of continuing the Uchiha name. Yeah, there were rough spots and bad days mixed in with the good, but that was life. No one ever said that life would be easy, but with love, family, and friends, it was easier than it had ever been for the container of the nine tailed demon fox. He'd never wish the troubles he'd gone through on anyone, but he recognized that those hardships had only made him a stronger person and the people he'd found to stand by him through everything despite it all… were well worth going through hell to earn. Naruto learned in his life that when life knocks you down, you've gotta get back up and fight back because doing nothing will get you nowhere, and giving up…. Well, let's just say that's not an option…
As for Kineko and Hineku Uchiha, they were in love with their new parents. They were loved and cared for, disciplined when they did wrong, and taught them many things. They had everything they'd ever wanted in a family, and everything they'd ever need clothing and possession wise. Naruto was like their tough, but soft, warm, and ever so loving mother whereas Sasuke was like their strong, silent, but caring father who always gave his family all of himself while the rest of the world got as little as possible of the Uchiha. Taught by Iruka in ninja academy, they learned a lot, but whenever they didn't understand something or wished for training, they'd go to their parents and both would help with anything they asked. It was the life that they'd always feared they'd never have since their birth parents died in the Sound attack, but now that they had it with Naruto and Sasuke; they'd treasure it and their new parents until death.
It was the little things in life that everybody had learned to cherish and treasure with every breath. Joy, laughter, tears and pain, not matter what happened life always moves on and always finds away to continue and get better for having been through the day to day struggles that often appeared. As always, they had each other to lean on and it would always be that way for them…
"You will go out in joy and be lead forth in peace; the mountains and hills will burst into song before you, and all the trees of the field will clap their hands." Isaiah 55:12 NIV
A/N: Now, here's to all you who reviewed, alerted, and favorited. You guys all lifted my spirits so that I could continue this story even when the plot ran away from me. I thank you for your support and now… I will give you guys a shout out…..
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All of you, I can't thank you enough and no matter how big or small the support or what way it was show, I appreciate it greatly. I'm only glad to have done this well for my first yaoi story. I only hope that through this experience I can write better stories that you guys will be able to enjoy more. Anyways, I love you guys a bunch and hope you'll check out future stories! Which… will be written in advance so you won't have to wait for friggin ever for a chapter…. But yeah, thanks a bunch, I hope you all enjoyed it, bye now! .