Hello everyone! This is the last chapter! I hope you all have enjoyed the story so far, and I have a special message at the end so as not to keep you waiting. A big thanks to (new reviewer) Sieben Nightwing, sPaRkzZz, and Aniwolfgirl for reviewing! I appreciate and appreciated all of them so much. Now, on with the final chapter!
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or its characters, just those of my own design.

Epilogue

The Fourth Shinobi World War came and passed in the world of the living, while in the world of the dead, Kikyuu found herself floating in an eternal darkness. Her body was cold, causing her to shiver and hold herself tightly as she curled up into a ball; however, nothing could make her warm. As she gazed out into the void, she decided that this was her punishment; she would atone for all the assassination missions and being involved in the death of the jinchuuriki's before moving on to some other hellish plane. Suddenly, she registered a falling sensation and tightly closed her eyes to prolong seeing whatever horrors might wait. However, she rapidly felt very warm and when she opened her eyes, she blinked quickly to help them adjust to the soft, white glow that filled the space. Her bottom landed on solid ground and she was able to stand for the first time in a long time.

"Kikyuu," a soft, feminine voice stated.

Turning, she gasped as she saw her parents standing a few yards behind her and she ran into their open arms. As they hugged, Kikyuu began to cry softly.

"I'm so sorry for everything! I know I must've disappointed you!" She exclaimed.

Her father chuckled and stepped back before lifting her chin to look into her eyes, "Oh, my dear, we are proud of you."

Her mother nodded, "Yes. You served the village loyally in ANBU and, albeit a little misguided when joining Akatsuki, your intentions were pure. And you were able to experience a love that only happens once in a lifetime. You made that Uchiha boy's last months on Earth enjoyable and helped him greatly in his time of weakness. You always had a good heart."

Her mother hugged her again before kissing her forehead and her father repeated the actions.

"We are proud of you and we love you so very much," her father stated again.

"I love you both too, and missed you so dearly," Kikyuu replied before gasping as they began to fade away.

"Mom? Dad? Wait!" But it was too late, for they had already vanished.

She sighed as she remained standing in her current position. She dropped her head and slumped her shoulders as a few tears flowed from her eyes before she wiped them. Suddenly, she felt a hand placed on her shoulder and she turned quickly before smiling as she looked into the face of her grandfather.

Bowing deeply before him, she stated, "Hello, grandfather."

The man smiled and chuckled softly before pushing on her shoulders gently to have her rise up before he hugged her.

"My little Kikyuu," he whispered, "I was never ashamed of you. You were a kunoichi that made me proud. I apologize for my bitterness when you were younger, but as you grew, I could only see my daughter in your face and it saddened me. Can you forgive me?"

She hugged him back, nodding quickly, "Of course, grandfather, of course. I've always wanted to hear you say you were proud."

They released one another before her grandfather touched her cheek and smiled, "You look so much like your mother; just as beautiful."

With those final words, he too faded away. Leaving Kikyuu sad, but still smiling. Now, with nothing to do, Kikyuu began to stroll in the vast, white emptiness. As before, she wondered if this would be the place where she would spend the rest of eternity. Honestly, she could say she didn't mind if that were to be so, for it was warm and bright and she could walk instead of floating in a deep emptiness.

After several moments, the room began to suddenly glow brighter. The intensity increased so greatly that she had to squeeze her eyes shut and even shade them with her hand. Finally, after many minutes passed, Kikyuu lowered her hand and cautiously opened her eyes only to see a sight that astounded her.

She was dressed in a black kimono with white trim with her hair in a tight bun with red chopsticks placed in it. A gold dragon with red-orange flames bursting from his mouth decorated the bottom of the kimono, which was held shut by a red obi. She chuckled as she remembered where she had seen this before and she looked around as joyful sounds reached her ears. Kikyuu found herself sitting on a stone bench beneath a fully blossoming peach tree and up the street from a small town that was in the midst of a large festival. She watched happily, wanting to go, but refrained from doing so, feeling unworthy. She blinked, as she believed she saw the Uchiha crest on the backs of many patrons' shirts and her family amongst the attendees, before being startled by someone loudly clearing their throat in front of her.

When she looked up, she met the kind, smiling face of Mikoto and the hard gaze of Fugaku Uchiha. She began to enter a deep bow from her seated position before Mikoto stated:

"Wait, Kikyuu."

The young kunoichi paused before looking back up at the pair who then bowed to her. Fugaku rose then stared at her for several minutes before finally saying:

"Thank you for looking after my son."

His wife smiled and nodded again to her before the two of them walked off to join the others at the festival. Kikyuu smiled softly as she gazed after the pair, feeling as if she was finally accepted and respected by Fugaku Uchiha. She closed her eyes and sighed contentedly as a gentle breeze blew through the forested street.

"I promised to take you to a festival, didn't I?" An all too familiar voice asked.

Kikyuu's eyes flew open and she looked up into Itachi's smiling face as he stood before her with an outstretched hand and dressed in a formal, white men's kimono with gold trim.

"I-Itachi?" She whispered silently as if saying his name would make him disappear like all of her loved ones before him.

He chuckled and reached down, taking her hands in his before helping her stand, "Yes, I'm here."

She smiled before hugging him tightly, closing her eyes as she rested against him, "I was afraid I would never see you again."

Itachi lifted her head so he could look into her eyes, "You said yourself that white tulips were a sign of forgiveness. It seems you are right after all if we are here, together and happy."

Kikyuu looked away, "I'm sorry I couldn't stop Tobi…"

The Uchiha shook his head and cupped her chin before turning her head towards his, "No. I should've seen that I couldn't deal with Sasuke on my own. It was my own fatal flaw. None of that matters now, though for I've done all that I can. I promised you that we'd be together in another life; and here we are. Now come, we can't let them have all of the fun without us, can we?"

"No, we can't," she hugged the Uchiha again and whispered in his ear, "I love you, Itachi."

The young man smiled as he held her close and replied, "I love you as well, Kikyuu."

Kikyuu smiled, releasing him before beginning to walk along side Itachi, resting her head against his shoulder as he wrapped his arm around her waist; they were the perfect vision of love as they entered the village square for the celebration; the warm rays of light in this peaceful world shone down on them and illuminated the Uchiha crests adorning both of their backs.

Author's Note: Thank you all for taking this journey with me. I hope you truly enjoyed it, because I am pretty happy with how this story turned out. Sieben Nightwing, if I had thought of making them completely new people, like in a reincarnation type setting, where their hearts remembered their love, I would have because that is brilliant. However, I hope, everyone, enjoyed the path I chose. The yin and yang looking, and acting, pair of lovers are happy; and happy endings are the best, yes?

On another note, if you haven't visited my main page, I will relay some key information here. I am writing another story. Hopefully, I will start on the second story idea I have as soon as I finish the first story I am writing, which will be very soon. The first story is a Mito Uzumaki and Hashirama Senju love story, but with a twist! And how does the forgotten role of Madara Uchiha play in their tale of love? And how does Mito Uzumaki play a part in the founding of Konoha and the peace between the Senju and Uchiha? Well, those are some of the questions my story brings up and tries to answer.

The second story is a youthful tale of a certain handsome devil of the Leaf's journey to catch up to his eternal rival, Kakashi Hatake, by the successful complete of an A-Rank mission to be jonin: guard a beautiful princess from assassination attempts in order to see that she takes her father's place as daimyo of her family's lands. But, what secrets to these lands hold and what mysteries does the family itself hide? My Maito Gai x OC story will reveal all of these answers!

So, yes, a shameless plug for two up-coming stories, but I hope they interest you and you decide to check them out. Well, with that, I am off to pick up my pen and continue to write. See you soon!