Epilogue

It had been one week since Konohamaru came across Kenshin and the others in the forest. He had pulled Moegi and Udon out of their beds to train, and as they groggily made their way through the forest, and found them asleep on the forest floor, only Kenshin was awake, watching over them.

He told them to get some medical-nin into the forest, since Sakura and Hinata had poison in them, and they had only 45 minutes to live if they didn't get an antidote.

He had pulled out two vials of their blood, and gave it to them. He had told them to run…

WARD 6

And so, today, Konohamaru visited them, and saw, as usual, that Kenshin was beside Hinata's bed. He had never left her since she and Sakura was admitted into the hospital. He sat there, reading a book. Konohamaru noted its orange cover, with the man and the lady chasing each other.

Make-out Paradise.

Konohamaru almost smiled when he saw Kenshin reading it rather intently.

But he didn't care about that; he was here to visit Naruto.

He made his way over to the last bed in the room, next to Sakura. She was still out, but Naruto was wide awake. He was staring out of the window, his face swathed in bandages.

"Hey boss!" said Konohamaru.

Naruto turned to him and smiled.

"Hey Konohamaru!" he greeted.

"How's Sakura?" Konohamaru asked.

Naruto glanced over to the adjacent bed, and saw Sakura's sleeping form. It was not a sleep aided by the sleep gas, it was natural sleep.

"They say that the antidote was introduced into their bloodstream right on time, or they would have died…"

Konohamaru nodded, and then said,

"So what happened to you?"

Naruto touched his face gingerly, and said,

"I got beat up."

Konohamaru did not attempt to hide the look of surprise on his face.

"You got beat up?!? YOU?!?" he asked, incredulous.

"They weren't any normal punches! It felt like my chakra was being stopped. I couldn't perform any jutsu…" Naruto reasoned.

Konohamaru nodded, and sat down. He then remembered his gift…

"Hey boss, I brought you some ramen!" he said with a grin. He presented a bowl wrapped in plastic. A note was taped on it said,

Get well soon, number one customer!
Ichiraku Ramen

"When they heard that you were in the hospital, They made this for you, and I volunteered to take it to you!"

Naruto's face lightened up, and he said…

"GImme!"

11:23 AM

Hinata walked out of the hospital, her footing slightly unstable. The poison had affected her extremities, but her stay at the hospital had alleviated the damage somewhat. Within a few days, the doctor had told Kenshin, that the effects would be gone.

She had her hand on his shoulder should her footing betray her.

"Hey Kenshin…" said Hinata.

"Yeah?"

"I was wondering, aren't you angels pure and holy?" asked Hinata.

Kenshin gave the question some thought, and replied…

"Yeah, that's the idea."

"Then why is it that you were reading Make-Out Paradise?" she asked, her eyebrow rose slightly.

"I forgot to tell you that I'm only a half-angel, not really a full-blown angel. I was created, those guys just popped into existence." He explained.

Hinata nodded, and kept walking.

They finally arrived at the Hyuuga House.

Hinata noticed a dusty box of cinnamon buns left on the front door.

"Were those for me?" she asked.

Kenshin picked them up, dusted them off, and checked the contents. Few of them were still fresh, while the others were completely spoiled.

Kenshin ran a hand through his hair in frustration. He had forgotten to get these from the porch. He had spent most of his days at the hospital.

"I swear those were fresh when I got 'em…" he said.

Hinata giggled, and said…

"It's okay, it's the thought that counts…" she said, wrapping her arms around him.

Kenshin returned the embrace.

The two were interrupted when someone opened the door.

As the door opened, Hanabi Hyuuga, Hinata's younger sister stood in the doorway, watching her sister hugging a guy she had never seen before.

She arrived to one conclusion.

"It's not what you think!" said Hinata, blushing. She broke off from Kenshin after seeing Hanabi.

Hanabi only stood there, a huge smile on her face.

She suddenly ran off into the house, screaming…

"HINATA'S GOT A BOYFRIEND! HINATA'S GOT A BOYFRIEND!"

Hinata stood in the doorframe, her cheeks red with embarrassment. She could still hear Hanabi's yells throughout the house.

She turned to Kenshin for support, but he was gone.

"Kenshin?"

She suddenly heard footsteps approaching, and she saw her father, Hiashi Hyuuga.

"Hinata, you're out early." He said.

Hinata looked at her toes for some backup, waiting for the dreaded question to come up…

"So, where's this…'boyfriend'?" he asked, ending Hinata's wait. He looked around, expecting this boyfriend to appear out of thin air.

Kenshin almost did that. He had looked for a trash can, and threw the spoiled buns in. He heard Hanabi screaming in the house, and went back to Hinata.

Hiashi Hyuuga was surprised when he saw Kenshin.

"You're that young man at the hospital, the one with the mask." He said, remembering Kenshin from his visits to his daughter.

"Yeah, that's me!" Kenshin replied cheerfully.

"You're her boyfriend?" a questioning tone unmistakable in Hiashi's voice.

"Yeah."

Hiashi looked like he was trying to accept this fact as his hand went to his temples.

Hinata waited for her father's disapproval.

"If you're my daughter's choice, then I shall not go against it." He suddenly said, a small smile crossing his face.

Hinata's face lit up, and she gave her father a tight hug. She was so sure she would hear a stern no.

"Thank you, dad."

After Hiashi had gone back into the house, Hinata turned to Kenshin, and he noted the smile on her face.

He couldn't help smiling too.

"You know, since my dad gave his OK, you should have lunch with us. After all, you did walk me home." She said as she entered.

Kenshin thought about it, and she pulled him in.

Akatsuki Base

"We're not using the knuckledusters."

Madara looked up, his face shrouded in darkness.

"Why? They were effective, weren't they?" he asked.

Pein massaged his knuckles.

"They apparently needed the user's own chakra to suppress outside chakra…A small tidbit you didn't care to tell me about…" he said angrily.

Madara rolled his eyes, and his chin resting in his hand.

"I figured that you had so much chakra, you wouldn't even notice…"

Pein pulled out the knuckledusters and threw them at his feet.

"I won't need them."

11:23 PM

Cliffside

Kenshin had waited for Hinata lace up her shoes. They had run through the forest, and had finally reached the cliff.

The stars were shining bright above them. Even on this high cliff, they were still out of reach.

"Ready?" asked Kenshin, who was lying down stargazing.

"Yes, Kenshin, I am." She replied.

Kenshin leapt up and wrapped his arms around her. He moved closer to the cliff lip, and when his feet stepped on air, he let gravity take hold of them.

As they fell, Hinata felt terror and excitement at the same time. She felt like she was floating.

Kenshin looked up, or looked down to the ground, and when he felt they could go no more, he unfurled his wings.

They stopped, and he sped off forward through the trees.

The treeline ended, and Hinata saw a wondrous sight.

She saw rolling indigo waves, on a light purple beach. The night colored all things in violet and black.

He kept flying, and Hinata's hand touched the white tops of the waves.

"Wow, it feels so good!"

Kenshin smiled.

"Remember this, Hinata, treasure this moment all your life, for what you have now, no one can ever take away."

He found a rocky outcropping, like a finger jutting out of the waves, and alighted gently.

He gave her a long kiss, and he felt the cool ocean breeze on his skin.

Hinata could smell the salty air, and she loved it.