Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto...and this fic is evident of this disclaimer being true, for the actual series is nothing close to this story as of right now. Masashi Kishimoto owns Naruto, not me. Darn, eh?

Epilogue

"Hokage-sama...Hokage-sama, Kakashi Hatake, Anko Mitarashi, and Maito Gai are-oh, I didn't know you were taking care of Nikkou..."

"Heh, don't worry about it, Moegi. Send them in, but tell them to be as quiet as possible. Nikkou just went down for her nap half an hour ago."

Moegi gave Naruto a quick bow before leaving the office. Naruto turned to his three month old baby girl who was sleeping peacefully in her crib by his desk. She was, in the words of the nineteen year old Hokage, the most wonderful baby girl that he and Sakura could have asked for.

The April rain pattered lightly against the window outside his office while he heard a light knocking at his door, "Enter...quietly."

Moegi once again popped her head in before ushering in the three Jounin she had spoken of just a minute ago. Before Naruto could even speak a word to them, Anko was already tiptoeing over to Nikkou's crib and smiling gently, "You know, most of the kunoichi enjoy you being Hokage, since they get to see Nikkou-chan whenever they're in your office."

Naruto gave a soft laugh. It was true, for the most part. Naruto was usually taking care of the blond haired baby girl while Sakura was busy at the hospital. Since Naruto was usually restricted to his office for the first half of his workday, he kept Nikkou with him. If he was too busy, and Sakura was working, the young Uzumaki couple usually entrusted their daughter with her godparents, Kiba and Hinata, who were just recently married. If either of them were busy, then Iruka and Anko were usually around. That or Tsunade was always willing to care for her grandchild.

"Yeah...though I fear if I keep her around her too much she'll start getting into stuff when she's able to crawl..." Naruto commented. This got a snicker from Anko.

"Heh, Kiun's just learned how to roll around recently. Iruka's been baby-proofing the entire home for the last week now. Though, my guess is that if he's anything like his mother, he'll end up just figuring out how to get over the baby gates." Anko replied before stepping back in line with Kakashi and Gai.

"Right...well, I'm sure you three are aware of why I brought you all here, correct?"

Kakashi nodded, "You said something about reinstating the Sannin tradition in Konoha, correct?"

Naruto grunted while shuffling over a few files on his desk, "Yeah. Tsunade-baachan's basically told me that she's going to concentrate on medical work while Ero-sennin's received permanent injuries from Pain. That scar cut into his chakra coil system...he can still perform jutsu, but not like he used to. He's already told me that he's requesting a relaxed status in my roster of ninja."

"Which brings you to us." Anko finished.

"Yep. I want to make you three the new Sannin of Konoha."

Gai smiled while speaking in a surprisingly quiet tone, remembering the sleeping baby next to Naruto, "The new Sannin, huh? Sounds interesting..."

"Yep. I'll be honest; you three are by far the more reputable ninja in Konoha. Kakashi-sensei is-"

"Naruto, I'm not your sensei anymore."

Naruto grinned as the silver haired Jounin was smiling behind his mask, "Heh, sorry, old habit. Anyway, Kakashi, you're story is self-explanatory with the Sharingan and the reputation you gained as the Copy Ninja." Naruto turned to Gai, "Gai, you're by far one of the most powerful ninja in the field of Taijutsu, and I can't think of someone else who would be able to hold the title that comes close to your skills in battle. Anko, you're the sole contract holder of the Snake Summon, and your skills in espionage and subterfuge have become next to mind-boggling in the past two years since you were promoted to full Jounin. Not to mention you know a good deal about poisons..."

"So, do we get titles to go along with our new rank?" Anko joked.

"Hm. I think that's already been taken care of, Anko. Gai's known as the Blue Beast of Konoha by many, and Kakashi's the Copy Ninja and the master of one thousand jutsu. If I remember correctly, people have called you the Snake Mistress, am I right?"

Anko shrugged, "Supposedly that's one of the nicknames in my Bingo Book profile that we found from Iwagakure."

Naruto just nodded while holding out a scroll, "Fair enough. From now on, you three shall have the ranking of Sannin." He set the scroll down and looked it over, "Hm...wonder if that'll get Iwa to back off a bit with you three being considered at Kage level..."

"Naruto, with all due respect, I don't think any of us are at Kage level yet."

The Rokudaime just shrugged, "Hey, I'm the Hokage. If I say you are, you are."

Gai gave a blinding grin as he spoke, "Yosh, I like the sound of that, Naruto. We'll make Konoha proud, I give you my word!"

Naruto turned to see his daughter still alseep, "Heh, I'm sure you will, Gai-sen...Gai." He got up, "Okay, well, that was all I had left to cover for the day, so you're all free to go. I myself am going to head home as well and see if Sakura's done with work yet."

"Naruto, don't forget that Rin and I invited you over tomorrow for dinner." Kakashi said with a smile, "That and Rin wants Ukiyo to see Nikkou again."

Naruto grinned as he gently picked his daughter up from the crib, her form shifting a bit before she rested her head on his shoulder, still sleeping soundly, "Will do, Kakashi-sensei."

Within a few minutes, Naruto was walking out of the Hokage Tower, Moegi following close behind him, "Hokage-sama, you-"

"I'm not in the office anymore, Moegi. No need for formalities."

Moegi laughed a bit, "Er, right, Naruto-niichan. Anyway, you were saying something about me babysitting this Friday?"

"If that's alright with you, could you?"

Moegi smiled happily, "Of course! Nikkou-chan's the best behaved baby I've ever watched over."

Naruto grinned, "Yeah, we lucked out with her. She's got her mom's strength though."

Nikkou, who was now awake, was tugging at Naruto's thumb as he carried her in the crook of his left arm, trying with all her might to put her mouth around her father's thumb, much like anything else she ever managed to grasp.

"So, are you and Sakura planning on having anymore kids?"

Naruto felt a light blush stain his cheeks, "Well, Moegi, I'm not sure. In all honesty, as selfish as this may sound, I'd like a son too. Though, I feel like the luckiest man in the world already with two women in my life."

Moegi rolled her eyes, "That's so cheesy, niichan."

"Heh, it's true though."

Moegi eventually headed down a different road, bidding her dear friend farewell and promising to be at his house at eight o' clock sharp on Friday."

Naruto continued down the road leading to the more forested area of Konohagakure's boundaries. He noticed a few deer walking just outside of clear vision in the forest, chewing on grass while watching the blond haired man and his child.

Eventually Naruto walked up to the two story house, surrounded by large trees. He walked up to the front porch, only to be greeted by the sight of Shikamaru walking out with his own daughter cradled in his arms, "Shika, hey! What's up?"

Shikamaru gave a small smile, "Sakura wanted some herbal remedies from us, my dad just got done making a batch an hour ago, so I decided to drop it off. Temari's over in Suna, giving an update to Gaara and the Wind Council on our current status and whatnot."

Tentou Nara, the daughter of Shikamaru and Temari, was definitely going to be her mother's child when she got older. Her eyes were a soft teal color, like her mother's, yet her hair was definitely from the Nara side of her genetics, a dark brown color, bordering on black.

"Yeesh, is Nikkou getting bigger on me?"

Naruto laughed as he shifted his daughter in his arms, "Yeah, she's gained about three pounds in three weeks and grew about two inches as well. Sakura said she'd be around my dad's height by the time she's done growing."

Shikamaru let out a low whistle, "Damn. We're going to have some troublesome daughters, I can sense it."

"Yeah. Still willing to help me keep the boys from bothering her when she gets older?"

Shikamaru smirked, "Only if you place those security seals around Tentou's door when she's older as well."

The two laughed a bit before parting, Shikamaru claiming he had some work to take care of at home and then had to plan for tomorrow's lecture at the Academy.

Naruto walked into his house, shrugging off his Hokage robe and setting his hat on the hanger while skillfully holding onto his Nikkou the whole while. He walked into the living room and saw Sakura sitting in a chair reading a book while drinking a cup of tea. She looked up to see her husband and daughter, and smiled gently, "How was work today?"

Naruto sat down beside Sakura as she gave him a kiss on the cheek, which he happily accepted before replying, "Eh, same as usual for the most part. I promoted Gai, Kakashi-sensei, and Anko to Sannin."

"Really? How did they take it?"

"They seemed alright with it, though I think Gai's going to go overboard with his training even more than usual now." He scratched his head before laughing, "Oh, yeah, we have that dinner with Kakashi and Rin tomorrow at their place. I guess Rin wants to see Nikkou again, heh."

Sakura laughed a bit while taking Nikkou from Naruto, "Well of course she does! That's because we have such a beautiful little girl, right Nikkou?" She brought her daughter closer to her face while speaking in a soft, baby-talk voice, "Yes you are, aren't you?"

"Aaawaaa..." Nikkou replied before blowing raspberries. Sakura laughed while running a hand softly through their daughter's blond hair.

"Man, she's going to be a real heartbreak, Sakura." Naruto commented while scooting closer to his wife and looking down at their daughter, "That's just fine though, isn't it, Nikkou?" He grinned happily at his daughter.

Sakura nodded, "Yes, she will. Just like her father."

Naruto snorted, "Right, right."

Sakura turned back to their baby girl, and her eyes went wide, "Naruto, look!"

Naruto turned down to Nikkou, and grinned, "Well, I'll be..."

Nikkou was giving her two parents a toothless smile, drooling a little as Sakura dabbed it away with a napkin, "She's developing quickly. Anko told me that Kiun didn't start smiling until about four weeks ago."

"Heh, that's my girl." Naruto spoke proudly, "She's just a bundle of sunshine, though. It suits her to be smiling at her age."

"Yeah..." Sakura chuckled a bit, "You know, Tenten and Neji's boy, Haitori, is already trying to move around. She said Neji nearly had a stroke when he found that Haitori was missing after looking away for a moment, only to find him rolling around no more than ten feet away."

"Hehe, oh man, Neji being a dad...that's something I never thought possible."

- - - - -

Later on in the evening, Naruto had told Sakura that he was going to take a walk. Sakura knew the true meaning of those words, and she knew that with all the stress Naruto was going through, he needed to take some time for himself.

Naruto once again found himself in the small patch of the Uchiha compound that was left untouched; the garden. Most of the area had been auctioned off, yet for some reason, no one wanted to take apart the garden.

Naruto walked over to the small little headstone of his one-time good friend, Sasuke. He let out a sigh as he knelt down and pushed off some moss and vines growing on it, "Hey, teme. Been awhile..."

The wind blew a bit as Naruto adjusted his Hokage hat, "I finally did it...I accomplished my two biggest dreams, Sasuke. I'm with Sakura...and I'm the Hokage."

Naruto sighed as he looked over the somewhat overrun garden, "Heh, looks like I'll have to get some gardening done before it's too late, huh? I think I remember saying that to you before." The Rokudaime looked up to the sky and smirked as he saw a few stars shining especially brightly, "Yeah, I think I will..."

For awhile, Naruto was quiet, just letting his thoughts wander around as he stood in the otherwise silent garden. He thought about the upcoming war, the ninja he'd be sending, the ninja that would be killed, injured, and removed from active duty. He thought about his friends, and the fact that he'd have to give them dangerous missions because they were so qualified for them.

He thought about his family, and how Sakura was somehow more beautiful to him everyday. He thought about his daughter, and if they'd have any more kids down the road. He thought about what he would do if either of them were ever put in danger.

He would never let those who hurt them live to apologize...he knew that much was true.

His thoughts moved onto his two parents that he barely knew, yet felt such a deep connection to. He could still recall every vivid detail of his visit while in limbo with death and life. He remembered when all the Konoha ninja knelt before him.

Why did they do that? He supposed it was because they knew he would be the next Hokage. Yet, if that was the only reason...

No, there was something else there. He didn't really share any of the details with anyone. Not even Sakura. No, that experience was his alone. He would maybe tell Sakura someday, even Kakashi, Jiraiya and Tsunade. Not now though...

"Don't worry so much over that which you're not certain of yet, Naruto. You're only human. Remember that." spoke Kyuubi. Naruto gave a small grin before nodding.

"Well, I better get going. Sakura worries about me staying out too late when I have work in the morning..." Naruto turned to leave, but gave one last smile to the tombstone before doing so, "I'll take care of the village. Let everyone know. I'll bring peace to our world. It's a promise!"

With that said, Naruto Uzumaki, the youngest Hokage to date, strolled out of the Uchiha compound. He heard the a faint whispering sound in the wind as it blew past him, causing his robes to billow a bit. He smiled, knowing what the whispers were. They were silent 'thank yous' from the ninja of days past. They were thanking him for ushering in a new era.

An era that he hoped would lead Konoha and the entire ninja world to a new found peace.

-End-

There you go! Man, this story was a long one to finish, but I did it! I still can't believe I actually got it done, but here it is! Heheh, I hoped all of you who have been with me in this story have enjoyed it all the way through. Keep an eye out for any other works of mine; there may be a third installment to this story sometime in the future, though I'm not making any promises on a schedule.

Anyway, to all of you who have followed this story of mine to the end, thanks, and as always happy reading!